Writer Tip for the Week

» Posted on Jan 17, 2005 in Blog | Comments Off on Writer Tip for the Week

I just came from a meeting where six of us discussed Deb Dixon’s Goals, Motivation, and Conflict book and applied it to our books we are working on. This is an excellent book to help you with your characterizations and plot (which is the conflict of your story). I highly recommend this book if you haven’t read it to help you hone what your character wants and why then what is keeping that character from getting that goal. When I’m planning a book and the character’s goals and motivations, I look to his/her backstory to develop those areas. A character is molded by his/her past. Then after I come up with the goals and motivations (internal and external), I decide what would prevent the character from obtaining the goals. That becomes the conflict, hence the plot. These three elements of the story are interwoven together. Who is the most memorable character you have read?