Schadenfreude is a word that many of y’all might not have heard of, yet we’ve all felt it. Interestingly enough, it can be a great tool to keep our audience interested and breathlessly wanting more. What is schadenfreude, other than a fifty dollar word we can toss around to impress friends and colleagues?

Schadenfreude—a combination of the German words for damage and joy—is the pleasure we feel at the misfortune of others.

Before anyone gets too judgy on me, we have all felt it.

Have you ever had some driver on the highway who believed they were above the rules and didn’t need to merge and take turns? Instead they sped up the shoulder so they could cut the line instead of patiently waiting their turn? Schadenfreude is the delicious enjoyment you felt when there actually was a police officer present who summarily pulled them over and ticketed the bejeezus out of them.

Don’t you judge me. Y’all know you love it, too.

We humans, by and large, have a sense of justice encoded in our psyche. This is why even a preschooler has a level of acumen usually reserved for an IRS auditor when adults pass out candy. They sense what is fair and unfair, right and wrong.

This ingrained sense of right and wrong and fair and unfair is part of what drives our need for a sense of justice. We don’t like it when others “get away” with doing something we perceive as “wrong.”

Shades of Schadenfreude

Therein lies the deliciousness of schadenfreude…the what we consider “wrong.”

Like most things involving the human psyche, this isn’t black and white, rather it exists on a spectrum. There is wonderful thrill of pleasure we feel when a speeder gets a (deserved) ticket that can go as far as total dehumanization of others and a delight at their complete destruction.

Schadenfreude is story jet fuel.

Before you might believe you are too “evolved” for such feelings, how many movie plots pivot on the bullies finally getting a taste (or more) of their own medicine? When there is a gross power imbalance, and that imbalance is abused, we humans can turn positively feral.

One of my favorite authors, Lucy Foley, wields schadenfreude like few other authors I’ve read. The Guest List and The Midnight Feast are page-turning dark delights. Alice Berman is another author who uses this darker side of human nature to create a thrilling story in I Eat Men Like Air.

Why do I love these books? Because these authors (stories) pick apart “the beautiful people.” From old money to self-anointed Instagram influencer demi-gods-in -their-own-minds, these stories pry at something primal in all of us…that some people are “better.”

Instead of characters who are grateful for a blessed life dripping in privilege, they are the entitled. They amuse themselves at the suffering of others purely for sport. Not only that, but they take great delight in how they, themselves, are above the rules. When these sorts of people commit crimes, the “real” world cannot punish them.

But Author Gods can.

Lovely Loathing

Foley and Berman are of the suspense-thriller variety, but Kevin Follet is another author who is unparalleled at whipping up a fire of resentment that rivals the fires of Gehenna. When I read Pillars of the Earth, I literally had to keep taking breaks reading the book because my own level of hatred overwhelmed me.

Like any book, Pillars of the Earth isn’t for everyone. It nearly wasn’t for me. Every time I considered throwing in the towel, I I found I couldn’t stop because I HAD to know if there was any kind of justice in this mad, mad world.

All of these books have a common thread. Raw, beautiful exquisite revenge justice.

We are ALL wired with a sense of right and wrong.

Even sociopaths have a sense of justice.

Read Martha Stout’s The Sociopath Next Door. A sociopath might not lose any sleep emptying your bank account, but would be horrified if you did the same to him.

Follet masterfully wove situations where I was rendered utterly and hopelessly powerless.

What is the epitome of being a victim? ZERO POWER. When evil strikes, what does it do to a person?

It strips away their power.

From money crimes to sex crimes, to hate crimes to murder it’s the same. Arson, abduction, terrorism, shootings, sex trafficking, burglaries, large-scale vandalism, gossip, slander, lies, it hits us all in the same place.

It makes us afraid and vulnerable and impotent.

What makes it worse? When we KNOW who’s done this, but this is a person no one can touch.

This was what made me practically foam at the mouth reading Pillars of the Earth. Because the story is (loosely) based on actual history. In the Middle Ages, nobility and high-ranking clergy got away with a LOT of really, really bad things.

Talk about powerlessness to the power of a thousand.

*Kristen punching things* *grabbing for inhaler* *ponders subscribing to Hallmark channel*

Yet, it kept me listening (turning pages) because I could not rest until the world was set right and justice was served. I wasn’t even sure it would be or could be. And if it was, HOW?

THAT, my friends, is some fine storytelling (so I am extremely glad I didn’t return the book). Also, THAT is the raw power of schadenfreude.

Villains & Schadenfreude

There are many ways to create legendary villains. And, keep in mind, there are different types of villains. Though, I recommend giving the villain a sympathetic goal, like the word wrong exists on a spectrum, so does the word sympathetic.

I get that far too many “normal people” think writing is easy. That if they only had enough time they’d be the next J.K. Rowling or George R.R. Martin. Sadly, no number of lockdowns is enough to disabuse some folks of the notion that storytelling is more than playing with imaginary friends.

To tell great stories, we are required to think differently than regular people.

***Refer to 13 Reasons Writers are Mistaken for Serial Killers

A book is more than a lot of flowery words, it is a peek into what makes people tick. Which is all well and good except some people’s “clockwork” is arguably manufactured in HELL.

Villains (antagonists) cannot want what they want for no reason. “Just cuz” is not good enough. When storytelling, we must be capable of violence. That is the only way for the “happy ending” to have any meaning.

***And before you think this is only for gritty genres, remember most fairy tales have some pretty horrifying villains.

Even the most revolting people in all the works I have thus far mentioned, deep down, believed themselves the heroes of their own stories. No matter how horrible they were, they genuinely could not see themselves honestly. Their world was a funhouse mirror designed to warp them into something they were not.

That said, some characters deserve destruction for one simple reason.

They are beyond redemption.

They are the rabid dogs of fiction. Writers and audiences alike know that to let some characters live or remain free is unacceptable. They are poison.

Why schadenfreude is such an incredible literary device is because it speaks to justice, which is universal. When crafting a villain (or even side characters who serve as antagonists), what universal rules are they breaking? Why? How? Now, can you dig deeper until the pages BLEED?

Villains & Cognitive Distortion

To a degree, all characters in our story are dealing with cognitive distortions. If they aren’t, then they aren’t interesting. All humans struggle with personalizing, catastrophizing, minimizing, justifying, unattainable standards, wishful thinking, etc.

In fact, for your touring pleasure, here is a list of 50 Common Cognitive Distortions.

All characters should have a cognitive distortion–to a degree–because all characters should arc.

While the MC or other positive forces (allies), grow, mature and evolve, the villain does the opposite. The villain devolves. They become even more convinced of their righteous cause, even more controlling, raise their already absurd standards to new levels of ridiculous, etc.

Ideally, we will give some reason for why the villain does what he does or believes what he believes. While we might not be able to, say, empathize with the actual cognitive distortion, we (the audience) can empathize with either having experienced the distortion ourselves OR the reason for the distortion.

For example, I cannot relate to the same level of entitlement as Francesca Meadows in The Midnight Feast. I am not old money, reared to believe I am privileged and entitled BUT I DO viscerally remember the first time I met another kid named “Kristen” and the raw fury I felt that another kid in my preschool had MY NAME!

MY NAME. MINE.

It’s a silly example, but she had to be destroyed that childlike rage is something a good story can tap into to give us the proverbial “sympathy for the devil.”

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin

The Bible, in the Book of Daniel, tells the story of Belshazzar, who was King Nebuchadnezzar’s successor. Talk about a guy with an ego problem! He holds a banquet for all the nobility and thinks that calling for all the holy vessels from the Jewish Temple is a great idea…since they totally didn’t have enough cups *flips hair*.

What Belshazzar didn’t know—and likely would not have cared even if he did—was that he’d committed a great sacrilege. Y’all know the phrase we toss around, “Read the writing on the wall.” Well, this is where it comes from.

After Belshazzar uses all the holy vessels as Dixie Cups for his Meta-Influencer BBQ, a disembodied hand appears and writes Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin on the wall.

He can’t read the writing on the wall (nod to Shakespeare and IRONY) and calls for Daniel to translate the message, which was in Aramaic.

God tells Belshazzar that 1) his days are numbered (another nod to Shakespeare) 2) that his kingdom will fall, and 3) that he has been weighed, measured and found wanting.

There are good reasons that we find all the best stories mirrored in Scripture or Shakespeare.

Humans don’t change, and if humans don’t change, then—ipso facto—villains don’t change.

The entitled trust fund baby can genuinely believe they are “better” than others. Yet, though they are deeply believe they are better than others, they simultaneously fear their days are numbered. Frequently, they know that while they are better than everyone else, they’re never “good enough” for the person (people) who matters.

Additionally, with villains like this, their pride becomes their Achille’s Heel. They so wrapped up in their agenda, they are blind. Because they are blind, they cannot help but fall.

And none of us (readers) mind if they’re given a little push.

Schadenfreude & Catharsis

From Edgar Allen Poe’s The Telltale Heart to Kathryn Stockett’s The Help we audiences aren’t happy until there is some form of comeuppance.

***Ironically, in The Telltale Heart the MC is the villain. His own inborn sense that evil cannot go unpunished is the point of the story.

All stories are only as strong as their villains. If we are wishy washy on the villain, the rest of the book is bland. When we hold back on our villain, we inadvertently wreck our stakes.

There is something primal in all good stories. Humans have deep sympathy for the unavenged, the disappeared, and the disenfranchised. Every day, we see injustice and evil, and every day we know that the people causing much of this suffering will never be called to account.

Writers & Schadenfreude

Do you wield a little schadenfreude when you write?

I always find it a bit funny when readers ask if my villains are based on people I know because…DUH. YES. #SeriouslyDumbQuestion

Are they wholly patterned off ONE person? No. That would be copying not creating. They’re a collage of a million little events that made me…ME. And I get to enjoy a little bit if schadenfreude by casting them in my world .

*insert evil laughter*

It’s very therapeutic and cheaper than a defense attorney.

Do you see how just a touch of schadenfreude can also help with a “too perfect” character (maybe an MC)?

“Cutting someone down to size” is enjoyable in life and in fiction. Though we didn’t go into it today, can you see how schadenfreude can work in a redemption story, a love story, or wherever a character needs to grown and learn some humility?

I LOVE hearing from you!

Had you ever heard the term schadenfreude? Are you now committed to now finding ways to work this word into everyday conversation? Do you enjoy books and movies that deal out at least a little revenge?

Am I the only person who revels when a hidden cop pulls over a reckless driver?

Thoughts? Opinions? Favorite tales of schadenfreude?

And remember, my perennial author branding book, Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World and my mystery thriller The Devil’s Dance are both on sale on Kindle right now for only .99.

Whether it is comments, shares, sales, or reviews, these are the things that keep us content producers (and authors) going and able to keep delivering. I always appreciate your support and love being able to keep doing this for you!

The post Schadenfreude: Misfortune, Revenge, Justice & Catharsis appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Bad decisions make the best stories.

If we want to write about people who make the right choices, who plan their work and work their plan, who always keep a cool head, then that is the realm of self-help not fiction. Fiction is about good people—who mean well—doing selfish, foolish or downright dumb things.

When we have characters who have all the looks, skills, talents, and can be counted on to always do the right thing—and do it with poise and grace. This can morph into what is called a Mary Sue Character.

Granted, in the greater scheme of things, some decisions are better than others. Not all decisions are bad decisions if we have the right context.

Sure, if someone abandons a baby at our door, one might think that lighting up said baby with flamethrower is a bad decision…unless we learn that it isn’t a baby human, rather a baby demon (left there to kill us and eat our soul).

Context can make a huge difference.

This said, I imagine most of us don’t wake up and think, “You know what? I think I will do something epically stupid today.” The same thing goes for our characters.

Thus, while we need our characters to make bad decisions, we have to be really careful how and why they do this or we can inadvertently either make them tedious or Too Dumb to Live.

Both types of characters are hard to root for.

So, how can we organically create a character who makes bad decisions?

Use Emotion Amplifiers

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, creators of the incredible set of resources The Writer’s Thesaurus series (I strongly recommend buying them ALL) are releasing a new Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus in May.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this idea of emotion amplifiers because, if we even look at our own lives, how many times have we lost our cool, cut off a relationship, quit a job, or just made a royal mess out of everything because we were in a bad emotional spot?

Any other time, we might have handled adversity with dignity and aplomb. The problem is, when we happened to show our metaphorical butt, it wasn’t any other time.

Let’s say this is the week our lowly MC might have been struggling with a bad cold. But since people were relying on him and he’d never once been late or missed a day, he chose to go in anyway so he didn’t place an unneccesary burden on his coworkers.

Unfortunately, on the way to work, his car unexpectedly broke down and stranded him in triple digit heat. Since he’s been sick, he forgot to charge his cell phone, meaning he had to walk in dress shoes to get help.

Which, of course, made him late.

All that was bad enough, but then his boss chews him out in front of everyone on the floor and accused him of being—of all things—lazy.

I am banking that you guys are not perfect people. Perfect people are not my audience. So I’m fairly certain all of us can completely relate to this poor imaginary soul I just described.

Decisions and Dimension

Emotional amplifiers can make our characters a) far more relatable and b) far more forgivable. Writing fiction is hard. Yes, I know the rest of the world believes what we do is super easy, but yeah…no.

It can be really easy to fall into simply getting our MC (main character) from this point to this point to that point almost like we are following an instruction manual. And that is possibly fine for a first rough draft.

But then ask, “How can we deepen these characters?”

Throw in emotional amplifiers. They aren’t making decisions from an ideal place where everything is going well. In fact, in Act One, our characters should be, by and large, mostly, if not totally reactive.

They can be dealing with sickness, the climate (unusual heat wave), the strange/unfamiliar, stress, etc. etc. This is going to cloud their judgement and, when they do make “bad” decisions, the audience forgives them.

Remember, it isn’t as important how the MC starts a story as much as how they END one.

That is what makes a hero.

Aside from emotional amplifiers (going through a divorce, kids acting out, loss of a job, recent death, etc.) we can also remember that whatever scenario our MC faces…they should not be prepared to ideally handle it.

Even something as simple as a migraine or toothache can make life derail with a quickness.

Also keep in mind that your character is not the only on in your story with stuff going on. Yes, my imaginary MC above got a royal butt chewing from a normally reasonable boss. But, maybe unknown to the MC, his boss just found out his wife was leaving him right after the company owner gave the promotion he desperately needed to his hard partying kid to “teach him responsibility.”

Yes, bad days have a funny way of colliding with spectacular results and mayhem.

Ignorance and Bad Decisions

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes I look back at my life and wish I had a time-traveling DeLorean so I could zip back in time to kick my own @$$.

Now, back in 1995, did I think doing X, Y, or Z was a great (if not good enough) decision? Duh! Obviously. That is the b!t*h about maturity.

We only gain maturity through experience, and only gain experience by screwing up. The more we screw up—and learn from those bad decisions—the more mature we become. Which is all well and good once we’ve made it through the trial by fire in one piece.

Obviously, once we are on the other end of any catastrophic period of life, we can look back and slap our foreheads. The “right” answers seem so obvious.

Hindsight is 20/20.

In the meantime, our characters (like us) simply have to choose the best they know how and muddle through. They might have limited information, limited skills, or limited options.

Regardless, the MC believes at the time they are doing the best they know how.

The Best Decision Among Crappy Decisions

Here is another gem y’all might have faced. When we look at our life of the lives of those around us, we have to be careful. It can be easy to get all judgmental (or maybe that is just me). We like to think we would have done things differently.

Maybe.

This is where fiction is wonderful for developing human empathy. Sometimes all decisions suck. All that is left is to choose the least sucky of the list of sucky decisions, right?

This is where those emotional amplifiers can really come in handy. When humans are stressed, our bodies shift into what is referred to as “Lizard Brain.” This is survival mode and our mental drop-down menu limits us to three options: fight, flee, freeze.

If our character is under enough stress, they very literally may not see other options that, at any other time, would be obvious. So, while fight, flee, or freeze might be excellent options for outrunning a swarm of bees, it might be less of a bright idea when dealing with that difficult coworker.

Time is NEVER on the MC’s Side

Whenever I do book coaching, I have all my clients do a log-line. This is where you tell me your entire story in ONE sentence. Using this one sentence, I usually can spot why and where the author is struggling with their story.

Here is the formula I use to create a solid log-line (story).

Intriguing protagonist + active verb + core story problem (antagonist/Big Boss Troublemaker) + stakes + ticking clock.

If any of these elements is missing or weak, it will muck up a story. One of the most common pieces writers overlook? TIME. It is never your friend. Ever. Not in life and not in fiction.

Being rushed is one way a character can make bad decisions. Not only might the character be reacting (fear) but if they don’t have the necessary time to do the research, ask wiser mentors, war game out possible ways their decisions could go to hell in a hand basket…they are almost guaranteed to be making a “dumb” decision.

Bad Decisions Fire the Crucible

This applies to pretty much all characters, even when we are dealing with a series. Yes, in Book One, our MC will arc to a certain degree. In the beginning of the story, they should be missing some critical knowledge, training, maturity, etc. that would make them fail. The story crucible is what fires out the character impurities.

Yet, even if we have a series, our characters should ideally keep growing. Last post I mentioned one of my favorite epic high fantasy authors, Joe Abercrombie.

Abercrombie has some seriously bad@$$ characters. Yet, maybe the fighter with a reputation that withers his opposition still needs to learn a thing or five. Put him in a situation where those skills that served so well in a different time and place are actually a handicap.

Redeeming Mary Sue

Characters who always have the answers, who do and say the right things all the time are dull as dirt. Many new writers begin with a Mary Sue and then I have to go in and have them take away some of the shiny perfection.

That is normally what I recommend. Yet, there are ways Mary Sues can become fabulous characters. Maybe in their world they are perfect and know how to do everything expertly. But what happens when we toss them into a place that those “assets” are not only “detriments” but could get them and others hurt or killed?

The new Amazon series Fallout is wickedly great fun. Amazon MGM has done a fabulous job of employing a Mary Sue character in a wonderful, unique way that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Fallout is based off a video game and is a diesel punk fused with a post apocalyptic story. I promise not to ruin anything because at least the first season of the series was brilliantly executed (which, if you’re a die hard gamer, you know that is highly unusual for stories based off video games).

The MC Lucy MacLean grew up in a very 1950s world with almost a campy exaggeration of 1950s traditional American values. Good citizenship, manners, politeness, excellent hygiene, and friendliness are highly valued attributes and Lucy excels at all of them. In fact, she might even be viewed in her society as a “perfect” success.

Now, take this very clean, very naive and optimistic young woman and cut her loose in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Suddenly all those Mary Sue qualities that scored her top marks in Vault 33 very well could get her and others killed on the surface.

This (below) isn’t exactly what Lucy likely imagined when it came to her knight in shining armor….

Remember I said good and bad decisions rely heavily on context?

But, if Lucy hopes to survive in a world that has gone mad, then she will have to grow, change, and adapt. This is even more critical when considering, in this world, there aren’t really any good decisions…only the one least likely to end in disfigurement, dismemberment or death.

Yes, it has plenty of violence but it is that raw brutality juxtaposed to silly idealism that actually makes the Fallout story (and the characters) too good (or bad) not to love.

Thus, when you are creating your world, another great way to turn up the heat on a character is to give them some exemplary skills…that just do NOT work in the world/story they must navigate.

Just like Abercrombie’s Logan Nine Fingers, most ruthless fighter in the North, has to relearn how to get around when thrust into “civilization,” conversely Lucy MacLean learns pretty quickly that “Please” and “Thank you” and taking turns just ain’t going to cut it when everything from the mosquitos to the locals are trying to rob you, kill you, and maybe even eat you.

Any Thoughts About BAD Decisions?

Do you find yourself being too nice to your characters? Does it frustrate you when stories make it too easy on the characters? Can you see how emotional amplifiers can take a relatively normal situation and escalate the tension for some great story drama?

Any experience in life?

I LOVE hearing from you! What are your thoughts? Opinions?

The post Bad Decisions: The Crucible of Great Stories appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Crossroads refers, literally and poetically, to the place where at least two roads (paths, destinies, or decisions) meet. For over 15 years, all of my blogs have been on writing, the craft, publishing, and the writing business. I’ve also posted a lot on basically how to handle this thing called LIFE when one is called to talk to their imaginary friends for a living.

I’ve never posted any of my fiction as a blog post. But, in the spirit (no pun intended) of Halloween and to celebrate my book release—TOMORROW—we, too, shall pause at a spot where more than one path converges.

Instead of Kristen Lamb the teacher, today, is Kristen Lamb the storyteller.

And I promise to stop referring to myself in the third person…for now.

This is the opening section of the story that kicks off a horror/noir anthology I’ve created with the wonderful and talented Troy Lambert. The similar last names are merely happy coincidence, as well as our similar writing styles.

Before anyone freaks out over the idea of “horror,” our anthology–What the Hell Did I Just Read? Volume One—is written in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock, Black Mirror, and The Twilight Zone, not slasher horror.

No chainsaws…so far.

Thank you for taking a moment to read MY fiction for a change, though I always enjoy reading works from YOU guys (finishing edits actually).

The ebook is only $4 so help a fellow writer out. Even if you don’t like scary stuff, feel free to buy for the weirdo(s) in your life who does.

Without further ado….

Crossroads

The boy was the product of a traveling bible salesman who’d fallen in love with a prostitute. Story was his mama’d run away from New Orleans still covered in bruises from her last beating, a beating so bad she’d swallowed two previously loosened molars.

Hitchhiked as close as she could get to Houma before the pig farmer who’d offered her a ride panicked when she’d started talkin’ to people that wadn’t there.

Didn’t wanna get mixed up in whatever trouble the crazy woman was in, injured or not. Forced her out onto the weed-choked shoulder of a country highway before speeding off, her cheap high heels forgotten in the floorboard of his truck.

That particular July day was hotter than any she could recall. The road shimmered with heat that reflected down from a cataract white bowl of sky. Heat piled on heat piled on more heat.

She didn’t dare walk in the tree line for fear of missing her chance to hitch another ride.

Plenty of cars passed, but no one stopped.

So, she’d walked. Walked until she’d heard voices again, only those voices was different from the ones she normally heard. Nice voices. Sweet and kind. Voices she thought was angels calling specifically for her.

Who’s that young girl dressed in red?

She stopped short and gaped down at her threadbare party dress that reeked of old cigarettes and sadness. Absently, she fingered one of the few glorious glass beads that still clung to the ragged bodice. The baubles snatched up sunbeams then shattered them into crimson sparks. Her dress had once been so beautiful. So had she.

Must be the children that Moses led.

More singing. She shook her head hard, but the voices remained. Either she’d gone fully crazy or was dyin’. Perhaps both, only now she didn’t care.

Wade in the water. God’s gonna trouble the water.

The music intensified, a riot of notes lifting over the treetops like birds taking flight. The song drew her into the cool shadows, into the piney woods which she figured was a better place to die anyway.

Better to die on a soft bed of pine needles than on the gravel shoulder of a highway to nowhere. She walked as far as her legs would carry her; walked until she collapsed in the doorway of a roadside tent meeting.

She went looking for Jesus and instead found a husband, the handsome salesman who rushed her to the closest hospital.

***

Annalise Curbow was her name. Curbow, originally Corbeau, was derived from the Old French word corb, which meant crow. The boy always found it interesting that a group of crows was called a “murder.” 

They were also known for mating for life, but his mama hadn’t been that kind of bird and migrated far from their home near Shreveport two years after he was born. Left him in a Piggly Wiggly. Told the clerk she’d forgotten her purse in the car, asked if the clerk could hold him, then never returned. Left the boy, the old Pontiac and a hastily scribbled note with only two words.

“Forget me.”

This, however, was one thing the boy’s father could not do. His father insisted it had been the voices that had done it. The bad ones had returned and she drew her demons away, keeping the boy safe. She hadn’t left them, she’d saved them.

And for a long time, the boy believed him.

This was all the boy knew of his mama, other than his daddy would never give up trying to find her, propelled by a vision he’d received after a fast so long it nearly took his old man’s life before it gave him a word.

Forty days with only water. Madness. Yet there, at the edge of death, on the shoulder of the glory road, God gave him his answer. His beloved Annalise, wife and mother, would not be found in the world of men, only in the wilderness.

And they’d been wandering there ever since.

His daddy was good at hearing when he was called and following without question. He’d once been a top bible scholar, expert in the Old Testament and ancient languages, a distinguished man who’d walked away from a stack of teaching offers. He’d been called to minister to addicts and ex-cons, then to sell bibles, then to marry a hooker, and finally called to the wilderness to find her.

Leave it all behind in search of a promise. No longer a salesman, he became part father, part missionary, and part something dangerous.

His daddy had taught him how to read using an ancient King James Bible–one with all eighty books–in a one-room trailer on the edge of a swamp. They lived a few miles from a collection of buildings too small to be properly called a town, but still they’d named it anyway. The town was populated with a strange mix of those folks searching and those folks praying never to be found.

They’d fit right in.

He’d never gone to a regular school. By the time the boy was ten, he could read and write Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. No matter how much the boy protested, his old man insisted one could only properly grasp God’s word by going back to the original texts to the original languages used by the authors.

It wasn’t all bad. His daddy also taught him more practical languages. Taught him French and Creole, since they often left the trailer and the not-quite-a-town and drifted off the map completely to dangerous places only good for hiding. Places with their own culture, residents unable to understand English, and probably unaware it was the unofficial national language of the country they lived in. Most of the time, they spoke in the dirty bayou patois like those around them.

The boy and his father would haul dry goods, sweets, and textiles out to isolated pockets of filthy people in homes accessible only by boat. They’d be half-devoured by insects by the time they tied up to docks banked by cypress and guarded by gators. Homes on stilts rose like specters out of the swamps, wood buckled with moisture, the air saturated with briny sulfurous rot that clung to their clothes and invaded their pores.

They’d dine on whatever unlucky critter made it into the pot—possum, nutria, snapping turtle, alligator gar, snake, or all the above. Supper likely consisted of  some crawling creeping thing forbidden in Leviticus.

Not quite locusts and wild honey, but close enough. Had the boy known any other life he might’ve preferred to starve, but he hadn’t. He’d scarf down whatever meager meal was offered then go outside to play with children who toted shotguns and wore machetes slung across their backs.

His daddy might have formally been an expert in The Old Testament, but the old man read Revelations so much the sturdy linen pages were clean worn through in spots. His daddy was certain End Times were coming and soon.

Had seen plenty of signs when helping with missions in the big cities, witnessed first-hand humanity’s spiral into the darkest sorts of depravity. Dealt with more than a few dealers, pimps, and conmen. Though his father preferred peace, he was not entirely opposed to violence and had the scars to prove it.

He wanted the boy to be prepared for whatever came, because he knew something was coming. Insisted the boy know how to survive because civilization balanced on a matchstick. The boy eventually dismissed most of what his old man said, thought them the rambling thoughts of a brain par-broiled in the bayou heat.

Alas, when the boy turned twelve everything changed.

***

It happened shortly after his daddy dunked him in the shallows of Caddo Lake. Baptism. He’d broken the dirty water’s surface feeling much the same, save for being covered in mud and insect bites. There was no lighting of a white-winged dove, no sudden parting of the clouds, no grand transformation.

But after that, his daddy looked at him differently, began taking him even deeper into the darkness than he believed possible. Told him it was time to let go of childish things.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

His daddy finally was willing to take him beyond the boundaries set by innocence, places where spirits held more sway than Jesus. Dark disregarded realms of superstition and ghosts.

At first, the boy silently mocked these people with homes covered in bones and chalked symbols. He had no idea why his daddy would plunge this far into a place even God seemed to have forgotten. Began to wonder if God existed even though his old man heard God, talked to Him all the time, and saw Him everywhere.

But the boy did not.

All he saw was another day roasting in his boots and getting eaten alive by mosquitos big as birds. Another day in search of a sign that had not come in the twelve years since the promise was made to his father, and he was angry. They’d obeyed God and gone into the wilderness to find his mama.

Instead, they found…her.

TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS (at least as of tomorrow, October 24th)….

Grab a copy, HERE!

According to a study I just made up, “science” demonstrates people who buy and read Kristen’s books are 100% more good-looking and unusually witty and charming.

“Normal Posts” RESUME WEDNESDAY!

Thank you for indulging me, and I hope, if y’all ARE standing at the crossroads of whether or not you need another book? Yes…yes you doooooo.

Feel free to leave a comment if you like the story (so far). If you don’t like it? Don’t you need to organize something?

Anyway…

With NaNoWriMo looming in the near future, we’ll probably be talking tactics on how to prepare to actually write 50K in a month. For the record, when you write for a living, every month is NaNoWriMo, so it’s awesome practice.

I LOVE COMMENTS!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of OCTOBER, everyone who leaves a comment, I will put your name in a hat.

I actually have landed agents for people who’ve won this contest. Agents like me because I make their lives easier.

If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice.

What do you win?

The unvarnished truth from yours truly (and maybe even time with an agent).

I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less). People with superlative writing, I (with your permission) have been known to pass you onto an agent.

Anyway, I look forward to reading your comments and your writing!

The post Crossroads: Do the Dead Tell Tales? appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Darkest moment is a term you’ll hear a lot, especially when learning how to plot. Last post, we discussed how critical normal world is for hooking the reading audience early, then never letting go until THE END. Every piece of the “plot” serves a critical function and understanding that function, I feel, makes us better writers.

Oddly, as many years as I’ve been blogging, I don’t recall ever dedicating an entire post to exploring the “darkest moment,” what it is, why it matters, and the difference it can make in the overall quality of our stories.

Why “darkest moment” as a topic?

I can’t talk about it, but my family was hit with a major tragedy unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

At close to fifty years old, I’ve been through many losses, but nothing like this. Just imagine bad, then multiply that by a factor of a thousand. I only thought I understood the darkest moment until this summer.

***It’s okay. We’ll get through it. We are slowly righting from the blow, but it is/was…bad.

And, since we writers are a thrifty lot, nothing in life ever goes to waste…especially trauma.

What is the Darkest Moment?

Seems like a simple answer, but is anything but. Commonly, we hear that the darkest moment is that point in the story, close to the end of the book/movie, when the main character (usually the protagonist) loses all hope. We ALL know this point, even if one is not a writer.

All of us have watched a movie where it looks like the good guys totally have it handled, the plan is brilliant and SURELY they’re going to win.

But wait…there’s thirty-five minutes left in the movie.

We (the audience) inherently sense something is up.

The team is ready, we have had the montage and are ready for ANYTHING!

*sings* If you need to learn a lot in a really short time, you need a montage! A montage!

Or we read a book. Same thing happens. SURELY the character(s) have this down! What can go wrong? Except there’s another fifty pages remaining. Something definitely sus is going on there.

So WHY?

Everybody Arcs

A novel has a LOT of moving parts. Nothing about writing fiction is easy. We are tasked with creating a captivating story that can span anywhere from 50K to maybe as many as 200K words (think Lonesome Dove or Pillars of the Earth).

We need to have a plot, tension, conflict, relatable characters, great dialogue, immersive prose, pacing, theme, world-building, character arc, plot arc and on and on.

Also, the difference between reality and fiction is that everything in fiction has to make sense.

*nods to Tom Clancy*

In life, random bad things happen ALL the time. There is no rhyme or reason. In fiction, however, everything is cause and effect. Everything has to be planned (at least from our end, the author).

Whenever we come up with a plot/story idea, we have to cast the story. Ideally, the MC/protagonist lacks some critical element that would mean immediate defeat. The MC must endure the story gauntlet to even hope to succeed against the antagonist.

Maybe they don’t have enough knowledge, training, or confidence. Think newbie FBI agent, Clarice Starling, in Silence of the Lambs. Perhaps they’re a loner who needs to be better at relying on a team (E.g Tony Stark/Iron Man).

Perhaps they’re too clingy and need to venture off away from toxic “support” that is actually holding them back. Think Evelyn Couch in Fried Green Tomatoes (based off Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe) .

They have no choice BUT to evolve and grow. As the late, great Blake Snyder said, “Everybody arcs!”

False Gods

When I teach character creation, I challenge writers to ask one question about all the characters, but the protagonist and antagonist in particular.

What is their false god?

Can you name what THING the MC falsely believes is the solution to all their problems?

Is it more money, status, power? How many stories have we seen where an MC loses their way chasing power? Devil’s Advocate is a great example. The most powerful law firm on the planet recruits Kevin Lomax, a small town, idealistic young public defender who’s never lost a case.

Ultimately he has to choose between unlimited power and his conscience.

What about someone who’s false god is “freedom” which actually isn’t freedom at all, rather it’s really just avoiding responsibility?

In Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer, defense attorney Mickey Haller is terrified of responsibility. He never defends ANYONE he even remotely thinks is innocent and only takes cases for (basically) scumbags.

Why?

Because he did defend an innocent early in his career, lost the case, and the kid he defended is sitting on death row. He cannot bear to go through that again. Haller worships his self-delusion that he doesn’t actually care about innocence and guilt…but does he?

In Bridget Jones Diary, Bridget (NOT a lawyer) genuinely believes losing weight and finding love will make her whole. Her false god is this rather superficial view of life, love and romance.

Why False Gods?

If we look at all civilizations throughout human history, it’s easy to see that we are wired to worship something. What do “gods” usually have? Altars. What do worshippers place on an altar in return for “favor”?

Those things they prize the most.

Thus, if we have an MC who dedicates his life to being the best, the richest, the most powerful, whatever…what is he likely sacrificing on that altar?

Anything that actually is worth having: love, family, friends, relationships, etc.

Because he is (possibly) operating out of a WOUND (growing up poor), his vision is distorted as to what exactly he needs and what would ultimately make him happy/safe/fulfilled.

And I just gave y’all the plot to probably fifty Hallmark movies.

No shade on Hallmark, because they do a brilliant job of telling stories audiences love and can relate to. Even me, the gritty, weird horror/speculative fiction writer.

We all cheer when the filthy rich workaholic FINALLY has an epiphany that he’s empty and alone and has been accepting a shill over true bliss. His net worth might be billions, yet it is all meaningless without (insert whatever HERE).

And we can do this with all kinds of “false gods.”

Bridget Jones eventually sees the truth about Daniel Cleaver, the man she’s been obsessing over. He’s narcissistic and shallow (and, to her eventual chagrin, a reflection of who SHE is). Over time, as she matures as a person, she sees the “antagonist” Mark Darcy in a new light.

Darcy, a man that initially drove her to madness, actually is the real deal. He represents a romance with roots, one that can endure. Love isn’t always shiny with bows and ribbons and loving for the long haul requires learning to accept flaws (like her extra few pounds and Darcy’s often acerbic nature).

Darkest Moments are Pivot Points

Why the darkest moment is so critical is because it marks the point in time just before the breakthrough. Everything our MC has relied on–connections, money, power, family, bright ideas, super powers, good looks, charm, etc.—FAIL them.

When I teach structure, I “joke” that Act Two is really a bunch of increasingly dumber (smarter) “Bright Idea Fairies.”

The MC is still trying to do things the old way. BUT, if we do our jobs, we, as Author God, should craft an antagonist the MC cannot defeat until they gain a designated level of self-awareness.

If they are a loner, they cannot win unless they have a TEAM. If they’ve always used money to get out of everything, put them in a world where money means NOTHING (E.g. The Game).

In fact, the 1997 movieThe Game (image above) is a fantastic study in this brand of darkest moment. Nicholas Van Horten is just stupid wealthy. Everything (externally) has always fallen in place for him because he isn’t merely wealthy, he also comes from wealth. Problem is, he’s never dealt with his father’s suicide and how that impacted him.

We see his money and power as assets, when in truth, they’re a shell he can use to hide from his inner demons.

When his little brother, Conrad—the family screwup—gives him a GAME as a birthday present, Nicholas has no idea what to think about such a seemingly odd gift.

When does the game begin? How can he know?

This movie is from 1997 and it is still incredible because we watch Nicholas lose everything. In the beginning, he’s the guy with the private jet that can get into any restaurant without needing a reservation. By the end? He’s literally buried alive and has to claw out of a shallow grave (MESSAGE!).

Once free, he is dirty with no money, no shoes, no nothing. To get home to San Francisco, he must humble himself enough to beg for even the most basic of “luxuries” like food or a ride home. All these “things” he took for granted, he now must humble himself enough to grovel for if that’s what it takes to get answers.

Yes, spoiler alert, but y’all have had since 1997 to see it . Also, that isn’t the whole story so totally worth a watch and a study.

You Have NO IDEA Who You REALLY ARE

And neither do I.

Until we are tested, we have ZERO idea who we really are. I know that might not be popular to say, but it is true.

I would LOVE to believe that, if aliens invaded, or the zombie apocalypse hit, or whatever, that I would be noble, kind, just and brave. That is being human. We don’t want to think we’d be the one hiding under the bed, running away, or using that obnoxious neighbor as a human shield.

Should have picked up yer dog poo off my lawn, Buddy.

All kidding aside, we tend to have a far rosier view of ourselves than is usually accurate and that is okay. We also, conversely, underestimate what we might be capable of under the right circumstances.

Maybe we will be courageous. Perhaps we will do the right thing even when it will cost us everything. We simply don’t KNOW until those beliefs are tested.

For a great example? Bird Box (movie and book). The character, Douglas, though a hard pill to swallow, makes a lot of great points about this exact topic.

We have no idea what we are capable of doing—good and bad—until tested. Thus, the point of every (good) story is to show this aspect of life in distillate.

Audiences yearn to see that regular people can do extraordinary things or even extraordinary people have to learn lessons we mortals struggle with.

Come on! Even the Norse god THOR battles with pride, ego, arrogance, entitlement and being fickle and shallow. Yes, even the Norse god Thor loves his brother, hurts that his family is estranged, wants love and acceptance, and seeks deeper meaning to his existence.

Darkest Moment in Action

In my opinion, the darker the darkest moment, the better the story. This is the part where we cannot hold back. When I train writers, I have a saying, “Make it worse until you make it weird.”

We should throw everything including the metaphorical kitchen sink at our characters (the MC in particular). The story is the the fiery forge that is going to remove those character impurities and mold a lump of undisciplined, clueless blech and then allow conflict to hammer that MC into someone magnificent.

What refuses to bend eventually will…with enough heat.

We pile everything onto the MC (and allies) and at the end of Act Two, when the Bright Idea Fairy fails them all, we strip everything away.

The darkest moment is the critical point when the MC finally has a Damascus Road experience. The scales are removed from their eyes and, for the first time, they see the truth about themselves and others and how to be authentically triumphant.

Right after the darkest moment is when our MC finally transitions from a mere protagonist to being worthy of the title HERO.

We Develop in the Darkest Moment

Darkest moments are like dark rooms in photography. Very counterintuitively, we must immerse ourselves in the blackness to reveal the true picture.

I imagine most of us cannot make it too long in life without tragedy visiting. All of you have your stories, which is probably why you’re here. Writing is cheaper than therapy, right?

We love working through our traumas, heartaches, disillusionment by telling stories.

Which is great because humans are a story people!

Whether it is a cozy romance that reminds us love is still alive and romance still possible or an action-packed thriller where bad people get justice not plea deals.

We need catharsis!

Fiction operates in extremes. We love the characters who stand a snowball’s chance in hell (E.g. the Hobbits in LOTR), who have so much to learn that we have NO idea how they’ll survive. But they do. And they WIN.

Yet, we ALSO love the stories involving characters with everything going for them, who finally come up against a problem/foe that demands more than the obvious trappings of power (Dr. Strange, The Game, Stepford Wives, Game of Thrones).

Stories matter. What we write matters. Writers carry the torch of hope and, as long as there are stories, people will have footsteps they can follow from the pages into their own lives.

When We LOSE, We WIN

Fiction shows us that, no matter how bad things get, there is always a chance at a new beginning.

Ultimately, I believe hope springs eternal so long as there are writers in the world. Ideally, now that we’ve taken a deeper dive into what the darkest moment is, what it means and why it is SO important, you’ll look at your stories with fresh eyes.

Maybe people need to remember there is still goodness in the world, that good guys win, justice can happen, the odds are never too great, one is never too old or too young or whatever.

The darkest moments in life—and in story—often mean more than we realize.

The darker the night, the more spectacular the dawn.

What are YOUR Thoughts?

I’ve missed y’all! What are some of the most profound darkest moments you can think of in cinema or books? Have you ever had something happen in life SO AWFUL that the only way to make it make any sense was to turn it into story? What are some of your favorite comebacks? Any thoughts on the darkest moment at all? Y’all always have such brilliant perspectives.

I LOVE COMMENTS!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of AUGUST, everyone who leaves a comment, I will put your name in a hat.

I actually have landed agents for people who’ve won this contest. Agents like me because I make their lives easier.

If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win?

The unvarnished truth from yours truly (and maybe even time with an agent).

I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less). People with superlative writing, I (with your permission) have been known to pass you onto an agent.

Anyway, I look forward to reading your comments and your writing!

The post Darkest Moment: Why Losing Everything Matters appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

World-building is essential for every story, but obviously genre will have a major influence on how much our story requires. Setting, though not technically world-building, can also add an entirely new level of dimension to our stories. World-building is setting, but taken to a whole new level.

This might be a personal pet peeve of mine, but I HATE books that forget to add any setting. There are few things more jarring than to make it 20 or 30 pages in only to realize the story is set in winter, or in the 19th century, or the character is in a magical forest.

Yes, I know a lot of these details I ‘should know’ from the cover/story description. But, when writing, assume we bought your book in a garage sale with no cover.

World-building can be subtle or it can be SO expansive that the world, itself, becomes a character unto itself. Think Dune, Dr. Who, any popular Marvel or DC line, Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Stranger Things.

Yes, science fiction and fantasy are what most people think of when one mentions ‘world-building’ but techno thrillers like The Hunt for Red October or even crime procedurals like Rizzoli & Isles or NCIS also must create a world the audience understands.

Most people don’t automatically know how an autopsy works, or the inner workings of intelligence agencies and nuclear subs. This is where world-building is key.

World-Building Bible

Before we go any further, for the record, I have an upcoming class, World-Building 101 because this topic is way too expansive for one blog post. Today, we are taking a 50,000 foot view of the subject.

The more expansive your world-building, the more important it is to create a world-building bible (similar to a story bible). This is to help you keep track of what’s what and what isn’t. The more world-building we have, then the better records we need to keep. If we break our own rules, the readers WILL notice and they can be very unforgiving.

In your bible, you’ll detail out any magic or technology, how it works or doesn’t. This will make it simpler for you to go back and refer to as you’re writing.

Spells & Superman Syndrome

Fantasy can run the spectrum of how much detail is necessary. There are the quick ‘sword and sorcery books’ like the old Dragonlance series that really is pretty straight forward basic RPG-ish writing. Harry Potter? That is an entirely new level of detail. The more details, the bigger the bible.

Make sure magic has limitations and exacts a cost.

Characters that are too perfect are BORING. I call this “Superman Syndrome.” Superman was the first superhero as we know them in the modern age. Superman, over time, unlocked so many powers that, even the writers admit that it was incredibly difficult to tell new stories with this character.

He’s inhumanly strong, faster than a speeding bullet, could leap buildings in a single bound, and FLY and even REVERSE TIME!

Superman’s ONLY weakness was… kryptonite (an extremely rare substance, particles of his decimated home world).

ZZZZZZZ

In fact, back in the early days of DC, creators gave Superman every kind of power one could imagine and what happened? Readers (and writers) soon became bored.

Magic Needs Boundaries

The same thing can happen with magic. If a character can do everything and anything with just the wave of a wand or a quick spell, then they’re never really in peril. Neither are those around them.

Since peril is the lifeblood of story, we can unwittingly kill our story before it ever begins by making any character too powerful.

Thus, when envisioning how magic works, make certain it has limitations, requirements and that is might not be as dependable and the character would like.

As an Old School D&D Nerd (before it was cool), magic was dependent on mana, a form of raw magic one might liken to The Force in Star Wars. The more inexperienced a magic user, the less mana they had access to. This is what a) limits their spell casting b) the power/efficacy of a spell and c) duration.

A magic-user needs to level up, obviously. But, at least in D&D, they can meditate or study to learn more magic, level-up, and replenish mana. Few things are more frustrating in a battle than for your magic-user to redline on mana (since magic-users generally are not fighters).

But, say we leave D&D behind. One of my favorite examples of magic having limitations was in a series called Carnivale. Ben Hawkins finds refuge with traveling carnies during the Dust Bowl. He can heal the sick and even raise the dead…but at a price. He must ‘steal’ life from another source to ‘give’ life.

There is a powerful scene where a young child drowns in a stock tank. Ben revives the child and, moments later, all the fish in the pond float, dead, to the surface. This is why Ben must be extremely careful how, when, where and why he uses his power.

World-Building and Technology

Obviously, science-fiction is another genre that uses a lot of world-building. Again, one can keep it simple, such as is the case with Star Trek. Yes, there is a bit of world-building such as tricorders and dilithium crystals, etc. but it isn’t very in depth and largely relies on suspension of disbelief.

If, however, we get into hard science fiction, that is an ENTIRELY different group of fans (comprised of scientists, engineers, and tech people). Should we create some form of tech, we will need a certain degree of plausibility.

These are the fans who hate/make fun of Star Trek and love The Martian. Since science, math and technology are part of their day jobs, they are a tough crowd. Like doctors trying to watch House or actual detectives trying to watch Miami CSI.

Thus, when choosing what KIND of science fiction you want to write, make sure to keep the audience in mind when creating new tech. I read a lot of articles from Popular Science and Popular Mechanics to give me ideas of up-and-coming technology I can riff off of.

For instance, in the story I am working on, if someone loses a limb, the techs can simply use DNA and essentially a 3-D printer to create one that is good as new with nerves, sinew, etc. While ‘out there’ it really isn’t SO ‘out there’ one couldn’t make a good argument this could eventually exist.

World-Building: Go Easy on the Names

Whenever I read samples, in my The Write Stuff Special (going on now and only 10 slots until July 24th), I get a lot of fantasy and science fiction. One of my MAJOR bugaboos is too many names too quickly.

Remember, especially in the opening pages, we need to hook the audience. If we have to keep up with the name of five characters, a religion, a mountain range, a certain spell, a sword (that is called something other than ‘a sword’) it is a LOT of vocabulary hitting us at one time.

This will make it very easy to lose the reader. I am not saying we cannot have a zillion different names, just not on the first page, please. Also, when it comes to everyday items that are what we’d know on Earth, don’t feel the need to create new words for them.

Even on Earth, a cup has been a cup for centuries. A sword is a sword, a cape is a cape, etc. Though, obviously it is YOUR book, my recommendation is to save made up words for things that are unique. If it is a unique type of ceremonial sword, then fine, call it something else. Just remember your reader is there for a story, not to learn an entirely new language.

Even J.R.R. Tolkien called it a sword, a wagon, a road, a hat.

World-Building & Readers

Obviously, the goal of any kind of world-building is to a) help suspend disbelief and b) become a place where readers want to escape. This is where reading/watching series becomes critical. What are the books/series you love? WHY? Can you list elements that captivated your attention? WHY?

What sort of feel are you going for? Are there elements you can reasonably mix together? Hunter by Mercedes Lackey is a fantastic example of mixing ‘fairy tale’ monsters with new creations in a high-tech world. They use magic as well as traditional weapons like modern guns and knives and futuristic force fields.

A Little Bit of Hatred by Joe Abercrombie (Book 1 of The Age of Madness series) is much, much darker. There are kings and castles but also factories. So there is a bit of steampunk blended in. It is very, VERY graphically violent.

While Hunter is ‘violence lite’ and involves a far higher level of technology, A Little Bit of Hatred gives Game of Thrones a run for its money with gore, and the tech is all steam-based.

Not every reader has the desire to read something as weighty as Dune or Lord of the Rings. But, many do (obviously) or they wouldn’t be so enduring.

A lot is going to depend on your personal tastes. If you have not READ a lot of fantasy or science fiction with large-scale world-building, I’d hold off until you do. It is MUCH harder than just making up a bunch of funny-sounding names and tech.

Everything has Inherent Order

Believe it or not, even though we are allegedly ‘making things up’ we really aren’t. We need to draw from what readers already know so they have some sort of psychological tether. For instance, Dune is about rival houses, but the worlds eerily reflect the age of colonization and the battle over the Middle East.

Arrakis derives much of its beliefs, traditions, and ways of life from what might logically be derived from the Bedouin or other desert nomads. Since we mere Earthlings understand nomadic cultures, we have something to ground us.

Even if one is going to construct an alien language, language has inherent order and logic. Is your made-up language like English which basically just beat up other languages and rifled through their pockets for spare vocabulary?

Or is it more like other languages that have feminine/masculine/and neutral expressions? Even RUSSIAN has masculine and feminine.

Girl is pronounced DYEH-voosh-kah, and boy is pronounced MAHL’-cheek. Notice how, like many other languages, the feminine ends in an ‘ah’ sound. Word order will need to be consistent as well.

In English we have subject —> verb —> adjective—> direct object. Latin-based languages have subject —> verb —> direct object —> adjective.

I live in a white house (English), versus Vivo en una casa blanca or ‘I live in a house white’ (Spanish).

Even totally made up languages will need inherent rules. If we use this language for any amount of time, the ear will pick up on consistency and thus make it ‘seem’ more authentic because it will ‘sound’ like an actual language (just one we don’t understand). Keep this in mind for vocabulary as well.

Yes, I ‘learned’ Klingon back in my teenage years. One more thing that made being a Trekkie just that more fun.

World-Building Reality

World-building isn’t just for science fiction or fantasy. The regular everyday person doesn’t understand how crime scenes work (NCIS), how detectives do their job (Rizzoli & Isles), the way the bridge of a submarine runs (The Hunt for Red October), how pilots learn to fly fighter jets (Top Gun).

Even genres like mystery, thriller, suspense, will need a degree of world-building. I am from a military home and also have been a competitive shooter. Even NCIS sometimes irritates me.

You just positioned your agents on top of the building like that? You WANT a crossfire? Because this is how you get a crossfire.

It really is in the details.

If we set our story in another time period, appreciate that most readers (aside from history nerds) might not know the ins and outs of that age. Just be VERY CAREFUL about anachronisms.

Anachronisms are actually a bugger in pretty much all world-building. I once read a story that was set in King Arthur times (armor, knights, kings, castles), but a small boy was playing with a toy train. Um…NO. Unless the story is one of those creative hybrids I mentioned earlier? NO.

I hope this gives y’all a good start about what you need to keep in mind when building your world. Would love to see you in class, obviously. We’ll go into SO much more detail. World-building covers WORLDS so yes, it is a lot.

BUT, when done properly, authors have the pleasure of seeing fans in costumes, conventions, adding in their own fan fiction, etc. Our books can become a far richer experience that takes on a life of its own.

What Are Your Thoughts on World-Building?

What are some of your favorite worlds? Obviously, I LOVE Dune but I am a huge fan of Stranger Things’ Upside Down. I remember inhaling Dragonlance books like candy because I was a nerd when that wasn’t exactly cool and loved the escape. That and I had a crush on Raistlin Majere, thereby proving emotionally unavailable men are weirdly attractive to many girls and women.

I LOVE hearing from you! And if y’all have topics you’d like me to cover, put them in the comments. I am over 2000 blogs in and it gets a bit tough after a while.

Remember I am running The Write Stuff Special and grab a slot because there are only ten available and they fill up QUICKLY. In depth edit of your first 20 pages for $55.

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The post World-Building: Captivate Readers & Never Let Go appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

‘Gaslighting’ is a term I’ve used for YEARS. Oddly, however, until recently, almost nobody knew what the heck I was talking about. I would have to explain about the movie from the 1940s, based off a 1938 play Gas Light.

Anyway, it would just turn into a rambling conversation almost as awkward as when I pitched my first ‘novel.’

For those who’ve not seen the movie or the play, I strongly recommend it because it dovetails into what I’d like us to discuss today. My archives are bursting at the seams with posts on plotting, scenes and sequels, themes, setting, etc. And NOT to say I won’t write on these topics again.

But, what I am striving for here, is a truly MEATY blog that digs deeper, plumbs the depths of our psychology, and simply offers more.

***For instance, take my last post. How does our story/character(s) change if we introduce a profound mother wound?

Today, we’re going to talk about a staple character in fiction—the narcissist—and one of the most powerful weapons they wield to get what they want. Remember, I am not a psychiatrist, I just play one on the internet .

Really GREAT storytellers are masters at noticing and unpacking the human condition.

Psychologically healthy, stable people, who always make rational, responsible decisions make for boring stories. So let’s spice things up, shall we?

Gaslighting: What IS It?

Mental health professionals also refer to gaslighting as ambient abuse.

The mental health community, as well as popular culture, appropriated the term ‘gaslighting’ from the classic play/movie.

In the story, Gas Light, the female MC is newly married and her husband insists they move into her aunt’s London apartment. The aunt is recently deceased and has willed the apartment to the MC.

Since this is Victorian England, gas lamps light most streets and homes.

Put a pin in here.

Before roughly the 1950s or maybe a little later, it was not uncommon for male family members to commit female relations (wife, mother, sister, daughter, etc.) into insane asylums for any number of reasons that had NOTHING to do with mental health. The burden of proof for ‘insanity’ was extremely low, especially for the wealthy who could afford ‘care.’

Besides, good luck disproving a negative. If someone labels you crazy, the more you try to prove you’re sane, well, the crazier you look, right?

Anyway…

Back to Gas Light...

In the story, the husband—for reasons I won’t go into here—is actively laying the groundwork to have his wife committed. To do this, he would, say, give her a really expensive necklace. She’d tuck it away in her vanity then, without her knowing, he’d move/hide it.

Later, he’d manufacture a reason for her to wear the necklace, but of course it’s missing. Once she was good and hysterical tearing the house apart, he’d berate her for being so absent-minded, then smugly go to the vanity and—VOILA!

Guess what was there all along?

He’d follow these stunts with lots of comments to express his care. “Are you feeling well?” “You know how you’ve not been yourself.” “Why don’t you go lie down?”

Husband continues to move/hide paintings, furniture, jewelry, common household items and all along acts as if his wife is losing touch with reality. The coups de gras, however, is with the gas lamps.

Every evening, when he leaves for his ‘walk’ the gas lamps noticeably dim. Not only does this make it hard for her to see, but she’s also hearing noises/footsteps from their third floor (which has been closed off and supposedly has no outside access).

Suffice to say, Husband is waging a psychological warfare campaign to persuade his wife (and witnesses) that she’s losing her mind and, thus, needs to be sent away for professional care.

Gaslighting by Degrees

Just like last week, the way we might use gaslighting in a story can vary by genre. First, the narcissist can be represented by proxy. Used this way, the ‘narcissistic force’ believes the ends justify the means and is willing to fabricate the facts and ruthlessly enforce a false narrative to achieve certain goal(s).

In the classic dystopian novel 1984, the government is gaslighting the public.

Thus, if one is writing a political thriller, a dystopian, a science fiction, then a system/structure doing the gaslighting is a mainstay. Regardless what the ‘people’ in your story see with their own eyes, the propaganda machine is there to say it isn’t real and, therefore, something must be wrong with anyone who dares disagree.

Now, I know it’s very easy for us to say, “NO WAY! This could never happen to me.” But, I’d recommend reading up on the Asch conformity experiments. Solomon Asch wanted test the threshold of conformity, as in how long could we hold onto a belief before the group superseded what one saw as ‘true’?

To simplify.

I draw a line on a board that’s slightly crooked. I recruit hidden actors to say the line is straight no matter what. You, however, insist the line is crooked. So, how LONG do you maintain the line is crooked as more and more people join the group avidly claiming the line is, in fact, straight?

How long until you at least questioned what you were seeing?

Maybe YOU would never change your answers, but read up on the studies. The pressure to conform is more powerful than I find comfortable.

This said, gaslighting is a LOT more common in fiction than we might realize. “Area-51 is just a base.” “There’s no such thing as aliens.” “Bat boy doesn’t exist.”

***Okay, I know I lost some of you there. BATBOY IS DEF REAL!

How much of this gaslighting narrative creates the foundation for some of our most beloved sci-fi? Stranger Things, Stargate, X-Files, anyone?

Gaslighting is the beating heart of coverups and government conspiracies so obviously, when done on a mass-scale, it’s essential world-building for many genres.

But what about when we are dealing with individuals?

The Many Kinds of Narcissists

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a narcissist is “an extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance.” Not all are crazy or violent. Some are well-meaning (in their own minds) as we’ll see.

Their self-absorption can come from psychological immaturity or they don’t believe they can get what they want unless they manipulate. Not all narcissists are gaslighting ‘intentionally.’

Why am I mentioning narcissists? Because gaslighting is a go-to tactic for getting what they want. This said, there is a WIDE range of narcissists to work with, which helps because different genres require narcissists of the appropriate stripe.

If we are writing lighter fiction, say comedy or sweet romance, then simply adding in a person who only thinks about him or herself (without regard to any consequences) works great.

In the lighter genres, we are NOT casting someone with a diagnosable personality disorder. They’re simply self-centered to the point of social blindness.

Think about the comedy classic, What About, Bob? Bob (Bill Murray) is an overly dependent neurotic patient with obsessive compulsive disorder who tracks down his successful therapist when his therapist tries to go on vacation.

The blind spots alone in this movie make for plenty of laughs. But, Bob is SO dependent, so fixated on his own needs, that he cannot see how utterly inappropriate his behaviors are.

In a sweet romance, writers might cast the heartless boss, the mother who’s a relentless match-maker (because SHE wants grand-babies), or the ruthless workaholic investor who doesn’t care who he screws over to land the deal.

***And, before anyone shouts about cliches, cliches are cliches because they WORK. The kicker is writing them well enough that people don’t see them/or care. It is all in the execution.

Gaslighting and Story Problems

Thus, the heartless boss could claim he has no memory your MC had a wedding to attend and her carefully submitted forms don’t exist in the system. Either she works the weekend or she’s fired (tampering with her memory).

The matchmaking mother will claim total innocence, that all her meddling is perfectly innocent, when she knows full well it isn’t. But, needs must.

Our ruthless investor can act as if the property manager didn’t submit the historic papers on time, thus the property is to be demolished for a new condo.

All of these scenarios can be tweaked with casting, setting and we have countless variations to work with. Since the audience has likely dealt with a person in their REAL lives who have acted similarly, this creates resonance.

***For those who’ve seen Glengarry Glen Ross (image above), the entire plot is a gaslighting. There never were any good leads.

Gaslighting can offer up some rough gems we can shape and polish into a story worthy of every storyline from Hallmark, to slapstick to psychological mind-benders and blood chillers.

Comedy & Horror

Gaslighting is a go-to for the narcissist as a tool to get what they want. If we are looking at a comedic character like Bob, from What About Bob? then this is simply a person with highly a warped sense of reality. He projects whatever inappropriate action he’s doing as totally normal and insists it’s actually his target (the therapist) who’s not ‘seeing clearly.’

In fact, insisting someone isn’t seeing/experiencing something is a REALLY common comedy trope.

Tallageda Nights comes to mind.

But comedy and horror are the closest of bedfellows. What do you get when horror is TOO over the top? Comedy. Conversely, what about when a joke/prank goes horribly wrong? Horror.

Once you know what genre you’re writing and start to cast characters, you’ll know what sort of narcissist you’ll need and the ways they’ll use gaslighting to get what they want.

Obviously, as we tread into grittier general fiction, psychological thrillers, thrillers, suspense-thrillers, crime fiction, etc. the narcissist we’ll see more often is the clinical version. Someone with, say, NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder).

This manipulator might be gaslighting unintentionally but, for a good villain, that’s a hard sell. These narcissists see people as pawns to push around a chess board. Others are merely a means to getting what they want.

Narcissists and Gaslighting

Narcissists come in a variety of packages from the overly self-absorbed the ‘clinical’ territory (psychopaths). Psychopathy not a diagnosable mental health disorder according to the DSM-V, yet we all know this is a real thing and professionals can diagnostically measure via assessments.

For gritty fiction or any of the darker sides of the genre spectrum, the ways, the degree, and to what ends the narcissist gaslights changes accordingly.

First of all, a story is only as strong as the BBT (Big Boss Troublemaker). Not all BBTs are villains, though in certain genres, they usually are. This person forms the entire POINT of the story, so I strongly recommend reading the hyperlinked post above.

We (as a reader) must fear and respect the narcissist. Sociopaths and psychopaths are masters of manipulation. If we do our jobs right, our readers will be strapped into the Rollercoaster from Hell alongside your protagonist. WE should be questioning reality if your narcissist is worth his/her salt.

Gaslighting is a highly destructive tool that can cause permanent harm. Refer to my post about how lies change the structure of the brain. Remember the entire point of gaslighting is to make the victim (and those around who might possibly render aid) question themselves, their memory, their sanity.

What makes gaslighting particularly insidious is it extremely difficult to detect . For brevity’s sake, this post has a FABULOUS (okay, TERRIFYING) list of ways narcissists gaslight and the common things they say.

Gaslighting Escalates

Gaslighting always starts small. This is to test if the victim/target has enough self-awareness, strong enough self-esteem to call the narcissist on their bull$!@. Anyone can be a target. Your character might have been otherwise strong/self-aware, but has recently suffered a loss or major life change and is in an emotionally vulnerable state.

Narcissists smell blood in the water.

Frequently, the gaslighter will begin by simply denying your feelings/experiences. You are just so sensitive. Why are you blaming me for your ex? You’re too needy. No one wants you around because you’re too controlling.

***Keep in mind, if the gaslighting remains at THIS stage, alone, it can still be seriously damaging.

This then could possibly escalate to moving your belongings, only for those belongings to reappear in the original spot or some bizarre place no sane person would put that item.

Then, the items (usually something important/treasured) never reappear. The narcissist throws them away, pawns them, gives them away, or maybe keeps them as trophies.

Gaslighting can graduate to more obvious emotional and verbal abuse. The aggressor says the most horrible things, then when you get upset, they act completely befuddled why you’re upset and/or might flat out denying the event ever happened. They will claim you’re tired, over-sensitive, or can’t take a joke.

But, they don’t BEGIN here. They have to prime the person, have them good and rattled before bringing out the bigger guns.

Bigger Guns

A main tactic is to always keep you on the defensive. Remember what I said earlier, you cannot disprove a negative. Narcissists can be among the most dangerous people on the planet, so nothing is off the table when they lock onto their prey.

They’ll accuse the victim of lying, stealing, cheating, not loving them enough, not being attentive enough. And they will do so in ways the victim cannot make a viable defense.

A lover might accuse her partner of cheating, but when he shows her his phone to prove his innocence, she waves a receipt for a disposable phone. One that, of course, HE didn’t buy, but good luck proving it.

The goal is to have the victim SO rattled they are hyper-vigilant and always a) gathering evidence of their innocence or b) actively trying to do ‘enough’ to appease the narcissist.

They dance and dance and dance because, over time, and without knowing, they’ve turned into a puppet the narcissist can make perform on a whim.

Character Assassination

Should the narcissist launch a particularly viscous gaslighting campaign, be certain they won’t do it alone. They will enlist others to buttress their version of reality. The more witnesses on their side, the more the victim spirals into despair and self-doubt.

If you have one glass of wine at home with dinner, the narcissist might do something horrible then a) claim it never happened, you were too drunk to remember b) play the victim because you were blackout drunk. No matter how much you protest you had ONE glass—or even NO glasses of wine—who is going to believe you?

If you’re at home, he’ll have the ‘evidence.’ If you’re out with friends, the narcissist will suggest (compassionately and with deep concern) that you’re a closet alcoholic. He’ll be the long-suffering companion who’s still supporting you even though you cannot see you have a problem.

Look no farther than the psychological thriller The Girl on the Train for prime examples.

Should your MC take any type of medication—psychiatric medication in particular— that can/will be easily weaponized. God forbid your MC have any displeasing emotion—sadness, disappointment, righteous anger—lest the narcissist ask if you’ve taken your meds.

Gaslighting & Weaponizing the Well-Meaning

Narcissists can use gaslighting to weaponize well-meaning people. Say, the MC has had enough, is wise to the game and *cringes* confronts their abuser. Do NOT put it past the abuser to inflict some sort of self-injury then call the authorities claiming THEY are the victim.

Police are unlikely to have much sympathy for the person who isn’t bleeding and bruised and claiming the ‘victim’ ‘threw themselves down the stairs.’

Or maybe the narcissist lovingly brings your MC a glass of juice, but it’s filled with crushed Xanax (for which your MC has no prescription). The abuser calls the ambulance in the nick of time and insists on a psych hold and drug counseling. They had NO idea the MC was on PILLS!

Once a person hands any abuser the keys to the kingdom regarding their SANITY? Good luck digging out of that. Medical personnel, social workers, mental health workers can all become benevolent soldiers in the narcissist’s campaign.

And, once a narcissist has their victim publicly labeled as mentally unstable, unable to care for themselves, an addict, an abuser, a pervert, a cheater, a liar, a thief? There is almost no end to the level of destruction they can unleash.

We’ll talk more on that on a different post.

In the End

Gaslighting is only one of many tools a narcissist can use to get what they want. Again, remember your genre. In Season One, Episode 19 of Desperate Housewives, Susan’s mother is ditzy, immature, self-centered, over sexual and has zero respect for boundaries.

So, Susan’s mother ambushes her with two men in the living room, Mom insists she was trying to HELP! It was a double date, and Susan is the one always overreacting and a stick in the mud.

This is a FAR cry from the gaslighting psychological warfare campaign in far darker stories like Misery, Fear, Sleeping with the Enemy, or Single White Female. In books? Aside from the dystopian mainstays, I recommend Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Guest List by Lucy Foley, I Eat Men Like Air by Alice Berman, and Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeny to name a few.

Thoughts on Gaslighting?

Did you know what gaslighting was? Are you surprised to see how common it is in fiction? Did learning about the different types of narcissists and the way they mess with reality spark any good story ideas?

Anything y’all would like to add? Obviously, for time’s sakes, I cannot cover everything, so feel free to chime in.

I love hearing from you, and to show my appreciation…

CONTEST

What do you WIN? For the month of MAY, for everyone who leaves a comment, I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice.

The Prize?

The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

***April’s winner is Maria D’Marco. Thank you for your comments! Please email your 5,000 word WORD doc, double-spaced, Times New Roman, to kristen at wana intl dot com. Put CONTEST WINNER in the subject line so I can see you.

CLASSES!

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The post Gaslighting: Narcissists & Tampering with Reality appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Personality traits make for not only a fascinating study, but have continued to be at the heart of spirited debate since probably the dawn of time. What makes up our personality? Where does it come from? Is it malleable? What forms our personalities? Nature, nurture or both?

***Apologies for the delay between blogs. Hubby and I both caught COVID at the same time and it turned into pneumonia. We’ve been sick so long I am pretty sure my son (Spawn) was on the verge of going feral by the time I had enough strength to actually cook a meal instead of leaving him to forage.

Anyway….

I am one of the worst people in the world to get sick—that ‘personality’ thing. It takes forever for me to recover because of my pathological guilt that I am not cleaning, cooking, working, and doing all the things I normally do to take care of others.

I’ll get to taking care of myself one day…one day.

As I have ‘joked’ about previously, I am not Type A, I am Type A+ because I actually took time to do the extra credit. This, among other recent events, got me thinking about personality.

During my tenure of staying in bed (and praying for death), I watched a lot of television. I don’t watch television like normal people, because I am still working. I’m breaking down structure, making notes, paying attention to dialogue, etc.

Why do I mention this?

Because we happened to watch an episode of Bull where they mentioned the Mach-IV test.

Personality Confessions

I don’t know about y’all but I love personality tests. From the Myers-Brigg (dead split between INFP and ENFP) to the Enneagram (a 2, ‘The Helper’ or an 8, ‘The Challenger’ depending on the day), I’m captivated when it comes to learning more about myself and others.

Yes, I am one to pester friends and loved ones to take a personality quiz. I find it so interesting to see not only why and where we connect but to also see why and how we fail to understand one another.

For instance, my personality is comfortable with making decisions off gut instinct and intuition….which is a great way to make my husband break out in hives. By understanding how his personality differs from mine, I know that if there is a big decision to be made, ideally I’ll present him with charts, graphs and articles.

Back to the Mach-IV test.

How Machiavellian Am I?

As I mentioned, Hubby and I were both sick and watching the show Bull. Bull is a trial scientist and his specialty is choosing the best jury for the best outcome. In every show, he psychologically profiles his ideal jury pool. In this particular episode, he needed a jury of people who would be sympathetic to a person breaking the rules for the right reasons.

Niccolò Machiavelli was a Renaissance political philosopher who’s responsible for the phrase, “The ends justify the means.”

Obviously, this T.V. episode is where I learned about the Mach-IV test, and, because we weren’t doing much of anything else, Hubby and I both took the test.

My results? Um…let’s just say that Uncle Nicky would be very, very proud.

Yet, after taking the test—which might lead one to believe I am a functioning sociopath—it really threw me for a loop. Why? Because, if anything, I am the antithesis of what this ‘personality test’ claims I should be.

Being the Queen of Overthinking I wondered how this could be. Then I thought about the test. All it scores is what I believe to be true. There is no allowance for how I then filter that information through my moral matrix and then translate this into how I then ACT.

Taken at face value, one could (as I mentioned) believe this test shows I am a functioning sociopath. But, viewed another way, it can also mean that I am very jaded about the human condition and that is why I often overcorrect.

What Do I BELIEVE?

If you go take the Mach-IV test you could probably end up with vastly different scores depending on how you approach your answers. They give a fairly broad scale for answering from ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Moderately Agree’ all the way down the line.

Whenever I take tests I make it a point to avoid overthinking. I also rarely hedge my answers. Ironically, that is how I am in person. I generally will ‘Strongly Agree’ or ‘Strongly Disagree’ on pretty much everything (unless I know nothing about the topic). So these two factors alone probably impacted my score.

When I get a ‘question’ like: Honesty is the best policy all the time.

Are you NUTS? NO! If I were in wartime Germany hiding Anne Frank in my attic and the Nazis stopped by? Trust me, I would have been lying my tail off.

But look at the wording of the question. It states honesty is best all the time. Just because I believe that honesty all the time is a stupid policy doesn’t mean, by default, I believe in dishonesty as my go-to policy.

Long story short, I believe the test revealed more cynicism than psychopathy.

Personality & the Moral Matrix

And obviously, this is what started my overthinking. I was rather horrified when I saw all the articles and blogs about how those with high scores were natural con artists, bad company, opportunists and horrible human beings in general.

Just because I strongly agree that “It is wise to flatter important people” doesn’t mean I am wise. In fact, I’ve lost count of how many ‘opportunities’ I’ve missed out on simply because I flatly refused to “flatter important people.” Would it have been wise? Sure.

But I’ve had a lifelong habit of being very, very ‘unwise.’

I don’t want any advantage or benefit that I cannot earn honestly. In fact, not too long ago I even blogged about turning down the chance to make a LOT of fast cash and ‘earn’ the title of USA TODAY BEST SELLING AUTHOR in front of my name. Why? Because the whole plan seemed shadier than a guy in a panel van giving away Rolex watches in Gucci handbags with the purchase of a pound of ground beef.

I blogged for almost a year shaming the whole FREE and exposure dollar BS. Would it have probably been wise for me to flatter the likes of Arianna Huffington? Probably. I sure would have been called the ‘c’ word a lot less (‘caring’ NOT that word).

My point in all of this being that two people can have the exact same ‘personality’ yet be different in every way. We all have a moral matrix, a filter that impacts how what we believe, that then translates into our actions and behavior.

Which is probably why personality tests are so interesting. What I didn’t really like about the Mach-IV test is every other ‘personality’ test accounts for the good and the bad. The Myers-Brigg gives a profile of what each personality type ‘looks like’ when they are healthy versus when they are ‘out of whack.’ Same with the Enneagram and most other personality tests I have seen.

Apparently the Mach-IV test doesn’t believe there is such thing as a healthy cynic, which brings me to my point about character creation….

Personality and Characters

The other personality tests I have taken didn’t throw me into a tailspin of self-evaluation, in large part because most of them aren’t so black-and-white. High Mach-IV score = con artist psychopath and low Mach-IV score = good and kind human.

But let’s take the idea of the Mach-IV test and look at how we can apply this to character creation.

Often the antagonist is the shadow side of the protagonist. The villain is the shadow self of the hero. Ironically, this duality and mirroring is what a) makes for fantastic conflict b) drives the protagonist to arc and change and c) keeps the antagonist (usually a villain) at a disadvantage.

I caveat that last point for a reason. First, not all antagonists are villains (check out my blog on the Big Boss Troublemaker) and usually villains do not arc. This is what, ultimately makes them weak enough to be defeated by a fully self-actualized protagonist.

Obviously most people don’t score high on the Mach-IV test. They give a bell curve of how most people score at the end, but the best fiction usually operates in extremes, characters included.

In fact, two of the most famous characters in literature probably would have had identical scores.

Sherlock Holmes & Professor James Moriarty

From the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle series to the BBC series with Benedict Cumberbatch (my favorite), the famous consulting detective regularly crosses swords with his mirror twin and consulting criminal, Professor James Moriarty.

Ironically, the very quality that makes Sherlock ideal to hunt down Moriarty is the quality they most share. They are both high-functioning sociopaths. Sherlock is willing to lie, manipulate and break every rule to attain his desired result. Like Moriarty, he believes the ends justify the means.

Unlike Moriarty, however, Sherlock is bound by a strong moral compass. There are some lines he won’t cross…which is what places him, ON HIS OWN, at distinct a disadvantage when going against his arch nemesis.

But we can’t have Sherlock too perfect. What makes him an excellent consulting detective also makes him struggle when it comes to interpersonal skills.

***I’ve read the originals and Sherlock was actually ‘too perfect’ of a character. He was much kinder and nobler than one could pull off with a modern audience. I believe contemporary versions of Sherlock have actually played up the ‘high-functioning sociopath’ angle much more than the original stories to make him more flawed.

Balance the Party

If I just stated that Sherlock—by virtue of having a moral compass—is automatically placed at an inherent disadvantage when pitted against the cold-blooded Moriarty, then how can Sherlock ever hope to win?

Sherlock has a level of self-awareness Moriarty will never possess. While the great detective knows he has almost no intellectual equal, he also appreciates he can’t rely on brain-power alone.

There is more required if he wants wants to win the war, not just the battles. Sherlock has the ability to set his ego aside, recognize potential deficiencies, then use those around him as a bulwark.

This is why Dr. Watson makes such a terrific foil.

Sherlock understands his lack of compassion—which translates into terrible people skills—can be a hinderance. This is why Watson acts as a) a sort of angel on his shoulder to whisper in his ear and b) someone to smooth ruffled feathers after Sherlock has trampled all over their feelings.

The same might be said of Detective Lestrade. Lestrade frequently serves as an interface between Sherlock and the public and the legal system. He also runs interference when Sherlock is his own worst enemy.

Conversely, Moriarty revels in his superiority and is only content to be a puppet master. Lacking even a modicum of self-awareness cannot help but eventually weaken any advantage he might gain simply by being the ‘most ruthless.’

Personality & Conflict

Conflict is what turns pages. It is also what turns a reader into a super fan. We, as writers, no longer have the luxury of taking our sweet time to hook a reader then never let them go.

Conflict is more than just ‘bad things happening.’ If we want to keep our readers up until three in the morning—simultaneously hating and loving us—we need to maintain constant tension.

Obviously, we have to pace this or it will wear the reader out. Think bad action movie.

Another car chase?

Yet, bookmarks = DEATH. Ideally, we will leave no ‘good spot’ to stop reading. One of the best ways to inject tension we can easily ramp up or taper off is in the interpersonal realm.

How do the characters’ personalities compliment/clash? This is how we can create tension on multiple levels.

As we see with Sherlock and Dr. Watson, they are polar opposites. While both have admiration/respect for one another, they clash all the time with each other as well as with other characters within their orbit.

Sherlock stampedes over the feelings of key witnesses and Watson has to step in to do damage control. Or, Watson loses his cool and costs them vital evidence/time. Sherlock then has to up his game to make up for his friend’s rashness.

Use the Science & Study Personality

Early on, I mentioned a couple of the most popular personality tests. When you are crafting characters, try using these tests. What are the personality types most likely to get under their skin and why? How do they make a character stronger or weaker? In what ways do they ‘push each other’s buttons’?

As I mentioned in the beginning, I am an ENFP. I’m extremely comfortable making snap decisions without fifty pages of research, but that is why two of my closest friends are INTJs.

I ALREADY KNOW Grace and Cait are going to do the fifty pages of research on every bit of minutiae, so when I need information quick? I call them. They’re wonderful treasure troves of go-to data.

Sometimes, they need to make snap judgements with little prep. Who do they call? Me.

Our differences are also where we most clash.

I might want to get to writing something instantly, but Cait makes me wait for her to go do all the research and fit all the pieces together. It makes me bananas because I am a GO GIRL. Yet, ultimately she saves me a TON of time and mistakes by so heavily front-loading what we do.

When it comes to the Mach-IV test, one of my closest friends Beth scored as a low-Mach. We balance each other out fantastically. When I am too dour? I know I can call her and she will buoy my spirits and remind me why I love helping people so much.

Conversely, when she has a new and shiny idea, I’m the one to make sure she takes into consideration legal and market considerations to protect all her hard work. I often worry I’m being a Debbie Downer, but I care enough to warn her about potential risks before she’s too vested.

In the End

Remember that most great stories ignite in the extremes. A MAJOR issue I see with new authors is they frequently don’t go extreme enough to capture interest. Yet, we also have to balance out these extreme characters because what makes them great, can also undo them (again, think Sherlock). They very often are their own worst enemies.

Make sure to check for any character redundancies. That is another problem I see in new or weak writing. Often there are two or more ‘meh’ characters that could be combined into a singular personality that would be far stronger.

What Are Your Thoughts?

I LOVE hearing from you! Do you enjoy personality tests? Have you found them to be fairly accurate? Are they a good way of seeing your strengths while also diagnosing your weaknesses?

Do you see how this might be a useful tool for creating characters? I often find characters in film and literature when I am crafting something for fiction, then cast from there. Why reinvent the wheel? The wheel works. If we study the books, films, show that had us biting our nails unable to stop, then they might be at least worth studying and using a similar template.

What are some of your favorite duos or casts where the differences in personality made the story come alive? From Deadwood to Ozark to The Office to Buffy the Vampire Slayer I can think of many great casts to work from.

So again, any thoughts, questions, opinions? I do love hearing from you.

What do you WIN? For the month of MARCH, for everyone who leaves a comment, I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice.

What do you win?

The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

***I will announce previous winners next post and will have new classes available soon.

The post Personality Traits: Creating Dimensional Characters appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Change is one of those concepts that gets a mixed reaction. Depending on personality and/or age group, change could be welcomed…or greeted with a metaphorical shotgun at the metaphorical door. While change is necessary for all living things to grow and thrive, plants have proven far more open to this notion than people.

I’m betting it’s because plants don’t overthink everything…unless they’re orchids which are high-maintenance and die while writing bad haiku (if they had hands and pen and paper).

Existential plants have a far tougher time, unlike weeds. Weeds just roll with anything that comes their way, and that’s why we can pour concrete over them and it’s no big deal. They simply mumble to the nearby crabgrass, “Hold my beer and watch this!”

*makes crack in new driveway* I’M BAAAAAACK!

All kidding aside, many writers miss the point of a story. Stories are about change, and the more the protagonist (and, to be blunt, all members of the cast) change for good or bad, the better.

Change & Plot

I know what it’s like to have writer brain. We see the world VERY differently than ‘normal’ people. Some see a roll of old carpet at the curb? I’m counting if all family members are present. Just yesterday, I had some fun over on Facebook with this…

I’m not shocked how many comments this received, nor am I surprised how many of us had already thought this out ahead of time. But, I think this makes my point. Authors (creative people in general) see the ordinary world with a very ‘unique’ set of eyes. We ask the strange, odd, and uncomfortable questions.

This said, while the idea of a possessed SmartHome is cool, it’s only a start. Stories always have to be about people and the ways the story problem forces them to change. Without that? We don’t yet have what we need for a great story.

It’s like having an idea for the world’s greatest chocolate cookies then forgetting to list chocolate in the recipe.

As a writer, I am bombarded with ideas all the time. So many that I often give them away because I’d need more than one lifetime to write them all. While a story idea is a good place to begin, it isn’t a plot. It isn’t yet a STORY.

The story is how a PROBLEM is going to force the MC (main character) to change into a hero by act three.

Uninvited Change

The greater the change, the bigger the payoff at the end when the reader turns the final page. Don’t believe me? Alrighty. My story is about a happily married woman who homeschools perfectly behaved kids and her goal is to have a vegetable garden because she doesn’t appreciate nature enough.

Y’all ready to preorder?

But what if my protagonist, Kristen, BEGINS as this person—happily married to her high school sweetheart, perfectly behaved kids, popular blog about homeschooling, and she simply believes the garden would add a nice touch. They HAVE been cooped up too much since COVID.

***I’m using my name for irony and also we’ll pick on me so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Other than ‘wanting’ a garden, Kristen’s life is perfect. She doesn’t believe she needs or wants change. Everything has a place and life runs with perfect precision.

***Need a moment. Stop giggling. I’m good now. Carrying on…

Now, throw a ROCK in this. Kristen doesn’t believe she needs to change, but what might be her blindspot? Maybe she’s controlling. Perhaps she gets all her worth and value from achievement, but deep down feels like a failure.

Strip away what she takes pride in, and how does she handle it? What if she really is a wonderful wife, mom, teacher, etc., but she’s always longed for adventure but has been so afraid of failing she’s never bothered to try?

Locate the Blindspot

When you find the blindspot, it’s easier to see which uninvited change needs to come crashing into Kristen’s life. For more on this, I recommend a previous post The Johari Window: Understanding & Harnessing the Character Blind Spot.

If she’s controlling, take–no RIP–away her control…and keep on ripping. Make it worse until you make it weird.

She logs on to pay the bills, but all the bank account are empty. Kristen calls the bank and they give her the runaround. Furious and panicked, she tries to call her husband to see if he can fix the problem, but his cell is off.

She calls his work only to find out through a mutual acquaintance who works there that her husband was let go almost six months ago. Kristen, already freaking out, calls a neighbor to watch the kids so she can look for her husband and get some answers.

That is, until she opens the front door and a strange woman in a blue dress greets her on the doorstep. The woman, who introduces herself as Cait, informs Kristen they’re both married to the same man. She produces a folder filled with photos, marriage license, banking records, etc.

What is even worse? Cait isn’t certain they’re the only two wives. She’s managed to find proof he’s married at least three other women over the past fifteen years, but it gets worse.

All three other wives are deceased, their deaths ruled an accident.

This is just an example, but see how Kristen believed she had everything under control, but the inciting incident is a tectonic shift that fundamentally alters her world?

Who she is at the beginning will be a very different person than the woman at the end of the story…and her husband might very well be buried beneath the vegetable garden.

How the story progresses will, again depend on genre.

This could be a mystery-thriller, where Kristen and Cait hunt down a murderous bigamist. THAT will make a heck of a blog post!

But what if Kristen turns to lock the door, only to turn around and Cait and her thick folder of ‘proof’ are gone? All that remains is a giant puddle of muddy water with river reeds on the porch, a pair of garden shears tangled in the detritus.

Now we could shift into supernatural, horror, mystery-thriller with supernatural elements. Y’all get the gist. The point is that Kristen DID NOT WANT to change, but something SO BIG has landed in her life, she might very well be risking her LIFE if she fails to pay heed.

Desired Change

In our above example the protagonist believes life is fine and wouldn’t change a thing (until the story problem FORCES her out of her comfort zone). But what if Kristen wants a change?

Maybe she’s happy enough with her life, but feels as if she’s fallen into a rut. While she might be more open to change, as Author God, DO NOT BE NICE. NICE is for scrapbooking clubs, not for people who build worlds!

You have to break a few lives to make a novel.

Where was I? Yes…

First of all, any potential change should NOT be what SHE believes should change. Ideally, it will be something she’d rather have left well enough alone.

Secondly, the change, again, will have to emanate from the blindspot. The MC will and should resist stepping out of what they know, even if what they know totally sucks. And YES, even when they desire change. The more the MC kicks and screams and makes excuses? The better *evil laugh*

Thirdly, the story problem should cause maximum discomfort for maximum growth. Stories are, fundamentally, about PROBLEMS that DEMAND A SOLUTION. While description, setting, and fancy wordsmithery (yes, it’s a ‘word’) are great, they are not a story.

Stuff Happened…Then More Stuff Happened

Too many ‘new’ writers fail to appreciate how complicated writing a story actually is. We are creating people, worlds, relationships, situations that have never existed before and never will again all using combinations of 26 letters. More like 23 letters since Q, X, and Z are all but useless most of the time.

Suffice to say that writing great stories is actually extremely difficult, despite what the folks around us like to say. How many people told you they’d write a novel too, but they’d never had enough time.

2020. Mandatory lockdowns. *taps foot* SO! Where are all those novels ‘just as good as J.K. Rowling’s’?

Point made. Moving on…

What writers do is light years from ‘easy,’ and has little to do with time. We don’t find time, we make time, but that’s another gripe blog. As writers, give yourselves permission to be new, to grow and learn and experiment.

Understand the odds of your first novel being a mega-runaway classic are the same as me taking up dancing with venomous snakes while cleaning house (highly unlikely…but feasibly COULD happen, which is why Hubby can’t get life insurance on me ).

***Do the mambo with your mamba! I’ll stop.

All this aside, most writers miss the point of what story is. It’s more than putting words on the page, more than description. Stories are about bigger, and bigger, then seemingly insurmountable problems until WINNING!

As an editor for over fifteen years, most new manuscripts are simply stuff happening. Characters talking, eating, shopping, more talking, more eating, more shopping. Or if it’s fantasy or science fiction, it’s a world-building dump that reads like Wikipedia with dragons or spaceships.

There might be a wonderful backdrop, lovely prose, incredibly imaginative world, but readers cannot emotionally connect to any of this. It’s why movies have PEOPLE in them, as in more than ONE. Yeah, that’s the CONFLICT part.

Even Castaway would have been a snooze-fest without…WILSON!

*sobs*

Know what you call a ‘story’ without people? A SCREENSAVER.

What do you call a novel without problems? Filler. Who wants to eavesdrop on a lunch/shopping trip with strangers unless something juicy happens?

Problems & Change

Circling back to where we began, change is always the goal. Change is what makes a story dimensional. Sure, I could write a mystery and have all the elements—a crime, red herrings, the solution—and that’s good enough. But to take the story to the next level, what does solving the mystery COST the person solving it? How does it change him or her?

This runs across all genres, especially when we look at the great works. In Andy Weir’s The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney is abandoned alone on Mars when his crew mistakenly believes him dead during an emergency evacuation. The obvious story problem is to a) stay alive and b) maybe get home to Earth.

But the reason the story has such resonance, despite all the super heavy science, is Watney had always believed himself to be the least valuable member of the team.

He was ‘just’ a botanist.

Yet, it’s the very skills he believed so ancillary that actually help him survive long enough to make it home. Had his expertise been in an area he’d considered ‘more valuable’ before the disaster, he probably wouldn’t have survived.

Watney not only triumphs in the end, but he also grows in confidence and resilience because of the story problem.

Hell House

With our possessed/malevolent/malfunctioning SmartHome, it’s a cool idea, but who’s the best candidate for an MC? Sure, we could trap a family in there and ‘have fun’ locking them in the garage while the house drains the water heater and ups the voltage on the wall sockets…but we’re writing novels, not SAW XXIII.

This (above) is a bad situation, not authentic story drama.

Depending on genre, we can have all kinds of fun.

What if the MC, Dave, is a nerdy programmer who designed the SmartHome, then moved in his own family to demonstrate how safe/wonderful it was? He’s filming life in the SmartHome2020 and streaming their experience on-line to sell his idea to investors. Once he does? He can retire before 40.

Little does Dave know that his business partners have double-crossed him and infected the home’s system with a virus. His partners never intended anyone to get hurt, only for the house to malfunction enough to make Dave the fool on-line. Then, they could force him out, pay him pennies, repackage and rebrand his idea and sell it for millions.

Meanwhile…

OPEN THE POD BAY DOORS, HAL!

Dave never stopped to realize how much he took his wife and kids for granted. It isn’t until his dream home becomes a hell house, that he has to change or DIE. The problem forces Dave to grow from nerdy programmer to dish-disposal-fighting-warrior, and that is when his REAL priorities (and TRUE enemies) come into sharp relief. He also discovers what he’s made of, as well as what he’s willing to fight and maybe even die to protect.

Ultimately, Dave’s blindspot vanishes. He realizes that he fixated so much on his dream he was too trusting, not only of humans (never underestimate greed) but technology, too. Handing away autonomy for convenience might be nice, but could also come with higher price than we want to pay.

***Btw, um Netflix, Amazon? If y’all like this story, call me. I am for sale .

Questions to Ask

Whenever we come up with a story idea, make sure to flesh it out. Other than the ‘cool idea’ what problem could it create? Who could suffer the most? Change the most? How? Who’s the best candidate for the MC? What is that person’s blind spot? Once you know that, can you tweak the problem to force the MC into facing that weakness and then making them overcome their darkest selves in order to succeed?

What are Your Thoughts? I LOVE Hearing from You!

Does this help crystallize what might be making a current story flag? Maybe you have some cool ideas that have been running around your head and didn’t quite know how to take that next step? Thoughts? Questions?

Want to make up your own Hell House story? Hey, it’s Friday. Have a little creative fun.

The post Change Matters: How to Write Stories that Grip Readers & Don’t Let Go appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Image courtesy of Kevin Wood via Flickr Creative Commons

Character building is essential for telling stories that readers a) can’t put down and b) will never forget. Why am I now talking about character building, since I know I have a reputation for focusing a lot of blogs and classes on story structure?

Stories, like other complex creations, are comprised of multiple parts. If we build a car, the body of the actual vehicle is essential. Everything else will attach to that frame, either inside or outside.

Regardless how innovative and imaginative the frame, I’d argue the engine is a pretty big deal or we’re left with a very large and expensive paperweight, doorstop, or garden planter.

When it comes to designing a car, we won’t get too far without wheels, and brakes might be a good idea as well. Yet, choosing a leather interior or cloth or what color the car might be? Not high on the priorities about making the car actually WORK.

Structure is the delivery system/engine of story. If we keep starting, stopping, flashing back, including too many POVs that aren’t salient to the overall tale? The reader is likely to finally get frustrated and give up.

While structure might be the frame and the problem the engine, is it driving anything (story) or anyone (characters) interesting?

Study & Character Building

I put in a lot of work and study when it comes to honing my writing skills. This means I’m always searching for ways to become a stronger author and craft teacher.

Want to get better at anything? Look to those who are the best at what they do and pay close attention. The best way, and a requirement for anyone in the writing profession, is to read…a lot.

I read a ridiculous amount of fiction. Since I have little time to actually sit and read for long periods of time, I’ve had to retrain my brain for audiobooks. Audiobooks are a life-saver, since life didn’t decide to suddenly pause because I wanted to be a writer.

***My dishes and laundry are apparently in control of cloning-technology they refuse to share.

This said, however, I listen to an absurd amount of books in virtually all genres and use this as training. When I encounter a superlative character? I usually buy the paper version then—like the monster I am—dog-ear, highlight, and make notes.

Studying other works offers an excellent education about character building for those willing to pay attention.

When you encounter a character that resonates, then ask why? What intrigued you? What made this particular character stand out/memorable? How did the author manage to do the same but different?

Characters of Note

I tend to go through binges in genres, though I believe my go-to favorite are mysteries. For instance, Sherlock Holmes is a character that’s been reimagined countless times and in varying forms largely because he’s incredibly unique and possesses seemingly endless depths for new authors to plumb.

After eating through all the Sherlock Holmes stories, I began searching for other detectives set in late 19th century London.

I fell in LOVE with Will Thomas’s Barker & Llewelyn Series.

Not only are the mysteries masterfully crafted, but Thomas has created such an incredible cast of characters that it’s hard not to get sucked into the entire series.

While he could have gone with a Sherlock/Watson knock-off (and plenty have), he took the template and created a crime-solving duo that was wholly fresh and new.

Thomas equipped Barker and Llewelyn with such intricate and idiosyncratic backgrounds (much shrouded in secrecy) that he crafted two characters unlike any I’ve encountered.

It is their SECRETS that provide the fuel for story, tension, and resonance. I kept reading because I wanted to know WHY Barker wore dark glasses and refused to show his eyes. How did a Scotsman come to be fluent in Mandarin and the master of so many unique fighting styles?

Why was Llewelyn sent to prison when he was a student at Oxford? How did he become destitute? Not all my questions were answered in one book. I had to keep reading to get to know the characters that so fascinated me.

Characters sold the stories, and eventually the entire series. I’d venture to say it’s why readers fall in love with series. Series give them a chance to know the characters better, understand them, and bond in a way that makes the final book feel like a death.

Character Creation

I thought back over works I’d edited, earlier stories of my own and had a moment of revelation. Why were some characters so flat? As interesting as some form-molded widget from a factory?

Conversely, what made other characters almost come ALIVE?

What was the X-factor?

Now that I’ve noodled this, I’ve revised some of my thinking. Multi-dimensional characters are not something writers can directly create. Rather, these lifelike people are forged from the crucible of story.

Dramatic writing uses a core problem (fire). The core problem generates escalating problems (the hammer). The trials (increasing heat/hammering) reveal, refine, define, and ultimately transform the narrative actors into characters.

Story alone holds the power to bestow resonance.

Character Building: Dangers of ‘Fill-In-The-Blank’ People

Character profiles can end up a lot like dating profiles…and about as helpful.

Height, weight, build, nationality, attractiveness, education level, how many kids, previously married, hobbies, etc.

Dating profiles also provide blank spaces for additional ‘deep, character-revealing statements’ such as: I’m not a game-player, love Mexican food, and my favorite activities are cross-fit and hiking.

FYI: ALL of that is likely a lie (other than enjoying Mexican food). Anyone who starts with I am not a game-player is almost guaranteed to be a game-player. It’s Shakespeare’s Rules of Romance. Or, as I call it, ‘The Lady/Dude Doth Protest Too Much’ litmus.

Anyway…

No School Like Old School

….or not.

Do I create character profiles? Sure. I also put a lot of thought and research into what ‘people’ I want to cast in a given story. It’s a great activity, but be careful. We can’t camp there. Activity and productivity are not synonymous.

Ultimately, fictional characters reflect the real human experience in a distilled and intensified form. This, however, doesn’t give an automatic pass on authenticity.

Aristotle might be Old School, but his observations regarding drama resonate even into the 21st century. In Aristotle’s Poetics he asserts:

Since the objects of imitation are men in action, and these men must be either of a higher or a lower type (for moral character mainly answers to these divisions, goodness and badness being the distinguishing marks of moral differences), it follows that we must represent men either as better than in real life, or as worse, or as they are. ~Aristotle

This gives three schools: Polygnotus (more noble), Pauson (less noble), and Dionysius (real life).

Even today these three schools of story thought are alive and well. Marvel’s Captain America movies proffer the larger-than-life hero, the man better than real men (Polygnotus).

Westworld and Game of Thrones provide a vast assortment of villains who are worse-than-life, an exaggeration of evil (Pauson).

Then, movies like Training Day or Glengarry Glen Ross show men as they really are…flawed. They’re not entirely noble or ignoble (Dionysis).

Granted, this is a vast simplification, but we can see novels fall into these schools as well. Genre dictates a lot of this. Harry Potter, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and A Man Called Ove could reasonably be placed in each category.

Character Building: Talk is Cheap

Why do I mention these ‘schools’ of story? Depending on genre, readers will have expectations when it comes to what they’ll find entertaining. As writers, our primary job is to entertain.

This said, stories are for the audience. This means we need to either serve them what they enjoy, or serve them what they don’t yet know they will enjoy .

As a general ‘rule,’ readers who gravitate to stories like Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy are fundamentally different than readers who prefer stories like Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. What readers are looking for—regarding story and characters—will be specific to the genres they gravitate to.

What KIND of Story Do We Want to Tell?

It’s critical to define what kind/flavor of story we want to tell, because this first of all informs character building. Also, an idea can be delivered any number of ways (parodies prove this).

Telling a story audiences don’t yet know they will love must work with the boundaries of preference. Take the boundaries and push them or deliver them in a new, fresh way.

J.K. Rowling didn’t completely ignore reader expectations and preferences for YA fantasy. She merely delivered her stories in a brand new way. She cast a boy (Harry Potter) as her lead protagonist.

Character building.

At the time, the YA fantasy world was dominated by female protagonists. The genre’s audience expected one approach, but only because they didn’t yet realize they’d LOVE something else. An unwanted boy living under the stairs, unaware he’s a wizard destined for greatness.

Talk the Talk & Walk the Walk

Earlier, I mentioned character backgrounds. These are a good start, but they’re only that. A start. Characters aren’t who we (the writer) say they are. Characters are composed of what they do or don’t do.

Go back to my analogy of an on-line dating profile. Someone can talk a great game on some dating site. Yet, it won’t be until that first awkward meet at a coffee shop—in person—that this profile is put to any real test.

Sure, he might say he’s a nice guy and have loads of pics of him with puppies and kids. But, how does he respond when the barista knocks a scorching hot venti Americano all over his best shirt?

Does he laugh it off and try to calm the hysterical barista? Or, does he throw a fit, demand the barista be fired, and threaten to sue?

She might claim she longs for friendship and intimacy in her profile. But, at coffee, how often is she checking her phone? Her Instagram? Does she engage and listen, or does she have the attention span of a goldfish with severe ADD…who just smoked some crack?

Same in Stories

We can tell the reader a character is a certain way, but how that character acts matters more. For instance, I did an edit a couple years ago and the writer said the female protagonist was a strong alpha female. Problem was, the MC didn’t act like one. I called the writer on the lack of continuity.

This is part of what we (editors) mean when we use the phrase, ‘Show, don’t tell.’

The writer can TELL me (the reader) all she wants how this character is an alpha take-no-prisoners gal, which the writer did in the set-up. Fair enough.

But, three pages later, when this alleged ‘alpha female’ is essentially begging for a chance at contract? I called FOUL. If she’s an alpha personality, then she needs to act like it. Actions speak louder than words.

We can TELL readers a character is anything, yet how that character acts is all that matters.

Talk is cheap and, adding to that…

Humans Are Liars

*hangs head* Yep. Probably.

We’re all liars. We might lie to others (to one degree or another). Mostly, though, we lie to ourselves. Wow, the dryer really shrank my pants!

No judgement. Goes with being human.

We all want to believe if something horrific happened, we’d act heroically. Maybe we would. But, perhaps not. We all want to believe we’d NEVER do X (kill, run, hide), but there’s only one way to know for certain.

Trial by fire.

Problem is, what we believe about our own character (integrity or lack thereof) is all theory until we’re faced with some crisis that puts that belief to the test. Only a test can reveal our belief as truth, half-truth, or a lie (self-delusion). Crises show us what we are made of (or not).

The hero-in-his-own-mind may, when faced with an actual trial, turn out to be a complete coward. Conversely, the person who wholly believes she could never be heroic might, in reality, be the most heroic of all.

It’s the same with characters in a story.

Character Crucible

The core story problem serves as the crucible. How we put the story together is what steadily turns up the heat on all parties involved.

Next time we’ll focus in on the components of story, the scene and the sequel. But here’s a preview and how it relates to character.

The scene is a fundamental building block of fiction. It is physical. Something tangible is happening. The scene has three parts (per Jack Bickham’s Scene & Structure, an invaluable resource which I recommend every writer buy and study).

• Statement of the goal
• Introduction and development of conflict
• Failure of the character to reach his goal, a tactical disaster

Goal –> Conflict –> Disaster

The sequel is the other fundamental building block and is the emotional thread. The sequel often begins at the end of a scene when the viewpoint character has to process the unanticipated but logical disaster that happened at the end of your scene.

Emotion–> Thought–> Decision–> Action

Notice how the scene presents the problem, which then provides a way we (readers) can witness how a character acts/responds externally.

The sequel permits audience access to the internal. We can peer into the thoughts of that character. This is where we’ll witness how a character evolves/or devolves over time.

For bonus points, internal narrative—in scene and the sequel—is a fantastic way to mess with readers’ heads (I.e. the unreliable narrator).

In the End

Everyone has his or her version of the truth, but we as writers must tangibly demonstrate this. This means, when we strengthen the story, this automatically can strengthen the characters.

Everything in dramatic writing is and should be intentional. No extra screws or bits. Granted, practice will make us all better at this, but in great stories there are NO free rides. Period. No thought, setback, bit of setting, snippet of dialogue is there to simply take up space.

It ALL serves a vital/integral purpose.

And, if any character’s actions do not line up with who we (the writer) says he is? It better be intentional .

Taking time to master character building can help a lot with surprising your audience.

What Are Your Thoughts? I LOVE Hearing from You!

Is the saying, ‘Show, don’t tell‘ making a bit more sense? Can you see how problems are the ONLY way to really deliver character? How actions can be used in all sorts of ways, even as a way of misleading the audience for WHAMMO twist endings?

Where do you struggle? Because we ALL do. What you want to know more about? Where you get stuck, etc.

I look forward to helping you guys become stronger at your craft. Do you have a hard time crafting characters that are dimensional and unique? Hey, I’ve spent time in the land of “Low-Hanging Fruit” myself. When I tried to be different…I only ended up bizarro.

It’s OKAY to be NEW!

Do you see how we can create a character “on paper,” but depending on the STORY we toss them into, how they can become something/someone entirely different?

What are some of your biggest problems, hurdles or misunderstandings about plot, how it relates to character? Where do you most commonly hit the proverbial wall?

Hey, even bloggers need help with ideas .

The post Character Building: How Story Forges & Refines Characters appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

The story-worthy problem is the beating heart of all superlative fiction. Unfortunately, creating this central core can often be overlooked. This is particularly true for writers relying on school training.

English teachers didn’t mind we used twenty-five metaphors on one page because their goal was to teach us how to properly use a metaphor…not how to write successful commercial fiction.

Creating the core problem and then—possibly (depending on genre)—the many overlapping layers and misdirections, is tough mental work.

Story as Structure

Like any structure, a story demands a strong foundation and sturdy frame. Without structure, it’s easy for author (and audience) to become lost.

Without those elements? The story caves in. But, foundations and framing aren’t nearly as fun as picking out paint, furniture, or drapes.

Face it, for most of us, decorating a house is much more fun than building one. This can be the same for stories. Crafting the perfect sentence, poring over descriptions, tinkering with dialogue is fun.

Alas, like our ‘building’ everything has a certain order. The story-worthy problem is critical.

It will be this problem (requiring a satisfactory resolution) that holds the structure together and gives meaning to the existence of all the players on the field (characters).

Lack of a Story-Worthy Problem

I began this craft series not only for those who want to write at a professional level, but also for those who might find themselves stuck. Writer’s block has often been attributed to laziness, but I don’t wholly agree.

I believe—for those stuck—your subconscious begins by pumping the brakes. This is the warning something is missing.

You start off writing and the word count soars. Usually this lasts about 10,000 words. Then, your pace steadily slows. Finally, around the 25,000 to 32,000 word mark everything begins to collapse.

By this point, it can feel you’re trying to drag a boulder through a swamp.

My opinion? This is your subconscious now slamming the brakes. Something is missing. What?

The reason for the story.

Finally? You set your hard work aside, frustrated. This is why most writers keep going back and reworking the beginning, which makes sense. It was the only time the words came easily.

We long to revisit that carefree flow. Description is easier.

Why Are We All Here?

The story-worthy problem is why we’re all here. It’s the sole reason for the MC (main character) to even exist. The story-worthy problem is the sole reason for any and all characters to exist.

Without that core problem, everything is fluff and window-dressing.

Notice I keep using the term ‘story-worthy’ problem. Not all problems are created equal.

We have to ask, ‘Why are we here?’ ‘What is the point?’ ‘Why would an audience CARE?’

We live in a world with innumerable other distractions and ways to be entertained. This said, WHY would a reader choose to dedicate 10-15 hours (average time to read a novel) to your book?

Frequently, when I edit, the lack of the core problem is the single largest reason writers either can’t seem to finish. Or, if they do finish, sales are lackluster.

They’ve not defined that compelling reason an audience would choose reading over social media, video games, or another episode of The Bachelor.

Audiences MUST CARE

I know this seems simple. But guess what? A basic soufflé is very simple, yet one of the most challenging dishes to successfully create. Simple doesn’t mean easy.

Compelling story problems actually begin very simple. How much is then layered onto this is a matter of genre and taste. Yet, the problem is the hook.

Even a work as soaring as Game of Thrones has a simple goal—secure The Iron Throne, stabilize the realms before winter arrives. Granted, this ‘simple’ story-worthy problem evolves into a vastly complex web of lies, betrayal, and intrigue.

But, the core goal is simple—secure The World’s Most Uncomfortable Chair.

Elementary, My Dear Watson…

In a mystery, the story-worthy problem is frequently the crime. It might be a murder, a burglary, a forgery, a stolen identity, whatever. The point of the mystery is to solve the crime and deliver justice.

During quarantine, I’ve been watching the fabulous and binge-worthy BBC Sherlock series. I’ve simultaneously been inhaling The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is presented with a case and how do we know the story has ended?

The great detective has not only solved the case and identified the what, how, where, and who, but the perpetrator is exposed and apprehended.

That is the point of a mystery. Same can be said for detective and crime novels (eg. Harry Bosch series).

Genre & the Story-Worthy Problem

Genre acts as a useful guide to answering WHY we (the audience) are there. Thrillers usually involve beginning with an initial taste of the far larger plan the MC needs to stop.

In thrillers, there are BIG consequences (e.g. stopping a terrorist attack on The Palace of Westminster). Say a seemingly random bombing in the tube is anything but.

This initial act ignites the story-worthy problem. It’s no random bombing, rather a race against time to stop the larger and TRUE goal…a much larger bomb attack when the House of Lords and House of Commons meet to pass a certain piece of legislation.

Story-Worthy Problems: Thriller or Suspense?

Suspense differs in that the consequences are more personal. Many serial killer books are a good example. For instance, Red Dragon follows Thomas Harris’s hero Will Graham who nearly died apprehending Hannibal Lecter.

In Red Dragon, however, Graham is on the trail of a killer known as The Tooth Fairy who’s infamous for wiping out entire families indiscriminately (or so they believe).

Graham’s goal is to figure out the pattern that will reveal the identity of the killer and then stop him.

But, notice the difference between thrillers and suspense. The collateral damage differs in scope and scale.

Save future families from extermination (suspense) versus a plot to implode the Western political system (thriller).

For more on details on genre (and the many variations), I recommend my older posts Fizzle or Sizzle? How Genre is Fundamental for Story Success and Choosing a Genre: Anatomy of a Best-Selling Story.

What’s Missing?

Why am I talking about the story-worthy problem? First it follows as a natural progression from our initial discussions of The Big Boss Troublemaker.

The core problem can be simple for a short story as well as for a sweeping and layered space opera. The only difference is in plot and how much is layered on top of that strong core problem.

The Story-Worthy Problem MUST Exist

Sadly, as an editor, what I see too often is writers believe they have a novel, when in truth, they have 80,000 words of ‘bad things happening.’

Me: What is your story about?

Writer: My main character wants to find out about her past.

Me: Why?

Writer: Because she does.

Me: Why? What happens if she fails? What is so important about her finding out about her past?

Writer: *blank stare*

Most audiences aren’t interested in the literary equivalent of watching over the shoulder of a stranger reconstructing a family tree for no purpose other than ‘to know.‘

This isn’t a story-worthy problem.

Yet, this is a ‘story’ I’ve been presented with more times than I care to count. But look at what’s missing. There are no stakes, no burning reasons to learn about this character’s past that can engage an audience.

It’s like being trapped on an airplane with the passenger next to you relaying her nasty divorce. Not only do we not care…we probably would resort to feigning air sickness to escape.

But with some minor changes, it’s EASY to change this ‘bad situation’ and ‘non-story’ into something interesting. We add in the story-worthy problem…the WHY.

Everything is in THE WHY

The WHY influences the stakes, the ‘what will happen if the MC fails.’ So our MC wants to find out about her past. WHY?

What if she discovers she is adopted right after becoming newly married? Shocking enough, but then, during a routine medical exam, she finds out she has a very rare disease even the best specialists can’t figure out.

They only can surmise it’s a congenital illness and fatal. If she can find her birth parents, she might find the cure.

But, to make matters worse (raising the stakes) the same routine examination reveals she’s pregnant. Now her life isn’t the only one on the line.

She (and the physicians) don’t know how much longer she’ll be able to carry the baby without terrible consequences.

Now, it is a matter of life and death to find out about her past if she hopes to live, if she hopes to save her child. The stakes are about as high as they can get.

Additionally, the clock is very much ticking because her health is failing and two lives are on the line. Or, if you’re feeling froggy, raise the stakes and on the second sonogram she realizes it’s TWINS!

WHY Impacts & Guides Genre

My made-up example above can easily become a suspense.

When our imaginary MC begins looking into her past, someone tries to burn down her house. Her new husband is attacked. On and on.

The reason she was put up for adoption was to keep her safe. She was the daughter of a powerful and dangerous mob boss/drug lord/sadist of your choice. The irony is she must search out the person thought likely to kill her for the very key to her survival.

NOW we have a story-worthy problem.

Add in that it maybe isn’t a disease, it’s magic manifesting in her and now we have Urban Fantasy.

What I am hoping to make clear is the WHY inexorably leads us to a far more fascinating journey than ‘she wants to find out about her past and who she is.’

A ‘Simple’ Story-Worthy Problem

This next section is a spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the movie. Usually, I try to use movies that were also books and that followed closely to the books. That is a hard task.

Don’t always have this luxury.

I tend to shy away from action films, not only because the gun scenes and fight choreography are enough to give me apoplexy most of the time, but so many lack enough meat to the story I grow bored within fifteen minutes or less.

***If I am not screaming at the screen about magazine changes.

Action films devolve usually into mostly shooting, fighting, car chases and explosions….wash, rinse, repeat.

Yet, recently, I watched a fantastic Netflix-produced action film Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda.

This is the premise:

A hardened mercenary’s mission becomes a soul-searching race to survive when he’s sent into Bangladesh to rescue a drug lord’s kidnapped son.

If you’ve followed this blog long enough, I often lecture that ‘surviving’ is not an active goal. Be careful using this as a plot.

But the Netflix log-line might be a tad misleading. While this is an action film that rivals John Wick in fight choreography, in my POV, there is a VERY deep story to this that might not be obvious.

The ‘Not So Simple‘ Story-Worthy Problem

The biggest drug lord in Bangladesh (Amir) kidnaps the biggest drug lord in India’s son as a way to shame his rival. The one drug lord, Amir, knows Ovi Mahajan Sr. is imprisoned and his assets frozen.

When Amir kidnaps Ovi Jr. right from under Saju—the father’s head of security—Amir does this to humiliate his competition. He knows Ovi Sr. cannot afford the ransom nor afford to send anyone in to get back his son.

Ovi Sr. is therefore imprisoned and seemingly impotent with only the knowledge of the horrible fate of his son to think about.

Enter in our mercenary hero, Tyler Rake. This is clearly a man battling personal demons with an obvious death wish. Why? We don’t yet know.

It’s clear he carries a guilt he can’t deal with other than by immersing himself in painkillers, booze or wet work.

In fact, the entire reason he takes the job is it is, for all intents and purposes…a suicide mission. But, the private firm he works for believes they’ve landed ‘a whale’ (code for a client willing to pay millions).

Tyler goes in with the team and the extraction initially goes off without a hitch.

But then the money never comes through.

They’ve been played.

Saju, the head of security who lost the boy, used the team to lead him to the boy and plans to steal him away and deliver him safely home himself (to save his own son from the drug lord’s threats against HIS family).

Now Tyler is waging a multi-front battle (with no money to show for his pain). Every authority in Dhaka is in Amir’s pocket and the city locked down.

Saju is former special operations and hunting him. The city is a deadly labyrinth teeming with child gangs and informants ready spring on them at any time.

Tyler’s company orders him to leave the boy. It would be easy for him to slip out of the city and live. THIS is the critical turning point.

Story-Worthy Problem? A Shadow

In a rare moment of respite, Tyler bonds with the boy who opens up about what it is like to be the son of a man like Ovi Muhajan Sr. In doing this, he coaxes out the ghosts inside of Tyler.

Tyler’s son died of lymphoma at age six and he wasn’t there. He wasn’t there when his son died. His shame? He volunteered to be away because he was too much of a coward to watch his only son die.

Despite back-stabbing, treachery, and the instinct to survive telling Tyler that his best course is to leave Ovi Jr. and look out for himself, he can’t do it.

Until this point, his life or death had no meaning. BUT, in this final act…he can face his shame and be brave for one boy when he couldn’t be brave for his own.

Yes, it is a shoot-em up movie. Some might think there was little plot. But I actually saw a very rich depth to the story. It was a story of one man stepping off the road to perdition and choosing the path to redemption.

Yes, Tyler’s job? Save a notorious drug lord’s son, but fate had other plans. Saving the boy translated into his own salvation…a twist he could never have foreseen.

Ovi Jr. couldn’t help how his drug lord father failed him any more than Tyler’s son could help how his mercenary father wasn’t there when he was needed them most.

Tyler sees in Ovi Jr. a chance the boy might one day be different than his father. I believe the kidnapping changed both Tyler and Ovi Muhajan Jr.

Story-Worthy Problem? Shame

Story-worthy problems usually include story-worthy shame. I’ve blogged before on the power of shame.

I feel, when the screenwriters added in this thread of shame turned sacrifice? It elevated the entire movie from what might have otherwise been just another BANG BANG BOOM movie.

Simple…but far from simple. Ultimately, VERY intriguing a fascinating story-worthy problem.

I included the trailer (below) because I feel it’s a very good movie to study. Perhaps my ‘spoiler alerts’ might make you watch the movie with different eyes.

In the end, though, I get it’s not everyone’s taste. BUT if an action movie—a genre notorious for almost zero story and the emotional depth of a puddle—can make me think this much? I believe Netflix did a stellar job.

Some Lockdown Love

Speaking of the story-worthy problem. We are all living in some strange times, indeed. I haven’t merely been watching shoot-em up movies.

I’ve also been doing an incredible amount of studying so as to bring YOU GUYS—my fave peeps in the world—new and fresh classes.

Now that I’ve finally stopped coughing up a lung (or both) #FunWithCOVID…or not. I had to stop teaching for a while since it has been a LONG road and unpredictable road to feeling healthy again.

In the meantime, I’ve been reading…a LOT. Loads of audio books, paper books, and ebooks.

I’m finally finished Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Complete Sherlock Holme’s Heirloom Edition (58+ hours), the history of the Pinkerton Agency. Toss in some H.P. Lovecraft, Clive Barker’s Imajica (*groans*) and almost every book by Anthony Horowitz and we have a fair fruit salad of fiction there.

Puzzles are my passion. What could make a better story-worthy problem than murder or crime? But that’s me.

But I hope this blog has helped y’all understand the difference between a simple bad situation and the vastly different creature…the story-worthy problem. It may only be a simple tweaking, but the devil IS in the details.

Speaking of devils. As promised, I have three new classes and three ON DEMAND CLASSES I’m listing below.

Two commenters from the previous blogs get a free ON DEMAND class. I am also—inspired by my feverish readings—offering a SUPER brand new class…The Unreliable Narrator: Turning the Reader’s World Upside Down.

My apologies for the delays in blogs. Between trying to regain my strength, after having COVID-19, was late in the game filing taxes. Alas, life has been FUN…not. But…I…am…*gasps*…still…here. Taxes FILED! *happy dance*

I Love Hearing From You!

Does the idea of ‘bad things happening’ as opposed to a centralized CORE story-worthy problem make more sense now? If not, more blogs to come. Also, as promised, I’ve loaded a few remaining On Demand classes we’d not deleted from the server before I fell ill.

I’d expected to start teaching right away after the new year, but the relentless cough and wanting to DIE kind of got in the way of that.

But we’re getting BACK on schedule with some more Bad Lamb Goodness…or would that be Baaahhdness?

*bada bump snare*

For those who participated in my comments contest, I have not forgotten you….

Winner #1 Roger L Nay

Winner #2 Ruth Molenaar

See? Participation pays off! Just email me at kristen at wana intl dot com. Scroll down and let me know which On Demand Class interests you and it’s yours!

I’ll have some more new classes soon, but for now….

Trouble with Story-Worth Problems? NEW CLASSES to HELP!

There and Back Again: From Good Idea to Successful Novel

Class is May 26th, 2020 from 7:00-9:00 P.M. and a recording (as always) is provided with class purchase. Price is $50 but use lockdown15 for $15 off.

The Unreliable Narrator: Turning the Reader’s World Upside Down

Class is June 4, 2020 from 7:00-9-00 P.M. and a recording (as always) is provided with class purchase. Price of the class is $50 but use lockdown15 for $15 off.

For those who want BOTH classes PLUS a BONUS class as well as an EXCLUSIVE and PRIVATE workshop? I offer you…

The Deep Dive Bundle: Two Classes & EXCLUSIVE Log-Line Workshop

Almost nine hours of training! This also includes working one-on-one in a private workshop with moi! Workshop ONLY available to bundle participants. No discount codes because the discount built into the pricing. Recordings included.

Can’t wait to see y’all in class!

On Demand Classes

Ah, very few remaining On Demand classes we’ve not yet purged from the servers so take advantage while they remain.

On Demand: Dark Arts, Building Your Villain

$50 but use lockdown15 for $15 off ($35)

The Edge: How to Write Mystery, Suspense, & Thriller

$50 and use lockdown15 for $15 off ($35)

Tick Tock: How to Write a Mystery Suspense Series

$50 and use lockdown15 for $15 off ($35)

The post Creating a Story-Worthy Problem That Will Captivate an Audience appeared first on Kristen Lamb.