I wrote a whole post about how my dinner spilled under the oven and now my house smells like a warm dairy, my wash machine breaking down (no clean undies is a terrible thing), and how my mouse died (the computer mouse, not a real one).
But then I erased it, because I realized something.
Bad things happen to people.
Bad things happen to characters.
I have a scene where my main character gets into trouble, but her consquences aren't that bad. (have you heard the saying, once your character gets stuck in the tree, start throwing rocks at them...or something like that?) When your character is in a bad situation, make it worse.When your character thinks they are okay, make something happen.
Well, my character got in the tree and there really weren't enough rock throwings. Meaning, I have to make her consequences real. Right now...they aren't so bad. I have to take aim and make the situation...um...worse.
This will bring more emotions to the scene and keep the reader into the story.
So today my goal is to pull out the oven and scrub the floor, buy a new mouse, and get my throwing arm ready to sling some lemons, or rocks, or something like that.
What about you? How do you make the consequences worse for your characters? (Stinkin' smelly kitchen...you are so getting the evil eye!)
2 comments:
LOL. Some days are like that! I wish we could have read your whiny post, though.
This is my short post on this topic http://writingwithshelly.blogspot.com/2011/05/tuesdays-thought-characters.html
Basically saying the same thing but with a cartoon ;)
Great way to turn your experience into a blog post - it's so true. It's hard for me to be harsh to my characters, sometimes. I just want everything to work out - but it doesn't always. :(
Post a Comment