When I latch onto a plausible story idea, my first response is often jotting down anything and everything I could pack into that story. Think interests, passions, aversions, past struggles, favorite foods, etc. I want to make a world as colorful as my snail painting—hard lines, shadows, pigment mingling on the page.
I end up with a mess of topics that don't relate to the protagonist's world. This means dialing back—culling out bits and pieces that jumble the major plot points.
Once I have a general feel for my character's (or each main character for multiple POVs) overarching journey, I need to consider several things:
Is the character's motivation/end goal strong enough to support an entire novel?
What major (recurring or not) obstacles do they face from past and present?
How will the challenges/obstacles shift and grow with them?
What new obstacles will arise?
What/who makes the character doubt themselves or get off track?
What/who is their greatest source of strength (healthy or unhealthy)?
Does that source of strength shift/fail/betray them?
What must the character sacrifice to stay on track?
When faced with impossible odds, does the character fall back into old patterns?
What fears/lies/emotional instability linger from their past?
***What personal experiences will you draw from/pour into the novel?
These are just a few questions to dig deeper into both character and plot until a unique story takes shape. I could go through and answer all these questions for a hypothetical story, but for this post, I'll focus on the last one.
Personal experiences are vital to a story's authenticity. This goes along with the overused "write what you know" advice. If you're anything like me, you may feel like much of your life has been boring or uneventful. Surely no one cares that I ate more crappy breakfast cereal and canned spaghetti-o's than most children. The Phantom of the Opera obsession I had back in my twenties probably isn't worth mentioning either. Sure, I have a degree in Computer Arts and Animation, but so what?
So what? Why did I decide to go to art school to begin with?
How did eating junk food affect me later?
What was I escaping from when I listened to Masquerade for the thousandth time?
And what about my mini spotlight moments? Heartbreaks? Random but hilarious experiences with every day situations? That time my bestie and I realized our pool banter may indeed be flirtatious? How I spent much of my childhood alone (except for my dog), exploring creeks and climbing trees?
Life is more than chunks of information. Hometowns, number of siblings, and first loves and jobs are all good to know, but those little day-to-day choices can have life-altering consequences. If I never went to art school, I wouldn't have a freelance client I still work with today. If I didn't stop eating junk food, I'd still have the same digestive issues that plagued me in my early adult life...and probably be afraid to go to my yearly Know Your Number checkup.
Our pasts are rife with seemingly mundane beliefs and experiences that carried long-term results.
For my tenth novel, I plan to draw from these personal experiences:
My love for Hawaiian culture, food, and scenery
Past relationships
Knowledge of nutrition
An aversion to asking for help
Believing the lie that I'm not worth making time for
How I healed many past ailments with dietary/habit changes
Experiences with estranged family members
Growing up believing I was better off alone (fear of punishment/ridicule/criticism)
How I learned to forgive those who contributed to loneliness/depression/isolation in my formative years
Focusing on what I want for the future instead of dragging past pain with me
I painted my watercolor snail on our last trip to Hawaii. When I'm there, I feel more creative, healthier, and more connected to God and nature than I do at home. There, I'm up before the sun, jogging coastal trails. I pray and thank God that we can afford such wonderful trips. And in February, we were able to volunteer and serve the people of Lahaina who had lost their homes in the 2023 fires.
Though I made journal entries during our extended trip, sketched, and painted, I struggled to hold onto the feeling of waking up to fresh air, bright stars overhead, and rooster crows. If done right, my next novel will transport me back to all that beauty. I plan to keep working it until I can taste the fresh tuna poke, feel the chilly wind from the cliffs in Princeville, and relive the grateful smiles of those who lost so much to a wildfire.
For now, I'll ponder my protagonist's journey until it contains bits and pieces of my own life journey.
Keep on smilin'!
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