What drives your story, character or plot

What Drives Your Story

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Character-Driven or Plot-Driven – What Drives Story

Will your character enlist others to join in the quest? Together all characters will share the same desire. The greater the goal the more your characters drives themselves through their five senses. The more they express, the more they will stay focused on their goals. Throughout the journey your character will begin the transformation. Your character will become a better (or worse) person.

“What are character- and plot-driven stories?

Let’s start with two quick definitions:

  • A Character-Driven Story features an exploration of the protagonist’s internal development over the course of a story arc.
  • A Plot-Driven Story features a sequence of events in which the protagonist fights to attain a goal over the course of a story arc.

But character- and plot-driven stories can’t be fully explained in just a single definition. Why? Because no matter which type of story you’re writing, it still will contain both character and plot arcs. More…

The story begins with a conflict. Don’t start a story with the back story, a dream and too much narration. Put in a conflict. The characters will move towards the goal. The back story should become a part of the main plot and written throughout your story. You need just enough back story to tell to show why this character is the way he is. Readers want just enough back stories to understand your character and read on.

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Character Driven Story

How to Write a Character-Driven Plot

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Focus on Your Character’s Driven Struggles

“Focusing on a character’s driven struggle to obtain their desire will give you a more organic story. On its face, the first season of True Detective didn’t have many elements that really separated it from the typical buddy cop story. Two cops, riding around in a car, sometimes disagreeing and hunting down a mysterious serial killer certainly doesn’t qualify as re-inventing the game. So why exactly is the series so memorable?

In Daniel Netzel’s latest video essay for Film Radar, he argues that it’s the excellent character development which makes the season feel so fresh. It serves as a masterclass on how to write complex characters.” More…

How to Write a Character-Driven Plot in 4 Steps

“Literary fiction writers tend to avoid plot. We’re trained to be plot snobs, focused only on character development and description and point-of-view, amongst other things. But your story can’t be plotless. Plot is tension, plot is drama, plot IS story.

What makes this element even harder is that in most of the literary fiction novels we love, the plot seems invisible. As readers, we DO focus on the characters and how they change over the course of the novel. Their motivations and fears and desires are so strong that we ignore the events that are pushing them toward and away from their goals. We focus on their evolution and forget about plot completely.” More…

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Which way to publish

Should You Publish Traditional or ePublish

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Why you shouldn’t just sell on Amazon or B&N

After your journey to plot, draft, edit and finish your story, now is the time to consider what direction to publish your novel. EPublish? Publish traditionally? After all, the idea is to get your accomplished work out to the public, for your audience to enjoy your story. Let’s consider all options.

“When making wise decisions, you first need to know the facts. While many self-published authors take the easy road, selling solely on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and or through retailers who have deals worked out with their printer, this isn’t always the best decision.

If you look at commerce as a whole, those who sell on multiple channels have 91% greater customer retention than those with a single platform for processing orders. The more sales channels you open, the higher your odds of building a solid fanbase.

But, you can’t just offer your book on a million different websites without a robust sales “platform.” You need a plan that automates and integrates multiple fulfilment channels and makes it easy to keep track of your inventory, orders, and delivery. It shouldn’t matter where your orders come from. Here is some advice to streamline your operations.” More…

Is EPublishing  A Good Idea?

“Want to grow your audience? Have a message you know you should share with the world? If you’re a blogger, writer, and/or an entrepreneur, you might be thinking about self-publishing a book.

A book in itself is unlikely to make or break you. But it’s a powerful extension of your message about your book or your writer’s journey blog.” More…

Tell everyone about your critique group. More…

Need more help to create a great story plot? More…

Don’t forget to edit your character’s story. Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Can anyone write a story? Writers show their creative minds as they write.

Do You Have a Story in Your Mind to Put in Print

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Not Sure Where to Begin Your Story

Do you have a desire to write your story? What do you need to know to write fiction? Can anyone write a story? Writers show their creative minds as they write. All you need to do is reach into your imagination and pull out the story that dwells there. Don’t wait. Create what you have now.

Every author has spent hours perfecting the craft. Successful authors persist even though the entire story is not complete in their minds. Be persistent and the rest of the story will come to you. And you will learn how to be a proficient writer along the way. You pick up things and become talented as time goes on. You’ll get your story down on paper and you’ll become an experienced writer.

Begin Your Story

“Where a story begins is equally as important as where it ends. Often writers of fiction will write the end of the story first; doing so establishes a clear finish line to cross, and the journey to get there can now begin. It’s no small task for a writer to bring a story full circle, and there are no accidents when it comes to making this happen. A writer’s meticulous consideration of every word, phrase, and action is crucial to the story, and getting the beginning of a novel right is a fundamental part of getting an audience (and the writer) through to the end.” More…

“Often novels open with narrators recalling memories that are core to the plot. This is especially common in novels where a single, unforgettable event casts its shadow over the rest of the book (e.g. the murder in a murder mystery).

Framing an event in your story through a character’s memory gives it weight. When you begin your novel with your main character remembering an earlier scene, it’s thus important to choose the right scene.” More…

The best way to start is to just write, write and keep writing. Pick up a pencil or pen and write. It’s as simple as that. We’ll go on this journey together and get your story written.

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site