I help nature-passionate people write fiction that makes readers care about the natural world.
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Hey Reader, A couple weeks ago I invited you to share an area of your writing where you’re struggling, so that I can create content that will help you where you need it. I got lots of great responses! (And if you haven’t chimed in yet, it’s not too late. Just hit reply and let me know what you want to know!) Let’s take a look at one of the questions I received: This question is speaking to the point that most fiction is about a main character who starts off the story struggling with a particular internal flaw, and by the end of the story they’ve overcome or come to terms with that internal trait. When you are creating a protagonist, you’re choosing the internal stumbling blocks that they are dealing with. And when choosing traits that will trip them up, your mind tends to jump to negative traits, like jealousy, insecurity, or selfishness. After all, this trait is going to make them struggle, so of course what comes to mind are character flaws! But what if you approached it from a different angle? Here’s my suggestion: For a fresh take on internal flaws, try looking at a positive trait but show the reader its negative side. For example, loyalty is typically considered a positive trait, but taken to an extreme it could be expressed negatively. Perhaps an overly loyal main character is blind to the poor choices made by their best friend. You can do this with any trait, such as leadership, courage, or self confidence. Those are all attributes that we typically think of as good to have. But each one can also cause a character to struggle. As the author, your job is to think of situations that could make a positive attribute become a hindrance. How could courage cause problems? How could self confidence get someone into trouble? Think of ways that positive traits could be an obstacle to your protagonist. Just for fun, what negative character traits does your protagonist have? Let's write, erin@writewithnature.com |
Erin Radniecki • Book Coach
I help nature-passionate people write fiction that makes readers care about the natural world.
Hey Reader, I’m excited to share that I was recently a guest on The Write Atmosphere podcast! Host Hayla and I had a great conversation, and the episode is jam packed with useful takeaways for writers. Give it a listen here. Some of the topics we touched on were:✔️ One of the little known jobs that a protagonist needs to fill✔️ How to know if your scenery is taking over the story✔️ The counter-intuitive way to write nature-centered fiction No matter what genre you’re writing, you’ll find this...
Hey Reader, Do you ever have an overload of inspiration? Like everywhere you turn you see potential story ideas? That’s a fun place to be, but it can also pull your attention away from the book you’re actively writing. If you’ve ever wondered how to find balance when ideas are vying for your attention, I’ve written a blog post about this very topic. You can read it here. I’m currently experiencing the pull of a shiny new story idea myself. I’m deep in revisions of my middle grade historical...
Hey Reader, I’ve gotta be honest with you:I had a moment of exhaustion while working on my novel last week. A moment when I thought, can I do this, or should I throw in the towel? I’d just mapped out everything I want to accomplish in my second round of revisions, and oh my stars, it’s a lot! I’m not talking about tinkering with sentences here. There’s some heavy lifting that needs to be done: New scenes to be written. Chapters to be entirely rewritten from a different character’s...