Which OC Is The Unstoppable Force, And Which OC Is The Immovable Object?

Which OC is the unstoppable force, and which OC is the immovable object?

Ways to find a plot when you have characters and a setting

… but only characters and a setting. 

You have a world. A universe. A setting. Good! Describe what happens in it normally - describe your main character(s)’s daily life. Now, what would destabilize this routine completely? If many things could, write them all down. Pick your favourite idea(s). Plots are born from change: everything was going normally… until it wasn’t.

Make a list with all the goals/motivations of your main characters. Can the plot revolve around your characters going after these goals? 

Which goals are more important? Focus on those. 

Are different characters’ goals in conflict with each other? Conflict is usually what propels a story forward. 

What could go wrong in your character’s pursuit of their goal? Make it go wrong.

If you don’t know your characters’ goals, go back to the drawing board; they probably need more development.

If there’s not enough conflict of different motivations, make a new character who creates conflict!

How do you want your main character to have changed by the end of the story? Do you want them to be less selfish? To have come to terms with a part of themself? To have learned something new? Write down ideas that could accomplish this change. 

If you can’t think of any way your character could be changed (read: improved) by the end of the story, go back to the drawing board. They might be “too perfect”.

Notes: 

The change that triggers your plot can be anything. It doesn’t have to be the start of an epic war that will bring forth the apocalypse, it can be your character meeting a new person who shakes things up in their life, or anything you want!

Motivations can be anything. It doesn’t have to be something grand - if your character’s motivation is to just live a quiet life, you can still come up with a plot that will get in the way of that goal! 

Character development can be anything, as well - you don’t need a cliché moral to the story; your character doesn’t even need to change in a good way, if that’s not what you want for your story!

This is what I’ve found works for me, but if you try it and it doesn’t, or if it sounds way too sententious and strict for you - that’s okay! Take it with a grain of salt! Maybe you think your characters are just fine and don’t need more developing even in the situations in which I recommended you “go back to the drawing board”, or maybe you have better ways of coming up with a plot. That’s fine, the writing process can be very personal!

Body Language Cheat Sheet for Writers

As described by Selnick’s article:

Author and doctor of clinical psychology Carolyn Kaufman has released a one-page body language cheat sheet of psychological “tells” (PDF link) fiction writers can use to dress their characters.

Are there any lies that your OC has told that they didn’t want to tell? If so, did they ever reveal the truth?

How open is your OC about themselves and their past? Are they more likely to volunteer information, or to wait until asked?

The problem must be unavoidable. The character must have no choice but to make a decision—no choice but to act. There must be a believable reason why the character can’t just run away or avoid the problem altogether. And there must be a believable reason why the crisis must be faced now, rather than just delayed. If a character faces a problem that can easily be avoided, the situation may strain our disbelief and cause us to feel frustrated. For example, if a family is staying the night at a hotel which turns out to be haunted and blood is dripping from the walls, why can’t they just leave? Make sure it’s a good reason. A lack of gas wouldn’t stop many people from running away from a death motel. Closely related to this is idea of unavoidability is urgency. Urgency is all about lack of time. Why doesn’t the character have time (to avoid the problem/conflict)?