Weekly Writing Challenge
Welcome to this week’s writing challenge.
I’m left wondering (again) if these challenges are helping people, or if I should use my time more constructively. Or perhaps they could merely be improved upon by providing some other motivating factor like a prize of some sort.
At this moment, I have no clue about you, but the challenges have been helping me.
Last week the challenge was simple - set a minimum daily word count of at least 100 words. I set mine at 200 words and am happy to report I have over 3,000 typed. While I didn’t sit down every day to write in it (which was a big part of it), I only didn’t because I’ve been ill, so I don’t feel bad.
I hope the challenge went well for you. What was your minimum? Did you make it every day or do like I did and make up for days lost?
This week’s challenge is inspired in something I read in Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird (discussion).
It takes a while to get to know your characters, and that’s something I often forget. What you need to get to know about them is what’s important - what’s at stake. It’s what’s at stake that makes the plot and keeps it moving.
So to help you get to know your characters, your challenge is to write a paragraph to a page from each character’s perspective. Have them talk about who they are as if someone has asked them to talk a bit about their lives, etc.
Find out what’s at stake in each character’s life. What’s meaningful, what would they fight for, and what would they learn to let go?
This can be a useful exercise even if you feel like you already know your characters. You never know what they might reveal.
Enjoy.
Leave a Reply