TEE’s What and Why: The Ds

Ah, the fun of writing a novel.

You, the writer, get to wreak havoc on your characters – all the while ignoring any and all havoc in your life. (At least for a little while. You must return to reality at some point.)

Wreaking havoc – that’s just another term for “the Ds”: the events that distance your hero or heroine from their goals. Let me be more specific:

What: The Ds

Think Distancing, Denial, Disappointments and Devastation. Yes, there are Dreams and Delights too – even a dream-come-true, like your heroine getting offered that job she’s always wanted – can wreak havoc in her life. Ds distance a character from what they want, deny them something – a relationship, maybe – and create a Y in the road, forcing her to make a choice. Most often when we think of the Ds, we think of Disappointments that get worse and worse with each turn of the page until there’s a devastating event that brings your character to their knees.

Why:

Because your character doesn’t live on Easy Street. If she does, then pack her stuff up and move her out. A book with no conflict is … well, it’s boring. Not to mention, it’s unrealistic. Do you know anyone with no conflict in their life? That person is either lying to you or they are clueless.

Sorry. I call it like I see it.

Think of the Ds as literary roadblocks. They stop your main character from going forward and getting where she wants to be. By creating a Y in the road, the Ds force your character to ask, “What do I do now? Quit? Try again? Try something else?”

When you’re stopped by a real roadblock, you can either:

  1. Quit. If your character does this, your book ends – and you don’t want this unless you are truly at the end of your book. (Trust me, if you’re plotting the Ds, you’re not ready to write “The End.”)
  2. Try again. Have you ever watched a movie when someone blasts right through a roadblock? It’s dangerous – and all kinds of crazy things happen.
  3. Change direction. Think “detour.” If your character can’t do the planned thing, what can she do? And then … what D does that action lead to?

There’s always another D, right?

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MBT’s Skills Coach, Beth K. Vogt provides her readers with a happily ever after woven through with humor, reality, and God’s lavish grace. Her inspirational contemporary romance novel, Wish You Were Here, debuted May 2012 (Howard Books.) Her second novel, Catch a Falling Star, releases May 2013. Beth is an established magazine writer and former editor of Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS International. Visit with Beth at her website bethvogt.com.

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