Absolutely Fascinating Read On Why “psychological Androgyny” Is Key To Creativity 

Beautiful in all senses

The director’s task is to recreate life, its movement, its contradictions, its dynamic and conflicts. It is his duty to reveal every iota of the truth he has seen, even if not everyone finds that truth acceptable. Of course an artist can lose his way, but even his mistakes are interesting provided they are sincere. For they represent the reality of his inner life, of the peregrinations and struggle into which the external world has thrown him.

Andrei Tarkovsky

Storytelling Challenge: Character Motivation

“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water,” Kurt Vonnegut said in his Eight Basics of Creative Writing.

A lot goes into developing relatable characters. You have to figure out how they look and behave. You have to have a sense of their back story. But perhaps the most important thing that ties all the character development together is why. Why do they do what they do? What motivates them?

Just like real people, your characters will be motivated by different things. For the story you’re telling, choose one thing to focus on.

You likely won’t mention it outright, but the motivation you pick will be driving your character’s actions and decisions throughout the story.

Developing Characters Through Motivation

When your characters aren’t fully developed yet, giving them something to strive for is a fantastic way to begin developing them.

How would they go about achieving that goal? What risks would they take? And why do they want what they want in the first place?

You can easily start a story by taking a character, giving them a goal and watching them trying to reach it. Of course, the problem is that there will be obstacles along the way.

Take the example from the beginning of the post: a character that wants a glass of water. That should be simple enough, shouldn’t it?

They go to the kitchen and take a glass from the cupboard over the sink. The tap sputters when turned on, and no water comes out. Weird.

The character goes to check the stopcock, the water is on. Did they forget to pay the bill? Perhaps there was an incident down the road, and emergency works are going on.

From here, the story can go anywhere from Jason Bourne-style spy thriller to a silly dispute with a neighbour-style comedy. All we started with was a character wanting a glass of water.

The Challenge

Join us this week and spend an hour or more writing a story where the protagonist wants something. Pick a goal or some kind of motivation and use it to develop the character as you work on the story.

If other characters will be working against the protagonist, what motivates them? Why do they stand in the way of the protagonist’s achieving their goal?

Here are a few examples of character motivation:

security — the character’s security is being threatened

success/recognition — the character working hard to achieve something

acceptance — the character wants to fit in

love/friendship — the character is looking for new friends or a partner

Join the challenge

Pay attention to the things you are naturally drawn to. They are often connected to your path, passion, and purpose in life.

Fairy tales are contested terrain — places where we battle out truth and power.

Book review: ‘Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale’ by Marina Warner - Books - The Boston Globe (via oupacademic)

Writing is not a fanciful venture. It is the most meaningful, purest step forward in your own personal art. Do not diminish the importance and power in your own fingers tapping at your keyboard or wrapped around a pencil. This is the moment in which you embrace the might of your creation.

Karuna Riazi is an online diversity advocate, essayist and overwhelmed undergrad student. Her debut novel, The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand, will be released in 2017 under Simon and Schuster’s new Salaam Reads imprint.

Writer’s Care Packages from Camp NaNoWriMo and We Need Diverse Books.

(via nanowrimo)

Saw this on Twitter. What 3 potions would you drink?

I would take brown, white, and yellow!

wisdom

I made it to the top! Resumes are not always written in fancy diplomas or degrees, but in knowing how, when, where and why. It's a mixture between knowledge and experience.

I made it to the top