At a couple of the recent plot workshops, I asked writers to fill in a Character Plot Profile for their protagonist’s Dramatic Action goals and Character Emotional Development traits, the antagonist’s, and for themselves as a writer, too.
Following is a random sample of the responses in relationship to themselves as writers:
Dramatic Action Plot
- Long-term goal: Write a book, finish, publish book
- Standing in the way: Family, job, poor discipline, distracted, lazy, nothing, integrating two characters and timeline
- Stands to lose: No sense of accomplishment, disappointment, not much, self-respect
Character Emotional Development Plot
- Flaw: Perfectionist, procrastination, resistance, lack of clarity, impatience, falls in love with my words, disorganized, not knowing where it’s going
- Strength: Imagination, use of words, language, dialogue, action, short stories
- Hates: Solitary act of writing, starting, loneliness, emotionally painful, doing it, internal critic, judgment, first drafts, rewrites, self-doubt, getting stuck
- Loves: Translating ideas into words, losing myself in the process, first draft, rewrites, magic, fun
- Fear: Can’t do it, that it’s no good, words won’t move people. be bad at it, not good enough, I’ll never finish, negative feedback, that it’s lousy, triviality, no one will care, that criticism of my writing is a criticism of me, rejection
- Dream: to be remembered by a child
- Secret: I’m as afraid of praise as I am of criticism, write in my head first and then on paper
Any of this sound familiar??
Oh yes…very familiar.
You coined it correctly with the label "universal." And we're lonely why?
That's pretty much got it covered.