Today’s assignment is actually an entire week’s worth of assignments rolled into one with a focal point that forms the actual assignment.
Every day this week (Tuesday through Sunday), your goal is to aim to write 1,000 words a day. If you can only manage 1, 1 is always better than 0.
Sit down and at least try. Writing a book is hard, it requires a lot of discipline, and it won’t get done unless you sit down and finish it.
You can edit a bad book later, but if you never get around to finishing the book… well, a bad book in hand is worth a lot more than a great book that was never written.
This applies to many things in life, and if you walk away from this attempt with anything, I hope that you remember that trying and failing is far more valuable than never having bothered to try due to a fear of not being perfect.
There is a place for perfection, and learning how to do something for the first time is not the place for it.
Someone who has the courage to do something badly is going to be the one who has the strength to do something well later.
Now, onto character development. This is actually a lot easier than people make it out to be.
Character development is the art of having characters change based on what happens around them, to them, and so on. It is the evolution of their personality due to the life they live and the choices they make.
This is why “Too stupid to live” characters piss readers off so much. They just do not learn. This is also why whiny characters tend to annoy people so much. Whiny characters often expect the world to just do what they want and need without putting in the work to change their situation.
This pisses people off.
Readers might forgive a whiny character if the character changes rather rapidly. But let’s face it, the whiny character trope gets hella annoying, but it’s so common because, well, people whine.
Often.
So while realistic, it tends to hamper reader acceptance of the creative work.
The same applies with too stupid to live characters.
As you write this week, look at the choices and situations your characters are in and ask yourself how these events might change somebody.
And then, as you write, implement those changes. See how your characters grow and develop.
A static character is a cardboard cutout.
Dynamic characters change, and change is development.
People like talking about character arcs, but the reality is… character arcs are just characters who have been redefined and evolved due to the circumstances around them.
A good character arc evolves at the same rate as the plot, because the character should be the driving force behind the plot, and as such, the character and plot should evolve at approximately the same pace.
Take your time chewing on it, and good luck. (You’ll need it.)
Where am I in the book writing process of Rise of the Rift King?
Yep, I’m still thinking out my beginning and the changes to my plot and character arcs. (I am spending the majority of my daily walks muddling through the hefty list of things that need to change, etc, and I’m just not at the right mental place to get back to the writing.)
This shit is hard, and honestly… the more skilled you get at writing a book, the harder it becomes.
Oh, well.
But… mental progress is being made, which is good.
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