Diary of a Procrastinator October 24

knowing what your character needs to learn

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

I’m sooooo close (like one scene away) to finishing my latest manuscript, A Place of Her Own.

This book (my eighth) has finally taught me what my process is — I’ll write about that in another post — and it’s also taught me the importance of knowing what your character has to learn. This is something I’ve always been aware of and filtered into the story but as this is the third book in my protagonist’s story I really needed to nail what it is she needs to learn to finally achieve her overall goal and gain both what she wants and needs.

Knowing this is particularly important at the revision stage as you fine tune the turning points and make sure there is an unfolding character arc. I found it really helpful when writing the climactic moment and moving into the resolution stage to consciously be aware of what it is my character has learnt and to make sure I’m showing that in both her actions and thoughts.

In a nutshell, my character has to learn to be vulnerable (but it’s more complex than that). I talk about it further in the attached video for paid subscribers.

What does you character have to learn and have you set up enough challenges to push them into this change?