Martha Engber’s Character Workshop

I attended a terrific writing workshop this weekend taught by author Martha Engber. She brought up many fabulous points, but one that worked for me at this moment in my particular middle grade novel, was this:

Detail the moment your character’s thinking changed. What moment in his or her life gave her the “ah-ha” moment that propels her inner fear/rule/motivation?

If you don’t know this in your story, get to know your character better. In my case, I DO know this instant in time. However, because this scene is a secret yet from my readers and won’t be revealed until the end of the book, I haven’t written it yet.

But for ME, I need to write it NOW. I need to know how this scene plays out, moment-by-moment. As in slow-down-the-moment-it’s-very-important-NOW. Duh. Why didn’t I think of this? I recommend you trying this with your protagonist.

I ALSO recommend you reading her book, Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up. If you can take her workshop, it’s WELL worth every second! If you attend it while you are thinking of your characters, you will break-through in wonderful ways.