My Experience in attending a great wrkshop for writers, Continued

Tuesday's class began at 8:00 a.m. We talked about Elements of a Story. The setting of your story includes the time and place that the story occurs even if it's an imaginary setting, because your characters grow out of the setting. The characters surroundings helps to define who they are, to a point.From there the characters begin to create their story, their conflicts, their weaknesses and strengths.

In a story there should be 3 to 6 major characters.

The Protagonist, Antagonist, Contagonist, Sidekick, Guardian,

There must be a flaw in every story. Maybe the heckler turns into the guardian or visa versa.

The Contagonist is usually the big fight at the gate (so to speak) and usually falls somewhere along the way.

The villain needs a background story - a growth cycle. He or she can be bright, comical, etc., yet somewhere along the way becomes the villain.

give the Protagonist a sidekick. Give the sidekick interesting storyline or monologue. But keep it small.

Tie the characters together. Go for multiple reaction by making them unpredictable yet believable. Let them change and grow throughout the novel. It isn't necessarily the character himself, or herself, who is interesting, but the process of change

Give your character a background. Interview them. Get to know them personally.

In closing, one more comment, and I quote from Mr. Farland. "For each of your characters, you would be wise to look at them and not worry so much about how many nose hairs they have or what the social security number is, but to consider what kind of growth that character might experience in you tales."

See you in two weeks and have a great day.