writing community i’m so excited i just have to share!! i’m a sophomore in highschool and yesterday my english teacher left a private comment (lol google classroom gang) on my assignment and said “ I think you should write a book. Your voice and syntax are amazing--especially when coupled with your thoughts.” and it was honestly the compliment of a lifetime
Treat them like fully fleshed out characters or give them a backstory, lifestyle, motivation for the characters and try to connect them to the story or the main characters.
When you have two POV's, you actually have two stories that happen to be connected in the same world. Because a story is about a person-the protagonist-and every character in your book should have a story. They are all protagonists of their own stories-simpler maybe than your main book character, but still-and their stories just happen to intersect with your main plot. So every little story that makes up your tale, every character with any depth at all (hopefully all of them, or at least most), should have a 3-act structure. These stories don't all have to take the same amount of time, and they don't even all have to be shown or focused on, but they do need to exist at least in your mind. So when you have multiple POV's, you're really just presenting multiple linked stories. So long as each one is well-structured in its own right, you can work on presenting them so that neither breaks the flow of your overarching tale. Each of the 3-act-structures of these character-specific stories should feed the overall 3-act-structure of your book as a whole. It's sort of like in music, where you have phrases that are structured nicely, but are themselves arranged to feed a grander structure. Or a paragraph, where sentences are structured themselves, but also arranged to fit as a group. Structurception.
So well explained! I also find it helps to think of your side characters as variations or 'different arguments' on your main theme. If, for example, your main theme is 'war' SHOW how every character has a different outlook on that theme and a different way of interacting with it. Maybe your main character is a pacifist (Aang from Avatar) and his companions are a warrior (Sokka), a healer (Katara) and an opportunist (Toph). I won't take credit for this advice as I took the tip from a screenwriting professional, but it helps when brainstorming ideas for the arcs of your side characters while making sure they remain relevant to the main theme/story -- or even enhance it. :)
Since I began to watch your videos I've never been so confident and thrilled about my novel; your love for story and internal conflict helped me so much to create a great novel and deep characters. I'M LITERALLY IN LOVE WITH YOU.
I’m actually writing a book with 4 characters and it’s fun to jump between storylines in the same world! There’s this idea that side characters are everything to the main character, and I mostly agree. They give a lot of insight into the mains’ lives and can have profound impacts on them throughout the story. Side characters for the win
Thanks so much, Abbie. I'm about to take another look at a shelved WIP from when I first started writing. Your plotting and character tips have really helped turn a messy 1st draft into a deeper story with meaningful characters all around.
Just wanted to thank you for suggesting Hemingway Editor; I use it all the time now to catch sentences that are hard to read. Almost every time, the highlights are correct. So thank you.
I think of prologues as a thing that happens which is relevant to the story but the protagonist hadn't been introduced. Mine is like this so I have to make it into one scene since they follow the parents of my protagonist.
Okay so two of my favorite movies open with prologues, Anastasia and Rise of the Guardians. Neither feel out of place and set up the internal conflict our main characters deal with throughout the movie. I’ve read prologues that are jarring and make me wonder why they were even included, but Anastasia and Rise of the Guardians I feel are both examples of prologues done right.
Hey Abbie, Will you please do a video on how to write good friendships? I think they are a vital part of a story, a tool to show conflict and give room for character growth. I watched some videos and they were all 'do this' and 'don't do that' kind and they just kill the creativity. I love reading friendships and would like to write some good ones. You always come up with fresh ideas and they help a lot. Thanks a lot and take care. ❤ #AskAbbie
Abbie ....your channel is addicting. ...like you have everything which any author needs . .and after watching your channel I realised that my story wasn't up to the mark.....but now it is....thanks 😊 alot ... Also after watching your channel every other writing channel feels blah.. ........
Hey Abbie, totally love today's video. Can you please help me seal my outline by telling me how to make my character's desire? Should it be physical or emotional? Thanks
Hi! I'm new and writing a book I'm only 13! Do you think it's better to get an agent and try to get a big company to publish me or to just self publish? I'm not that great, kind of average, but I'm constantly trying to improve as a writer.
Hello! I'm a Young Writer too, (11). I'm working on my first Novel so this might not be much help. But I say it would be better to try to Self Publish, especially if you want more freedom with your book. I bought a great book that I looked to when I was trying to decide if I should Self-Publish. I actually still do use it whenever I need clarification. I'll leave the link below for it if you're interested! I wish you the best of luck on your writing journey. www.amazon.com/gp/product/0988302195/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
As someone who worked in a book writing project (with published book) at age 13, I confirm that yes, if you want freedom, self publishing is the answer. Also, not every publisher will accept your book, so don't forget that. Cons are that as a self publisher you'll need to invest cash into editors and later on publishing. But searching for a publisher also takes time and most likely money, also don't forget that you'll lose some freedom. So it kinda depends on who you are and what you wanna do, but if your young, I'd choose self publishing.
Right on Time. I was struggling with this literally today! Wow. I might buy a mug, not because I need one but I’d love to pay you for your advice. Thanks !
Great video! I have a question! What about prologues that take place in the future as if they are telling the story? Any thoughts would be great, just need some feedback!
me with my side characters being more fleshed out than my protagonist....constantly debate about killing my protagonist and just going off on the side character's stories instead
Hi Abbie! Love your channel for all the valuable information you give. I'm curious if you could do a Plot structure breakdown video for the 1984 film "Romancing The Stone". It's a great movie that has aged really well and I'm curious what elements of the story make it such a good watch even in 2020. Thanks for all the writing advice keep up the good work!
Hi abbie , I wasn't sure how to address this ,but there are a couple people in the comments who seem to be bots with pornographic profile photos which lead to sites of similar content . 😑 I did report them but I just wanted to let you know . Anyways I hope you're having a nice day . 😄
Question, if you’re writing a duology and you want the aha moment to happen in book 2, will the last story beat in book 1 be the disaster? Or will we still have some of the other final story beats from act 3?
Abbie: have two or three side characters. Me: WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER FIVE? I LOVED THEM… (I actually do have 8 side characters, but only three develop in my book and one of them only appears in flashbacks because they’re missing.)
Nope. You only need what matters to the characters and the story. If your ending is solid and requires no further explanation, you're good. I have both in my book, but they mirror each other in a comedic way, so my main characters have the last word. Hope you're having fun with your writing process. :-)
I used to find these videos so interesting and insightful, and lately it seems as though Abbie just gives an overview of a previous vid and links it while providing little to no new content of substance.
I'm still kind of new to writing and my favorite type of stories to write is fanfiction.(I also love reading them.) I literally just felt inspired to write a Harry Potter fanfic, but I'm a bit hesitant to do it. I mean I have watched the movies a dozen times but I have NEVER read the books so I just listen to the audio books.(shout out to person that recommended the audiobooks in the last video) I also did tons of research on Harry Potter, the characters and basically everything. So my problem is that I'm struggling to create a character for this story. I just don't want to make her a Mary Sue or a cliche. I want to make her relatable. Does anyone have any advice? I
I believe she has a whole playlist of character development that really helped me create realistic characters. Also, what helps me create realistic characters is to examine real people. To me, real characters are relatable, but not everyone in the world relates to everyone. It's going to be the same for your character. Write a character that you love. Don't worry about what the world will think.
@@nikkoleburns3213 Can I ask you another question? I understand what internal conflict is a little bit. I do struggle with it though. Like for example, my character struggled to build relationships with other people around her because she's not very trusting of them. She afraid to let anyone in and getting to know her, only to be abandoned by them. This is rooted in her backstory. When she was a child, her parents abandoned her on someone's porch to protect her. So I've been working on this for a while I just have no idea if its internal conflict or not....
@@princesspink1524 Personally, I think it is. It's hard to get around in this world if you don't trust some people. Your character sounds like an very independent person, which is hard to be.
Hi abbie! How do I write a character who's already had their internal journey? One of my side characters has already had their journey with a negative character arc and is the antagonist in the story I'm currently writing. How would I write him if he doesn't have any internal conflict?
I will try to answer your question with the best of my abilities. From personal experience, I think we all are always dealing with internal struggle, some might be greater than others, but it's there. Or, we are dealing with the resolution of solving the conflict. We are constantly changing- wanting, fearing, etc. Maybe, because they had a negative arc, they're struggling to keep their new philosophy and not return to their old ways that "failed" them. Or they're falling deeper into despair. If they knew the protagonist, maybe they're having troubles cutting them out of their life because of their new found way of life. What are some struggle they could have because of the negative arc? What do they want now and what do they fear? I hoped this helped and was easy to understand. If you are confused by anything, tell me and I will gladly clarify.
thankyou so much!! Yes my antagonist is actually the driving force behind my protagonist, he is the voice of corruption, so I'm just not sure if he'd have a problem with doing this to my protagonist as he is a solely evil man. So do you think he should still have some conflict? If so, what do you think it would be? I know it's hard to answer but maybe you'll have a better point of view than me , since I'm so close to the project. Again thankyou so much!
@@marlonjessicaobando6308 I'm glad I could help. It's always fun to talk storytelling. From my understanding, your antagonist seems pretty dead set on their new way and has no doubt about it. Which is good, they're a fully realized villian. They believe what they're doing is the right thing. So, maybe they have some conflict outside of the main conflict. Example: maybe they're struggling to achieve they're goal because they must take care of their ill cat. IDK 😋. The most villainous people in the world were still people- awful people, but they still have the same complexities as heroes. Hopefully, I didn't detract from the main point. In short, I treat villain characters the same as the hero characters.
@@marlonjessicaobando6308 thank you for the offer, but I'm not very comfortable with giving my contact information. That's awesome that you are willing to let other people read it. I'm so scared to let even my family read my stuff.
Thank you Ms.Abbie for the new lessons.Honestly,you're my favorite teacher.Btw,do you write in wattpad?❤ Anyways,I'm currently rewriting my story and I just want to say thank you again because you give us new lessons and thank you for motivating us. Padayon,Ms.Abbie❤❤ -Sending love from Philippines
I don't get why you'd want these scenes to be a prologue. They can just be chapter 1. Calling it a prologue will just encourage readers to skip it immediately.
Kinda a compliment, you're really, really beautiful and far-too smart for me to marry so I'm unsubscribing and will do my own thing, perhaps we will meet in the future... 🥰
