Character-Driven or Plot-Driven – What Drives Story

Will your character enlist others to join in the quest? Together all characters will share the same desire. The greater the goal the more your characters drives themselves through their five senses. The more they express, the more they will stay focused on their goals. Throughout the journey your character will begin the transformation. Your character will become a better (or worse) person.

“What are character- and plot-driven stories?

Let’s start with two quick definitions:

• A Character-Driven Story features an exploration of the protagonist’s internal development over the course of a story arc.
• A Plot-Driven Story features a sequence of events in which the protagonist fights to attain a goal over the course of a story arc.

But character- and plot-driven stories can’t be fully explained in just a single definition. Why? Because no matter which type of story you’re writing, it still will contain both character and plot arcs. More…

The story begins with a conflict. Don’t start a story with the back story, a dream and too much narration. Put in a conflict. The characters will move towards the goal. The back story should become a part of the main plot and written throughout your story. You need just enough back story to tell to show why this character is the way he is. Readers want just enough back stories to understand your character and read on.

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Why you shouldn’t just sell on Amazon or B&N

After your journey to plot, draft, edit and finish your story, now is the time to consider what direction to publish your novel. EPublish? Publish traditionally? After all, the idea is to get your accomplished work out to the public, for your audience to enjoy your story. Let’s consider all options.

“When making wise decisions, you first need to know the facts. While many self-published authors take the easy road, selling solely on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and or through retailers who have deals worked out with their printer, this isn’t always the best decision.

If you look at commerce as a whole, those who sell on multiple channels have 91% greater customer retention than those with a single platform for processing orders. The more sales channels you open, the higher your odds of building a solid fanbase.

But, you can’t just offer your book on a million different websites without a robust sales “platform.” You need a plan that automates and integrates multiple fulfilment channels and makes it easy to keep track of your inventory, orders, and delivery. It shouldn’t matter where your orders come from. Here is some advice to streamline your operations.” More…

Is EPublishing  A Good Idea?

“Want to grow your audience? Have a message you know you should share with the world? If you’re a blogger, writer, and/or an entrepreneur, you might be thinking about self-publishing a book.

A book in itself is unlikely to make or break you. But it’s a powerful extension of your message about your book or your writer’s journey blog.” More…

Tell everyone about your critique group. More…

Need more help to create a great story plot? More…

Don’t forget to edit your character’s story. Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Is it really important to make your story compelling?

 

Example of a compelling story: The Missing Jackal Mystery – The Cora Chronicles – Upon arrival in 1926 London, two ruffians run off with hers and Archie’s two identical cases. From the docks Cora and Archie run off on a mad chase through the streets of London to catch them. They return, without their cases, to find Archie’s assistant, Brandon murdered.

What makes Cora and Archie compelled to look for their suitcases? What kind of trouble could they get into while they search for the rag-a-muffin thieves? And what does Brandon have to do with this? Stay tuned as we watch the story unfold as the two get in and out of danger. Stay compelling.

21 Tips for Creating a Compelling Short Story

“Your main character should be multi-dimensional and at least somewhat sympathetic, so readers can relate to him and start bonding with him right away. And give him a human side, with some inner conflict and vulnerability, so readers care about him and start worrying about him immediately. A worried reader is an engaged reader. Remember that readers need to care about your character before they’ll start caring what happens to him.” More…

How can I write compelling stories?

“Always make your end intriguing. As I said, try to find an alternative. While writing suspense, always show reader only one side of the coin. Then when the reader reaches the end, make him/her drop his/her jaw. There are various ways to do that.” More…

5 Elements for Crafting a Compelling Story Your Audience Will Love

“So, try to deliver your message to one person, keep it simple and be generous. This is your opportunity to personalize your story and have people locked in from start to finish. But is connecting enough? What good is building rapport and evoking emotion in your readers if it doesn’t inspire them to take action? You need to leverage this connection by narrowing in on an obstacle your readers hold close to their heart—which leads us to the second element of crafting a compelling story.” More…

Search your past. We all have compelling stories to visit in our own history. But then, if we do not tell these stories their compelling nature diminish if they don’t come out. Pull them out of your mind and understand what makes a compelling story. Use what you know and weave your new story to to show your characters and plot in living color. And as another compelling story occurs to you, or as you find yourself with pen and paper, the that intriguing story spill from your imagination. Tell your tale, ask yourself if the story will provide interest to your audience. Compelling stories, it’s what you readers want.

Need more help to make your characters more believable? More…

Don’t forget to edit your character’s story. Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Why you shouldn’t just publish on Amazon or B&N

After your journey to plot, draft, edit and finish your story, now is the time to consider what direction to publish your novel. EPublish? Publish traditionally? After all, the idea is to get your accomplished work out to the public, for your audience to enjoy your story. Let’s consider all options.

“When making wise decisions, you first need to know the facts. While many self-published authors take the easy road, selling solely on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and or through retailers who have deals worked out with their printer, this isn’t always the best decision.

If you look at commerce as a whole, those who sell on multiple channels have 91% greater customer retention than those with a single platform for processing orders. The more sales channels you open, the higher your odds of building a solid fanbase.

But, you can’t just offer your book on a million different websites without a robust sales “platform.” You need a plan that automates and integrates multiple fulfilment channels and makes it easy to keep track of your inventory, orders, and delivery. It shouldn’t matter where your orders come from. Here is some advice to streamline your operations.” More…

Is EPublishing A Good Idea?
Want to grow your audience? Have a message you know you should share with the world? If you’re a blogger, writer, and/or an entrepreneur, you might be thinking about self-publishing a book.

A book in itself is unlikely to make or break you, but it is a powerful extension of your business or blog. More…

Tell everyone about your critique group. More…

Need more help to create a great story plot? More…

Don’t forget to edit your character’s story. Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Are your characters flat, boring and not help move your story along? Make their personality edgy. Let their inner demon come out and show who they really are. After all, nobody’s prefect, neither should your characters be perfect. Show their inner personality and put a bit of edge in how they interact with your other characters.

3 Edgy Little Tips to Make Your Story More Compelling

• Give your hero an interesting career.
• Give your hero a distracting personal relationship.
• Give your antagonist a noble goal.

“The key here is to make what they do interesting.  Something that says volumes about who they are, where they’ve come from, and how it defines their world view and current state of mind.  This aligns with the vicarious-reading-experience law of literary physics, versus making the hero’s job as mundane and vanilla as the reader’s.” More…

10 Easy Ways to Make Your Writing Edgy and Quirky

• Push the boundaries
• Add a bizarre twist in your writing
• Dig up the gems

“Edgy tends to mean a hint of the transgressive or dangerous but nothing explicit — while quirky tends to mean something like ‘idiosyncratic and fun’. That’s my take on it anyway… Edgy is a bit of a cliché these days. Provocative is probably a good thought. Also humor of some kind.” – veinglory on AbsoluteWrite. More…

All well and good. But how are you going to lead them past the first few pages while they make a snap judgment about your story? Again, it’s in the way you craft your words. Who do you know in your personal or professional life has an edgy or quirky personality? Study them, uses what you’ve found. Putting edge to your characters will bring them to life and seem more real and – life-like.

Need more help on how to make your characters more edgy? More…