Time to Write

What motivates your characters? (And what motivates you?)

There are four stages of motivation, says Benjamin Hardy in an article on Medium.

That may be an oversimplification, but a useful one when creating characters for your screenplay or novel--as well as for a bit of navel-gazing. Here's how he defines the four stages:

    "At stage one, you are motivated by fear. Everything you do is to avoid punishment or negative outcomes. 

    At stage two, you are motivated by reward. Everything you do is to get what you want. 

    At stage three, you are motivated by duty. You’re going to do what you believe you should whether you receive a reward or not.

    At stage four, you are motivated by love. You have moved beyond worry for your own needs."

THE UPSIDE AND DOWNSIDE OF EACH STAGE

Naturally, each of these stages has advantages and drawbacks.

Stage one sounds terrible, but there is a kind of protection implied--the fearful person may never take any risks and therefore may not excel, but they will avoid some of the negative events that befall risk-takers.

People at stage two tend to believe that everybody else is at this stage, and they don't see any problem with being selfish. In fact, often they believe that what they do also benefits the greater good (see Ayn Rand, or "What's good for General Motors is good for America.")

Stage three removes the need to make many decisions or question your actions. The path forward is defined for you by your group or your religion. 

While stage four sounds great, it has just as many potential conflicts and complications as the others. For instance, imagine a scientist whose research could potentially save the lives of many people--but requires a dedication of time and effort that makes it difficult for him or her to also devote enough time to family. That's the story of many top artists and scientists.

Of course, nobody is motivated by only one of these all the time. Probably over the course of the day, we make decisions based on all four. Even the same action may be motivated by a mix. However, one may predominate.

HOW TO APPLY THIS TO YOUR CHARACTERS

You could use these as a pattern for the character arc of your protagonist. The character could go from stage three to stage four, or even from stage one to stage four, although a change that big that would require intense events to drive it.

You could also decide at which stage the other characters are. That will help you decide what they would do at any point in your story. 

Finally, having different characters at different levels will tend to generate conflict, always useful when you're building a plot.

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Want tips on creating outstanding characters? You'll get them from the top writers of today and times past, in Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nichalas Brealey/Hachette, and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.

Learning from first pages that work...or don't

You pick up a book or check the "look inside" feature on Amazon, and read the first page.

Do you want to continue reading? Enough to buy the book?

On the Writer Unboxed site, there's a feature called "Flog a Pro: would you pay to turn the first page of this bestseller?"

As the title suggests, the feature reveals the first page of a popular book, asks you to decide whether you'd pay to continue reading, and explains why they would or wouldn't. You can vote and see how others voted.

The most recent example was the first page of Glass House by Louise Penny, which held the ninth spot on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list for Sept. 17, 2017.

I opted for "no", as did 54% of the total voters--but since this was a new post, only 17 people had voted.

The post's author, novelist Ray Rhamey, also voted no.

Like Rhamey, I felt that too much of the first page was devoted to the unremarkable musings of a character I don't know yet. The book is part of a character series, so that might not bother people who have read others in the collection. 

Focusing the the first page is an enjoyable way to get yourself to be analytical about what works (or doesn't) to grab the reader, a good source of lessons for our own writing. It's not only browsers who pay attention to the first page, so do agents and publishers. Crafting a strong first page is equally important for screenplays. 

However, avoid the temptation to try to make the first page perfect before you write the second and third. That's better left for the second and subsequent drafts, if you want to avoid driving yourself crazy.

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Would you like writing advice from the classic and modern greats? You'll find it in my book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey/Hachette, and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.

 

 

First and last lines of movies

What do the first and last lines of a movie reveal? 

You can check it out yourself at a new site, created by ATT Internet Services, where they connect the first and last lines with brief animations that mirror the action and themes of the films:

URL: http://www.attinternetservice.com/resources/first-last-lines-of-movies/

One example that reflects the arc of the character is from The Princess Bride. 

The first lines:

"Hi, honey."

"Hi, Mom.

"You feeling any better?" "

"A little bit."

"Guess what? Grandfather's here."

"Mom, can't you tell him that I'm sick?"

The last lines:

"Grandpa...maybe you could come over...and read it again to me tomorrow."

"As you wish."

It might inspire you to consider carefully what you want the first and last lines to be if you're writing a screenplay.

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Want great writing advice from the best writers, classic and modern? You'll find it in my book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey/Hachette, and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.

 

Ooops, should have hired a lit student (god knows they need the work)...

Earlybird books sent me an offer to sign up for free and discounted books. Among the free ones was Middlemarch, by George Eliot. Here's part of the description:

George Eliot’s novel of life in a quaint English town is a landmark of Victorian-era storytelling. Discover his beloved cast of characters...

Hmm, do you think maybe a book site should have an editor who knows that George Eliot was a woman?

 

Too stressed to write? Try stepping outside of yourself

When you're under pressure, thinking of yourself in the 3rd person can help you cope according to a recent study published in Scientific Reports.

Instead of thinking, "How can I possibly get this done!?", think, "How can [your name] possibly get this done?" The "I" mode tends to push you in the direction of your emotions, which in this case probably are negative; creating a bit of distance by changing the reference to your name tends to push you in the direction of possible solutions.

If that's still too close, try imagining that a friend of yours has exactly the same issue with the same circumstances. What would you advise him or her to do? 

You may find that if you imagine the problem as belonging to a friend you are much less judgmental than when you think of it as being yours. If so, it's time to be as kind to yourself as you are to your friends.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-04047-3

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Need some constructive guidance in writing your book or script? Check out my book, Your Writing Coach, published by Nicholas Brealey/Hachette, and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.