Monday, May 17, 2010

Monday Moment #70: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my character(s) better just by answering the question. I hope you do too. )

This post comes to you as I watch the wrap-up of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. (I apologize to you non-reality tv watchers out there.) I admit it, here and now, I've been a Survivor fan since Season One. And, my how it's changed. And, oh how it hasn't. Right? Right!

This was the best season yet! What made it so great? In my opinion: the unexpected and the villains. I love how those two aspects translate to (and create) great books, especially in this market of the sought-after, high-concept novel. But truly, it was the unpredictability that made this season so great. In the past, I felt like (based a lot on the editing) I could predict who was going to go during Tribal Counsel, which is exactly what we want to avoid in our stories.

Thanks for a great season, Survivor. (I have to ask, who do you think should have won? I was happy for Sandra, but as nasty as Russel is, I think he was the best player.) Now, bring on So You Think You Can Dance!

Does your character make an unpredictable move in your story in order to get what s/he wants?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have watched Survivor every season since the beginning, but when I found out that Russell was going to be on this one... I just didn't watch it. Do NOT like Russell and was already too tired of him!

Dawn Simon said...

Ooh, good question. Nobody wants to read predictable stories, so let's not write them! It sounds so simple, but it's really important to ask ourselves about this and make sure we're not doing it. Thanks.

I don't watch Survivor, and it sounds like I'm missing out.

Have a great week, Jolie! :)