Missy
Tippens
 |
| Photo credit: Bigstock/Yastremska |
Have you
hit a wall? Do you often get to Chapter 4 or Chapter 5 and say, “What in the
world is going to happen now????” Are you at the midpoint of Speedbo (the
Seekerville book-in-a-month writing challenge) and having a moment of panic,
wondering where your story is supposed to go?
I’ve been
there with you, and I’m going to give you two methods that have helped me
battle through.
1. Mine Your GMC Chart
If you’re
stuck trying to figure out what’s going to happen in your next scenes and
chapters, go back and take a peek at your Goal, Motivation and Conflict Chart (for
more information, check out Debra Dixon’s book, Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction). If you haven’t
already considered your characters’ GMC, then take some time to figure this
out. I’ve already done a couple of posts on this (Click here
and here.)
Also, Tina once shared an example of her chart on her white board, so you can
take a peek at that (click here.)
So once you
have your chart, look at each block on the chart. Brainstorm scene ideas that
have to do with that particular block, scenes that will show that particular
aspect of the character.
I thought I’d
share an example. Below is my GMC chart and scene ideas cut and pasted directly
out of my brainstorming file for the book that became The Doctor’s Second Chance
from Love Inspired. (note: I = Internal and E=External, G = Goal, M =
Motivation and C = Conflict)
***
Example: GMC
Chart for The Doctor’s Second Chance
(This
changed a little while writing the full book and after critique.)
Jake:
EG—Work
hard and play hard
EM—he’s
enjoying his freedom; he deserves to have some fun after the responsibility
that was thrust on him from a young age (parents’ death and aunt and uncle who
worked all the time leaving him with brat cousin)
EC—Cousin
Remy has dumped a baby on him (and he goes back into responsible mode)
Int
need: secure family unit of his own
IM—deep
need for security/belonging/connection
IC—He
doesn’t believe that it’s possible so tries to act like it’s not important
(instead goes for freedom and living in the moment—even dangerously)
Violet:
EG—build
her new practice and take care of children
EM—she
didn’t like impersonal large city practice/clinic and felt rootless
EC—it’s
a small town where everyone knows everyone, and she’s an outsider so business
is not picking up like she’d planned.
Int
need: connection
IG: Have
kids by doctoring in a small town community
IM:
she gave up a child for adoption and thinks she’ll never have her own (thinks
she doesn’t deserve it)
IC: She
really does want her own but is afraid to risk loving (maybe harbors bitterness
toward parents who made her feel worthless for her huge mistake. Needs to
forgive and let go to get rid of the bitterness)
Scene ideas:
Jake
EG—Work
hard and play hard (although this is really a lie—he’s just a hard worker, and
has always felt he needed to earn his way)
Scenes
that show him working
Gets
asked to go camping but can’t. Asked to go skydiving but can’t (first inkling
of having someone to care about besides himself)
Show
in charge and strong in his job/contrast with lack of confidence with baby
EM—he’s
enjoying his freedom; he deserves to have some fun after the responsibility
that was thrust on him from a young age
Discussion
with Remy so we know he took care of her
Comment
from someone at church about him always being responsible
Scene
where he realizes the baby is like him—“deserted” by parents
EC—Remy
has dumped a baby on him (and he goes back into responsible mode)
Opening
scene
Scenes
where it’s difficult to get work done
Fish
out of water scenes
Int
need: secure family unit of his own
Flashbacks/dialogue
where we hear of him missing parents and family of his own—especially when Remy
resented him.
Showing
him realizing he likes time with Violet and baby better than skydiving or time
outdoors with friends (it gets easier to turn down offers of fun adventure)
IM—security/belonging/connection
Realizes
Violet is filling needs he didn’t know he had
Doesn’t
feel like the 5th wheel with her
IC—He
doesn’t believe that it’s possible so tries to act like it’s not important
(instead goes for freedom and living in the moment—even dangerously)
Scene
where he’s scared of how close he feels to Violet; feels vulnerable and doesn’t
like it. Says he doesn’t need that closeness or someone to know him and makes
plans to go skydiving, which V doesn’t like. (or does something else against
her wishes on purpose to push her away)
Violet:
EG—build
her new practice and take care of children
She
agrees to help Jake just because she’s helping a baby
She
checks up on Abigail, worries for her
Tells
him she did not rip off his family—tells him he doesn’t know details
Begins
to ask patients to spread the word that she’s good
EM—she
didn’t like impersonal large city practice/clinic and felt rootless
Show
her enjoying small town life—she sees advantages of being known, appreciates
that others know her business
Goes
to church and meets people; show first time she goes out and someone recognizes
her, making her feel good
EC—it’s
a small town where everyone knows everyone, and she’s an outsider so business
is not picking up like she’d planned.
Show
her going to church and no one really knows her; she’s an outsider
People
call her Doc, but she realizes they don’t really know her at all; there’s no
one around who knows her likes and dislikes or about her past; they don’t know
Violet
Int
need: connection
She
has struggled and fought her way through medical school and now has trouble
opening up and being vulnerable with new friends
Scene
where she meets a new friend—in lab, Darcy, gets to know her better, feels
she’s actually met a friend (could meet over the winning of the auction)
First
time she attends church since the auction—a few people remember her by that.
It’s a small sense of connection
She
remembers that one time she went and decides to go back because of connection
of the auction. It’s her only tie other than work.
IG:
Have kids by doctoring in a small town community
Show
her bonding with a patient; child reaches for her, which warms her heart. This
could actually happen at church or in town so Jake witnesses it.
IM:
she gave up a child for adoption and thinks she’ll never have her own (thinks
she doesn’t deserve it)
Scene
with Remy, can relate to feeling she’s not worthy.
IC:
She really does want her own (family/child) but is afraid to risk loving
Scene
where fear over loving Jake makes her want to give up
Realizes
she needs to call parents and make effort to heal
Goes
to see parents, takes Jake/baby for moral support
****
As you can
see, I got a lot of scene ideas just from mining my GMC chart! If you’ve read
the book, you may recognize some of these ideas that became scenes. (If you
haven’t read it and want to, here’s a link! :))
2. Know the Middle … And Then Aim for It
I love James
Scott Bell’s book Write Your Novel From the Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between.
Since I bought the book, I’ve read it each time I’m plotting a new story to
help with the scene ideas. (BTW, it’s a short book.) I’ve found that deciding
on the mirror moment in the middle gives me something to aim for once I get
past the opening chapters. So no more sagging middle! The basic premise of Bell’s
how-to book is that once you know your mirror moment in the middle, that moment
when the character takes a hard look at himself and wonders what kind of person
he is, what he will do to overcome his inner challenges, then you can go
forward to figure out the pre-story psychology or go backward to figure out how
the character transforms by the end. Knowing this middle scene will help all
the scenes have unity. And like I said, for me, it gives me something to aim
for.
I thought I’d
share another example. Again, this is from my brainstorming notes, directly cut
and pasted, for the story that became The Doctor’s Second Chance. (Spoiler
alert! I give away a lot here, all stuff I figured out before I finished writing
the book.)
***
Example: Midpoint Brainstorming for
The Doctor’s Second Chance
Story
Question:
Will
Jake be able to take care of this newborn and locate his cousin before Violet
gets the court involved? Can Violet fulfill her goal of helping children
without falling in love with the baby…and with Jake? Or might the two of them
discover that family comes in all shapes and sizes?
Mid-point mirror moment:
Jake: Is
there really such thing as a secure family…this ideal little family bubble? For
me? And if so, do I dare go for it? What if it got taken away? Show him taking
a risky step: asking her out on a date. It’s a concrete move toward making them
a unit.
Violet:
Do I deserve to be happy? Can I really move forward and let go of the past?
Show her admitting some weakness to him. Maybe she shares about rift with her
family (but not why), how she’s felt she has to do everything herself. And then
she opens up with how she needs him somehow (maybe she needs him to support her
in town, by letting people know his opinion of her has changed). [but I’d kind
of like him to do this on his own, and she discovers he’s done it because he
cares. So maybe she doesn’t ask him to do that. Maybe she just opens up and
shares her hurts.]
Pre-story psychology:
Jake:
Parents died, “abandoning” him. Aunt and uncle took him in but he always felt
he needed to be good for them to keep him. That “being good” alienated his
cousin, so he never felt part of the family. His aunt and uncle worked a lot,
and he got stuck trying to keep Remy out of trouble since he felt like her
destructive behavior was probably his fault. Once she ran off, he felt a sense
of relief, of freedom. Has been working hard so he can play and enjoy that
freedom. Thinks he has just what he wants. The baby being dropped on him limits
that freedom, and he feels that renewed sense of guilt, as if he does owe her.
Plus, he’s just naturally responsible.
Violet:
Parents were socialites, valued what others thought of them, worried about
appearances. Were often gone, lots of baby sitters. She fell for a guy who
needed her, and got pregnant. Parents insisted she give up for adoption, would
not consider helping her keep baby, claiming she couldn’t give up her lifelong
goal to be a doctor. But she felt they were more worried about how it would make
them look. She resented them. No relationship since, even though they’ve tried
and dad has apologized (mom insists it was best for everyone). She has been
independent, putting herself through school and medical school. Feels she was
weak and failed her child. Decided she would help other children by becoming
pediatrician. Didn’t like large clinic and impersonal medicine. Bought small
town clinic to be part of patients’ lives.
Transformation:
How
can I show it?
Both
have had ideals of the perfect family that they never had. Have to learn to let
go of that. Have to accept a new picture of what family means to them now that
God has brought them together, and to let go of fear of the rug being yanked
out from under them. Must learn to trust God instead of themselves (what I’m
learning now).
Jake: In
the beginning, he’s still trying to be responsible and take care of others,
finding it hard to ask for help. Connection is out of a sense of duty rather
than out of love. Needs to extend love. Needs to accept love freely given. He
doesn’t have to earn the right to be part of a family.
To
show his transformation…He’ll ask her to be his family (scary and risky but
worth it). And he’ll ask it even while she’s still acting cool toward him, so
it’s even riskier. He’ll do it with God’s strength (when he is weak, God is
strong).
Violet:
In the beginning, she’s independent and all business, only willing to reach out
for the good of the child. She feels driven to work to deserve anything good
that comes to her. She’s driving herself, fighting her nature to want closeness
and family. She learns she doesn’t have to work hard to earn happiness just
because of her past. Needs to accept love freely given. She is worthy of love,
because God loves her just as she is.
Or
maybe what she thought she needed was control over her life when what she
really needed was to give up control, to just accept love.
To show her transformation…she’ll
sleep in past sunrise. (maybe in epilogue? On honeymoon?)
****
So you can see how I started
by figuring out the middle. Then I backed up to figure out some backstory and
scenes that will show it. Then I figured out how to concretely show the ending
of the story with my characters in a new place emotionally.
I hope sharing my methods helps
some of you! If you’re stuck, try brainstorming using these two methods. Come
up with as many ideas as you can. You most likely won’t use them all, but you
may find some nuggets that you end up loving! And at least you can keep moving
forward on your first draft, even if you change some of it later.
Do these methods resonate with
you? Share your brainstorming ideas or what you do when you get stuck. I’ll be
giving away a fun spring tote bag and a wonderful spring floral sachet to one
commenter. Just let me know you’d like to be entered. If you’re sensitive to
fragrances but are interested in the tote bag, never fear! When I get the
winner’s contact information, I’ll ask before sending the sachet. :) [Just ask Vince about the sachet! He won one from me
before and they could smell it while approaching the mailbox! LOL]
Missy Tippens, a pastor’s wife and mom of three from near Atlanta, Georgia, made her
first sale to Harlequin Love Inspired in 2007. Her books have since been nominated
for the Booksellers Best, ACFW Carol Award, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence,
Maggie Award, Beacon Contest and a 2013 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award. A
House Full of Hope was a Romance Writers of America 2013 RITA® Nominee.
Her recent releases include The Doctor’s Second Chance from Love
Inspired, and A Heart Full of Christmas, an Indie published boxed set with
fellow Seekerville bloggers. Visit Missy at www.missytippens.com, https://twitter.com/MissyTippens and
A lonely father 
