Happy, successful writing to you all!

Hi Sandy, it’s been a stellar week and if Robb and his family make it back to Oz he’ll have tour guides dotted all over the country ready to return his kindness

Pete, Robb came via a jar of chutney that originated with some hilarious posts that started with a blog appearance by Phillipa Fioretti, so I think she does deserve a 3 book contract – Hachette is perfect for that!!! (Of course, she deserves that contract anyway, regardless of her gracious presence in cyberspace).

I don’t think Sala, the chef who made the chutney, has any publishing aspirations – she’s too busy sorting out air traffic in Australia!!

Helene, I don’t know who the genius was that suggested Robb’s guest appearance, but whoever it is, she deserves a three book deal from someone.

Thanks Rob for popping downunder – and don’t ‘ack’ homestead. I got a delightful vision of a ghostly, virtual you sneaking into Helene’s fridge, helping yourself to a Tim Tam or two and then teasing the manic dog.

I guess I was expecting some commentary on the concept of “drama” – how to inject enough that your characters aren’t flat and boring but how far to take it so it doesn’t become “melodrama.”

There’s a trick to it. I don’t know what the trick is, so don’t ask However, I’ve actually done it back when I was writing science fiction adventures (now I’m writing romantic suspense which definitely falls prey, as an industry, to the melodrama rather than mere drama for the story’s sake) I like the “epic” feel to the SF stories I’ve written and it’s definitely because the characters are such emotional people and wear their feelings out there where all can access them. The vulnerability makes them appealing, more so because they are essentially very strong people doing epically-heroic things. It’s the same reason, I think, we all feel drawn to admire or want to know those selfless “heroes” who wear uniforms of one sort or another and go toward danger when the rest of us would run away to safety (i.e., military, police, fire & rescue).

The only thing I can add to a discussion on adding “despair” to a story is to use the trick that favorite of mine, Lois McMaster Bujold, and many, many others have employed. This works not only to add drama to a story and depth to a character but also makes a storyline more gripping and a story arc more epic. I suppose, in a way, I’ve always done this in my SF stories. Now I just need to do it in my romance. It’s a simple 2-step process.

1) Ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen to this person right now?”

2) Do that to them.

There’s obviously more to it–you have to “be” the person to whom this horrible thing happens and then imagine what it would feel like to have this “worst” thing happen, how would you react, how would you endure?

Then of course, you have to either let the horrible thing destroy the character (tragedy) or find a character trait you can use to let the character overcome this interim obstacle by his or her own powers (triumph of the human spirit). This is the single-most popular and salable story archetype on the market today–and indeed for the last 10 years.

The question of “what’s the worst thing that could happen to this person?” isn’t really enough to make an overall story arc but it definitely will help you form / shape a scene or interim set of plot points in a “gripping” or “engaging” way.

Put simply enough to please the editor in Robb: this method gets you from point A to point C, not from A to Z.

Thanks, Helene, for hosting this 3-part discussion. I’ll definitely be back next week for your next guest, Lindy Cameron. Cya then!