Plasma globes fascinate me. It’s like a miniature lightning storm you can manipulate with a touch. Directing normally unbridled energy. Creating an electric connection. Making light dance on a whim.
This is the image I get when Lisa Cron talks about a story’s “third rail” in her book Story Genius. The first two rails are the characters and the plot, but the third rail is the WHY—the motivation and, essentially, the one element that will connect the reader’s brain/emotion/experience to those of the character. It’s the live wire that gives the story its heartbeat.
The human brain is a meaning-seeking machine; rather than taking everything at face value, we’re wired to try to figure out what’s really going on. Because understanding the why fundamentally changes our perception of the what. (chapter 5, “The Why: Why, Exactly, Does Your Protagonist Care?”, p. 69)
It makes sense to me now how imperative it is to have this nailed down before you start writing because this motivation is what will drive the plot and lead the character to make those choices only she would make. It’s funny, but so many times over the years that I’ve been working on my first novel, I’ve been in the middle of a scene, and I can hear the character in my head stop and yell at me: “Hey! What’s my motivation here?” (This is perfectly normal, right?)
If you’re just now joining in, what I’m doing here is following the process in Story Genius as I begin to plan my next book. So far, I’ve identified the “what if” (the premise) and the “who” (describing the main character as she is before the “what if” happens). Now, I’ll try to pinpoint the “why.”
This is a question that we are innately driven to answer, especially in terms of other people’s (or characters’) words and/or actions. And this is how we create that third rail, charging the story’s live wire.
This chapter’s exercise was broken down into three questions, and the rule is: be as specific as possible. Vague doesn’t cut it; you have to be able to picture it.
Here’s my attempt:
What does she want? Quinn wants to continue with her life on her current path—to get married, forge ahead in her career, eventually start a family (even though this scares her to death). She likes the road she’s on; it’s comfortable, logical, and expected. She doesn’t see any need to know anything about her bio family, especially since she’d always been told that the adoption was closed and her parents had zero details, so it was a moot point anyway.
Why does she want this? She wants her parents to be proud of her. It’s possible that she feels, maybe, indebted? to them for “picking” her. Whatever her life could have been with her bio mom is a big question mark, but she can be reasonably sure that it wouldn’t have been this good if there were circumstances that led to her being placed for adoption. She wants to prove herself worthy of the life she was given. She’s driven to live up to expectations because she’s not sure if her origins would have qualified her to deserve all the opportunities she’s had.
What is her misbelief? [This is kind of another name for a fatal flaw, but it is a (wrong) belief that is keeping her from getting exactly what she wants.] Quinn’s misbelief is that her DNA might confirm she isn’t worthy of what she has. She’s been brought up in a world where “pedigree” and “breeding” are everything, so a part of her feels like she’s an impostor. Being forced to confront where she came from might complete who she is, but she’s afraid that finding the missing piece will cost her all of the other perfectly placed pieces of her life. She firmly believes it wouldn’t be worth it.
Eh. I don’t think this is perfect. There are a couple things still niggling at me. But I feel like this is close, and I’ll keep at it. Feel free to play along if you have a story begging to get written!
Hope your summer isn’t going by way too fast like mine is. Still—find time to read a good book, write some words, smile in the sunshine, and hug your people. 📖 📝 😎 💕
Tip of the Month
Brackets. They’re awesome. I like to use the fancy ones: { } These are scattered throughout my manuscript when I get stuck on a word or a date or a {think of something else to put here} … pretty much anything that might cause me to stop when I’m on a roll. You can always come back later to replace them. Otherwise, there’s a good chance that if you stop to research something, you’ll fall down a rabbit hole somewhere and get lost. (Trust me. I have experience with this.)
Read Any Good Books Lately?
“The alphabet now ends at ‘Y’.” 😔
I had started reading Sue Grafton’s alphabet series years ago, but by the time I’d caught up, she’d only published through “P.” This past month, I finally finished the series and was reminded how much I loved Kinsey Millhone and her private investigator adventures. I made it a point to slow down when I got to Y is for Yesterday, knowing it was the final one (Sue Grafton passed away in 2017 before she could write Z is for Zero). If you haven’t met Kinsey and Henry (her landlord) and Rosie (the neighborhood restauranteur) in their little beach town of Santa Teresa, start with A is for Alibi !
Did You Know?
This made me 😂. We all know that English is heavily influenced by other languages. We’ve adopted so many words and made them our own, for example, the word “mortgage.” Translated into French (mort gage), it means “death pledge.” (I confirmed with Google Translate. Yep. That’s exactly what it means.)
And Finally …
Let’s hear it for toes in the sand! 🏝😎☀️🌊