Adding a new responsibility to the lives of your characters can show your readers how they’d handle specific situations. It can also help readers understand your character motivations better and allow you to practice a small character arc.

1) What kind of responsibility?

Start by thinking of what type of responsibility you want to inflict upon your character. Think about who they are and what would most force them out of their comfort zone or force them to grow. For example, let’s say you have a character who hates reading. Having this character find out that their grandmother left them her little indie book shop will force the character completely out of their comfort zone. They’ll be pushed into a world filled with people they have nothing in common with whose hobby they view as rubbish. This can create very interesting confrontations and character development.

2) How do they feel about it?

How does your character feel about the responsibility that has been thrust upon them? For example, let’s take the babysitting boss’s kids example. In this instance, your character could feel overly confident about their ability to handle their new babysitting duties. This will wind up leaving them surprised when the kids are much more difficult to handle than they’d originally anticipated. On the other hand, your character could have very little faith in their ability to care for children over several days. This could leave them nervous and anxious leading up to the event.

3) What are the stakes?

In order for the event to have weight, it must have something at stake. So, for example, if your character inherits the book shop- they’re also in charge of caring for their grandmother’s legacy. In the babysitting example, the character obviously wants to remain or gain good standing with their boss. If your character finds a stray bird on the brink of death, the stakes are obviously life or death for the animal in question. They could be given a new job or even a long-lost child, in each case the character must have something to gain and lose from the outcome of the new responsibility.

4) How do they handle it & why?

How does your character handle the situation? Do they rise to the occasion or fall short? Do they handle it with patience or anger/resentment? Do they find some joy in a situation they thought was bleak initially? Or do they end up hating a responsibility they were excited about in the beginning? Think about how someone with their personality would handle the situation you’ve created and why.

5) What do they learn from it?

How does your character grow or change from the added responsibility? Do they, eventually, learn to appreciate what they’ve been given? Do they become more responsible and decide to make some big life changes? Or does it drive them further away from something they were already averse to?

Writing Prompt:

Take a character from your book and choose a period in their life when they were given an unexpected responsibility. What are the stakes involved? How do they handle the new responsibility? How do they grow and change from this instance? Make sure you answer all of the questions in the scenes you write and understand how this occurrence was important to their personal growth.

The post Writing Prompt: Responsibility appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) What type of anticipation?

Anticipation can mean a few different things, mainly it could be a positive, negative, or unknown thing. So, for example, say your character is excited about an upcoming road trip planned with their closest friends. This type of anticipation is a form of excitement and any thoughts or actions that this trip consumes for them will generally be in a positive manner.

On the other hand, maybe a character is supposed to go see their father over the weekend with whom they don’t have a good relationship. This form of anticipation is akin to dread and their actions or behaviors while thinking about this event will be negative. Finally, perhaps your character was told to meet with their teacher after school. If the object of anticipation is this vague, your character has no idea what to expect. Could this be a good thing? Could they be in for a scolding? This will likely have them fluctuating back and forth within their minds and actions and can make your character appear and feel scattered.

2) Mannerisms

One way to show that your character is anticipating an event is through their body language. But again, how their body language reflects their feelings will depend on the type of anticipation they’re feeling. Someone feeling excited about something will likely exhibit behaviors like having a spring in their step, smiling and appearing hyper, maybe packing early or trying to find new ways to pass the time (picking up new hobbies, suggesting playing games, etc). Someone who is dreading an event will likely be exhibiting body ticks like shaking their leg, biting their nails, cracking their knuckles, wringing their hands together, grinding their teeth, etc.

3) Dialogue

You can also display anticipation through character conversations. Regardless of whether the anticipation is negative or positive, the character will likely bring up the event often. If they’re looking forward to it, perhaps they ask questions about what other characters are packing, what they’re most excited about, or mention things they’re planning on doing in the middle of a totally unrelated conversation. If they’re worried or unsure about an event, perhaps they spend a lot of time asking other characters what they think the event is about or about possible punishments they could be facing. In addition, perhaps they space out in the middle of other conversations all the time, appearing distracted and disheveled.

4) Behavioral Changes

Prior to the introduction of an event worthy of anticipation, you’ll need to make sure you thoroughly establish the type of person your character is. This way, when their behavior changes drastically in anticipation of an event or phenomenon, you can see that they’re either much happier than normal or the deterioration that they face. For example, let’s say a happy and not normally superstitious person begins to believe they’re facing a string of bad luck. The anticipation here becomes what the next bad luck event will be, they don’t know when or where it will happen which makes it more terrifying.

This previously positive person is suddenly feeling hopeless, like no matter what positivity they put out there some unseen force will come and take it away from them. They begin coming to school with puffy and dark eyes. Whereas they were previously very chatty, they suddenly begin to keep to themselves. When they would previously spend lunchtime on a long walk appreciating the beauty around them, now they lay on a bench and listen to metal music. Their previously stylish wardrobe is replaced with stained sweaters and ripped jeans. Having other characters observe the changes in a person’s habits or behaviors is yet another way to show how an event is affecting them in either a positive or negative manner.

The post Show Don’t Tell: Anticipation appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.