LTUE 2018 Character Vs Plot

FSNA?

Characters

What has the most at Stake?
Who has the most to lose?
Who has the most to learn of discover?

Spooc test

Situation, Protagonist, Objectives, Obstacle, Climax

Every charcter needs something in every scene.

Characters travel through the plot.

Zen in the Art of Writing - Bradbury

Plot is Character revealed by Action. - Aristotle

Story question is introduced in the first chapter. Story ends when the story question is finished.

What is the main characters goal?

Status Quo - Disruption - New Status Quo

Antagonist | Status Quo

Protagonist | Challege to the status quo

Protagonist cannot exist in the status quo.

Every character has an opinion.

The Reader must be on your side. You have to integrate them into the world. (Beginning of Harry Potter)

Betrayals and Redemptions are powerful. Snape, Vader.

The most celebrated are the rehabilitated.

Readers should identify with both sides.

Bring in the Emotion - Every book worth a darn is about emotion.

Aristotle - Poetics

Know what type of story you are telling.

Stagecoach Movie - Character story - Firefly - Stagecoach in Space.
Oceans 11 - Fast Characterization

Resources

Fantasy Fiction Formula.
318R Class on YouTube
Writing Excuses Podcast.
Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes

Pay attention to how your characters are introduced.

Bring in the complexity. Growing into something else or covering up something else. Revealed by how they react to things around them. Everyone has a secret even if it doesn’t come out on screen.

Any character strong enough of carrying a viewpoint should be capable of analyzing a situation and reacting.