Relationships in Your Story Line

 For a novel or story to work you have to have relationships between your characters.  I don't mean just love affairs but how do they work with the other characters, both good and bad.  I think a lot of TV and movies as of late, and maybe even books, have forgotten how this is supposed to work.  Don't shoe horn the plot in, make sure the characters would do what you are having them do when they interact with other characters.  Here is a few examples from my story.

1) Krom and Tarkil.  Here are two polar opposites if ever there was.  It's not that Tarkil is evil, completely, at the beginning, he just isn't the black and white sorta person Krom is.  With Krom there is good and there is evil.  No in between.  So Tarkil, who rides that line and sees shades of grey, not just black and white, is an issue for him.  Krom can't understand the evil Tarkil does even as he is working on the side of good.  And Tarkil, raised in a world where no one means what they say, can't fathom Krom's black and white nature. During the four novels Krom and Tarkil butt heads, but I weave in the fact that each, over time, begins to understand the other.  I don't make it a, "hey, now we are best buds because the plot says so," I work the growth of the relationship, with all it's bumps, in over time.

2) Raphael and Tarkil.  The hate/hate relationship is just as important as friendship relationships.  How does your main character interact with the antagonist?  In this case it is clear from the start that both hate each other, but as the story progresses they hate each other even more until it builds up into the final confrontation.  You don't want something where your bad guy meets the good guy/guys at the very beginning and the very end, unless you have a build up of why there is so much hate between them during the story, even if they aren't face to face.  There doesn't have to be direct confrontations through out the story, but you have to show why they hate each other.  Don't wait until the end of the story to do that!

My point is, don't forget to flesh out the relationships.  They are an integral part of the plot and to a good story.

Happy writing!

Inspiration

 I've invested a lot of time and energy into my novels, which I assume the rest of you have as well. It's hard to see it languish, knowing that someone else might love to see it.  My son and I were talking about projects the other day and I came to the realization that my thought of publishing books inspired him.  He is more into computers and programming then writing large novels, but it's the same concept.  He published a pocket game on Google Play because I said I was going to publish a book.  He figured if I, his old, stodgy mother could put herself out there, so could he.  It felt awesome to inspire someone else to try and reach their dream.  So here are my thoughts on helping you help someone else reach their goals.

1) Volunteer at school.  This sounds basic but having done it myself, you never know who is going to get that little push because you were there to inspire them.  There are many kids who do not have role models, don't have a direction in their life.  Maybe one conversation won't change a life, but it may. It feels good to help them achieve something they wanted to do, but was to scared to try on their own.

2) Volunteer in after school or other child organizations.  There are lots of organizations that can always use help and help kiddos reach their goals.  Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Campfire, even 4-H are always good places to help.  Battle of the Books, (I think it goes beyond Oregon), is a good competition to get kiddos interested in books.  Or if you are more robot inclined try the First organization.  Soooo many years invested in that program.  Aspire, to help those kids that don't think they can go to college or trade school reach that goal, as well. Even helping with sports can help kiddo stay on the straight and  narrow.

What does this have with writing?  Well, it may have nothing to do with writing, but it has to do with inspiring kiddos to reach for their dreams, to do what you are doing.  Writing because you love to write and damn what the world thinks!

Happy writing!