Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, Feb 25 2010
Should characters have agendas?
I was listening today to some of the discussion on Health Care Reform and I realized that everybody has agendas. We may not always admit it, but we each have pet theories and favorite topics we enjoy promoting and discussing. There are certain people who are actually so attached to their theories and topics that they can become megalomaniac about them, turning every conversation toward the object of their obsession.
While we shouldn't have the goal of being a megalomaniac, we should have things in life that we tackle with passion. If a main character in a fictional story is to be compelling, maybe he or she needs to have at least one thing to be passionate and intense about. It might be baking or dancing or singing in the choir or rolling dice. It might be train travel, be a pet or another person. Readers need to know that a character feels strongly about something so that they can identify with the journey that the character takes in a story. Is there a pet theory or topic that your main character keeps coming back to in some way?
posted at: 16:13 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
I was listening today to some of the discussion on Health Care Reform and I realized that everybody has agendas. We may not always admit it, but we each have pet theories and favorite topics we enjoy promoting and discussing. There are certain people who are actually so attached to their theories and topics that they can become megalomaniac about them, turning every conversation toward the object of their obsession.
While we shouldn't have the goal of being a megalomaniac, we should have things in life that we tackle with passion. If a main character in a fictional story is to be compelling, maybe he or she needs to have at least one thing to be passionate and intense about. It might be baking or dancing or singing in the choir or rolling dice. It might be train travel, be a pet or another person. Readers need to know that a character feels strongly about something so that they can identify with the journey that the character takes in a story. Is there a pet theory or topic that your main character keeps coming back to in some way?
posted at: 16:13 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
