There have been some
pretty fantastic posts this month regarding a character's inner journey throughout a story, specifically from Jami Gold. I didn’t attend
the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Conference, but I wish I had for one
reason: Michael Hauge’s Workshop on characters’ inner journeys.
Jami has covered the workshop pretty well as far as I’m
concerned. Her coverage sparked a few light bulbs, leading me to examine the
inner journey in my own book. So, in lieu of a proper post, you should check
out her posts on Michael Hauge’s workshop, as well as a post from Janice Hardy.
While Jami’s posts pertain to romance, the tips can probably help with other
stories too (especially the last post). They helped me.
Michael Hauge’s Workshop:
“Using Inner Conflict to Create
Powerful Love Stories”
Jami Gold’s blog:
Janice Hardy’s blog:
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Short writing update: I’m a little behind this week on my work-in-progress. Editing the first half of the book has been interesting. I’ve noticed several weak areas that will have to be bolstered once I get to real revisions, but overall, the outer plot is totally solid. I’m happily surprised by this. The inner plot—as in, the character’s emotional journey—is not so solid. It’s pretty awful to tell the truth. Most of that is because I don’t plot character arcs rigidly (I probably should), but also because this is the umpteenth version of this book, and I’ve already written so many different character arcs for the main character that I can’t keep this one straight. Thankfully, going back through the first half of the book helped me see the character arc so far. With some slight tweaking and delete key frenzies, I think the characters’ inner journeys are a little stronger now (though, I still have a lot of work ahead of me once this first draft is finished).
(Next week, I should have a guest post on vampires by Sophie Duncan on Monday and an interview with Michael Williams on Thursday, both Literary+ members)
Aww, thanks for the shout out, Brooke. :)
ReplyDeleteI had one person question me on Twitter about if I was "giving too much away." It was probably bad manners of me, but I laughed. :)
If they knew how stuffed with information Michael Hauge's workshop was, they'd understand that *I* would go to the same workshop again. And I'd probably come back with 4 pages of completely new notes. LOL!
Janice even commented on her post that she read mine and wondered if we were in the same workshop (in a good way).
Really, there was just SO much information he presented, my posts were more about what stuck out to me, rather than trying to give a summary of everything he said--which would be impossible. :) His workshop was *that* amazing. I wish everyone could have gone.
i would have loved to be there. hopefully i can catch one of his workshops someday... i'm jealous of all the writers that did!
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