Episode 47 - Get 'em off the couch! Goals motivation and passion as the driving forces for your characters

The Creative Writer's Toolbelt

Oct 15 2015 | 00:13:00

00:00 / 00:13:00

Show Notes

Jeanne Cavelos, the Director of the Odyssey Writing Workshop says that the number one piece of advice she gives to writers is this: give your character a goal. It's so easy for us to create pet characters who just sit on the couch, docile and useless in our story. We may love these creations but they slow the narrative, and bore the reader. So how do we get our characters engaged, and working with our story not against it? Simple, we follow Jeanne's advice and give them a goal (or goals), as well as some strong motivation, and a driving passion as part of who they are.

Other Episodes

Episode

September 20, 2014 • 00:09:04

Episode 18 - The HARVARD Model for developing characters

The HARVARD model is a systematic process for developing the personae of your characters. It's different from other character generators in two ways: first,...

Episode 167

December 16, 2021 • 00:28:30

Episode 167. Building your authority as a writer, with Bryan Collins

Welcome to episode 167 of the Creative Writer’s Toolbelt podcast. My guest for this episode is the writer, journalist and blogger Bryan Collins. Bryan...

Episode

March 25, 2018 • 00:14:46

Episode 116 - Climbing the North Face. Why completing the first draft of your writing project is so hard and how to achieve it

Writing the first draft of a novel, like scaling the north face of the Eiger, presents particular difficulties. In this episode, we look at...