I hope you’re all busy thinking up noble causes for your hero! A note aside…if you are ever in need of a noble cause, turn into American Idol

(yes, we’re Idol Fans around here! Oh, how we’ve missed Simon. And my kids revived…”It’s just not good, dog,” last night. It’s oh so useful! Think: A mother surveying her child’s room: It’s just not good, dog. Or, a child picking at their oatmeal, “It’s just not good, dog.” See, lots of great uses!)

American Idol, aside from its cringing moments, is chock full of people with noble causes. Behind every wannabe performer, there is a great reason why they want to be on stage and the next idol. From broken homes, to ailing children, to mothers they want to impress…you name it. Watch this week and see how many different Noble Causes you can find!

Okay – onto our topic. How to create a Noble Cause:

First, what are 3 elements of a Noble Cause?
1. It’s Universal. Something that everyone can agree that is a great idea, even if they’ve never experience it.
2. It’s Sympathetic. It comes from something in the character’s past, or a failing or a secret specific to the character, but something that tugs at our hearts.
3. It’s Measurable and Specific. (Okay, those are two, but really, the are in one category) It can’t just be…”to be a great success.” There needs to be a specific and measurable determination of that goal.

Answer: Get him on the therapist’s sofa!
You’re going to go hunting…search through your character’s past to find his purpose in life.

So, how we uncover our character’s noble cause?

First, let’s start with a pointed question:
What event or circumstance in your life, in the past, shaped the person you are today?
It could be something traumatic….his parent’s divorce, maybe a fire, maybe an attack on their family. Maybe it was army life, and the fact he moved a lot, maybe it was the death of a family member. Maybe it was his mother’s illness, or his father losing his business. Whatever it was, follow up with this question:

What did you learn from that event?: There is a basic lesson that your character walked away with that shaped his world view, good or bad.

For example: Let’s say we have a character, his name is Rafe. He’s the second son of a cattle rancher, and a twin of his sister, Stefanie. His dark event is that he was born with a hole in his heart that made him weak. Because of it, his mother was very over protective, and didn’t let him learn ranching life. He learned that he would never be man enough to run his father’s ranch.

(Stop here and give your NC a litmus test: Can readers relate to the feeling of not being good enough? Of ridicule? Yes? Good! It passes the universal test!)

Which brings us to our third question:
What are you doing to confirm or deny that life lesson today?
The actions your hero takes is directly related to the lesson he learned because of that circumstance.
Let me show you: Let’s say you have a character who’s father died when he was five in a firefighting accident. The firefighting force honored him, and took care of his mother, and he felt like a hero with many dads growing up. More than that, his father saved the lives of a family.
Great….our hero learned a few things: he learned that risking his life would bring him love. He learned that sometimes saving a life is worth putting your own on the line. And, he wants to be the same kind of hero his father was.

He is now a firefighter himself, and puts himself into constant danger….trying to be as courageous as his father, and earn the love and respect of the men he respects so much.
Okay, that was an easy one. Let’s go back to our cowboy with a holey heart.

Let’s go back to our Rafe fellow (and he’s very cute, too!). He’s spending his life denying the lessons he learn – and is trying to prove he is tough. More than anything, he wants be worthy of the Noble name (which, ironically, I’m seeing, is the name of his family). But so far, he’s achieved stardom, but not respect….

(another litmus test – does his NC tug at your heart? Do you feel a little sad that he has to risk his life to prove himself? Good! It passes the sympathy test!)

BUT wait, that’s not noble, you say! You’re right! So, let the questioning continue!

So, how do we make him noble?

Enter – the measurable and specific:
Now ask: What can you do to prove you’ve achieved your noble cause? See, it’s not just enough to have a vague noble cause…there has to be a plan of action. What can your hero do that would make him say, there, I did it!

Sometimes, you won’t find this answer until you get into the story, and see what options are available. Let’s say you’re the new president – and you say, I want to be the best president, ever! Well, you’d have to have a game plan to figure out what you mean by that. You want to lower taxes and have no unemployment? Maybe live in a country without violence? Maybe, find a cure for cancer? It has to be specific and measurable.

What about Rafe? To prove he’s tough? He already has – he rides bulls! But no – -that’s not his goal – it’s to earn his family’s respect. But we won’t know what that is until we get into the story….

Our firefighter? Maybe it’s to make sure that there are never any victims left behind on his watch…

When you get done with your noble cause analysis, you should be able to say: My noble cause is ***, becuase of ***, and I’ll accomplish it by doing ***.

For anyone who stopped by and read this article already today, you know that I had another element to the specific and measurable component, but after reading a lot of the Voices discussions today, I decided to keep the noble cause at a wider angle, because tomorrow we’re going to talk about how to really ramp up the tension for the reader by making it personal. Very personal. And that helps us find the goals of the story.

Shh…don’t tell anyone but I’m also going to share my Book Therapy Secret to a Gripping Noble Cause.

Over at Club Book Therapy, the Voices are helping each other with Noble Cause – cool! Stop on by! (And don’t forget to send me in your noble cause examples to: booktherapy@susanmaywarren.com We’ll be posting them, with some helpful comments on Friday – and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a copy of Taming Rafe! (I promise, I didn’t give the story away. *g*)

See you tomorrow!