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Alicia Rasley (blog) is a wildly talented writer and teacher who should get more recognition than she does. I bought her e-book in PDF, Discovering the Story Within, before people were even reading e-books. (My only complaint: it’s full of awesome worksheets, but the PDF is protected against copying, pasting, highlighting–anything you right-click to do, so filling them out in a word-processing program is impossible.) Plotting But, for today, and for GMC month, I’d like to point you to an article she did on her site called Plotting Without Fears. In this article she tells you the quick and dirty way to plot a story. FindRead More →

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That’s my actual wall. Those are two of the seven GMC charts I have hung there. My two main protagonists, actually. On the top left, you’ll see an extra note: the lesson they need to learn by the end of the story. In this novel, my antagonist and her minion don’t have these. Because they fail to learn a lesson; they’re villains. Not all antagonists are villains, though. In some stories, an antagonist could be a friend or family member or even lover. In order to for the antagonist have a happy ending, they need to arc as well.Read More →

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If you read a book or watch a movie, and you’ve learned even a little about GMC, then you can figure out a character’s GMC… If you read the biography, you can clearly see where I found these goals and motivations. But, let me say this: these could be better. Analysis below.Read More →

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I read a post a few days ago.  It’s not the one linked below, because I had Kindle Klipped it to myself and read it there.  In fact, I can’t track it down at all, because a Google of “brainstorming 100” comes up with lots of posts from different sites.  It didn’t even hit me that much when I read it, except to say, “Hmm.  That idea doesn’t suck.” But then I started reading a novel and, while trying to go to sleep, began looking for the GMC in that book.  I was impressed to realize that while the hero’s GMC is obvious from the beginning, theRead More →

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Working on a new story that I’m really excited about.  Written down my backstory, written where my characters are immediately before the story starts.  Now I’m working on the GMC charts* for my two protags, my secondary characters, and my one (maybe two?) antagonists.  Once I have this, it will be awesome and make the story better to the nth degree.  But, how much do I hate doing these?  I always have to get the book out and go over the parts I highlighted (thankful for that foresight, go me) and make sure I have concrete, measurable external goals and then the internal part whichRead More →

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So I’m watching movies considered to be some of the most romantic movies for many decades. I’ve watched Gone With the Wind and An Affair to Remember more times than I’ve changed my clothes, almost, so I wanted to start with something new (to me). This is, technically, research for a character, who would’ve been watching these movies at a certain point in her life. But, I thought, if I’m watching some of the best romances ever, why not examine the GMC? Maybe I’ll learn something. Movie: Sabrina Hero: Linus Cold-blooded corporate raider GOAL MOTIVATION CONFLICT Internal To be compensated for the life his brotherRead More →

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You know I have a GMC spreadsheet.  Fine, here it is.  (Usual rules apply.  Use it all you want, but don’t share it.  Just link back here.  Thanks!) Okay, so I talked a couple of weeks ago about walking away from the keyboard, listening to music and driving along, and my story becoming.  No other way to describe it.  My characters started talking to me, and everything became clear.  The ending.  The GMC of EVERYONE.  Who the real antagonists were.  Who these people were.  Idiosyncracies, jobs, inside jokes.  All there. Still, I’d fallen into a rut.  I couldn’t write.  So, I made my writing areaRead More →

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I bought GMC by Debra Dixon. It’s genius, I’d heard, and it’s true. It’s like having someone explain brain surgery in a book you can read in a day or two, and you finish and say, “Duh.” Before I go on, I’d like to point out that used copies can go for more then $40 on Amazon. I love Amazon, nothing against Amazon, but you can purchase the book from the publisher for $19.95. Worth every dime, btw. If you really want to know how useful it is, just google GMC and Dixon. You’ll find thousands of hits. That’s how widely accepted, adopted, and appreciatedRead More →