Quick and Easy Writing Fixes

A monthly column offering easy, effective solutions to writing and revision challenges.

Quick Fix: Find a character’s “strength anchors”

Posted on June 2, 2025 by christinedesmetauthor

Effective characters deal in inner and outer strengths; the strengths ANCHOR a character’s abilities, actions, reactions, and emotional growth.

At least 5 types of strengths are in our toolbox: Emotional (love, sympathy, etc.), Intellectual (ability to reason, learned qualities), Spiritual (connection to soul or inner refinement/pursuit), Physical (muscles, etc.), and Practical (habits or skills developed for repetitive chores or safety, etc.).

Strength Anchors

We writers spend a lot of time figuring out a character’s “Fatal Flaw” and what’s behind it but a good strength (or more) is needed to overcome the Fatal Flaw.

What I call “STRENGTH ANCHORS” create characters we want to follow.

An anchor is not a quick cliché, but a cliché can be turned into a good anchor if the writer explores it within the story.

Also, characters are not just one strength and one weakness (though one Fatal Flaw is enough for any story).

Think about the array of strengths your character might possess, and which one is needed most and when. Which one must ascend from being a minor strength to become a major one? Perhaps that one should be hinted at in the opening pages. Rudolph the reindeer, for example, showed us his shining beacon of a nose in the opening of the classic annual Christmas TV movie, but he was told it was a weakness and hid it. Then, in the end it finally became a major strength.

On page one readers have to relate somehow to your character. We often try to present trouble and show the “weakness” starting out. An alternative is to show a strength that matters to your plot later. Maybe it’s a strength that only we witness at first. Oh how fun it is for readers to share a secret with your character! That’s a hook.

What is your character’s method or power to RESIST strain, stress, and stupid stuff? That resistance is pretty much the dictionary definition of “strength.”

Donald Maass in Writing the Breakout Novel notes strengths create COMPELLING characters. “The characters will not engross readers unless they are out of the ordinary.”

In Story Fix, Larry Brooks suggests writing a better “ticking clock” to test your character. Panicked characters often reveal unusual or interesting strengths.

In The Plot Thickens, Noah Lukeman notes a writer should create STRONG CIRCUMSTANCES for a character to react to. Good examples are usually found in award-winning books.

Here’s a trick: Create a stronger character using what I call “STACKING” of strengths. If we say things commonly occur in “threes,” try it for strengths to round out a character. “Stacking” makes characters surprising and interesting. No character has just one strength anchoring them.

Consider 12 ways to create “strength anchors” that matter:

– What did they learn from a past action?

– Pride fueled by a good memory of an event or accomplishment?

– Admiration for somebody and how they act?

– A meaningful symbol (the flag etc.)?

– A skill they have or decide to acquire? What motivates that?

– Do they experience an unexpected result after an action taken?

– Does another character leave a legacy your character wants to follow?

– What about an animal adding dimension?

– Perhaps they draw a special strength from nature? The land? Space?

– Strength from history and knowledge? A feeling of owing the past?

– Does a religion or belief system bring strength?

– What about a strength from the character’s younger years? Was that strength forgotten until now? Why?

Readers talk about strong characters. Get them talking about yours.

Passion (by any definition) wins over gatekeepers & readers

Posted on May 12, 2025 by christinedesmetauthor

Literary agents, editors, producers, and readers look for “passion” in writing.

Agents rejecting a submission often say, “I just wasn’t passionate enough about your material.”

Solution? Take “passion” seriously. It means having a deep respect for something or someone, and also writing and storytelling.

Passion is evident from page one onward in bestsellers such as The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, or James by Percival Everett, or in nonfiction such as Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Many authors in your favorite genre write with true passion. What sets them apart? Vigor!

“Vigor” occurs by working on one more draft, whether it’s Draft 2 or 10. Vigor in verb choices, better action, and more meaningful dialogue and characterizations win over readers and agents every time.

Vigor means the author is vigorous in weeding out mistakes. No matter how skilled you are, it’s wise to hire a line editor before sending material into the world and especially before publishing it yourself.

Sloppiness cancels out vigor and passion.

The dictionary notes passion can be an “extravagant or strong fondness or enthusiasm for anything.”

How and why might we be enthused about your characters on page one? What’s fresh? And authentic? If your opener is ordinary or derivative of other books, change it and find your voice. Be you. Dredge into your own experiences, your childhood, your schooling or travels, or go exploring now and enjoy research.

Passion has its own type of special effects. A character’s personality must come through instantly.

Passion shows a character’s conviction about something but this is NOT about preaching, which can kill a manuscript.

We like characters that believe strongly in something or someone, even if they are wrong at first. Passion—however misguided—makes them interesting and sets up a mystery or at least a big quandary.

For an easy page-one rewrite, answer this: What is it YOU (in memoir) or CHARACTER (in a novel) believe in strongly? Don’t save truths for the big middle blowup or the end. Passion makes us pay attention. Be evocative or provocative. Surprise us. (For examples read the opening pages of the books I mentioned.)

Another passion exercise: Add a talent or expand your character’s talent.

Readers are interested in skills and talents or the lack thereof because we relate. The more relatable, the easier your sale. Let’s say your character never played guitar in your first draft. You never played guitar. Do a little research. Now have your character grousing on page one about their guitar lesson. How would that change things? A reader or agent will pay attention to your fresh, honest stuff.

It’s always fun in early pages to mess with a simple passion. Push it. Write outside your usual “box” or “lane.” Does your character love plants to excess? Have a neighbor’s dog break in and ruin them all, preferably within the first three pages. The literary agent will likely continue reading.

Can a passion turn into an obsession for a character? Yes. A positive can turn into a negative, depending on type of character and conditions. In general, “passion” is positive while obsession is more negative. But a character can be passionate about one thing and obsessed by another and still be loved, funny, strong or whatever you make them. Try the combo!

If writing with “passion” feels awkward, try starting with “enthusiasm.” Enthusiastic characters are more willing to act and speak with passion.

Passion will elevate your writing in an instant. Get passionate.

Categories: Quick and Easy Writing Fixes, Uncategorized | Tags: book-review, Books, fiction, writing, writing-tips | Leave a comment

Failures escalate a protagonist’s and writer’s popularity

Posted on April 2, 2025 by christinedesmetauthor

Readers like to see protagonists fail. Questions become how deep of a failure and how many failures?

Failure creates the tension of wondering how the character will recover and triumph. Failure is the birthplace of story.

We put ourselves into the protagonist’s role and learn from their experience with failure. Stories are about how to solve problems.

Any number of movies, novels, and memoirs show us the value of failure—it’s entertaining, enlightening, energizing, and an education.

“Impressive failures,” a term mentioned by scriptwriter Terry Rossio (co-writer, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.) and quoted widely, is about movie characters who try their best repeatedly through failure after failure until they reach their goal.

Moviegoers also loved the character of John Wick for his series of nonstop, high-energy, hand-to-hand “impressive failures” with bad guys. How many of us put our characters through a lot of broken glass windows or make them tumble down seemingly endless concrete staircases? Maybe it would help if we tried a version of that in our own projects!

Failure as a technique applies to all genres and literature for all ages.

How many failures are good within a single story?

That depends on type of story and length, but suggested principles may be helpful: 1) escalate failures, making things worse next time; 2) the “Rule of 3” works, so try at least three failures; however, popular movies and adult books stretch that to five, six, or more failures in an escalating fashion before the final triumph at the end.

If your project has been passed over or not reviewed well, could it be you don’t have enough failures illustrated? Could it be you have many scenes about failure but they don’t escalate in value or importance?

Writing a novel, screenplay, or memoir is hard: It’s definitely not a “one and done” when it comes to a protagonist (and antagonist) facing trouble and overcoming failures. In this case, failure is your key to success.

Categories: Quick and Easy Writing Fixes | Tags: writing-tips | Leave a comment

Dialogue should do 3 things because readers want 6 things

Posted on March 8, 2025 by christinedesmetauthor

Dialogue can do things that description and action can’t do.

There’s an intimacy with dialogue because we “hear” it as we read or we step into the character roles and emotions. Magic! What a feeling!

Dialogue draws attention—even offers a “rest stop” for our eyes—because of the white space around it in your novel, script, memoir, or short story.

Dialogue helps pacing for reasons including those mentioned above.

Ineffective dialogue—including with punctuation errors or the over-usage or inappropriate substitutes for “said/says”—can kill your prose style and storytelling goal.

Sometimes a project receiving multiple passes can be saved if only the writer would work on the dialogue. This post is about how to start.

Writers I’ve worked with and other authors I admire who have been successful know dialogue does at least three things:

Reveals character,
Moves plot forward, and
Tells the reader or audience something new or needed

How does dialogue do those things? Does it do them at all and consistently?

Employ any or all of these 6 tricks or skills to flesh out a story for readers:

1) Power and power plays

Who is in charge of the scene or chapter? How do we know? Who speaks early on with intention? Does somebody ask a question—always a great technique?

2) Attitude

Allow a character to express worry or any emotion through word choices and the cadence of their words.

“Worry” propels story because, after all, plot is about a problem or goal needing attention. Readers are drawn to those who are worrying; we’re empathetic and sympathetic creatures. Humor also draws attention, try being funny—you are funnier than you first think.

3) New stuff flying at us all the time

Stories excel after a character reveals new information. Bring in the “new” through dialogue constantly. Have you fallen into too much chatting? Repeating things? Find a way for a character to announce surprising information.

4) Passion

How deep is the character’s conviction for what they’re saying? How do we know? Can you improve word choices?

Would using questions help? Instead of swear words (often a cheap trick), try shaping a question or statement with something profound or a confession. Or reveal a secret about their personality or problem.

5) Sex and other basic needs

Relationships, romance, love, sex, money needs, food and housing needs—talk of such things never fails to engage readers.

Do you have a character willing to nudge or force another character to talk about those aspects? Sympathy and empathy are powerful tools. Sometimes a writer needs to add a character like a grandma or friendly shopkeeper who can ask about important needs in a mentor-like way.

6) Subtext

Subtext is the meaning beneath the words. Try having characters occasionally speak in ways to get what they want by not talking about it directly. If a child says, “Cake shouldn’t be left out for a second day or it spoils,” the child’s subtext is perhaps “Can I have another piece of cake right now, Dad?”

Subtext operates like a “hint.” A character might say “I’m all right” but your description or action portrays them as a mess. Subtext works in humorous exchanges, too, and in horror. Criminals will talk “nice” but the unspoken meaning is “You’re in trouble.”

There you have it—the dialogue “3 and 6.” Your task:

Examine your project. How are you utilizing the 3-and-6? Is there at least one page where you can improve dialogue?

How do your opening pages stack up with “3-and-6” techniques?

Categories: Quick and Easy Writing Fixes | Tags: creative-writing, dialogue, fiction, writing, writing-tips | Leave a comment

Intimacy—in broad terms—deepens storytelling, draws readers

Posted on February 4, 2025 by christinedesmetauthor

Intimacy by definition means having a close understanding or association or detailed knowledge of something or someone.

Intimacy creates bonds—between a reader and character.

You in your memoir or your character in a fictional plot might feel an intimacy or bond with things as diverse as land or nature, a job, a grandparent, a city neighborhood, a new car, etc.

Intimacy means you GO DEEP with emotional connection. You care passionately.

Very few writing craft books talk about intimacy, but The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass shares thoughts on the subject I find useful to help writers create better stories.

“For characters’ hearts to be open to readers, characters must talk to us quite a bit about what’s going on inside. In many manuscripts, the characters don’t disclose much. Often they, or rather their authors, simply report what’s happening to them—a dry, play-by-play conveyance of the action.”

Maass points out that plot-driven writers (and most of us are plot-driven to an extent) may fear slowing the action. Or we fear gushing on the page, or boring readers. Here’s what he says to that:

“Creating a world that is emotionally involving for readers means raising questions and concerns about the world.”

I agree. Writers: know WHY your character can go deep with something, then illustrate it.

Intimacy helps humans (and characters) feel “whole” and human.

Intimacy pulls in readers because we find emotional impact memorable. It sells. After watching a good movie or reading a great novel we often say, “It took me a while to recover. I was so involved. I sank into the story. I felt so many emotions.” We liked that feeling of intimacy; a bond was formed, a bond we did not expect. Fiction came alive for us.

Here are 5 ways (out of many more) to create intimacy and bonds:

— Create or reshape a character with trouble and yearnings they share with another character, even the antagonist. Is it their secret? Even better. Readers love secrets and surprising bonds.

— Improve the intimacy potential by having your character confess to mistakes, past or present. We all make mistakes; readers enjoy witnessing how your characters handle mistakes.

— Sometimes “easy” tools or devices provide intimacy. Add a diary or journal or a continuing conversation with a character such as a grandmother or ghost from the past (depending on your genre). Think “opposites,” too. Example: Have your antagonist thug share meals with a surprising character at least twice. How about the local librarian? How is the thug different in that situation? What does the thug reveal only to this librarian? (Try the same exercise with your protagonist.)

— Add a pet or animal aspect. Readers love intimate moments animals create with people. That intimacy can reveal love, kindness, different skills, memories, or a flaw or regret. What might your character confess to the animal? If animals don’t fit your plot, what about plants or anything else you prefer?

— Use “place.” Emotions about a place are shared universally around the world. We feel deeply about the land of our birth, or an old house, or a river or mountain, etc. The history and characteristics of place breathe intimacy into a story. How does your character interact with the environment, with nature?

Go deeper than you have thus far in your writing.

Intimacy means there’s a relationship of some kind, and that’s precious fuel for action and reaction.

Intimacy results in great storytelling.

Categories: Quick and Easy Writing Fixes | 3 Comments