Love stories have been around for centuries and have captivated readers of all ages. They are stories that evoke strong emotions, and if written well, can leave a lasting impact on the reader. If you have ever thought about writing a love story, then you are in the right place. In this blog, I will provide you with some tips on how to write a perfect love story that will leave your readers swooning.
Develop your characters
Before you start writing your love story, you need to have well-developed characters. This means creating characters with unique personalities, backgrounds, and motivations. Your characters should be relatable, flawed, and have something that makes them stand out. Give them depth and complexity so that your readers can connect with them on a deeper level.
Create a compelling plot
Your plot is the backbone of your love story. It should be compelling and keep the readers engaged from beginning to end. A good love story should have ups and downs, obstacles, and conflicts. These obstacles and conflicts can come in many forms such as misunderstandings, cultural differences, societal pressure, or even external events such as war or natural disasters. These conflicts can create tension and add depth to your story.
Show, don’t tell
One of the most common mistakes writers make when writing love stories is telling the reader how the characters feel instead of showing it. It’s important to remember that love is an emotion, and emotions are best shown through actions, dialogue, and body language. Don’t tell the reader that the character is in love, show it through their actions and interactions with the other characters.
Dialogue
Dialogue is an important part of any story, but it is especially important in a love story. Dialogue can reveal a lot about the characters, their thoughts, and their emotions. It’s important to make your dialogue sound natural and authentic to the characters. Avoid using cliches and cheesy lines that can make the dialogue feel forced and unrealistic.
Use sensory details
Sensory details can bring your story to life and create a more immersive experience for the reader. Use sensory details to describe the setting, the characters, and the emotions. This will allow the reader to imagine the scene in their mind and feel like they are a part of the story.
Avoid cliches
Love stories are notorious for being full of cliches. While some cliches can be effective when used sparingly, it’s important to avoid relying on them too heavily. Be original and try to come up with unique and creative ways to tell your story.
Have a satisfying ending
Your love story should have a satisfying ending. This doesn’t necessarily mean a happy ending, but it should be an ending that feels earned and believable. Your characters should have gone through a journey, and their growth and development should be reflected in the ending.
In conclusion, writing a perfect love story is not an easy task, but it is possible. By developing your characters, creating a compelling plot, showing instead of telling, using authentic dialogue, using sensory details, avoiding cliches, and having a satisfying ending, you can create a love story that will leave your readers feeling fulfilled and happy. Good luck with your writing!
Every writer’s mission is to pen a story that draws readers in, offering familiarity when it comes to certain genre expectations while also delivering something fresh so to be distinctive and memorable. This is how to cultivate a loyal–and, fingers crossed, rabidly obsessed–reading audience.
But heck, there’s a lot of stories out there. And didn’t someone say there’s only so many plot forms to choose from? Is “fresh” even possible?
YES.
When you know where to look, you can find a kaleidoscope of unique ideas and apply them to any type of story to transform it.
A Story’s Secret Weapon: Conflict
One of the easiest ways to offer that thrill of “newness” for readers is to activate the power of conflict. In fiction, it is the crucible that tests, bruises, and shapes our characters. Externally, it pushes the plot onward by supplying the resistance needed to force characters to scrutinize their world, make choices, and take action to get what they want. Internally, conflict generates a tug-of-war between the character’s fears, beliefs, needs, values, and desires. Ultimately, it forces them to choose between an old, antiquated way of thinking and doing, or a new, evolved way of being, because only one will help them get what they want.
Conflict touches everything: plot, characters, arc, pacing, tension, emotion, etc.
No matter the genre or the type of plot, conflict allows you to make a storyline fresh. The scenarios you choose can be adapted to your character, their circumstances, and the world where everything is taking place, personalizing the experience for readers and drawing them in closer to the characters they care about.
The other beautiful thing about conflict is how you can find it anywhere: the character’s career, relationships, duties, etc., or it can come from adversaries, nature, the supernatural, or even from within themselves. And that’s just to start.
But no matter where your character is and what is happening, there’s one eternal source for conflict that can always lead you to a complication, obstacle, or blocker to clash with your character’s goals: the setting.
Maximize a Scene’s ‘Where’
The location of each scene contains inherent dangers and risks, meaning you can mine those to create problems and remind the character of the cost of failure. Drawing conflict from your setting also gives it a greater role in the story. Rather than be a “stage” for action to unfold, your setting becomes a participant.
Here are some things to keep in mind to draw the very best conflict from your setting, making important story moments more intense, and offering that fresh gauntlet of challenges for your character to navigate.
Choose Settings Thoughtfully
Some setting choices are obvious. If you need your character’s car to break down in an isolated area, then a country road, campsite, or quarry might do the trick. But conflict very often happens in an ordinary setting, like a retail store or at home. In cases like these, when the story has dictated where events will occur, up the ante by choosing a specific location that holds emotional value for your character. Instead of choosing just any store, pick one with an emotional association—such as the place the character was caught shoplifting as a teenager. Good or bad, any setting that plays upon their emotional volatility will increase their chances of saying or doing something they’ll regret.
And while we’re talking about emotional value, don’t underestimate the symbolic weight of the objects within the scene. The backyard may be a generic place to have a difficult conversation but put the characters next to the treehouse their son used to play in before he got critically sick, and you’ve already heightened their emotions, potentially adding additional conflict to the scene.
Use Natural Obstacles
It’s also important to think about which settings contain infrastructure that will make the character’s goal harder to reach. Maybe it’s a ravine the protagonist will need to cross, a locked door to get through, or a security guard to evade. Remember that the character’s journey to achieve their goal shouldn’t be a walk in the park. Conflict is necessary in every scene, so choose settings that contain obstacles or provide poignant emotional roadblocks.
Think about how conflict naturally evolves. The character has an objective. They put together a plan and start pursuing that goal. Then complications come along and make things interesting. Luckily, there are lots of ways we can manipulate the setting to create additional conflict scenarios.
Level-Up Setting Conflict
Mess with the Weather. Unexpected showers, a heat wave, an icy driveway, the threat of a tornado—how cansmall and large weather considerations create problems for your character?
Take Away Transportation. No matter what setting you choose, your character will need to move from one place to another. What kind of transportation disruptions will make it harder for them to get where they need to go?
Add an Audience. Falling down in private is totally different than doing it in a crowd of people. Both may be physically painful, but the latter adds an element of emotional hardship. Who could you put in the environment as a witness to the character’s missteps or misfortune?
Trigger Sensitive Emotions. Conflict is easier to handle for an even-keeled, emotionally cool character. So use the setting to throw them off balance. If they’re struggling to put food on the table, place them in a locale where wealthy characters are eating lavishly and throwing away leftovers. Likewise, a character with daddy issues can be triggered in an environment that highlights healthy and loving father-daughter relationships. So when you’re planning the setting for a scene, ask yourself: What could I add specifically for my character in this situation that will elevate their emotions?
Exploit What They Don’t Have. If your character doesn’t have a light source, place them in a dark place, like a cave or deserted subway tunnel. No weapon? Surround them with physical threats. If they’re lacking something vital, capitalize on that.
Make Them Uncomfortable. Vulnerability sets the character on edge and elevates their emotional state. So whenever you can, put the character in a location where they have no experience, don’t know the rules, or aren’t really suited to navigate it. This can work forsmall- or large-scale settings, from a character who has to traverse an alien planet to someone who’s averse to kids having to host a child’s party.
Use Symbolism. Nothing impedes progress like fear and self-doubt. Think aboutwhich symbols can be added to the environment to remind the character of an area of weakness, a past failure, a debilitating fear, or an unresolved wound.
Add a Ticking Clock. One sure-fire way to up the ante is to give the character a deadline. Instead of them having unlimited time to complete the goal, make them dependent upon elements within their environment, such as having to avoid rush-hour traffic, reach the bank by four p.m., or get home before sunset.
Setting-related conflict is fantastic in that it can be endlessly adapted, helping you keep the tension going in every scene no matter where your character is.
Inspiration is a fickle beast. She strikes at inopportune times (3 AM, anyone?) then disappears for months on end. She doesn’t call, she doesn’t write. Or maybe she treats you differently, pouring on so many ideas that you can’t tell the golden nuggets from the stinky ones.
Finding and prioritizing story options can be a frustrating process, but it’s easier if you approach it from the right angle. Here are a few possible starting points.
Start with Genre
What do you like to write? What do you like to read? Which kinds of stories are you passionate about? We know that emotions are transferable, from author to page to reader, so writing something that gets you excited pays off in dividends.
Do you like fantasy? Which elements? Think dragons, portals, evil wizards, shapeshifters—then consider how those elements might be reimagined.
Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series gave us a whole new take on dragons, turning them from marauding villains into loving creatures that impress upon humans at birth and use their fiery powers for good.
Then, twenty years after the first book was published, she released the dragons’ origin story and how humans first came to Pern. While the previous books were straight fantasy, this one was also science fiction, showing the settlers traveling to the new world and using their technology to establish communities and bioengineer full-blown dragons from foot-long fire lizards. Dragonsdawn is an innovative blending of the sci-fi and fantasy genres in a way that was new and entirely fresh.
So think of the genre you want to write, then tweak the standard conventions to create something new. Or blend your preferred genre with another one and see what ideas come to mind.
Start with Character
Everyone’s process is different. It’s one of the things I love about the writing community—the vast diversity of thought and method that can birth uncountable stories. Maybe you’re the kind of writer who’s drawn to characters. They come to you fully-formed, or you have an inkling of who they are before you have any idea what the story’s about.
If this is you, start by getting to know that character. If you have a good idea of their personality, dig into their backstory to see what could have happened to make them the way they are. If you already know about their troubled past, use that to figure out which positive attributes, flaws, fears, quirks, and habits they now exhibit. What inner need do they have (and why)? Which story goal might they embrace as a way of filling that void?
Characters drive the story, so they can be a good jumping-off point for finding your next big idea.
Start with a Story Seed
But maybe it’s not characters that rev your engine. When I’m exploring a new project, I have no idea about the people involved. Instead, my stories typically start with a What if? question. What if a man abandoned his family to strike it rich in the California Gold Rush—what would happen to them? What if all the children under the age of 16 abruptly disappeared? What if someone’s sneezes transported them to weird new worlds?
If story elements, plotlines, and unusual events get your wheels turning, brainstorm those areas. If inspiration strikes when you’re neck-deep in research for your current story, write down those potential nuggets. Use generators to explore concepts you wouldn’t come up with on your own. Keep a journal of any possible seeds for future stories so you have options.
Start with a Logline
If you’ve got a vague idea of something you might want to write about, a great way to explore it is to create a logline—a one- or two-sentence pitch that explains what your story is about. Here’s an example you might recognize:
A small time boxer gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Writing a logline for a story idea enables you to flesh it out and experiment with its basic elements. The process of test-driving your idea with different protagonists, goals, conflicts, and stakes can turn a boring or already-done concept into an entirely new one that you can’t wait to write.
Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, and Conflict(affiliate link) teaches authors how to use these foundational elements to plan and enhance a story. But the same principles apply to fleshing out a story idea. If you’re thinking about a certain goal (it’s a story about someone who has to stop a killer/find their purpose/plan a wedding), play with various conflicts and motivations. Throw ideas into the hopper and see what pops out. Keep turning the handle to produce concept after concept until one of them strikes your fancy.
Listen, we all know the importance of writing what we’re excited about. Without that passion, writing becomes a slog and our stories end up partially finished on a back-up hard drive instead of filling people’s bookshelves. So when it comes to story ideas, let your imagination run riot. Consider all the options, no matter how far out they are or uncomfortable they make you feel. Don’t stop ’til you find the one that gets you going.
Romantic thrillers are a popular genre in the world of literature, combining elements of suspense, danger, and romance to create a gripping and thrilling narrative. Writing a successful romantic thriller requires careful planning and a deep understanding of the genre. In this blog, we will explore some tips on how to write a romantic thriller novel.
Develop your characters
The key to a successful romantic thriller is to create characters that readers care about. Develop your protagonist and love interest carefully, and make sure that their relationship is authentic and believable. Give them distinct personalities, strengths, and weaknesses that will help them face the challenges of the story.
Create a compelling plot
A romantic thriller needs to have a gripping plot that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The plot should be full of twists and turns, with a balance between romance and suspense. Use foreshadowing to create tension and keep the reader engaged.
Use the setting to enhance the story
The setting of a romantic thriller can add depth and dimension to the story. Whether it’s a bustling city or a remote wilderness, the setting can create a sense of danger and urgency. Use vivid descriptions to bring the setting to life and help readers feel like they are there.
Balance romance and suspense
The balance between romance and suspense is crucial in a romantic thriller. Too much romance can detract from the suspense, while too much suspense can make the romance feel forced. Use pacing to balance the two elements, and make sure that the romance and suspense are interwoven.
Add a twist
A good romantic thriller should have a twist that catches readers off guard. This could be a plot twist or a character twist, but it should be unexpected and add another layer of complexity to the story.
Edit and revise
Once you have finished your first draft, it’s important to edit and revise your work. Look for areas where the pacing is off, where the characters need more depth, and where the plot needs to be tightened. Get feedback from beta readers and make changes accordingly.
In conclusion, writing a romantic thriller novel requires careful planning, a deep understanding of the genre, and attention to detail. By developing your characters, creating a compelling plot, using the setting to enhance the story, balancing romance and suspense, adding a twist, and editing and revising your work, you can create a gripping and thrilling romantic thriller that will keep readers turning the pages.
Debilitating fears are a problem for everyone, an unfortunate part of the human experience. Whether they’re a result of learned behavior as a child, are related to a mental health condition, or stem from a past wounding event, these fears influence a character’s behaviors, habits, beliefs, and personality traits. The compulsion to avoid what they fear will drive characters away from certain people, events, and situations and hold them back in life.
In your story, this primary fear (or group of fears) will constantly challenge the goal the character is pursuing, tempting them to retreat, settle, and give up on what they want most. Because this fear must be addressed for them to achieve success, balance, and fulfillment, it plays a pivotal part in both character arc and the overall story.
This thesaurus explores the various fears that might be plaguing your character. Use it to understand and utilize fears to fully develop your characters and steer them through their story arc. Please note that this isn’t a self-diagnosis tool. Fears are common in the real world, and while we may at times share similar tendencies as characters, the entry below is for fiction writing purposes only.
Fear of Hope
Notes Hope encourages people and characters to try new things, take on challenges, and believe that things will get better. But multiple disappointments and experiences can create a fear of hope, with the character being reluctant to look forward to anything. This fear can make it difficult for them to work toward improving their situation and could make optimism a thing of the past.
What It Looks Like Being reconciled to the status quo Not expecting circumstances to improve Expressing skepticism when positive things happen: It’ll never last, etc. Living for the moment; not planning for the future Not having dreams or goals Believing there is nothing to live or strive for Avoiding challenges or risks that could improve the character’s life Being cynical when others express hopefulness Always expecting the worst Downplaying their own abilities (since they haven’t helped in overcoming difficulties) Speaking of the future with skepticism Being skeptical of other people’s promises Scorning people who are optimistic and upbeat
Common Internal Struggles Wanting certain circumstances to be better but truly believing there’s nothing the character can do to change them Being unable to move beyond past disappointments, no matter how much they want to The mind always jumping to worst-case scenarios Feeling helpless Sinking into apathy and depression The character wanting to be honest about their feelings but knowing their pessimism and negativity are bringing other people down Burying certain emotions as they arise (anticipation, excitement, etc.)
Hindrances and Disruptions to the Character’s Life Missing out on career opportunities because it would have been pointless to reach for them Staying stuck in a dead-end, toxic, or unsafe situation because the character doesn’t believe there’s anything better for them Being unable to pursue a dream that would provide fulfillment Building emotional walls in relationships to keep from experiencing disappointment Never moving past their current state of disillusionment and cynicism Other people pigeon-holing the character as negative or gloom-and-doom
Scenarios That Might Awaken This Fear Wanting to take a step towards a dream, but there’s a risk of failure involved (submitting a manuscript to an editor, asking someone out, etc.) A situation with high stakes being forced on the character (being sued, being falsely accused of a crime, etc.) Working towards a goal and getting knocked down (trying to reconcile with someone who refused to forgive the character, having another miscarriage, etc.) Hearing about a promising job opening or promotion opportunity A friend or loved one breaking a promise A promising relationship ending unexpectedly Seeing world events go from bad to worse.
Debilitating fears are a problem for everyone, an unfortunate part of the human experience. Whether they’re a result of learned behavior as a child, are related to a mental health condition, or stem from a past wounding event, these fears influence a character’s behaviors, habits, beliefs, and personality traits. The compulsion to avoid what they fear will drive characters away from certain people, events, and situations and hold them back in life.
In your story, this primary fear (or group of fears) will constantly challenge the goal the character is pursuing, tempting them to retreat, settle, and give up on what they want most. Because this fear must be addressed for them to achieve success, balance, and fulfillment, it plays a pivotal part in both character arc and the overall story.
This thesaurus explores the various fears that might be plaguing your character. Use it to understand and utilize fears to fully develop your characters and steer them through their story arc. Please note that this isn’t a self-diagnosis tool. Fears are common in the real world, and while we may at times share similar tendencies as characters, the entry below is for fiction writing purposes only.
Fear of Being Labeled
Notes The world is a confusing and uncertain place that’s easier to navigate when things make sense. This is one reason it’s natural for human beings to label the people around them. But no one wants to be labeled—told that they are a certain way or have to fit into a mold. This can be especially painful when the character doesn’t believe the label fits (whether it does or not). When this happens enough, it can create frustration, insecurity, and a fear that could go a number of directions: the character may hide the aspects of their identity that fit the label, act out against the accusation, or surround themselves with people like themselves to avoid anyone who might put them in a certain box.
What It Looks Like The character mimicking their peers so they won’t appear to be different Being extremely private Giving vague answers when asked about themselves Embracing hobbies or activities that don’t fit the stereotype Changing personality traits or values that would put the character in that box The character becoming what they’re accused of being (self-fulfilling prophecy) Advocating for inclusion and against typecasting Working very hard to disprove the stereotype The character surrounding themselves with others who are just like them Avoiding people who have attempted to label the character in the past Avoiding situations where the label would be obvious—e.g., a student with a learning disability skipping or dropping out of school Rejecting any medical or psychological testing that could result in a diagnosis Rebelling when someone tells the character they can’t or shouldn’t do something Become defensive when someone suggests the character may be a certain way Being aggressive or confrontational with someone who suggests the character might be a certain way Being overly sensitive to even constructive or well-intentioned criticism
Common Internal Struggles Keeping a learning disability, an illness, etc. secret despite knowing help is needed Struggling with shame or guilt over the label The character struggling to accept who they are The character wanting to be true to themselves but feeling the need to change so they’ll fit in with others Resenting what makes the character different, then feeling guilty about it Feeling targeted Feeling misunderstood (if the character believes the label is unwarranted) Suspecting the label is true but refusing to accept it The character feeling isolated, as if they have no one they can be themselves with or talk to
Hindrances and Disruptions to the Character’s Life Living with shame because of who or what they are Changing to live up to others’ expectations The character living well below their full potential Becoming prejudiced against the people who putting labels on the character Living in denial about an accurate label and being unable to manage it or cope with it in a healthy way Struggling in silence because the character is hiding certain aspects of who they are Personal growth being stymied because of defensiveness and an inability to receive feedback Living a double-life because certain aspects have to be kept private (practice a religion, pursue a relationship, etc.)
Scenarios That Might Awaken This Fear A secret they’ve been hiding (about their gender identity, personal beliefs, mental health, etc.) being revealed A tragedy occurring that could result in a new label for the character (losing a limb, developing a chronic illness, etc.) Experiencing discrimination The character’s child being labeled A safe place or group of people being infiltrated by someone who would label the character Seeing someone who shares a label with the character being misjudged, mistreated, or limited
Do you have a draft written but aren’t sure if there is a strong story in that draft?
In our book, Secrets to Editing Success, we go into great depth on how to perform a story edit—a structural edit—on any novel. We take the theory and show you the process to story edit.
We’re going to share some of our secrets here. And the first secret is how you know if there is a story in the draft.
The Most Important Question
Does the draft contain a story?
That’s a big one, and how do you answer it if you’ve just written that draft? And to go deeper, how do you answer it objectively?
First, You Perform a Story Test
What do we mean when we talk about having proof that there is a story? We are asking if you can write a synopsis.
We define a synopsis as a blurb plus the five story arc scenes plus the ending. A synopsis is a cinch when you know that’s all it boils down to.
When authors find it tough to write a synopsis, it’s normally because either they don’t have an understanding of what goes into the synopsis or there isn’t a full story yet.
A story synopsis is a tool you can use to determine if there is a story in the draft manuscript. We’re not asking you to write a polished synopsis. We’re asking you to write a skeleton synopsis.
The first part of the story test is to create a skeleton blurb.
Skeleton Blurb
A skeleton blurb answers three simple questions.
Who is the protagonist?
What is the story goal?
What is at stake?
The answers to these questions are found in every story. If you cannot answer them from the draft, then we can tell you the story promised is not there yet. And the draft is not ready to be edited.
With your skeleton blurb, you found the protagonist, the story goal, and the story stakes. With your skeleton synopsis, you will find the story.
The Skeleton Synopsis is Your Next Tool
A skeleton synopsis is a short description of the story.
Here is an outline for the skeleton synopsis:
The protagonist _________________ finds out the story goal __________________ (Inciting Incident). Then _______________________ happens, and the protagonist must go forward toward the story goal, (Plot Point 1). In the new “world,” ________________ happens, and the protagonist becomes proactive to the Story Goal (Middle Plot Point). But _______________________________ happens, and the protagonist’s hope is destroyed, they realize they must change to achieve the story goal (Plot Point 2). But the protagonist ______________________, and the world changes, they finally address the story goal (Climax).
To fill in the blanks, read the draft and find the inciting incident, plot point 1, the middle plot point, plot point 2, and the climax. Use the action in each of these scenes to fill in the blanks.
Listing the Story Arc Scenes Shows You Whether There Is a Story.
Does the protagonist find out the story goal,
then something happens that propels the protagonist onto chasing the story goal,
so that they can learn to be proactive,
change themselves after all hope is lost,
and use what they have learned on their journey to answer the story goal that they found at the start of their journey?
What you just read is the most basic form of a story. And all great stories are structurally similar.
How to Create a Skeleton Synopsis
Step 1: Perform a Hands-Off Read-Through
A hands-off read-through means you read the story without making any changes.
Step 2: Name Every Scene
You can do this when you’re performing a hands-off read-through. A hands-off read-through means you read the story without making any changes, but you can and should make notes and name every scene.
When naming the scenes, find and label the inciting incident, plot point 1, the middle plot point, plot point 2, and the climax.
Step 3: Dig Deeper into the Story Arc Scenes
To write a skeleton synopsis at this stage, the following story elements for each story arc scene will help you set it up.
Scene Name
Point of View Character
Point of View Character’s Goal
Scene Middle
Scene Climax
Scene Impact on Point of View Character
Step 4: Create the Skeleton Synopsis
Now there are four clear steps to getting that skeleton synopsis done:
Reference the skeleton blurb.
Find the five Fictionary Story Arc scenes on the story arc.
List scene name, scene middle, scene climax and impact on point of view character for each of these scenes.
Summarize the ending showing the story’s resolution.
Step 5: Does the Draft Contain a Story?
The synopsis will help you determine if there is a story or not. You’ll find that if you can’t write the synopsis at this stage, then most likely the story is not finished. The attempt at writing a synopsis will highlight which portions of the story still need to be written.
If one of the 5 story arc scenes is missing, is in the wrong place, or doesn’t satisfy the requirements of a story scene, then there isn’t a story in the draft, yet.
It’s time to start revising the draft until the skeleton synopsis shows you there is a story. Once there is a story, you can move on to a full story edit.
We all need down time in our writing lives—a planned vacation, Christmas with the family, a buffer between big projects. Sometimes we get down time whether we’ve chosen it or not (I’m looking at you, COVID). Whatever the cause, it can be good to put down our pens or shut our laptops for a while. Vacation is my time to catch up on reading, and I savor it.
But time away creates an inevitable problem: how to get back into the writing habit.
I try to coordinate vacations with the end of a novel draft and use my departure date as a deadline. For me, there’s nothing worse than leaving a novel half-written. More than three days away from a novel-in-progress and I have to read back a few chapters to remind myself where I left off and trick myself back into the rhythm of the writing. More than a week and I basically have to read from the beginning—to say nothing of reviewing all those cryptic half-written notes that no longer make any sense.
The solution is not don’t take time off. That can be a direct route to burnout. We can’t be on all the time. We need that down time to recharge our batteries. Filling the well, as Julia Cameron calls it—whether by reading or having new experiences or meeting new people. Or just doing nothing. It’s essential. Taking zero time off can result in work that feels stale; it can even kill your desire to write altogether.
But say you have taken time off. You’ve had a great vacation and now Monday looms—the day you’ve decided it’s time to get back to your desk, back to whatever creative project you’ve been working on. You’re nervous. Afraid you’ll be rusty. Or worse: you’re afraid that whatever magic allowed you to fill the blank page is most certainly gone by now, never to return.
Of course, that’s nonsense. But if you’re anything like me, those are the thoughts running through your head. And nonsense or not, they feel real enough to cause panic.
I’ve found a few ways to smooth out the return to writing after a significant break. Maybe they’ll work for you.
Don’t Procrastinate
Set a date and time when you will return to your desk and SHOW UP, no matter how hard it feels. Don’t make excuses or talk yourself out of it.
Take the Pressure Off
When I was doing my MFA, my novel-writing instructor, Gail Anderson-Dargatz gave us a mantra to follow: write crap. We had a lot of work to produce in a short period of time, and many of us were novices when it came to writing a novel. Putting pressure on yourself to be the next Margaret Atwood or write a bestseller guarantees only one thing: a blank page. When you take that pressure away and allow yourself to write anything, as long as the words show up on the page you’ve achieved your goal. As Jodi Picoult puts it, you can’t edit a blank page. And chances are, whatever you come up with won’t be crap at all.
Start By Editing Someone Else’s Work
Sometimes it’s the act of sitting at your desk and moving your pen on paper that’s enough to reinspire you. If you’re editing someone else’s work, there’s nothing at stake for you. You’re not judging yourself. You’re not thinking, See? I knew I was no good, I knew the magic was gone. You’re helping someone else—and at the same time getting your mind back in the habit of thinking about craft.
Start By Editing Previous Chapters of Your Own Work
If you did have to step away from a half-written project, ease yourself in by reading a few chapters back—or even from the beginning. It’s like giving yourself a running start. Your body and brain will get into the groove and before you know it, the ideas will be flowing again, and you’ll be adding sentences to the draft.
Try Another Art Form
Creativity feeds creativity. If the idea of returning to your desk has you paralyzed, take a walk and snap some photos. If you play a musical instrument, put in some time at the piano. Draw, paint, dance. Creativity is a muscle. If you coax it, it will come back to life.
Try Using Writing Prompts
Prompts can be a fun way to stretch yourself, and the internet has so many good ones now. There’s no pressure in a prompt. You’re not trying to create anything coherent. You’re just writing for, say, fifteen minutes, and the only rule is to keep your hand moving. You can do that.
Write In a Group
There’s a certain magic to writing in a group that’s hard to explain but I’ve found it to be undeniable. It’s as if creativity is contagious. When you surround yourself by people who are writing, you’ll write too.
The return back to writing always feels a little awkward and nerve-wracking at first. But persist and be kind to yourself. The habit will come back faster than you expect, and your work will be better for having taken the time away.
Debilitating fears are a problem for everyone, an unfortunate part of the human experience. Whether they’re a result of learned behavior as a child, are related to a mental health condition, or stem from a past wounding event, these fears influence a character’s behaviors, habits, beliefs, and personality traits. The compulsion to avoid what they fear will drive characters away from certain people, events, and situations and hold them back in life.
In your story, this primary fear (or group of fears) will constantly challenge the goal the character is pursuing, tempting them to retreat, settle, and give up on what they want most. Because this fear must be addressed for them to achieve success, balance, and fulfillment, it plays a pivotal part in both character arc and the overall story.
This thesaurus explores the various fears that might be plaguing your character. Use it to understand and utilize fears to fully develop your characters and steer them through their story arc. Please note that this isn’t a self-diagnosis tool. Fears are common in the real world, and while we may at times share similar tendencies as characters, the entry below is for fiction writing purposes only.
Fear of Having No Purpose
Notes A lack of purpose can create a downward spiral into apathy and even despair as the character believes that nothing they do matters. A fear in this area may push the character into frantic action as they try to find or force a purpose for their life. Alternatively, it can cause them to abdicate their own agency, leading them to sit back and do nothing.
What It Looks Like Turning to self-help books and programs for guidance Taking inventory and personality tests to determine aptitudes Volunteering with differing agencies or charities Fundraising for causes Job-hopping to find the perfect role Dismissing accomplishments when they do happen Seeking outside approval or validation Working long hours to compensate for a perceived lack of purpose The character having unrealistic expectations about what they can or should have accomplished by certain points in life Dreading birthday milestones (because they accentuate what the character hasn’t been able to do) Drifting through life with no meaningful connection to their inner self Dismissing or belittling others’ success to feel better about themselves Being overly ambitious Perfectionism Apathy Underachieving Making decisions aimlessly, with no specific end-point in mind Becoming defeatist, believing that nothing anyone does matters Pursuing temporary feel-better activities that don’t satisfy (using drugs, engaging in unhealthy or unsafe sexual practices, shoppin
Common Internal Struggles Constantly feeling unproductive or incapable Feeling depressed or anxious about the lack of progress The character feeling as if nothing they do matters Feeling lost in a world that defines success based on having a specific purpose Worrying that their life will never have meaning Wanting to contribute positively but not knowing how Questioning their current profession and if they’re on the right path The character comparing themselves to others and being disappointed Dissatisfaction with the way life is going Resenting people whose purpose is clear
Hindrances and Disruptions to the Character’s Life Drifting from job to job looking for one that provides meaning Difficulty recognizing their own achievements An inability to live in the moment (because the character is too busy working toward the perfect purpose-filled life) Starting many ventures but not following through (always moving to the “next big thing”) Needing praise and approval to counter their feelings of doubt Missing opportunities to align with people who are doing meaningful things because the character is searching for their own individual legacy Constantly being sucked into the comparison game Developing an addiction or unhealthy habit as a coping mechanism
Scenarios That Might Awaken This Fear |Internalizing the message of self-help gurus or celebrities who equate finding purpose with monetary success Seeing close friends or relatives succeed in meaningful areas of life Being left behind by a colleague who moves up the ranks quickly Being accused by a loved one of not having enough drive or vision Hitting an important milestone and feeling dissatisfied with life A friend or relative dying, leading to a revelation for the character about how fleeting life is The character being rejected in their efforts to create meaning (not being selected for a promotion, being replaced on a volunteer board, their business failing, etc.) Seeing a portion of the population that needs help, but feeling inadequate and unequipped to help.
As readers, what inspires empathy for the hero and makes us root for him? Their flaws? Admirable qualities? Hopeless circumstances? Yes, to all of the above. But none of these elements would be effective without a worthy villain to complicate matters.
This is the real purpose of the antagonist: to make things unlivable for the hero and ramp up reader empathy. I mean, would we care so much about Snow White without the Queen? Maximus without Commodus? The Smurfs without Gargamel? Villains are important because they’re the ones who determine how bad things will get for the hero. It is fear of this antagonist that inspires empathy in readers, putting them firmly in the hero’s cheering section and ensuring they will keep turning pages. So it’s crucial you create a villain who is just as unique, interesting, and believable as the main character.
One way to do this is by including the Evil-By-Nature Villain. These are the antagonists who don’t have a backstory. They do what they do because it’s in their blood or their programming. The shark in Jaws. Ellen Ripley’s alien. The Terminator. Such a ruthless and seemingly unstoppable villain puts the hero in extreme danger because the enemy can’t be reasoned with or talked out of its determination to destroy. Villains like these, with little or no backstory, can be terrifying in their own right.
But there absolutely are worse bad guys. While a twenty-five foot shark might keep me out of the water, it won’t keep me up at night. The villains who accomplish this are the ones who feel real. They have morals—albeit skewed—and live by them. Though a nightmare now, they weren’t born that way; life, past events, and the evil of others have made them the villains they are today. They’re terrifying because they were once normal—just like me.
It is this kind of antagonist we should strive to create: moral villain who strictly adhere to their twisted moral codes. Here are some tips on how to bring them to life:
Know the Villain’s Backstory
We spend a lot of time digging into the hero’s history, but what if we dedicated even half as much energy researching our villain? Who were their caregivers? What were they like in the past? What happened that changed them? Who was kind to them? Who was cruel? Every villain has a backstory that should explain why they are the way they are today. Dredge it up and create a profile. Then dole out the important bits to readers so they can get a glimpse of who the villain used to be and how they became a monster.
Know the Villain’s Moral Code
We don’t tend to think of villains as moral individuals, but they usually are. They just live according to a different set of values than the rest of society.
Morals have to do with our beliefs about right and wrong. To make your villain truly ominous, give them a reason for doing what they do. Make her believe there is value in their choices. For example, through her abusive past and twisted religious beliefs, Margaret White (Carrie) finds it acceptable to verbally and physically abuse her daughter. Anton Chigurh, the heartless villain from No Country for Old Men, adheres to a moral code that isn’t explained; the audience doesn’t know why he chooses to let some people live and others die, but whatever his reasons, he believes firmly in them and acts accordingly.
It’s one thing for a character to engage in reprehensible behavior. An element of creepiness is added when they defend that behavior as being upright and acceptable. To pull this off, you need to know your villain’s moral code.
Know the Villain’s Boundaries
Morality isn’t just about what’s right; it also includes a belief that certain ideas are inherently wrong. Are there things your villain won’t do, lines they won’t cross? Why? Show their human side and you’ll make them more interesting. You might even manage to create some reader empathy, which is always a good thing.
Give the Villain Someone to Care About
Love is a moral concept—the idea that a person cares more for someone else than they do for themselves. Show that your villain is capable of caring, and you’ll add a layer of depth to their character.
On the TV show The Blacklist, serial criminal Raymond Reddington seems to have no boundaries. As long as it suits his purposes, he’ll sell out anybody—except FBI Agent Elizabeth Keen. This obsessive attachment not only gives him a human side, but it’s intriguing to the audience, who wants to know why he cares for her when he’s so ruthless in every other area of life.
No one’s going to cheer for a hero whose adversary is superficial or unrealistic. Turn your villain into a truly horrific creature by giving them a moral code to live by. Unearth their backstory and show readers that, at one point, they were human. It’s a good reminder that we’re all just one bad experience away from becoming monsters ourselves.
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