On Values

Dependability

Reliability

Loyalty

Commitment

Open-mindedness

Consistency

Honesty

Efficiency

Innovation

Creativity

Good humor

Compassion

Spirit of adventure

Motivation

Positivity

Optimism

Passion

Respect

Courage

Perseverance

These are examples of core values. 

What are core values?

Core values are fundamental beliefs or guiding principles. They dictate our behavior and help us determine what’s right and what’s wrong.

I like to think I’m a passionate and motivated person--that I persevere even when the world around me goes dark. I consider myself reliable and committed, especially when it comes to my writing life. These are my core values.

But our characters should have core values, as well.

Why?

Because readers want to be able to relate to and look up to a hero character, and a character with positive core values is more likely to resonate with them.

Even with his (or her) flaws, a main character should be someone worth following—someone worth saving—and the simple reason is because it’s much easier to raise the stakes in a novel where the reader doesn’t actually want the character to die (or see anything bad happen to him/her).

In fiction, the stakes matter, and when your character has principles, it’s easier to put those principles to the test. The stronger those principles, the more the reader will want to see the character succeed.

Some of these core values will stem from the character’s religion, his society, and/or the rules he’s required to live by. Others will come from what the character has experienced and how he or she has grown over time. Values can be fluid, and their intensity can vary from one situation to the next.

To discover your character’s core values, it helps to begin with a list (easily searchable online). Next, brainstorm some events from their past. What successes have they had? What excites them? What has made or makes them angry? What code of conduct are they living by?

Finally, what values are associated with these things?

Brainstorming and applying three to five potential values for your character(s) will help make them unique, and a strong code of behavior (even though your character isn’t perfect) will help raise his or her worthiness. 

And when a character is worth saving, it’s worth it to readers to keep turning those pages.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Keeping it Real (Enough to be Believable)

Even though fiction is, by definition, a story that describes imaginary events, places, and people, and, anecdotally, the writer is only limited by his imagination, the story still has to be believable.

This means that the rules within the story (no matter the genre) have to make sense.

If we're going to believe that every year a group of tributes competes against each other in a match to the death, this has to sound reasonable based on what we know about the story world, as this type of competition set in modern Western civilization would seem implausible. 

This means that an author has a lot of work to do.

A reader begins to care about a character when they feel the events could happen to them, and the more you deviate from the rules of the time and place with which they are most familiar, the sharper your world-building skills need to be. 

If you world-build correctly, you probably won't include half of what you know about your time and place and its history within your novel, but it's still important that you know it.  

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~  

What Makes a Good Story?

A good story is made up of:

1. A time or place the reader can lose themselves in.

2. An unforgettable character--someone who is real to them; someone they can relate to.

3. A memorable/extraordinary event.

The best stories contain characters with which we identify, experiences that impact us in visceral ways, and messages that change the way we see the world.

This makes "storyteller" one of the most powerful positions on the planet--a responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

Four Things I've Learned

1. Don't write what you know about; write what you care about, because if you don't care, why should anyone else?

2. We live in the age of Google and Wikipedia--anything you don't know, you can research. Do the research, then let your imagination fill in the blanks.

3. Write what you enjoy reading, because if you enjoy reading it, you should enjoy (to some degree) writing it, and this will show up in your storytelling, making it more likely readers will connect with you.

4. No author is universally loved. Find the people who love you and write for them. 

(And always) Be Brilliant! 

~Katie~

On Reasons

For everything, there is a reason.

--Not in life, necessarily--but, when writing fiction, there had better be a clear rationale for why your character said what he said or did what she did.

Actions and reactions should be linked from page one all the way to three hundred and one. Each scene and/or event should logically progress from one to the next.

Dig deep, and know your character's "why" (even if he or she doesn't know it at the time.) 

In novels, things don't happen "just because." 

There has to be a reason.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~