“The second biggest reason that manuscripts are turned down is for lack of character. That’s why lifting your hero above his circumstances- above himself- is so necessary. We want our heroes to win.”
This is from notes I took at a characterization workshop I attended with agent Donald Maass last year and I’m finding them very motivational at the moment. You see, I’m trying to get past writing short stories. I love them, but I want to write a NOVEL . . . and I want it to be GREAT!
Scratch that. I AM going to write a novel…and it IS going to be GREAT!! Rereading these notes reminds me of just HOW to make my characters strong enough o carry an entire novel. And now I want feel confident that they can do it.
Good for you Sasha! Donald Maass’s work is truly inspirational for the writer. I once heard someone say that the way to write a novel is to think of it as writing four smaller books (ie the first hundred pages is one book, the second hundred pages is book two, etc.). For some reason that took a bit of the intimidation out of it for me. I’m still working on overcoming the fear I feel when I think about writing a single title. I used to think it came from not having enough story to fill that many pages, but now I realize it comes from the fact I’ve only done it two times. (Not enough to develop the habit of writing longer.) Hang in there. Your novel WILL be great.
Thats a great way to psyche myself out ! :hehe:
Thanks, Jordan.
But Jordan, you’ve done it twice so obviously you can do it again. 😀 that’s how i look at it anyway.
Sasha I know you can do it too! Frankly, I think characterization is one of, if not the most, important thing to get right. After all, who wants to read a boring book? :satisfied: