Writing Coach in a box: Seven and Eight.

It’s been a while. Work’s picked up lately, so I haven’t had much of a chance to do my Coach posts. But that’s okay. Card Seven kind of threw me off a bit.

Card Seven covered personality types for characters, and while the card spells out the types of characters and ways to assign them personality types, I couldn’t really think of much that would be worth saying. The card referenced the Meyers Briggs and Zodiac signs. Two things I know next to nothing about. If I were to spell out any Zodiac sign for Charlie, I would say that he was born in the fall. Probably October 31st, just for the fun of it, because of course the protagonist of a romantic horror comedy would have a thematic birthday to match. Which would make him a Scorpio. Same with Shannon. Do I know what that means? Kind of? A simple google search can clear that up for me for sure.

Card Number Eight covers “Want, Need, and Do.” This card simply gives three questions that you can answer to have your character have a hold on the character.

What do they want?

What does your character desire? The desire will drive the plot forward and give them a goal. Horror stories are a bit hard to pin down a want from the main character. Mainly because anyone in a horrifying situation wants Escape and Survival. But those can also qualify or manifest as a need. Romance stories are a bit easier. I have said many times, Charlie wants to forget his ex. He wants to have a chill summer and to forget the man who was so much of his world.

Shannon wants her brother to move on too. She wants to give her brother some time away to just do things he enjoys, like crafting and teaching kids how to build things themselves. She also wants to have a chill summer with her partners. She has a boyfriend and a girlfriend, both named Daniel and Becky (species not determined as of yet.)

What do they need?

A character’s needs are, a lot of the time, different from what they want. See, I can want really badly to spend an entire paycheck on my MTG obsession. But what I need, is to fix my car which is broken again. (No, I did not spend a paycheck on Magic cards. Yes. My car is broken again.) Shannon’s needs here are a bit easier to pick out. She’s going to be the heart of half of the story. She needs to find a way to keep her friends and Charlie safe as an unknown sinister force terrorizes the camp from the shadows.

Charlie’s needs are a bit harder to pin down. Obviously he’s going to find someone new to have a relationship with. But that’s not a need or even a want for Charlie. What I think Charlie needs, is some time to self-reflect and not be an extension of someone else. To sit down and remind himself that he’s not boring. He’s not uninteresting. He needs time to just be himself without worrying about anything.

What do they do?

Execution is the most important part of storytelling. If a character is doing something, show what they’re doing on the page. The card references the adage of “Show, Don’t Tell.” Here’s an example.

Tell: Shannon tried to get Charlie’s attention from the far end of the mess hall. “Charlie! Over here!”

Show: Shannon’s tail wagged as she saw Charlie and his cabinmates walk through the door to the mess hall. “Charlie!” She called out to her brother, lifting her arms and flailing them over her head. “Over here!”

As for what the chracters themselves do… That’s something I have to figure out to be honest. I know basic information about the story, but like my attention has been so divided. I’ll be doing another two of these cards this week, so here’s to getting more into this story and these characters.