A Ten Bad Pages Creative Writing Guide
$7
How to give a character a want, a flaw and a hard choice, so they drive the story instead of living in their backstory.
Your character can have a fascinating backstory. Eventually, they’re going to have to do something.
You know their favorite breakfast, their childhood nickname and what happened at their seventh birthday party. Excellent. Now what do they want?
Build a Character Who Wants Something is about the moment a character starts affecting what happens. It follows Summer, a high-school senior choosing between a college close to home and one across the country, through wants, conflict, flaws, avoidance and the decision she doesn’t want to make. No villain required.
You finish with an original scene and a character cheat sheet for your own work. It works with whatever your professor assigns; follow your professor’s format.
Turn a profile into an objective the character can pursue, and know the difference between a want and a need.
Let decent people’s desires collide, and find conflict in three places.
A flaw, or a strength taken too far, that makes things harder, and avoidance as a choice.
Take away the easy out and let the decision show who the character is.
Purchase includes one printable PDF. It’s a guide, not a fillable workbook: the exercises go in your notebook or writing app.
Download right after checkout, and we email you the links too — they work for 30 days. Lose them? Email [email protected] and we'll send more. Not what you expected? Reply to your receipt within 30 days and we'll refund it.