SKU: 8828325689

What Do Your Characters Want? Using Highly Motivated Characters to Drive Stronger Stories

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Description

What Do Your Characters Want? Using Highly Motivated Characters to Drive Stronger StoriesAll genres have traps, inherent weaknesses that writers can fall prey to if we arent careful. Maybe your literary fiction has beautifully dimensional characters, but not a lot going on. Or maybe your thriller has a high octane plot, but the characters seem too archetypal or forgettable. These might seem like opposite problems, but the solution is the same: Its time to stop thinking of plot and character as separate elements and start using your

All genres have traps, inherent weaknesses that writers can fall prey to if we aren’t careful. Maybe your literary fiction has beautifully dimensional characters, but not a lot going on. Or maybe your thriller has a high-octane plot, but the characters seem too archetypal or forgettable.

These might seem like opposite problems, but the solution is the same: It’s time to stop thinking of plot and character as separate elements and start using your protagonist’s motivations to fuel the engine of your story, driving the action and enhancing the theme.

In this OnDemand webinar, you'll learn how to leverage your characters' goals and desires from Page 1 to get readers to quickly invest in their journeys, eager to come along for the ride. With plenty of examples from bestsellers across genres, you’ll see how focusing on character motivations as a guiding principle can not only bring your story’s central players to life, but add propulsion to your plot, raise and complicate the stakes, and elevate the themes of your story. 

What will You Learn:

  • How your characters’ motivations compel readers to care about them
  • How to minimize backstory to just the right details to maximize impact
  • How your characters’ strengths and flaws should relate to their goals
  • How to juggle multiple points of view, each with their own driving motivations
  • How to use shortcuts to access the heart of a character
  • Why the most relatable characters want very specific things that still feel universal
  • How to build tension through characters' conflicting desires
  • How character motivations might look different with unreliable narrators
  • How to leverage your primary and secondary characters' relationships for enhanced authenticity, complexity, and staying power.

Who Is This Webinar For:

  • Fiction writers whose work-in-progress takes too long to gain momentum
  • Fiction writers working on an outline or story plan that feels disjointed or incomplete
  • Fiction writers who feel their characters are generally stronger than their plots, or vice versa
  • Fiction writers who are struggling with pacing and can’t identify why
  • Fiction writers who feel stuck in the “muddle in the middle” of their story
  • Fiction writers in the drafting stages of their novel, looking for direction
  • Fiction writers in the revision stages who need clarity on what isn’t working
  • Fiction writers who’ve been told the ending of their story isn’t satisfying the reader

Instructor:

Jessica Strawser

Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large & columnist for Writer’s Digest, where she previously served as editorial director. She is the USA Today bestselling author of seven popular book club novels, including Almost Missed You, Not That I Could Tell (a Book of the Month bestseller), Forget You Know Me, A Million Reasons Why, The Next Thing You Know (a People Magazine Pick), The Last Caretaker, an Amazon Editors’ First Reads selection, and Catch You Later, brand new in October 2024. She has written for The New York Times Modern Love, Publishers Weekly, and others, and is a popular speaker at writing conferences. She lives with her husband and two children in Cincinnati, where she received a 2024 Individual Excellence Award for her fiction from the Ohio Arts Council. Find her on Facebook and Instagram @jessicastrawserauthor.

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SKU: 8828325689

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4.3 ★★★★★
Based on 23 reviews
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Verified Purchase
ForTheLOVEofBooks
Draper, US
★★★★★ 4
Pretty Darn Good
Format: Kindle
So I’ve been on a omega kick and this definitely hit the spot. Madison was frustrating at times with how she acted towards Lucas, Gray, and Rian. It was like she said towards the end, she didn’t believe she deserved nice things. It would have been nice to hear from her best friends again. They kind of were there in the beginning and the gone except for mention of text messages received from them. I feel like her friends would have been great help in encouraging Madison to go with the pack and never give Brent another chance because he was toxic. I loved Rian. His personality was awesome. His humor. His ability to make Madison comfortable whenever she was feeling overwhelmed. And the fact he fell for her and she fell for him first. They are cute together. I do feel like Lucas was the odd man out though. Like Lucas didn’t develop as much of a relationship with Madison. I would have really liked to see more development in the relationship between them. It was also the same with him and Rian. There is really no relationship displayed. Most of the relationship being displayed is between Rian and Gray. Nevertheless, I loved reading about the dynamic that came to fruition during the entirety of this story. Madison finally got her happiness. And Brent finally got punched in the face. Everyone got exactly what they deserve.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2022
E
Verified Purchase
ediebegonia
New York, US
★★★★★ 3
Pack's Promise was okay but not great
Format: Kindle
Pack's Promise was okay but not great. I won't recommend it to anyone that I know. PRO: * Very likable characters * Lots of steamy scenes that are written very well * The spelling and grammar are good * The punctuation is good with the exception of using hyphens instead of commas. Lots of hyphens. Lots and lots of hyphens. CON: * Almost no interactions with any characters outside of Madison and the pack * Nearly no plot. They meet, get together for a heat, agree to make it permanent, done * Quite a few typos such as extraneous words, missing words and words out of order THINGS TO KNOW: * More steamy scenes than storytelling * A lot of MM & MMM, some MFMM during heat
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2023
L
Verified Purchase
LJM
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 5
such a good read
Format: Kindle
Madison, Lucas, Grey and Rian were made for each other!!! First time reading from this author and I’m not disappointed!!! Absolutely love the Love in this book and couldn’t ask for a better OV!
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Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2023
B
Verified Purchase
Beccaroo
Whiting, US
★★★★★ 4
Fluffy and Nice Omegaverse
Format: Kindle
… this would have made 5 stars but for 2 reasons. A.) there were quite a few typos; misspelled words, missing quotations, “the his” mistakes, and various signs that maybe a proofread would do good. B.) the writing was quite textbook. Late blooming omega is struggling with her new self, finds a absurdly wealthy pack of alphas, every thing is almost insta-love but she resists, then decides to love herself and let everyone be happy. Rian was my favourite (obviously the author’s favourite too because he got the most page time) but I wish we could see more of his CEO side? He went to work maybe ONCE the entire time. Gray was supposed to be the “growly one” but he turned out to be puppy dog. Lucas was a genius brainiac doctor - but also super alpha with an aggressive hindbrain with a breeding k*nk?? And then there was no actual “breeding”?? Spice 3/5 - normally omegaverse books are super high on messy smut but this was tamer. Romance 3/5 - insta-love that was then resisted because of personal hangup’s Plot 2/5 - weird paced head hopping, showing the same scene from different POV’s that made me feel like it was 2 steps backward, 1 step forward. Humour 4/5 - there were a dozen lines that genuinely made me chuckle out loud Would have been five stars but the lack of proofreading and the predictable plot made me unable to get up to ADORED IT level - four stars is still and official ENJOYED IT, y’all. This isn’t a bad rating. The “Club Heat” has intriguing possibilities so I’m going to give the second one a shot.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2023
T
Verified Purchase
Trouble In FL
Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 5
Fantastic writing and non-stop action
Format: Kindle
This is a promising, fantastic beginning to what will be a 4-book series. Some readers may be content to read only the first 2 books, but I think you'll find that the story is so good that you'll want to keep reading books 3 and 4. Book 1 is about omega Elvana's introduction to the "Starling" brothers and their search for another missing person, Kelly. It's a bit of a rocky start, with deception and betrayal a key element. Hardly an auspicious beginning. Each member has their own path and purpose in the pack. Their interactions and the resulting narrative are so well-written that I found it difficult to put down. There is a cliffhanger that will have you reaching for book 2 as you finish, so make sure you have it on hand.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2023

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