Using Side Characters to Support a Story

Hello, Alley Pals! Laurie here, and I'm fresh off of my first significant vacation from work in a long time. What do you do when you have a three-week window until summer school? You read ALL. THE. THINGS. But alas, even during an intentional brain break, the writerly way of thinking never shuts off. So here is some fresh perspective from a (somewhat) rested, book-binged brain.

If you're like me and have fleshed out all your plot points, hit all the right arcs, and still find your story missing a little somethin-somethin, I encourage you to ask yourself this question:

How can the side characters make this story better?

Enough said.

It was the "supporting cast" that amped up the books I read during my hiatus. Like buying a gray Explorer and suddenly seeing that 60% of all the people on your side of town drive gray Explorers. Once I realized how much the side characters in a series I loved MADE the series, I couldn't unsee it in the next books I read. And here's my theory why they're important:

• The qualities of side characters bring out the good or bad qualities of the protagonist, either by comparison or because their opposite traits make it more obvious (like a literary foil you learned about in senior English class).

• The way a protagonist interacts with side characters shows his/her true colors. That jaded brute's soft side can come out in the care with which he treats his grandmother. The mean girl everyone believes is super sweet's true colors show when her private snippy conversation with her best friend is accidentally overheard. 

• The side characters can also amplify a story's setting. Two words: Stars Hollow. The Gilmore Girls series and any other set in a small town (Hello, Melissa Tagg's Maple Valley) wouldn't be the same without the token town grump or that eccentric busybody. 

• In addition to bringing dimension and entertainment to a plot, supporting characters often deliver important truth to help a protagonist grow and move the story along.  

 

Some questions to ask when plumping up your supporting cast: 

• What are my characters' history together and is their dialogue informed by that? Do they have inside jokes or fight like brothers or finish each other's sentences?
• What traits/flaws/weaknesses/strengths in the protagonist can the side characters amplify to strengthen the plot? Does this conflict foreshadow future changes or events? Do their interactions build reader sympathy for the protagonist and/or her mission in this story?
• Have I built the camaraderie between these characters enough throughout the story to support this important heart-to-heart conversation?
• Are my side characters organically developed or have I essentially info dumped about their backstory to the point that it bogs down this scene? Related: do I *show* through dialogue and intentional beats not *tell* through superfluous exposition? 

Who are your favorite ensemble casts or supporting characters? What do you enjoy about their interactions?

---

Laurie Tomlinson is the award-winning contemporary romance author of That’s When I Knew, With No Reservations, and The Long Game, currently featured in the Once Upon a Laugh novella collection. She believes that God’s love is unfailing, anything can be accomplished with a good to-do list, and that life should be celebrated with cupcakes and extra sprinkles.
You can connect with her on her Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Plotting with Disney - The Song of Longing

Did Disney’s news yesterday freeze you with shock? Frozen has become the largest grossing animated film of all time – even more than Toy Story! I was shocked. Sure it’s a cute movie, but THAT cute? Clearly I’m not ‘cool’ enough to get it – though I do recognize great storytellers when I hear/read them.

Disney is known for its GREAT stories, amazing characters, brilliant voices, fantastic secondary characters, marvelous animation, and, of course, stupendous music. In fact, you could plot a book from the pattern of songs through Disney’s movies.

So…

That’s what we’re going to do. Using the basic elements of Disney songs in a 3-part series (particularly from the ‘princess’ movies), I’m going to talk about the ‘melody’ of story structure. (I might have to slide in a fourth to give us that ‘happily-ever-after’ part. It wouldn't be Disney without it J

The basic three ‘songs’ we’re going to discuss in the 3-part series are:

The Song of Longing

The Song of Hope

The Song of Conflict/Antagonist

(and I’ll probably throw in a happily-ever-after part in here too) J

So, today, let’s talk about Disney’s Song of Longing.

It’s a staple for almost every Disney movie out there. If you don’t believe me, here’s a list of a few.

Some Day My Prince Will Come (Snow White)

When Will My Life Begin (Tangled)

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella)

I Just Can’t Wait to be King (Lion King)

Belle (The song when she’s walking through town and their talking about how weird she is J

Out There (Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Reflection (Mulan)

Part of Your World (The Little Mermaid)

Do You Want To Build a Snowman (Frozen)

What do all these songs have in common? Each and every one of them is strategically placed in the story to express the main character's deepest longing.

Whether it’s a prince, the ‘lights’, an adventure, legs, self-discovery, or a deeper relationship with her sister, all of these songs express the main character's heart’s desire.

And YOUR story needs to express that too.

If your character doesn't have a longing and goal, then it is difficult for the reader to relate to her and stick with her to the end of the book.

What does your hero/heroine want? What does she dream about? What does she ache to obtain?

Usually there are two desires – an external and internal one. Many times one will directly relate to the other.

Let’s use Cinderella, for example.

External desire: Get to the ball

Internal desire: Have someone love her and take her away from her heartache

Clearly, these two are related since she wants to get to the ball to meet someone who might sweep her out of her glass slippers and into a wedding gown. In her song, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, Cinderella sings:

“In dreams you will lose your heartache. Whatever you wish for you keep. Have faith in your dreams and someday – a rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.” The song expresses her deepest longing.

What about Mulan?

External desire: Keep her father from fighting/fight in her father’s place

Internal desire: Discover who she really is

Yep – both are intricately related to each other. She discovers who she is, her worth, while taking her father’s place in the battle. In her song, Reflection, Mulan sings “When will my reflection show who I am inside?” CLEAR indication of her heartfelt ache.

One more?

Tangled?

External desire: See the lights

Internal desire: Self-discovery and freedom

Through the monotony of her song, When Will My Life Begin, we hear her desire for something more meaningful than what she’s always known.

Does it make sense? The songs reflect something much deeper. The beginning of the story and the heart of the hero.

So…back to you? What is your hero/heroine’s deepest longing? Can you tell us an internal and external desire they have? 

Let us know….or list one of your favorite Disney “songs of longing”?

Methods To Plot Your Novel

Photo by audFriday13
freedigitalphotos.net

Many people are gearing up to begin NaNoWriMo next month and so I thought I would share some awesome blog posts on plotting that I found. These are great tools for those who need a little punch in their plotting craft.

Kaye Dacus: Look What @Sherrinda Made Me Do
A look into Kaye's storyboarding/plotting while she is furiously trying to meet a deadline.

Erica Vetsch: Plotting and Pages
A look into Erica's plotting techniques.

Julia Reffner: Storyboarding for "Plodders" & "Mist Flyers", Storyboarding Part I
Great look into the benefits of storyboarding.

Cindy Wilson: Writing With A Formula (even if you are not a plotter)
A great tool for figuring out your story's main plot.

I would also recommend My Book Therapy's book, From the Inside Out...discover, create, & publish the novel in you. It is a great tool and very simplistic, and has worksheets to help you think through your story in the development stages. I love this book!

How do YOU plot out your story?

***Links are from my personal blog October 22, 2010.**

****************************************************************************

This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is a minister's wife and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.

Is There a Knot in Your Plot?

http://www.realestateradiousa.com

Have you been there?

Everything is going along fine and BANG - you've entered the land of a 'tangled mess', walking through a perpetual fog of obscurity and your entire story grinds to a slow and somewhat agonizing stop?

I've been there. More times than I care to count and in an attempt to help other weary travelers along the tangled path I have five things for us to consider if we've come upon a few Knots in our Plots.

Of course the perfect plots hold fabulous elements of twists and turns, taking us in directions as readers, we didn't expect to go - but a knot? A tangled web of indecision or confusion? NOT what we're looking for as writers OR readers.

So what can we do to un-braid the painful bunch?

1. Know Thy Characters - Lots of times our story crashes to a stop when we haven't really gotten to know our characters. It's difficult to dig deep in a novel if we've not taken the time to 'get in the heads' of our main characters. What do they want? What drives them? What would hurt them most? What do they need the most? My Book Therapy is great at digging deeper in character development to sort out the Lie your character believes, the Wound they've had in their past, and the desperate Truth he/she must discover by story's end.

I always start with a clear idea of my main characters internal conflict and motivation, as well as their external conflict and motivation, then I start digging deeper (asking the 'why' question)

http://saltlakecomiccon.com/dan-farr-announces-batman-and-robin-on-abc4/

When we know our characters, their stories begin to untangle our knotted plots with their own unique story-lines and personal desires to propel us forward.

2. Don't forget the Dynamic Duo - Holy Plot Lines, Batman! It takes TWO??? Yep, whether you're a character-driven novel writer or a plot-driven novel writer, it's difficult to write a good novel without both! It's fine to have a stronger element, either character or plot, but if you've not given enough attention to one or the other, your story may come to a strange, obscure place - like two pieces not fitting in a puzzle. Maybe do some super-sleuthing and figure out if you need to beef up a weak hero or strengthen up a few plot points to turn dastardly into dynamic :-)

3. Take a Mountain view instead of a Tree Climb - Sometimes we just need to step back and get a big-picture view of our story to figure out why we're stuck. It's easy to get lost in the trees, sorting through a wild conglomeration of story-stew. Perhaps you just need a mountain-top experience to bring your full story back into view. What's the purpose of your story? What does your heroine want? Why does she need it so badly? Stepping back can give us the view of our dark and murky forest and help us see the detour around the knotted path.

4. U-turn OFF of Easy Street - Yeah, who doesn't want to join with Annie's crazy villain and dance on 'easy street'? However, easy street does NOT a story make. Easy plotline = bored reader. If you've come to a frustrating stop in your novel maybe you should do a quick complexity check for 3 important aspects to steer you into inspiration alley.
a. How complex are your main characters?
b. Do you have some interesting and supportive secondary characters?
c. How are you story-enhancing subplots driving your novel?

5. Hurt somebody - The secret weapon of fiction writing is CONFLICT! Oh yes! Mary Connealy once said that if you get stuck in a story, shoot somebody. Okay, so not everyone writes 'those' sorts of stories, but figuratively it works too. If you've reached a point of inertia, MOVE something! Add conflict. Throw in a twist. See what happens. Why did the story of a poor girl-turning-to-a-princess work for Cinderella? Evil stepmother - conflict. And just when you think everything is going to work out swimmingly, throw in a nasty cat named Lucifer (aptly named, btw) and you have MORE conflict.

There are lots of other ways to get out of sticky situation, so let's hear from you. Are you stuck? Have you been stuck? Did you figure a way out of the knot? Share your strategy with us!

*****************************************************************************

 Pepper Basham writes Blue Ridge romance peppered with grace and humor. She's a mom of five, speech-language pathologist, and lover of chocolate. When she's not aggravating the wonderful AlleyCats, you can visit her at her personal blog, Words Seasoned With Salt. She's represented by Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency.

The Swell To A Black Moment

On Flickr by comedy_nose

Swell:  to well up, as a spring or as tears.

We've all written something similar to: 

Her throat tightens, the well of tears threatens to burst. A single tear escapes, and then another, until she can't stop the sobbing, can't contain the flood within her.

It's gradual, it builds, it culminates in a sudden burst. The emotion swells in the character until it overflows in their reaction.


We can apply this character study to our actual swell toward the black moment of our story. A black moment is when all is lost, when the bubble bursts, the sobbing brings forth the flood of tears. As we write the very first word of Chapter One, we must have a black moment in mind so our writing becomes "purpose-driven". Our characters, circumstances, symbolism, all culminate toward that black moment...for optimal BURST!

 If we don't build up the stakes, give the reader strong lungs to expand the bubble, imagery to provide the force that breaks the dam, our black moment might deflate like a balloon with a pin-size hole-- slow and weakly.


Two novels come to mind when I think of excellent weaving toward a purpose-driven black moment. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and She Walks In Beauty by Siri Mitchell. One gives us a good example of a circumstantial burst, while the other gives us an example of a symbolical swell. Both are effective. 

***I will warn you, the black moments revealed may be a spoiler if you haven't read the novels, so read on if you don't mind.***

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: The Circumstantial Burst


As a child, Jane is locked up in a haunted room by her cruel Aunt. The tiny girl must spend the night with the anticipation of evil spirits taunting her and torturing her throughout her stay. This is a turning point for Jane for she is sent off to school shortly after. 

This tiny hook sets up the circumstances Jane encounters as a young woman who works for a strange, troubled man, Mr. Rochester. An attraction begins to weave between the two as Jane aids him during several occasions of being awakened at night by shrilled laughter and evil doings, the very disturbance she feared as a child. The suspense of these episodes culminates to an explosion when Jane's wedding day is ruined by the knowledge that a woman had disturbed them all those nights, and that woman was Jane's fiancee's wife. 
Suspense was successfully woven through out the first part of the book, giving more and more air to fill the balloon, until finally, the burst of the balloon not only released the power of each building circumstance, but stripped away all happiness that Jane had hoped for, thus giving us the black moment.
Did Charlotte Bronte write the first scenes of Jane's childhood with the idea that she would carry on Jane's fearful nights to ones that created "swell" toward a devastating black moment? Maybe, but the swell is there, and successfully done.

She Walks In Beauty by Siri Mitchell: The Symbolical Swell

Clara Carter is entering her debut with much reservation. She is pushed along by her aunt, and suffers the headaches of socializing, and the measures taken for beauty, especially the restrictive corset. 
While she dances away the season, her corset is a constant reminder of the person she's suppose to be (beautiful, reserved, a catch for the most eligible bachelor). She can hardly eat, hardly breath, hardly enjoy anything without fear of fainting. As Clara learns more and more about herself, the corset comes to symbolize her forced identity by her family, holding her back from a future of her choice.

The black moment bursts forth its flood when Clara discovers the death of her mother was actually caused by the health risk of wearing a corset, the very symbol of her family's expectations.


Siri Mitchell's novel takes a physical element and weaves it through the book from the very beginning, revealing its symbolical significance at the black moment. Clara despised the corset, but succumbed to wearing it because it was expected. It was a physical part of debuting in New York at that time. But when we discover the black moment consists of the actual destruction caused by that element, the corset takes on a symbolic quality, the sob that pushes forth the tears of loss for Clara. Her mother's corset was the death of her.

Clara becomes aware that her prison is the corset, and to keep her family's approval, she must follow in their schemes. Any future plans for herself are impossible. Thus, she comes to a crossroads, the black moment brings her to the decision of choosing all she's expected to be, or choosing who she truly is.
 
When I read this novel, I had no idea the corset would become such a central symbol to the black moment of the story. And that is what we want, isn't it? To allow all the little droplets of tears hide within the story until they accumulate and break the dam into a flood of realization for the reader and the character.


Have you considered an effective way to build up to the black moment? Do you swell more with circumstance or symbolism? Can you give us a peek at how you get to your black moments?
****************************************************************************

Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across cultures. She is an ACFW member and CEO of a family of six.

 

The "Why" Factor

This last week a new story popped into my head.

The characters lined up at the door. Settings peeked through the windows. Oh, and the competition between loud adventurous and soft romantic made me dizzy.

A whole bag of plot pieces popped like popcorn. Yes, yes. This could make a good story, oh and I like that, too. This would be a great way to carry the story question.

And then the thought came. Where should it take place? This particular idea required the perfect setting. It would be an entirely different story based on the location.

Pressure mounted. If I set the story in America, certain essential components could not be included. If I set the story in an unfamiliar country it may not attract many readers. Hmm, such decisions.

I started asking questions of my new story. Questions that needed solid answers to provide a solid foundation. Questions which could be asked by judges, crit partners, and friends as they read the story.


The Why Factor


Here are some questions to ask your WIP

Why does my WIP take place _______?

Why is _____ the best hero or heroine for this WIP?

Why did the story head in ______ direction, did it answer a question?

Why did the climax come at ____ point?

Why this ending?
(there are many more potential why questions!)

Here is a test for the story Cinderella. 

1. Why does the story take place in a medieval home near a king's castle? 

Could the story have taken place in China before communist days, Siam, the days of Esther, Monaco, England, or America? Actually, yes. I am told the first recorded version of Cinderella took place in China. Queen Esther was a Hebrew slave. There are many versions of this story, each with a different setting, each resulting in a different story.

What about your WIP? Let's play a game. What if your story took place in Europe, Africa, or South America...or what if it took place in the jungle, desert, or big city...what if it took place in a high-rise apartment, farmhouse, or cabin in the woods how would it change? Could it help?

2.  Why is there a poor maiden trapped in her situation, an eligible prince, and a wicked stepmother?

Could the story have been as successful using a poor farm boy, a displaced American Indian, a rich landowner's daughter, a famous explorer, a spoiled prince, a dictator, or employer? Probably. But would it have been as good? Maybe.

What about your WIP? Could your MC have a different hair color, gender, age, race, political belief, have an accent from Texas, be a nerd, the president's daughter, the CEO's son, a gang leader's wife, have freckles, a spot on their nose, bad breath, fashionable, a slob, gossip, introvert, allergic to flowers or cologne, have hearing problems, a limp, or can't dance? How would he/she change? Could it help spice your story?

3. Why was the Prince given the opportunity to pick a bride at the ball?

Could the story have worked had he gone on a walk along the shore and saw...her, sailed to another country and met...her, walked out to the crops and saw...her gleaming barley dropped by a paid a worker, (Ruth), or tripped over her cart in the marketplace and spilled tomatoes across the road?

What about your WIP? Could the hero meet the heroine in a different time or place in the story? What if, instead, they met on a beach, sat at the next table in a restaurant, on an airplane, at a concert, walking in a park, in a library, on a whitewater raft, hot air balloon ride, an amusement park, courtroom, hospital, or train? Could it help add the perfect touch?

I suppose we all could collaborate and write a book of why questions, which would be a little longer than the Alley Cats would want for a post. Hopefully I’ve stirred your thoughts and have led you to put your WIP to the test.

By having strong answers to these and other why questions, your WIP will stand strong in the eyes of crit partners, judges, editors and readers. When he or she asks why did you ____ or could you have ____, you will be ready with an answer.

How about you? Pick a why question about your WIP and give us your strong defense. Or add a new why question for us to consider.

***********************************

Image by: Freedigitalphotos.net

This blog post by Mary Vee.

Mary lives in Montana with her husband and loves to hear from her three college kids. She writes Christian young adult fiction (pirate tales, missionary and Bible adventure stories).

Her Tag: Stepping into Someone Else's World.

To learn more about Mary, 

visit her blog: http://www.mimaryvee.blogspot.com

On Finding the "Keeper"

Idea hockey...do you ever play this game?

Check out that chicken scribble in your notebook listing ideas? Shoot them around for a while, but you can never seem to get them to the other end of the field not to mention the goal?

Go to square one. Start plotting again. Get stuck midfield, you're about ready to "pass" on this idea.

I am a computer software plotter. I invested in Dramatica Pro and it was invaluable in plotting as a first-time novel writer.

And this time around I used Dramatica Pro to toss around my ideas and was able to "see" as a result that one of my "great" ideas just wasn't plausible from start to finish.

Whatever method you use to plot, I recommend spending the extra time and perhaps plotting all those ideas you have floating around in there. I have one plotted novel for later, one for now, and one completely implausible story.

So what if you're stuck on the first stage?

Try B-R-A-I-N-S-T-O-R-M-I-N-G as per DiAnn Mills great guidelines. I LOVE this idea about studying the parables of Jesus. Do your stories give meaning and purpose for people's lives? Do they show them tackling a challenging situation?

Brainstorm with a friend. How credible are your ideas? An honest friend will tell you where your plot falls flat and may help you to get out of that place. Rachel Hauck has some great tips for how to get the most out of a brainstorming session.

Picture surfing. When I'm stuck it always helps me to look for the "right" photos to evoke my setting. I also love finding pictures of movie characters that "fit" my character physically (so helpful in writing those descriptions). News stories related to the period of history or topic of my story can have pictures that bring me into the atmosphere of my story.

Become a news junkie. Reading news stories and asking "what if" questions make up the majority of the ideas in my notebook.

Research, research, research. As I start researching new ideas crop up, new characters begin populating my novel, and plot points suddenly begin to converge.

How do you find your ideas? And how do you decide which ones are "keepers"?

Plot Points from a Pantster

Hi everyone!
Pepper here and I discovered about four months ago that I've been wrong about my...er...pantsterhood. I'm not a pure pantster. Now, there's a lot I still leave up to the 'ride' in writing, but I do have an outline - one I discovered about a year ago and have been using it ever since.

I've blogged about Michael Hauge's The Hero's Journey before, but I wanted to kind of share how that information plays out in my writing life.

Just yesterday a story idea winkled its way into my thoughts. That's how they start. An idea. Yesterday, while I was working on my historical WWI romance, I ran across some cool information. There were three German prisoners on board the ill-fated Lusitania when it left New York Harbor. Now, most people assume they went down with the ship when it sank in less than 20 minutes...but...

what if.....

And, what if a sister of one of the prisoner's was forced to go undercover to try to save her brother...

what if....

I think whether we're pantsters, plotters, or planners - the genesis of a story begins with the 'what if'.

But what happens next?

I usually get a pretty solid beginning and ending in my head, but I don't start writing until I get to know my characters a little. I play scenes in my head, 'chat' with them, add more 'what ifs', long before I start chapter one. I guess I just daydream about them for a little while.

Then.... I take The Hero's Journey.
I try to plot my story out along those lines. Recently I've started typing out internal and external motivation too - so I'll keep it fresh in mind.

So - what does the Hero's Journey look like?
It's a loose outline, which suits my pantster tendencies well, but it gives my ADD brain some nice focus too.

Well, I WAS going to plot out my WIP using the Hero's Journey - but that probably wouldn't be very interesting for you guys - and it would be SUPER long.
So I've just put the outline.
What you do is fill in the outline for your novel and it gives you a basic direction of your plot structure:

Internal Motivation
External Motivation
Moral Premise (if you have one)

Set Up Plot - the regular life of the hero/heroine

Make the Hero's Motivation Clear - what does the hero want? How do you set up from those first few pages to make us 'care' about the hero?

Begin the Hero's Quest - short transition here. Recognition of a change
Change the Hero's Direction (door #1) - The actual change - a decision. Frodo decides to take the ring. Peter, Susan, and Lucy decide to rescue Edmund from the White Witch, Annie Reed decides to research the lonely widower known as Sleepless in Seattle/

Challenge the Hero with Problems - first batch of trouble, gradually becoming more and more difficult to challenge the hero's new choice/direction

Change the Hero's Status (midpoint) - big decision time. Once he/she makes this decision they can never go back to life the way it used to be.

Give the Hero Tougher Problems - more trouble. Bigger troubles.

Let the Hero Suffer Maximum Angst - the BIGGEST trouble. no hope. all is lost. Superman beaten up and weakened by the kryptonite while Lois Lane is dying in an earthquake.

Off the Hero a Transition -  choices become available

Change the Hero's Direction (door #2) Hero makes his/her choice. In the Titanic, Rose must choose whether to live or die with Jack.

Give the Hero New Hope (these next two usually happen pretty close together if not at the same time)
Achieve a Win/Lose Conclusion The choice ends a happy or sad ending. The hero either obtains what htey wanted or don't. In the Titanic, Rose loses Jack but gains her freedom.

Tie Up the Loose Ends - What does the hero's life look like now? How has he/she changed for (we hope) the better?

If you're like me, then I hope this glimpse of the Hero's Journey will give you another guideline to use in your writing plan.
I take this general outline and build from there - usually I let the story take me.

Are you a pantster, plotter, or planner?
Do you have a system/process you use to brainstorm your plot?

Thirty, Flirty, and Plot-Building

I don't write romantic comedies...but I absolutely LOVE watching them (and reading my crit partner's fabulous novels in this genre). So let's delve into one of my faves, 13 Going On 30. I am dancing in my seat right now just thinking about the eighties-inspired soundtrack. If only novels came with soundtracks. ;)
13 Going On 30 has tons of great nuggets for life (it's even a movie used in the Bible study, Chick Flicks, Dinner and A Movie...I highly recommend it for a fun girl's night), and writing...which of course is what I will focus on.

For those of you who haven't seen this movie, a thirteen year old girl, Jenna, strives to fit into the popular “six chicks” against the advice of her slightly odd best friend, Matty. Matt is a sweet, non-conformist kind of guy, even building Jenna a customized dream house for her birthday. But Jenna is easily sidetracked from her sweet moments with this sensitive guy, and desperately tries to impress the popular crowd who have no interest in eager Jenna, and disappoint her again and again. Jenna finds herself longing to speed up time and become Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving... like the beautiful model in her fave magazine, Poise.
So with a little bit of magic dust from her homemade dream house (hey, it's Hollywood), Jenna wakes up exactly like she wanted,

Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving.

Through the course of her transforming morning, she realizes she got everything she wanted...A high school career as a “Six chick”, homecoming queen on the arm of Chris Crandy, and working as an assistant editor at Poise.

When she asks the cute grown-up Matt, “What if what I wished for really did come true?”
She takes his advice: “Well then, you got everything you ever wanted, you might as well enjoy it.”
But with all the success, she discovers what kind of person she has become...and she (Jennifer Garner) sums it up nicely when she criticizes a competing magazine's editor:

“You are mean and rude and sloppy and frizzy, I don't like you at all!”

(minus the sloppy and frizzy, she is actually quite a spiffy “stuck in the eighties” kind of dresser) 

The rest of the story is Jenna “re-filling” the shoes of her egotistical, ruthless, deceitful future-self. This movie provides great examples of character growth, the suspense-building plot, and a significant black moment.

Character growth:
The character overcomes challenges externally and internally giving the audience a reason to route for her. Jenna takes on her fast-pace adult life through the eyes of a thirteen year old. She falls for the sweet guy, her best friend Matt, not the most popular hockey player that she's supposedly dating. When she pitches her “redesign” for the magazine, it is a refreshing, soul-searching idea that her boss loves. She chisels away the shallow idea of what she wanted in her thirteen year old body, and makes choices that give her audience a reason to hope the best for her in the end.


Suspense-Building Plot:
The guy she is in love with is engaged...will he break it off since he obviously has feelings for her?
The boss loves her idea...will it help change her ruthless reputation and bring success to her magazine?
Her best friend finds some incriminating evidence...will she ruin everything for Jenna?

The Black Moment:
All these questions are answered exactly how we, the sympathetic audience, DO NOT want them to be answered. Everything in Jenna's life crumbles, and she finds herself completely hopeless and alone. We want her to have happiness now, we've seen her work for it, and re-shape her character for it.

From a humorous, light-hearted, slightly unrealistic (okay, greatly unrealistic) comedy, we have a fun visual for the important anatomy of a well-written novel.


Is there some character tweaking, or plot building that you can do to enhance the climax in your book?