Barbara V Evers

Photo courtesy of Pexels.com Good stories use conflict and tension to propel a character somewhere they don't want to go. Change equals conflict. Two of my recent posts, Coming Home: What We Missed and Change and a Novel's Characters , dealt with external changes, but what about the process of internal change? At the end of a story, we need to see our character undergo a personal change based on the circumstances they experience. To continue the Wizard of Oz example in one of the earlier posts, Dorothy returns home appreciative of the little farm she grew up on. She realizes home is better than "somewhere over the rainbow." Internal Change Internal change occurs deep within the character's point of view. The impact on the character can be physical, emotional, or spiritual and will show up in their choices, actions, dialogue, and thoughts. Before you write about change, it helps to understand how people react to change. The Stages of Change Chan...

Change. The only constant in our world is change. If you don't agree, check how your current technology compares to what's in the stores these days. It's hard to keep up, and we often balk at  change. Other times, we accept change as inevitable, or we embrace it with pure excitement and joy. A few weeks ago, our family traveled to Rhode Island for our son's wedding. We embraced the addition of a new daughter to our family, but the changes to our routine? Not so much. We spent six days away from home. Even though it's fun to explore other places, we missed the familiar comforts of home. Protagonists Must Face Change A novel's protagonist has to face change, too. Sometimes they embrace it, but a good author creates  conflict and tension by placing characters in a change they do not welcome. If the characters do welcome the change, the story still needs conflict, so the change must turn out differently than anticipated. Think about Dorothy in The Wizard...

It's been a crazy week playing catch up, so I will continue the posts on the adventures to include when writing about changes in location or circumstance week. Meanwhile, I thought I'd share this list (obtained from The Writer's Circle website a few years ago).

Coming home. Those two words resound with promise, don't they? Image courtesy of Pixabay.com We spent the last six days in Rhode Island for our son's wedding. This new milestone in his life was an exciting time for all of us, but it's a relief it's over and we're back in good ole South Carolina. Travel brings adventure, especially when you visit somewhere new. When we read or write about characters on an adventure, they often encounter some of the same things we experience as leisure travelers. Their journeys, whether physical or emotional, involve encountering things foreign to them. As I thought about this last night, while snuggled in my bed instead of an unfamiliar hotel bed, I began to think about all of the rich details writers can add to the adventures of their characters. I, for one, have some depth to add to my writing after this. Maybe you do, too. What's Different? Accents Travel anywhere outside of your region, and you'll begin t...

Some days I wonder what dark cloud hovers over my family, making sure we don't get a break in the ongoing saga of raising grandchildren. Seriously, since late August, we can't seem to catch a break. First Amari got sick the first week of school. Then I caught it and struggled for two weeks to silence my coughing in order to say more than two words before hacking up a lung. Then, some weird stomach thing hit me. It lasted two weeks, and the doctor decided to check for gall bladder issues. Luckily, all is normal there, but we still don't have answers to the stomach "thing." Then last week, Amari started coughing again. And, of course...guess who's congested and feeling yucky? Yep. Me. Woohoo. Seriously. It's October. We've had someone ill since late August. We have a family wedding coming up in Rhode Island. We don't need this. What does this have to do with writing, you ask? Well, for a story to be interesting, things need to happen. There...