By Dalyn Weller, @DalynWeller
As you sit down in your comfy chair to write the next scene in your masterpiece, please be considerate and cause a fair amount of trouble for your characters. That’s right. Endeavor to find interesting ways to thwart your beloved POV’s desires. Stir the pot. Cause a rift in his relationships. Wreak havoc and generally overturn his goals. When in doubt, remember these handy questions: What else could go wrong? How can I make things worse?
It’s the little things…
A series of unfortunate events is tasty to readers. Your character has a goal in each scene. Please tell me your character wants something. Yes? Okay, good. Now, most of the time make sure he doesn’t get it. Or he gets it but at a cost. More trouble works. Danger is a handy tool. A character lazing by a pool doesn’t grab us. But a dude who lost his oars and is rushing down a raging river headed toward rapids… that gets our attention. We want to see him get out of that pickle.
Dig Up Bones…
When you’re out of ideas for obstacles, dig up your character’s past. Expose the skeletons in his closet and let them run wild. Root out old wounds, secrets, and shame. Bring out the dirty laundry and hang it on the clothesline for everyone to see. You’re doing it for his own good. By facing those things he’ll have opportunities to grow.
Growing Pains…
Your character needs conflict and hardship to develop strengths and a skillset to triumph over her current dilemma. If readers are able to relate to your POV, they’ll want to experience the heroic bits too. Nobody reads fiction to identify with a victim or an apathetic character. We read to enter the story of someone capable of change, falling in love, staying in love, and overcoming difficulties.
Bring it home…
Allow your character the blessing of a good struggle before you give her the win. Remember, readers want to follow someone they relate with on a journey leading to transformation. Start with a character ready for change and end with him becoming a better version of himself. If your reader has been with him through thick and thin, they deserve to experience the highs and lows fully.
Reward them for sticking with you and they’ll look forward to your next book.
The Rancher’s Resilient Heart, Apple Valley Ranchers Book 2
Come to Apple Valley, a small town that has existed on handshakes and morals for generations.
Evan McClure is a combat-wounded veteran rancher who wants to reclaim his position on his family’s ranch. But getting back in the saddle proves dangerous. After recovering from being thrown and snake bitten, he agrees to one last surgery. But if this one doesn’t work, he’s out of options.
The last thing Evan wants is to be stuck inside, behind a desk, keeping the Three M Ranch accounts while other cowboys do the real work.
Libby Halverson is a lonely physical therapist who wants to put down roots. When she’s contracted to work for a wealthy ranching family, rehabilitating the rancher’s oldest son, she must guard her heart. She’s been secretly in love with Apple Valley’s golden boy since they were in Sunday school.
Libby’s gotten good at protecting her heart but keeping everyone at a distance has cost her happiness. Maybe love is a matter of faith over fear?
If you like clean romance with pinches of grit and humor, you’ll love the Apple Valley Ranchers Series.
Their lives are about rodeos, ranches, and second chances.
Dalyn Weller writes small-town romance with sweet sizzle and a pinch of humor
from a small horse ranch in Washington State with her own tall, dark, & handsome.
Like any self-respecting PNW woman, she’s a coffee snob.
website: dalynweller.com and be sure and sign up for her newsletter: Writing from the Ranch
Comments 1
Excellent advice! Thank you, Dalyn! 🙂