Your Next Draft
Your Next Draft is the fiction writer's guide to developmental editing. What do you do after your first draft? How do you flesh out flat characters, fill in plot holes, and hook your readers from the first page to the last? What does editing a novel even mean? Developmental editor and book coach Alice Sudlow answers all these questions and more. Each week, she shares the editing strategies she's using with her one-on-one clients so you can put them to use in your own novel. Tune in for tips, tools, and step-by-step guides for the novel editing process.
Your Next Draft
How to Figure Out What Your Character REALLY Wants
Make your readers care about your story by getting specific about what your protagonist wants—and why.
What does your protagonist want?
I bet you have an answer for that question. I also bet that your answer is a little . . . generic.
See, the thing your protagonist wants is good. They might want to save a victim from a villain, or fall in love, or get a promotion, or solve a mystery. We all agree those are good things to want.
But that doesn’t move us, doesn’t make us care about your protagonist and their goal, unless we know why they want it.
So in this episode, we’re digging in deep to find out not only what your character wants, but why they want it.
You’ll learn:
- The one question I love to ask to figure out what your character really wants
- Why generic wants won’t move your readers
- How to make your story stand out from the crowd by getting specific
- And more!
You might just discover new layers to your character you didn’t even know were there.
Links mentioned in the episode:
- Get the Character Arc Worksheet: alicesudlow.com/characterworksheet
- Ep. 21: How to Identify Your Protagonist's Want and Need (And Why Those Matter to Your Plot)
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