by  Heidi Main, @HeidiMain

Having a hard time writing your first few chapters? Gather your internal and external GMC’s and you’ll be set!

I recently plotted a book with the amazing Lisa Jordan at the 2019 Deep Thinker’s Retreat. When I wrote the novel, I made sure to implement the elements of the SEQ into my first few chapters. I made a long sentence with the internal and external GMC’s included (I used the method of wants/because/but to signify the goal/motivation/conflict). This information can be used to start your synopsis (yay!) and should be included in the first few chapters of your book (editors are looking for it, and readers too—even though they don’t know it).

Charting the SEQ allows you to come up with a solid GMC for your characters. The SEQ is the glue behind the GMC.This is how I fleshed out the external GMC. You can use the external goal from your SEQ. In my case, the goal for my hero is to sink down roots on his grandfather’s property (he and heroine jointly inherited his grandfather’s and her grandmother’s property). External motivation is related to the character DMS. Whatever the DMS is, your character is trying to create the opposite environment than the one they lived through, even though they may not know that. For my hero, his adoptive parents abandoned him when he was nine, and left him with a bachelor uncle so they could become missionaries. So, my hero’s external motivation is to want a place to call home, especially for his son, because he never had that stability growing up. This property actually has memories for my hero because he just met his natural grandfather a few years ago and has spent some holidays at the property—that makes his motivation more personal and stronger. The external conflict is simple, what will keep your character from easily obtaining their goal? Keep in mind the conflict can’t be fixed with a conversation, and is usually something hard and fast. My heroine wants to sell because she needs the proceeds to afford her dream job in LA. The conflict is simple ~ he wants to stay, she wants to sell. Instant conflict.

My story in a nutshell: Hero wants to sink down roots on his grandfather’s property because he wants a place to call home but heroine wants to sell the land.

For the internal GMC, you can use Susie’s “What can your character do at the end that he can’t at the beginning?” In this novel, my hero can finally trust, again. Which means his internal goal is to open his heart and allow someone in. His motivation relates to his dark moment, his parents deserted him and his first wife left him. Therefore, my hero’s internal motivation is that he has been hurt in the past and doesn’t want to get hurt again. What’s the internal conflict that keeps them apart for the whole novel, in this case the reason he can’t trust? It is the lie he believes ~ he is unworthy of being loved by others. So, his internal conflict is that he is convinced if the relationship continues the heroine will leave him like everyone else.

So, the hero wants to trust again because he’s been hurt in the past but is afraid heroine will leave him like everyone else has.

You can see that once you’ve figured out the SEQ, the internal and external GMC’s will come naturally. Now go off and pen those elusive first chapters!

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Aspiring novelist Heidi Main writes contemporary inspirational fiction. Her cozy novels reflect the quaint and simpler time from her childhood in a small upstate New York town. She began her career in the computer field, then operated a Jazzercise franchise, before developing a passion for writing. Central North Carolina is where she lives with her amazing husband and backyard of well-fed birds. Her interests include curling up with a good book, bird watching, taking walks, and gardening. You can connect with her on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.