Hope is when we think that the best is going to happen and that all is going to work out. Our characters need to have this hope in order to make it through the dark times that lay ahead of them. As writers we need to understand what hope is and how it works. We need to know what the emotions are behind that hope when it is realized and when it is crushed. I think we can all rely on those rejection letters in order to understand the hope that is crushed. We can also look to those moments when our work is critiqued and it is liked.
Our readers also rely on us to deliver them these emotional highs and lows by creating a character that feels like they do when hope is involved. By understanding how these emotions work in our own lives we will be able to create the reality in our stories.
Understand your characters so that you know what situations will increase their hope and how far you can push them before they have given up. Know your characters breaking point and at what point you will need to step in with others to help support your characters hope.
nice...i agree...it keeps the story from feeling pointless or just a descent the whole time...have a great weekend man
ReplyDeleteThat line between pushing a character to the breaking point and knowing when to bring in others can be hard to find--but it's an excellent test of what they're like.
ReplyDeleteGood points. I think hope goes hand in hand with understanding what it is your character hopes to achieve and why. Just hoping that things will turn out okay isn't enough. We must know specifically what his or her hopes (and fears) are, and why they want this so badly (what will happen if they lose hope, or don't get what they want?)
ReplyDeleteHi Josh,
ReplyDeleteLove this post. Fits in so well with my 'script. Found you over at Billy's blog.
Hope to swap posts with you soon.
Love
Valentina x
I once heard that the difference between YA novels and novels with more adult themes is that there needs to be more hope in YA. I like to think that even the books with dark themes and grim topics have hope in them. I prefer to read books with hope, especially at the end.
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