Sometimes we find ourselves in a bind. We over-commit, scheduling too many activities in too short of a time period. What to do?

This is a serious dilemma, especially for busy professionals and parents. There are only so many hours available to us, so we have to make sure that we elect to complete those tasks that are either necessary or so compelling that we dare not push them aside.

One common mistake is not giving our characters choices. Their days are boring, filled with blank spaces waiting to be filled. Perhaps this is intentional, depending upon what type of story you are writing.

Think about your reader. How compelling is it to read about someone who sits in front of the TV for hours, doing nothing, day after day? Or the one who goes to work, sits in front of a computer, comes home, and then repeats the next day.

Something needs to happen to liven up the story. There has to be tension, and tension is created by conflict with an antagonist. Tension rises and falls throughout the story.

Each time the character finds herself in a bind, she makes choices. Those choices control whether or not the tension is relieved. These are the hooks that draw the reader on into the story.

Your task is to give your character a number of things to do. Think about his personality. Make a list of at least 5 things that he would like to do. Think of a variety of things. For example play softball, go see a movie, take a hike, travel to Europe and find a place where she can meet new friends.

Next write a scene in which your character gets up in the morning and prioritizes activities. Put her in action. As she moves from one task to the next, throw in complications. A car accident. An electrical line falls, blocking the road. Pounding rain. Slick roads. Anything that impedes her ability to complete her task. This forces her to make decision, to come up with alternatives.

Reread. Do you sense tension building? If not, rewrite, adding in elements that make his life even more complicated.

Good luck with this one.

Everyone has a boiling point. We can remain calm as the pressure heats up, but eventually something pushed us over the edge and we explode.

You can feel it coming. It’s almost as if you can see the color red and your head pounds. You begin to lose the ability to reason and logic disappears.

No amount of cajoling brings you down. Reassuring pats on the arm are meaningless. Sometimes all you can do is walk far, far away and let time heal.

What about your character? How does he act under stress? Does he lash out verbally? Send nasty emails? Punch a wall? Or even the person who is causing the pain?

Does she sulk and hide in her bedroom? Take a walk around the block? Call a friend or trusted family member?

You have to decide and then write it down. Add this to the list of personality traits that you have built for that character.

Your task is to write a scene in which your character experiences undo stress. First create the setting and people it with at least one adversary. Next come up with the trigger, that issue that sends her reeling. Let him explode or lash out. What happens next? That’s what you have to decide.

Have fun with this one.

Good luck!

There is a time when it is important to blend in. To be nearly invisible. Just another unremarkable face in the crowd.

Your character will have days like this. Imagine that he’s been invited to a 21st birthday party for a friend who only wears jeans and t-shirts. So that’s what your character wears to the part. When he arrives, he discovers that the guests are dressed in sport coats and slacks, with the intention of going to a fancy restaurant for dinner. There is no way to blend in, and so the character can go home and change or simply say goodbye and leave.

Think of the student who failed to complete the assigned readings. Sitting in class the next day she keeps her eyes averted so as to not attract the teacher’s attention. She slouches in her desk, blending in with the furniture.

There has been a bank robbery. It was well-planned, with the perpetrators wearing ski masts and gloves and escaping into a white van with no license plates. As soon as the van pulls away, the robbers remove the masks and blend in.

It is your task to write a scene in which your character makes a choice that either allows him to blend in or in which she stands out. Come up with a scenario that fits the character’s personality. A shy person might choose hiding in plain sight, while a more socially outgoing person might prefer fitting in.

Your scene can be criminal in nature or a social setting. You decide.

When you are finished, reread. Does it make sense? Is your character invisible or a standout?

Have fun with this one.

Good luck.

What are you scared of? What gives you chills at night? Do snakes terrify you? Bees? Burglars? Gang members?

What do you do when you’re scared? Imagine being in bed, the room is dark and you hear a sound. You listen intently and think it’s coming from the front room. Your purse/wallet is lying on the counter. Your laptop/phone/iPad is on the table. You make your breathing as shallow and quiet as possible. You think about reaching for the phone on the nightstand next to the bed and calling for help, but don’t. What if the phone makes a noise that alerts the intruder? What if there is no intruder? That it’s only a figment of your imagination?

Everyone experiences fear. It could be while watching a movie that keeps you perched on the edge of your seat. It could be thoughts that run rampant when an unexpected call comes at night. It’s how we react to that fear that tells something about our personality.

So it is with your characters. To be human means to carry a wide range of emotions, fear being one of them.

Make a list of five things that your character fears. Beside each, write the reason why.
Choose the most powerful fear. The one that causes the most anxiety.

Write a scene in which the character’s fear dominates the action. This means that you have to know the setting that triggers the fear. For some, it is the dark of night. For others it is walking down an unfamiliar street and seeing loiterers leaning against building walls.

In your piece, the character must experience the fear and then react to it. Reactions do not have to be rational, but they can be.

When you are finished, reread. Is the scene intense enough? Does the reader identify with the character? Is the fear palpable? If not, rewrite.

Have fun with this one.

Good luck.

We’d like to feel that even the most hardened criminals feel remorse for crimes committed. That they would look back at what they had done and think, for just a moment, that there were better options that they wish they had taken. Instead of killing/robbing/brutalizing their victims, they had walked away.

But is this true? Could it be that there are those among us who never regret a single thing that they have done? Such people are often classified as sociopaths.

This is the dilemma for every writer. All humans do things for which they have the potential to regret. It might be harsh words spoken to a family member in anger. Criticism handed out to a boss that ended in disciplinary action. Slipping a two dollar candy bar into a coat pocket. Forgetting to send a card in thanks for an act of kindness.

Some of us apologize immediately, while others of us internalize the problem and think it through, analyzing it from every angle.

Your task is to look at one of your characters and decide what type of person she is. She has done something that has caused pain, either emotionally or physically. How does she react? Is this just one of many such actions? Does she feel any qualms about what she has done, or not?

You have to decide.

Write a scene in which an offense against another is committed. It could be a slight, such as not inviting someone out to lunch, or it could be a criminal act. Once the act is completed, then have your character think about what he has done, and then react.

How your character handles the situation gives the reader insight into the character’s personality.

When you are finished, reread. Are you satisfied? Does the reaction fit the crime? If not, was this intentional on your part?

Good luck. Have fun with this one.

 

We are not solitary figures. From the day of our birth until the day we die, we belong to one kind of group or another. Family comes first, and in many cases, last.
School, which occupies many years, depending upon how far we go. While at school, we might join the choir, learn to play an instrument as part of an orchestra, or be a part of an athletic team, all in elementary and middle school.

Once in high school, our options blossom. We can act, advocate, dance, collect and motivate. We can play chess or video games, cheer for our teams, and act out a court of law. We can debate hot issues, build and compete with rockets and robots, save the planet and work in the science labs as docents.

Even if we don’t join an organized group, we are still part of a family of students. We have our cliques, no matter the name, to which we cling for support and encouragement.

Beyond high school, we spread out our options. There are junior colleges, four-year colleges, trade schools, and specialty institutions of learning. Once there, we are again presented with a variety of group choices.

My point is that we tend to congregate with those who share a common interest.
Your characters must also be a part of something bigger in order to be complex beings.

When you develop your characters, think about what they might like to do. Perhaps they join a mystery readers book club, participate in Zumba classes or work with scouting groups. Maybe they volunteer at a local food kitchen, build houses for the homeless, or repair benches at an inner-city church.

Your task is to make a list of those things that interest your character. From that list choose a few that you can work into a story. Be careful, though. Too few groups and your character falls flat. Too many and your character is overwhelmed. Unless, of course, that is what you want to happen.

Put on your thinking caps. Remember that each character is unique and so has interests that are different from other characters. There may be some overlap. For example, maybe they come together once a month to play poker, but the rest of the time they pursue their individual interests.

Good luck!

Without the professionals that we come in contact with on a daily basis, our lives would be vastly different. We need our doctors, pharmacists, wait staff, car repairmen and mail deliverers. Plumbers fix our leaks, gardeners trim our lawns, clerks tend to our needs.
How we react to these professionals says a lot about us. A haughty person might be disdainful and rude, while a humble person might show gratitude. When a service is offered, some of us say please and thank you, while others don’t recognize the presence of the server.

In our working life, we were professionals as well. Think about how it felt to be treated with disrespect. How hurt you felt. How you stewed about the words said for days or even weeks. Think about what you wanted to do in response as opposed to how you really acted.
The characters in our stories also run into professionals. What they say and do tells us quite a lot about them. Think about a villain who cuddles a tiny dog. While the villain may be cold-hearted toward his victims, he shows tenderness toward animals. He takes his dog to the vet on a regular basis and keeps the dog current on all shots.

Think about a cat lover who feeds seven strays that roam the neighborhood. That individual obviously cares about the cats, working hard to keep them from starving. On the other hand, she is creating a nuisance situation for the rest of the neighbors. The strays may be aggressive toward other pets, may move into garages and leave behind a mess, or may carry fleas and other diseases. The cat lover can’t afford to provide medical care for all the strays and so begs for financial assistance from agencies that help the needy with their pets.

Your task is to have your character interact with at least one professional. Maybe she eats in a restaurant or has a maintenance man come and repair an electrical problem in the house. Maybe he sees a dermatologist who removes pre-cancerous spots or goes to a gym and works with a trainer.

You decide what type of interaction there will be and put things into motion. Remain true to your character’s personality when there is dialogue. Consider how the setting affects what happens. Your scene needs to be a complete unit.
Good luck!

Owning a pet is a fairly common practice. Pet stores flourish because they offer sad-looking dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and various amphibians.

What kind of pet chosen is often determined by spur-of-the-moment decisions, brought on by the appeal of large brown eyes and drooping ear. Such stores cater to those of us who walk in just to have a look and then end up leaving with pet in hand.

For many of us, type of pet is determined by previous experience. If, as a child, a cat scratched your arm, leaving a long, painful gash, you are not too likely to want a cat. If you grew up on a farm, however, where cats are welcomed residents due to their ability to keep rodents out of the crops, then your attitude might be different.

Choice is also determined by how emotionally needy the owner is. Cats tend to be independent, often remote, and not always welcoming to petting and cuddling. Dogs are pack animals that seek the approval of the leader. As owner, you command that position, and so are the recipient of licks, rubs, and wagging tails.

Some pets do not evoke that loving feeling. A tarantula, to me, is not cuddly. Neither is a snake or lizard. Guinea pigs squeal to get attention, but they often are not litter box trained. What a mess!

My children once borrowed a rat from a pet lending library. While the rat was calm and accepted being carried about, I did not like having it in my house. It gave me goosebumps any time it was out of its cage. I was glad to see it leave.

Characters in our stories can be pet owners as well. When you select a pet, consider that the choice will often give clues into the personality of the character. Let’s say that you she has a show dog. Now she has to deal with grooming, training and cost of registration. Handlers might be needed to actually show the dog. Is this what your character needs and wants? Or is your character the type to bring home a stray, one that is perhaps a little odd shaped and bordering on ugly?

What if your character is disabled and needs a helpful companion? You’re not going to give him a cat. Instead you’ll look for a dog that can open and close doors, pick up things off the floor, notify the owner when bells ring and so forth.

Your task is to write a short story in which your character has a pet or is in the process of choosing a pet. Think about what this pet does, how it interacts and behaves. How does your character respond? Do they go out jogging together? Have picnics and share food? Cuddle on the couch?

Is the dog a trained search and rescue animal that finds people buried or lost? That would make quite a story!

Have fun with this one.