Writing fiction—don’t forget the Goal, Motivation, and Conflict

The GMC or Goal, Motivation, and Conflict are the most important ingredients in storytelling, and somehow, I started a story and forgot all about the GMC. I had my basic idea and characters, but when I started working on the story, I forgot to pin down the three main points. It didn’t take me long to realize that my story had nowhere to go because my characters had no specific desires or wanted to gain anything and nothing was holding them back. No GMC = no story.

Here is something I came up with to help me know my characters and define their goals, motivation, and conflict.

First off, the goal is the one thing the main characters want. The goal needs to be something that they want so badly they will do anything to get to that goal. The goal should be important enough for characters to act against.

The motivation is why the characters want what they want—the drive and back-story. Anything is possible for character as long as the writer explains why to give the reader enough motivation to give the story credibility. The writer needs to know their characters well so that the actions stay in character to justify and make the reasons for actions clear to readers. When a character wants something bad enough, the reader will, too.

The last piece is conflict, which is why the characters can’t get what they want, the trouble, tension and roadblocks that are preventing the characters from achieving their goals. Conflict drives the plot and motivates the characters. There are two types of conflict—external and internal. External conflict can be a person, an intolerable situation, or an act of God. Internal conflict is inner struggles within the characters.

I find it helpful to have character charts for my main characters. Here is an example of a character chart that I use to help me get to know my characters:

Character Name:

Sun Sign:

Race:

Age:

Height:

Hair Color:

Eye Color:

Skin Color:

Weapons:

Religion or Beliefs:

Dilemma:

Goal:

Motivation:

Conflict:

His secret:

What would destroy him:

What would help him survive and be better:

Bad Trait:

Good Trait:


Happy Writing!

Kelley Heckart
Historical fantasy and Paranormal romance
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

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Weird Word Wednesday

biunique

      adjective bi·unique \ˌbī-yu̇-ˈnēk, -yü-\

Definition of BIUNIQUE

:  being a correspondence between two sets that is one-to-one in both directions

— bi·unique·ness noun

First Known Use of BIUNIQUE

1941

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

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Weird Word Wednesday

bigarade

      noun bi·ga·rade \ˌbē-gä-ˈräd\

Definition of BIGARADE

1

:  sour orange

2

:  a brown sauce flavored with the juice and grated rind of oranges

Origin of BIGARADE

French, from Occitan bigarrado, from bigarra to variegate

First Known Use: 1658

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com        

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

My author page at amazon.com with all my books listed

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Weird Word Wednesday

Biedermeier

      adjective Bie·der·mei·er \ˈbē-dər-ˌmī(-ə)r\

Definition of BIEDERMEIER

:  of a style of unostentatious furniture and interior decoration popular especially with the middle class in early 19th century Germany

Origin of BIEDERMEIER

after Gottlieb Biedermeier, satirical name for an uninspired German bourgeois

First Known Use: 1905

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com        

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

My author page at amazon.com with all my books listed

http://www.amazon.com/Kelley-Heckart/e/B002BMOQ3C/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1341885749&sr=1-2-ent

Weird Word Wednesday

bifurcate

      verb bi·fur·cate \ˈbī-(ˌ)fər-ˌkāt, bī-ˈfər-\

: to divide into two parts

bi·fur·cat·edbi·fur·cat·ing

Full Definition of BIFURCATE

transitive verb

:  to cause to divide into two branches or parts

intransitive verb

:  to divide into two branches or parts

— bi·fur·cate \(ˌ)bī-ˈfər-kət, -ˌkāt; ˈbī-(ˌ)fər-ˌkāt\ adjective

See bifurcate defined for English-language learners

Examples of BIFURCATE

The stream bifurcated into two narrow winding channels.

bifurcate a beam of light

Origin of BIFURCATE

Medieval Latin bifurcatus, past participle of bifurcare, from Latin bifurcus two-pronged, from bi- + furca fork

First Known Use: 1615

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com        

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

My author page at amazon.com with all my books listed

http://www.amazon.com/Kelley-Heckart/e/B002BMOQ3C/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1341885749&sr=1-2-ent

Weird Word Wednesday

biflagellate

adjective bi·fla·gel·late \(ˌ)bī-ˈfla-jə-lət, -ˌlāt; -flə-ˈje-lət\

Definition of BIFLAGELLATE

:  having two flagella <biflagellate gametes>

First Known Use of BIFLAGELLATE

1856

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com        

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

My author page at amazon.com with all my books listed

http://www.amazon.com/Kelley-Heckart/e/B002BMOQ3C/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1341885749&sr=1-2-ent

Monday Musings: Too many rules can kill a good story

Don’t have a prologue, don’t use ‘ing’ words, don’t use adverbs, don’t use ‘was’ or ‘were,’ don’t use that, when, once or as—don’t, don’t don’t… Grr. How many writers out there have heard one or more of these? Just about every writing group I’ve been involved with has said all of the above, especially about never having a prologue. I have stories with prologues—published ones. Breaking that rule didn’t seem to hurt me. With all the restrictions, how is a writer supposed to be creative?

It can be stifling to have to follow a bunch of rigid rules. It can also take the feeling out of your story. These words are around for a reason. The key is knowing when to use them and not to overuse. Some stories need a prologue. You do what is right for your story.

Here’s my advice:

Learn the rules but write what feels right and use balance—don’t do too much of one thing. Balance is the key to a well-written story.

I’ve discovered that worrying about the rules too much can take the feeling out of my writing. This is especially true while writing the first draft. In fact, I think some of my earlier writing is better because I wrote more from the heart and worried less about rules. Let it go and let the words flow. Worry about revisions later.

But letting go can be the hardest part. Just take a deep breath and go for it. And don’t ever let anyone tell you that it’s wrong to use any of the above taboo words or techniques.

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Weird Word Wednesday

Agamospermy

aga·mo·sper·my

noun \(ˌ)ā-ˈga-mə-ˌspər-mē,ˈa-gə-mō-ˌspər-\

Definition of AGAMOSPERMY

: apogamy; specifically :  apogamy in which sexual union is not completed and the embryo is produced from the innermost layer of the integument of the female gametophyte

Origin of AGAMOSPERMY

Greek agamos + English -spermy

First Known Use: 1944

Browse

Next Word in the Dictionary: agamospore
Previous Word in the Dictionary: agamospermic
All Words Near: agamospermy

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

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Weird Word Wednesday

Agammaglobulinemia

agam·ma·glob·u·lin·emia

noun \ˌā-ˌga-mə-ˌglä-byə-lə-ˈnē-mē-ə\

Definition of AGAMMAGLOBULINEMIA

:  a condition in which the body forms few or no gamma globulins or antibodies

— agam·ma·glob·u·lin·emic adjective

Origin of AGAMMAGLOBULINEMIA

New Latin, from a- + International Scientific Vocabularygamma globulin + New Latin -emia

First Known Use: circa 1952

agam·ma·glob·u·lin·emia

noun (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of AGAMMAGLOBULINEMIA

: a pathological condition in which the body forms few or no gamma globulins or antibodies—comparedysgammaglobulinemia

Variants of AGAMMAGLOBULINEMIA

agam·ma·glob·u·lin·emia or chiefly Britishagam·ma·glob·u·lin·ae·mia

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

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Weird Word Wednesday

Agamic

agam·ic

adjective \(ˌ)ā-ˈga-mik\

Definition of AGAMIC

: asexual, parthenogenetic

Origin of AGAMIC

Greek agamos unmarried, from a- + gamos marriage

First Known Use: 1816

Rhymes with AGAMIC

Adamic, balsamic, ceramic, dynamic

agam·ic

adjective \(ˈ)ā-ˈgam-ik\ (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of AGAMIC

: asexual, parthenogenetic

—agam·i·cal·ly adverb

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

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Weird Word Wednesday

Afreet

afreet

noun \ˈa-ˌfrēt, ə-ˈfrēt\

Definition of AFREET

:  a powerful evil jinni, demon, or monstrous giant in Arabic mythology

Variants of AFREET

afreet or afrit

Origin of AFREET

Arabic ʽifrīt

First Known Use: 1786

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday Musings: Writing help—Revision Funk

Lately I have been in a revision funk. What’s a revision funk? For you non-writers, a revision funk is when a writer has trouble revising, or making improvements, to the story they are trying to finish. You’d think after writing and revising 7 books, the 8th book would be a piece of cake. But no. It seems I’ve hit a wall for some reason. It may be that I’ve become too lackadaisical, or I’ve become complacent and not taking the process seriously, thinking I can just breeze through revisions without much thought. Not a good attitude to have if you want to put out a good book.

Looking for inspiration, I bought a book on revision to help me refresh my memory. Even experienced writers need to keep learning and exercising the writing muscle. And my writing muscle has been in need of some toning. This book has some really helpful tips and techniques for doing revisions and self-edits. I’m glad I decided to do something about my funk rather than just sit around and complain about it. Or even worse, turn out a crappy book. This doesn’t mean I can skip the editor, but it’s given me some inspiring ideas and helped me turn revisions into something fun instead of a tedious chore.

The book I’m reading is called Revision and Self-Editing for Publication (2nd edition) by James Scott Bell.

 

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

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Weird Word Wednesday

Afebrile

afe·brile

adjective \(ˌ)ā-ˈfe-ˌbrī(-ə)l also -ˈfē-\

Definition of AFEBRILE

:  not marked by or having a fever

First Known Use of AFEBRILE

1875

Rhymes with AFEBRILE

Anglophile, country mile, cyclostyle, domicile, family style,Francophile, Gallophile, hypostyle, in denial, juvenile,projectile, rat-tail file, rank and file, single file, statute mile

afe·brile

adjective \(ˈ)ā-ˈfeb-ˌrīl also -ˈfēb-\ (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of AFEBRILE

: free from fever : not marked by fever

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

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Weird Word Wednesday

Afeard

afeard

adjective \ə-ˈfird\

Definition of AFEARD

chiefly dialect
: afraid

Variants of AFEARD

afeard or afeared

Origin of AFEARD

Middle English afered, from Old English āfǣred, past participle of āfǣran to frighten, from ā-, perfective prefix +fǣran to frighten — more at abide, fear
First Known Use: before 12th century

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author
Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly
http://www.kelleyheckart.com
http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday Musings: Writing fiction--Can there ever be too much action?

I’ve been pondering this lately after agonizing over my own stories, rewriting and deciding what kind of scenes I want in my books. And after hearing different opinions about writing and adding more action, I started thinking about what I like in a book. I like to write the kind of books I like to read, so it makes sense to me to look deeper into how much action I like in a book.

Action can improve the pacing, but too much action can also overshadow the growing relationships in a story, especially in a romance novel where the relationship is very important. I like those interactive scenes between characters, witty dialogue and moments pondering those raging emotions. I realize some readers and editors like the pacing to move quickly, but others like slower moments in a story as long as these scenes still move the story forward.

I’ve read books with more action than interaction between the two main characters, and I didn’t feel like I was able to know the characters, to feel what they were feeling. Too much action gave the book a fast pace, but I was left disappointed, like I missed something. I think maybe I like character driven novels and that’s what I like to write, too. Pacing is important in a story. You don’t want to bore the reader, but you don’t want to set the pacing so high, you leave the reader wondering what happened. I like to think of pacing in a book like a roller coaster. You have your wild turns and gut clenching drops, but you also have those moments where the roller coast just glides along the rails.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Weird Word Wednesday

Aerie

ae·rie

noun \ˈer-ē, ˈir-, ˈā-(ə-)rē\

: the nest of a bird (such as an eagle or hawk) built high up on a cliff or on the top of a mountain

: a room or building built high up so that people inside can see things happening below them

Full Definition of AERIE

1

:  the nest of a bird on a cliff or a mountaintop

2

obsolete :  a brood of birds of prey

3

:  an elevated often secluded dwelling, structure, or position

See aerie defined for English-language learners »

See aerie defined for kids »

Variants of AERIE

ae·rie also aery

Origin of AERIE

Medieval Latin aerea, from Old French aire, probably from Vulgar Latin *agrum origin, nest, lair, from Latin ager field — more at acre

First Known Use: 1554

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Weird Word Wednesday

Aeciospore

ae·cio·spore

noun \ˈē-shə-ˌspȯr, ˈē-sə-\

Definition of AECIOSPORE

:  one of the spores arranged within an aecium in a series like a chain

First Known Use of AECIOSPORE

1905

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

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Weird Word Wednesday

Aepyornis

ae·py·or·nis

noun \ˌē-pē-ˈȯr-nəs\

Definition of AEPYORNIS

: elephant bird

Origin of AEPYORNIS

New Latin, genus name, from Greek aipys high + ornis bird — more at erne
First Known Use: 1851

aepyornis

 noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any of a group of giant flightless birds in the extinct genusAepyornis, found as fossils in Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene deposits on Madagascar. Most were massively constructed (some stood more than 10 ft, or 3 m, high) and had a small skull and a long slim neck. Remains of aepyornis and its eggs (as large as 3 ft, or 1 m, in circumference) are common. Its ancestry is uncertain.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author
Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly
http://www.kelleyheckart.com
http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

The importance of well-developed characters

I love to read. I’ve been an avid reader since age 4. I enjoy reading different genres, but one element I require in the books I like is lifelike characters, the kind that jump off the page and either make you love them or hate them. The important thing is the characters have to make me feel something for them. If not, I don’t enjoy the book. I like a good plot, but it’s more important to me to have interesting, convincing characters.

How does an author create credible, three-dimensional characters? By showing the characters’ feelings through actions and natural dialogue. By creating real, flawed fictional people, not cookie-cutter, perfect ones. I want the people I read about to laugh, cry, bleed—to act like real people. In real life, people aren’t perfect. They do stupid things. They hurt each other. I want to believe the characters are real and suffering as well as celebrating.

Making character charts and creating backgrounds for characters can help shape them into real people with believable motivations. Authors need to know their characters well so they can bring them to life. I’ve even assigned Sun signs to characters to get an idea of their personalities. Sometimes I create characters based on people I have known. Stories are so much better when the characters stand out. For me, character development is the most important part of a story.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Balance is the key to a great story

Balance is the key to life and it is also the key to writing a great story. When I refer to balance in a story, I’m referring to things like varying sentences—long sentences followed by short ones, not starting every sentence with the same words. I’m also referring to not repeating words and phrases, creating descriptions that add to the story without overpowering it and adding body language tags to sections of dialog so you don’t have “talking heads syndrome.”
To help me remember to balance out my stories, I compare writing stories to writing songs. A song has different parts and instruments; all the layers have to be balanced to work. Writing is also like baking. When baking something, you have to have all the right balance of ingredients—too much of an ingredient or not enough ingredients will have an effect on whatever you are baking. Some writers also compare writing to weaving.
The easy way to remember to balance out your story is to remind yourself that too much of anything in a story will throw the story out of balance.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author
Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly
http://www.kelleyheckart.com
http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604