Today on the Go Teen Writers Book Club, we’re discussing Chapter Six: Change.

Chapter Recap:

Mr. James talked about the difference between putty people and pebble people. The events of the story cause putty people to change, while pebble people remain unchanged. Protagonist are usually putty people.

Characters like James Bond and Sherlock Holmes are pebble people. External struggles reveal characteristics of the protagonist, while internal and interpersonal struggles transform him. Since Bond and Holmes both handle cases of grand external significance, their stories reveal what they are like more than transform them.

Here are some examples of outcomes that Mr. James gives for stories told from a primarily external nature:
1. A new set of circumstances. (The city is saved from terrorists.)
2. A new outlook or attitude. (Hero learns to work with a team rather than on his own.)
3. A new set of skills or abilities. (The hero now knows how to disarm a bomb.)
4. A new insight or revelation. (The hero can face his fears to protect others.)
5. A new (or renewed) relationship. (The guy gets the girl.)

For putty people, the struggle of the story changes them. They are dealing with those internal struggles that relate to universal desires like love, acceptance, freedom, adventure.

When your character reaches his emotional or spiritual climactic moment, you need to show, not tell. Don’t rush over it. Readers want to experience it. Draw it out. Make your hero struggle and fight for it! And he should come out on the other side transformed into a new man. A better, stronger in some way man. Unless you’re telling a dark story. And in that case, genre conventions dictate your plot and character arcs quite a bit more in regards to horror stories or psychological thrillers.

What Stood Out:

“Don’t necessarily think of change as a complete conversion from one type of person to another but rather something that results in a new kind of normal.”

To recap the book thus far, consider these five elements:
Orientation: Readers meet the protagonist, discover what he’s like. If he has what he wants, he’s about to lose it. If he wants something, he’s about to pursue it.
Crisis/Calling: Crisis: Something bad happened to the hero. What’s he trying to overcome, avoid, or obtain? Calling: Something good beckons the hero on an adventure. How will he respond?
Escalation: The hero tries to solve the problem but meets progressively bigger and bigger challenges along the way until he meets a final climactic encounter with the antagonist.
Discovery: The hero reaches a moment of realization. What does he learn about the world and himself?
Change: The hero’s life has been transformed. How has life changed?

Tip of the week:

To develop your protagonist’s journey through the story, think about four things:
1. Desire: What does he want?
2. Setbacks: What keeps him from getting it?
3. Stakes: What will happen if he doesn’t get it?
4. Outcome: What will change in his life when he does fulfill his desire?
These four don’t have to happen in this order. Move things around if your story need that.

Go Teen Writers Archived Articles to Help You Go Deeper:

How to Change the Heart of Your Characters
Main Characters Need to Change
Writing The Climax of the Story: Your Character’s Final Test
How To Know If You’ve Done a Good Job with Character Development

Questions:

Answer at least one of the following (or as many as you’d like).
•Is your hero a putty person or a pebble person?
•Do you show a new normal for your character at the end of the story?
•Have you worked hard to show the emotional or spiritual climactic moment at the end of your story?
•Any questions?