Conflict or GMC

GMC?
I've heard this acronym a few times during my blog hopping.
Briefly it means Goal Motivation Conflict.

All our characters come to the story with their own backgrounds, battle scars and inner conflict.
Well, they should do anyway, to make your story and characters believable to your readers.

Kate Walker in her 12 point guide to Writing Romance (excellent book!) tells us that the most important element of conflict is internal, the stuff that goes on in the character's head, the stuff that gives reason to their thoughts and actions. As a writer we must use this internal conflict so show character growth, how they change in order to achieve their HEA.
Kate explains (p 43) that the emotions involved in the characters internal conflict, affect the character's thinking, but they are unaware of them.
The internal conflict comes out when the Hero and Heroine meet and clash, this forces them to each face their own fears or inner demons.

I realised after writing a good 5k of my Status Quo story that i didn't really have a good handle on my characters conflicts.
So using what i've picked up during my blog hopping i tried to break them down.

Goal: What the hero/ine wants
Motivation: Why they want it
Conflict: If the hero/ine wins the other loses.

For me (and i could be very, very wrong!), on examining my characters and some of the books i love, i've found two sets of GMC for each character. (I think this was brought about by the character questionnaire on Nicola Marsh's website!)
The first set is the clear goal and reason that we are given right at the beginning of the story - should be within the first few pages of meeting each of them.
Then as we read, we discover a deeper Goal and motivation - which to me is stemmed from the conflict of the first, but at a deeper layer.
Have i lost you?

Okay, a bit of behind the scenes look to hopefully help explain this!

So in my story Emma wants Matt. They have been best friends for ever and she has been in love with him for just about the same amount of time. But when they kissed on New Years, it was made plain to her that they were made for each other. He stirred her blood in a way no other man had come close to. And that's what she wants.
So Emma's initial GMC is
G: To have Matt,
M: She loves him and he stirs a passion in her she wants for life.
C: they are best friends and she could lose him by insisting on this.

Then as the story develops we learn that deep down Emma's goal is to love and be loved with a passion and foreverness otherwise missing in her life. Her motivation is from  how she felt in Matt's arms, how they are together doing mundane things. Her conflict, is that she may just not be good enough for the type of love and passion she desperately craves, after all her parents seemed to forget about her once they started their separate lives.

So, tell me. Do you think i've completely missed the point, or overcomplicated it?
How do you work out your characters conflict and motivations?

Voice and characters

Kate Walker has a fantastic post all about Voice on her blog. If you've ever wondered what it is and how to get it, she divulges the facts. It's hard but it will come to you if you are true to yourself as a writer!

I couldn't help but feel, maybe that was the main reason for my submission being "not strong enough"?!
I'll have to keep trying to get my true voice in my next ms's!

And, yes i'm still reading Kate Walker's fabulously helpful book 12 point guide to writing romance. I've just finished the chapters on Hero and Heroine, and it all comes down to, again, being true to character. Don't make your hero an arrogant pig that will suddenly realise he loves the heroine and all his horrid behaviour is suddenly forgiven. And don't make your heroine a wimpy virgin. Give her some spine, something to make your readers absolutely love and believe in her (and him for that matter!)

I'm absent this week, well for the next two weeks. I'm on my two week practicum for my early childhood degree - i get to play with the toddlers! I mean i am learning how to link theory to practice ;)

Good luck finding your voice, and creating true, believable and honourable characters!

I've been reading..and Writing!

Which is fantastic, because i have been really busy.
In 3 weeks my little girl is going to be 3 and i'm busy sewing dolls clothes for her little Baa Sheep and her horse Jilly. Do you know how expensive dolls clothes are? It's ridiculous!! Believe me, it's easier (cheaper!) to use the box of scrap material i have.

But besides that. I managed 1,000 words on Wednesday, AND a pilates workout!
I've also read two chapters of Kate Walker's fab book.
I feel so good this week, so am not even going to think about the horrid headaches i had too!

So, what did i learn in the 12 Point Guide?

First, Dialogue.
Do you struggle with it? I do. Maybe i don't know my characters enough, but sometimes i just can't seem to get them to talk! I am more of a narrative writer and Kate's advise for a truly compelling read is to make sure your book is 60% dialogue and 40% narrative - uh oh, i think mine is the opposite! but oh well, i'll tackle that in revisions :)
Dialogue is the best way for the reader to find out about the character, to create tension, and instead of writing all that narrative (ahem) you can use it affectively to SHOW not TELL what is going on and keep the characters and the reader in the present.
When you read do you sometimes find yourself skimming through the paragraphs to get to the 'good' bits? If you think about it, visually we are looking for the dialogue - so be sure to write lots of it!!
I am definitely going to try and do this more!

Next was on Focus and importantly to me was Flashbacks.
Kate's advice was if you can pepper it into the narrative in a way as to make it as present as possible without using a flashback, then do, as this keeps everything current, without diluting the tension. Or better yet, see if you can put it in the dialogue, another way to get it up to the 60%!

And a big question always for me is How do you know which Viewpoint to use for Which Scene?
She gives heaps of questions to ask yourself, like whose feelings are most at stake? Or which characters holds the most information, or which character do you want to withhold information from but who has the information? Which character do you want the reader to see the reactions to information?...
So if you struggle and re-write the same scene over and over from the different character's viewpoints just ask yourselves some questions and hopefully that will help!

Happy writing!

Conflicted about Conflict?

Internal conflict, External conflict, conflict, conflict, conflict!
Are you confused about what to use when and how much is too much?

Kate Walker is doing a really fab short course on her blog and is giving some golden tips to help sort out your muddle! You can even ask her questions and she may address them for you on her blog!

Luckily the chapter i was up to in the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance coincided with her course - Conflict!

In the book - and on the blog - she talks about adding layers, like an onion, not more conflict, like a car crash, then a burglary or a secret love child, then a suscpicious other woman, but more like deeper conflict. Something that adds to the conflict you already have for your characters. SOmething that heightens the tension.
The story should move in a W, with the characters solving the first part of their conflict only to discover another layer, or deeper problem they hadn't realised, then resolving that or it builds to the ultimate conflict the Black Moment!
And, you have to combine both the internal and the external conflict for this to be a truly compelling story!
And a little recap or lesson, in case you needed it.
Internal Conflict is the conflict that is happening inside the character - their emotions and reactions to situations (the External conflict).

Attention class!

Ahem, now that i have your attention...

The iPad is releasing in NZ in 3 days!!

Okay my happy dance is now over and back to the real reason for my post today.

I've been reading Kate Walker's fabulous 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.

Of course it covers the basics like what is romance?, and it is important to know your genre before you write it! Research people, research!

If you are writing about a sandy beach you must know first hand what it feels like between your toes if that is what your characters are feeling!

Kate really advises too, and we have probably all heard this before, but really we can't hear this often enough, study the line you are targetting. That is, that publishing house or agent or readership. You MUST know your target BEFORE you put pen (or fingers to keyboard) to paper. It will save heartache, time, and effort in the long run.

Another huge thing i picked up was that readers don't read your story to find out what happens. Generally they read to find out how it happens!

At least, this is certainly true for romance. We all know, that these characters are going to get their happily ever after, but how they get it is what the reader is reading for. And how you get the reader there is with EMOTION.

Kate Walker talks about using Page Turning Quality and emotional punch.

Make sure you have enough emotional punch in your story to keep your reader turning those pages to find out how the story develops!

But please also remember "getting to know you time". The poor reader can't be on a high the entire time just as the characters can't. They all need to get to know each other, so let them all have time to know their gentler sides, and connect with each other, to feel. Then when the emotion gets high, and we as writers are so mean and create that nasty conflict, the reader will flick those pages even faster.

Your task this week: Create some emotional punch, but remember to let the characters have some down time and get to know each other too!

Halfway lag

Oh dear! I have found myself lacking motivation to even open my pages document to write!

I have finished editing Nicole's fabulous story Birthright and man is it good! I really can't wait to read the next installment.

To get me back into the motivational vent of Modern Heat i have the newest book by Nicola Marsh , Overtime in the Boss's Bed and i really can't wait to read this one. Nicola's books are so great to read. spunky and fun and they just sizzle!

I'm also going to start Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Romance

and keep you updated with my progress through the exercises so stay tuned :)

Learning my Craft

I'm so excited! I was given some money for my birthday so i used it to invest in my writing and have bought some writing books.

The first one arrived today: Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.

I can't wait to dive in and have already read the contents pages and the introduction (can you tell i'm a bit of a geek?!).

Right off Kate has said she wants this book to help with my writing so she has intended this book to be like a workshop, with mini questions at the end of each chapter. So i thought as i read and take the notes as she advises, i would post them here so you can track my progress!

Of course i won't be doing that until i have finished editing my friend's novel or i will so busy i won't be able to think straight!

What books have you read to help shape your writing career?

From Kate's website - (i have a link to her site on my sidebar!) i got the information that the book contains and have included it below :), which is also in the book. I am really looking forward to it!

The book explains:

• How to write emotion and create PTQ (page turning quality) in your novels
• How to create conflict amidst your characters and why it is a major essential component in your novel.
• Why dialogue is the lifeblood of your knowledge
• How to make dialogue sound realistic
• How to make your characters real
• How to create the required sharp focus on your hero and heroine
• How to develop supporting characters that work
• Why flashbacks are important in some stories and how to create them in your novel.
• Why sensuality is important and how you can develop sensuality between your hero and heroine
• How to pace the development of the romance that is occurring between your hero and heroine
• How to write the love scene between your hero and heroine and the importance of 'after'
• The importance of the hero and his essential ‘vital vulnerability’.
• The filter role of the heroine for the reader
• The heroine’s 21st Century response to conflict
• How to answer the question ‘why?’

Join me soon!