If you’re a regular reader, you know that I have a
borderline obsession with Donald Maass. No, not in a stalker-y kind of way, but
whenever anyone mentions that they’re a writer, I’m all: Have you read
THE BREAKOUT NOVELIST? No? Well, you TOTALLY SHOULD!
So, when I learned that Mr. Maass was facilitating a Boot Camp during the Writer’s Digest Conference (East), I lost my freaking
mind decided to attend. And boy-oh-boy, was it amazing.
Like, seriously amazing. The most amazing-est amazeballs
three hours ever.
Although I’ve read one of his books, I still took five pages
of notes. Single-spaced notes. On my computer. Not in bullet form. Yeah, that’s
a whole lotta information. Frankly, if I could type faster, there probably
would have been more.
The thing about Donald Maass is that he has an impeccable
way of phrasing things. His exercise questions are always poignant and if you
do enough of them, I guarantee that you’ll have an epiphany—something that
probably wouldn’t have occurred to you without his guidance. Yes, I understand
that I sound like he’s paid me to write this post but rest assured, he did not.
Here are some gems he said during the bootcamp:
Don’t clutter the page, deepen the story.
There’s no such thing as a finished manuscript, only a
deadline. (haha)
Stories need events that are more dramatic, which portray
the journey the characters go through.
And that was just part of the introduction!
We got down to business quickly after that, and the room
fell quiet except for the sounds of frantic typing, scratching pens, and the
occasional sigh (usually of the light-bulb moment variety, but I was sitting in
the front row so I can’t be sure about all of them).
My sneaky pic.
Here are some of the questions that really got my mind a-racin’
(hopefully they can help you, too):
What has your protagonist never told anyone? All
protagonists have made a shameful mistake, who would be the worst person to
find out? What’s the biggest consequence in revealing to that person?
In your protagonist’s past, what was their biggest tragedy? Betrayal?
And who are they most angry about it with? Who deserves your protagonist’s
scorn? Who has yet to be forgiven by your protagonist?
Backstories should be about shame and forgiveness. The
journey to forgiveness is the dynamic stuff that’s happening even when the plot
is driving the novel. Give your characters a dynamic experience so that readers
can connect to them. You’ll create a character who people can relate to—the
universal human condition.
There was a whole lot more than that but out of respect to
Mr. Maass, I’m not going to share any more because he’d probably prefer you buy one
of his books or attend a Boot Camp yourself. And you want to, after reading this
post, don’t you? Yeah, I know that you do. So get to your
bookstore/Amazon/library, people! GO THERE RIGHT NOW! See what resonates with
you and then let your imagination soar!
Seriously. Start cracking.
Umm…why are you still here?
GO!
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