tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post7099406736273595260..comments2024-03-04T02:09:30.979-06:00Comments on One Man's Pony Ramblings: Strength of Character(s)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-18929787472220015572015-08-15T10:49:20.688-05:002015-08-15T10:49:20.688-05:00Moreover, this can be taken as the opening for a g...Moreover, this can be taken as the opening for a guide to writing conflicts. Conflict is what makes stories work, and understanding your characters' motivations is a necessary step towards constructing plot points that cause believable and engaging conflicts.<br /><br />Strength of character and the engagingness of conflict go hand in hand. Too many stories fall flat because a reader fails to get the sense that a conflict is even taking place, and truly knowing your characters' motivations is a good way to be sure that a conflict 'clicks' with an audience.InquisitorMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10209346997929773686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-35452293217312752032015-08-14T17:50:15.422-05:002015-08-14T17:50:15.422-05:00This may be a little on a tangent, but there's...This may be a little on a tangent, but there's some fairly long-standing advice floating around about character motivation. It starts with what Bachiavellian pointed out: what does the character want? It's also useful to decide what the character is willing to do to get it, and what bad thing will happen if he doesn't. Things get more interesting when the character wants multiple things, and better yet when those things conflict or are mutually exclusive.<br /><br />Thanks for the writing advice, Bach. Writing topics like this can be very complex, but it definitely helps to boil them down to their core concepts to make them easier to apply and keep in mind.Pascoitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05861834765162800926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-70534047102542983912015-08-14T09:24:22.508-05:002015-08-14T09:24:22.508-05:00All good advice, Bachiavellian! I liked this. It w...All good advice, Bachiavellian! I liked this. It was all well thought out and straightforward, and explained in a way that was easy to understand. Whenever I've written characters in the past I've always just kind of... gone for it, but maybe next time I'll try thinking about it your way. Adding some method to my madness could make the process a whole lot easier.SVnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-69149951711496575242015-08-14T01:27:05.734-05:002015-08-14T01:27:05.734-05:00Thank you for being kind enough to upload some of ...Thank you for being kind enough to upload some of my words, Chris, and for the endorsements too! It was really fun putting this together, and I hope it ends up being useful for someone.Bachiavellianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634464927862521090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-88512745443321706772015-08-14T01:13:04.177-05:002015-08-14T01:13:04.177-05:00As I was reading this, I couldn't help but thi...As I was reading this, I couldn't help but think how this could tie into plotting. A reader would find it satisfying to see what they know about a character's Motivations and Expressions be reconfirmed, or to have their knowledge challenged in an explainable way ("That's <i>so</i> Raven!" or "What? Raven would never do that! Oh... so <i>that's</i> why Raven did that!"). However, with an original character, readers don't know anything about them right away. An author could use this as an opportunity: if you know you'll need some particular Motivation-Expression pair for a later part in a story, try coming up with some ideas on how to introduce that to your readers early on. Sorta like good game designHolly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.com