Friday Finds Motivation

Friday Finds: Motivation

Hello all, happy Day 3 of kwanzaa. This week has been all about motivation for me. I shared my 2019 goals last week, and my plans to make them happen. Something differently I did this year in terms of goals setting was focus on the why of what I wanted instead of the what. I found it especially helpful in terms of narrowing my focus and identifying what was really important to me. My goals are the life blood and compass of my life. They are the signs on the path of my life that show me the way forward. This got me thinking about my two main characters, about what they want and why they want it, and ya’ll, it has changed things for me.

If my book is an old fixer upper, I’m finally breaking ground. That is both a painful and relieving place to be a this stage in the game, but I’ve already decidhereed I’m in this for the long haul, so it is what it is . P.S. be prepared for me to refer to my manuscript as an old house from now on.

Character motivation is something that I had never really fleshed out past both my characters wanting to survive and wanting each other. Which are both good on their own but not enough to make them interesting characters, capable of connecting to people. If I’m being honest up until now I was having trouble connecting to them myself, which is not a good thing. Thats not saying I know them really well now, but knowing what they want, making getting to know more pleasent and less like pulling teeth. I wanted to share somes article, advice, and tips, that really helped me get into the heart of my character motivations.

I started with a plot embryo. I was looking to outline my book again after another tragic lost of a usb. Seriously yall I’ve lost my book so many times now I’m numb to it. So when it happened again I just got back to work, back to basics, back to the outline. I wanted to tackle the outline in a new way since I wasnt finding the type of success I wanted. The plot embryo is that for me. Digging into the plot embryo I discovered my characters need. This video was a good start for me. The plot embryo aslo lead me to my next hot find, Dan Harmon.

If you dont know, Dan Harmon is the mind behind community which is hilarious, and Rick and Morty, which is brutal and also hilarious. Dan Harmon notes on story structure, really helped open up my story. They can be found here.

Rolling on to the next finds. These next three were great for breaking down individual character goals, breaking down why motivation is integral to your story, and some questions to ask yourself to get into your character. They can be found here, here, here.

As I mentioned in my 2019 goals post, I wanted to change up the format of how I present the writing advice and tips I find. This way the finds match up with my writing journey. It’s a win-win, plus I look forward to being able to deliver way more consistent content. See ya’ll in the new year till then, create, hustle and love yourself.