Writing a Novel – What Do I Dislike?
An essential part of a good story is being able to add conflict into the lives of your characters. I’m finding that’s much easier to come up with based on this series of exercises about ME.
Now as I have been saying, these exercises could be helpful to people writing books and all, but as importantly, they might also can be helpful and beneficial to someone who just wants to learn a little more about themselves.
Last week we began this series and did some exercises. Saturday’s was to get a stack of 3 x 5 notecards and write about things you like.
To do the exercise, just fill out the top of a card with a heading, in the case of today’s exercise–Things I Dislike–and then number the card in the top right corner. I also like to add the date somewhere so that two or three years from now when I come back to these, I’ll have a better frame of reference as to what was going through my head now versus then. When you fill up a card, start a second, third … as many as it takes.
Remember, there are no right or wrong answers.
And if you’re doing these exercises for the benefit of your future characters, think about situations they might need to get in where they have to face these aspects. If you’re writing about something you don’t like, chances are your characters won’t either, but more importantly, chances are your READERS won’t like them either, and then you have the opportunity to either have your character address the issue or run from it, both good story lines….
Okay, so here’s today’s exercise. Later in the day there’ll be a post about Netflix’ House of Cards and the characters in that series….
EXERCISE
What do I dislike?
Collaborative writing exercises—such as the clustering shown here—can be used for development of ideas. Colored tabs of paper—attached to the large page—are used in a collaborative voting exercise to gain consensus. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Great post! I’ve tried writing novels before but I couldn’t sustain the story or the plot. I’ve made several drafts and all of them have been left unfinished. I think it’s because I write stories without an outline and proper characterization. So I should start there first.
I recommend Chris Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey. This book will help you find the essential elements for every story ever written and help you formulate the perfect structure for anything you write. It also will give you the insight to go back to your drafts and see where you zigged when you should have zagged and hopeful get yourself back on track.
https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Journey-Mythic-Structure-3rd/dp/193290736X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YI4REDPZ0KZS&keywords=chris+vogler+writers+journey&qid=1556107169&s=gateway&sprefix=Chris+Vogler%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-1