by Michelle Sass Aleckson, @MchelleAleckson

I write this blog post, not because I’ve mastered this topic, but because I am struggling with it. I’m still trying to hone my own writing process. And for me that seems to be nailing down something of a plot for a messy first draft, then going back to flesh out the characters and bringing them to life. Which means my second pass through I need to develop an internal arc. 

I get the concept. The inner journey usually involves the hero/heroine starting out with some misconception about themselves, their situation, or life in general. Throughout the course of the story this lie is exposed and the character is forced to face the truth. But our hero has to change to embrace it. I know that, but I still have a hard time incorporating it. I see a lot of lies my characters could believe. How do I choose one main one to focus on? Which one makes the most sense?

As I was driving my daughter this morning, noticing the gorgeous fall colors, I had an epiphany. Beliefs, good or bad, are like a plant: they start as seeds. They put down roots. Grow. Branch out and bear fruit. Apple trees would be truths and values that are good. But weeds also start as seeds. When a lie is planted deep in a character’s heart as a child it is often watered and grows throughout the events of their life and by the time they show up in our story this weed has caused some issues. 

I don’t know if you’ve tried to uproot a thistle but let me save you some time if you haven’t. Chopping it off at the ground does not work. If you want to get rid of that sucker, you’re gonna have to dig deep and find the root of it.

We can do the same with our characters. As a writer I can start with one basic lie and see how it branches out, affects the hero’s life today. Where are the roots of this lie? That’s the backstory. What kind of sharp thorns and prickles do I see in our hero’s life as the story starts? This would be the character flaws we see as the hero walks on to Page One.  

Or I can reverse engineer the process. What is the truth my character needs to experience at the climax of the story? Once I have that, I can dig down to the opposite: the root of the lie.

Now that I know this, I can start thinking about how to take this weed down. What will it take for our character to see this lie and uproot it from their thinking? Many times we have to be forced to see it. Maybe our hero has already tried and failed to deal with this thistle. Maybe they’re really good at hiding it. But somehow throughout the plot our hero has some choices to make, some attempts and some fails at taking this thing down, of believing the truth rather than the lie. And they eventually need to get to the root of their lie and yank that thing out! 

In short, they get to have their own epiphany. 😊

Ideally we see them in the conclusion living happily ever after with the new truth planted and maybe even enjoying some of its fruit.

 

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Hidden Ranch Peril

The key to solving a kidnapping…

Lies buried in her past.

After witnessing her aunt’s abduction, veterinarian Talia Knowles will do anything to find her—even as the kidnappers set their sights on her. But missing memories from her past might hold answers she didn’t know she had. And relying on neighboring ranch hand and ex-marine Noah Landers could be the key to finding her aunt and discovering the culprit’s true motives.

From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

After growing up on both the east and west coasts and traveling the world, Michelle Sass Aleckson now enjoys living the country life in central Minnesota with her husband and four children. She loves rocking out to 80’s tunes on a Saturday night and playing board games with family and friends. She’s a graduate of Novel Academy’s Storycrafter course, and she won the 2018 Genesis Award for Romantic Suspense and the 2018 Cascade Award for Contemporary Fiction. 

She writes contemporary stories full of romance, grace, and, yes, a little sass too. You can connect with her at michellealeckson.com!