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Raising the Stakes

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

How do you do it?
Simple, think about your story’s central conflict. Now come up with as many reasons as you can that make this conflict worse. Do not censor yourself. Write an exhaustive list. When you think you’ve gone as far as you can, go further. Think disastrously bad.

Are you finished?

Pick as many of these ideas as possible and weave them into your plot.

Why do we do this?
We want to write a story with increasing amounts of tension. We want to write a story where the problem gets worse and worse until it seems hopeless. Remember what Dwight Swain said? A good story builds tension. And a good ending releases that tension. The higher the tension, the more satisfying the release at the end.

Question to Ponder: Have there been times in your life when tension escalated to a maddening level?

I remember being late for one of my first days for this receptionist job I got in Madison. And wouldn’t you know it, I got a flat tire. I about lost it. Who am I kidding? I did lose it.removetweetmeme

The Perfect Cast

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

How do you enrich your cast of characters? How do you make them memorable? How do you ensure each character adds depth and purpose to your story? Donald Maas knows how….

A handy exercise:
1st, make a list of every character in your story (secondary and minor)

2nd, next to the name, write the character’s purpose for appearing in the story

3rd, look over your list and try to combine as many characters as you can.

Why? Creating characters that serve more than one purpose is a sure-fire way to enrich you cast.

My Success Story:
At first, I had my doubts. I stared at my list of characters and convinced myself I could not combine any of them. But I ignored my hesitancy and forced myself to complete the exercise. I deleted a character whose purpose was to be a point of contention between hero and heroine. I then gave this character’s purpose to my heroine’s sister-in-law. So now I have this sister-in-law whose trying to support my main lady, but ends up being a sticking point between hero and heroine. The result kicked my tension up a notch.

Questions to Ponder: What people in your life serve more than one function? One example for me would be my sister-in-law, who is my sister-in-law, my coworker, and an awesome friend.

FYI: My GMC series is being posted on Seriously Write today. The series will continue every Monday for the next several weeks. So if you’re looking for a GMC review, stop on over.

And finally, Happy Labor Day!!removetweetmeme

3 C’s – It’s Friday!

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Cares:
ACFW conference is in a week and a half, and in preparation, I’ve been talking to myself more than ever. In the shower. On my drive to work. While I brush my teeth. I keep pretending I’m talking to an agent or an editor. Most of the time Brogan is with me. He sort of cocks his head to one side and furrows his eyebrows at me. Does this mean he likes the pitch, or doesn’t like it? And at what point should my husband start to worry?

Concerns:
Headaches. Lots and lots of headaches. This has been an ongoing saga in my life. No fun. No fun at all.

I spent way too much time on this website yesterday looking for my celebrity look alike, hoping to post the picture here today. But for whatever reason, I can’t get it to work. My celebrity look alike is supposedly Jessica Biel, only we really don’t look anything alike. Then I uploaded my hubby’s picture to find his match. And his celebrity look alike is……Kat Deeley from So You Think You Can Dance. Yea…um…I forgot to change the sex option to male.

Celebrations:
Three day weekend! Who-hoo for Labor Day!

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations on this pleasant Friday morning?removetweetmeme