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3 C’s – It’s Friday!

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Celebrations:

I’m taking the Brog-man to Madison this weekend to visit friends. I love Madison. My husband, sans wife and son, will probably golf from noon to night on Saturday. No joke.

Cares:
So You Think You Can Dance is the best show known to man. The top eighteen are SICK this year.

I’m really hoping to finish the first round of revisions for Beneath a Velvet Sky by Father’s Day. We shall see!

Concerns:
Brogan has been having a heck of a time falling asleep lately. He cries for at least a half hour before bedtime and don’t even get me started on naps. How long can I let the boy cry before his lungs will combust….or before he develops serious attachment disorders?

I have zero control when it comes to all things sugar.

Yesterday, I felt like Alexander, because I had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I was incredibly grumpy and irritable. Poor hubby. Is it a coincidence that I didn’t have my morning time with God? I think not.

Brogan keeps going BOOM-BOOM. Along with crawling, he now pulls himself up to standing. Imagine my surprise when I found him standing in his crib on Thursday. He’s also learned to climb steps. The steps infatuate him. The steps to Brogan are like Edmund’s Turkish Delight. I’m constantly picking him up and putting him on the opposite side of the living room, and he’s constantly crawling back to the steps.

Bubba has an ear infection. His right ear reeks! Poor Bubba.

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

GMC: Looking at the M

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

A few days ago, I blogged about the G in GMC. The G is the goal, or the what. What is my character working toward throughout the course of the book? In Getting into Character, Brandilyn Collins calls the G the action objective. The action objective is the character’s desire and it should be stated as an action verb.

Instead of: Jimmy John wants to be successful. You make it: Jimmy John wants to win first prize in the pie eating contest. The more specific, the better. So now that we’ve established the need for every good book to have a G, let’s look at the M.

If G is the what. M is the why.
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M stands for Motivation. For every goal we give a character, we better have a reason, a motivation, a why, for giving this character that goal. What motivates Jimmy John to want to win a pie eating contest? Why does getting first prize matter to him? If we want this story to be believable, there better be a good reason. And this reason better be strong enough to drive Jimmy John through the course of the story.
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There are a whole number of reasons why Jimmy John might want to win first prize in a pie eating contest. Maybe he’s really skinny and his dad’s a big man who always took pride in his girth and the amount of food he could eat. Maybe Jimmy John grew up teased by his equally big brother who said real men have big appetites. Maybe winning that pie eating contest is Jimmy John’s way of proving to his father and his brother that he’s just as much a man as either of them. Even though this idea is absurd, it’s believable.
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Because the motivation is there.
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Debra Dixon says motivation is one of the most important elements in writing fiction. Because without a plausible and strong why, the story falls apart. There are no limits in fiction. We can do anything we want. If we want Jimmy John’s goal to be growing his toenails out until they curl under his feet, we can do it. If we want Jimmy John’s goal to be cloning his dead uncle Bob, then we can do that too. We can make these stories believable as long as we establish the WHY. Motivation is key. Every character needs a goal, and every character needs a motivation for that goal.
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Debra Dixon’s advice as far as finding the motivation?
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Keep it simple. Keep it strong. Keep it focused.
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God has brought a person into my life recently. And this person gave me advice that has lined up very nicely with what I’ve been reading in Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. She says, “Every time you have your character do something, always ask WHY?” A strong WHY is what suspends disbelief and engages our readers in the story.
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Questions to Ponder: Do your characters have motivation? How do you go about finding the reasons that drive your characters to act the way they do?
On a side note, I apologize if my use of the name Jimmy John made any of you hungry for a sandwich.

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Joseph – Sans the Dream Coat

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I was reading my Bible this morning and came across a very simple verse that made me pause and reflect. I thought I’d share my musings with you all.

Many people know the story, but in case you don’t, I’ll give a very quick rundown. Joseph, son of Jacob, a man faithful to God, was sold into slavery by his older brothers. Through some twists and turns, ups and downs, Joseph ends up in the King’s prison. Two of the King’s workers – the cupbearer and the baker – angered Pharaoh and were sent to prison. They had dreams. Joseph interpreted them correctly and asked the cupbearer to remember him. Joseph didn’t deserve to be in prison and hoped the cupbearer would inform Pharaoh of this injustice.
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Now…here are the two simple verses that made me pause, taken from Genesis 40:23 – 41:1:
The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream.
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Okay, I’ve read over these verses many times before, thinking nothing about them. But WOW! Two full years?! Joseph had to wait two more full years – seven hundred and thirty more days in prison – before Pharaoh’s dream reminded the cupbearer of him. That is an incredibly long time to wait.
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It made me wonder… what was Joseph doing during those two years? I wonder if he thought he’d stay in prison forever. I wonder if he thought he would die there, forgotten and alone. I wonder if he got frustrated with God’s timing, wondering why in the world he was still there. I wonder if Joseph had days where he just gave up. It’s interesting to think about, isn’t it? Reading over the verses, the two years float right past our tongue. Yea, okay, so two years later Pharaoh had a dream. But hold up. Two years is a long time.
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Of course this made me think about my own life. In the midst of all this waiting, sometimes I find myself getting discouraged. When will I be able to stay home full time with Brogan, Lord? When will I get published? When will things start happening for me in this writing journey?
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Here’s the thing. I bet God had a lot of work to do with Joseph during those two years. I bet, during those two years, Joseph drew nearer to God. I bet he reached a point in his life where he had to let go of his dreams and just trust God to do His thing, whatever that may be.
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When I step back and gain some distance from my life, I’m able to see God working in me as well. He’s asking me to be still and know that He is God. He’s asking me to trust and to learn patience (something I have very little of). And throughout all this, I can feel Him taking my toes and my hair and stretching me out, growing me as a writer. As a person. I’ve learned SO much over this past year. Heck, I’ve learned SO much over the past month! And through this journey, I’ve grown closer to my maker.
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For whatever reason, God’s asking me to wait. And while this waiting might not end as glorious as Joseph’s (in case you don’t know, he becomes second to Pharaoh himself, a great leader of Egypt), God has a purpose for it.
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Question to ponder: What’s God asking you to wait for today? What are you doing while you wait?

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