It Really Is A Wonderful Life

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and have plenty of leftover Christmas cookies for the rest of the week! Last weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to see It's a Wonderful Life in a beautiful old theater. Wow, what an incredible experience! I always tear up at the end of the movie when Harry says, "To my brother George, the richest man in town," but I usually do that sneaky wipe-the-corner-of-your-eye-with-your-knuckle trick, hoping no one sees how emotional I'm getting. Well, let me tell you, after seeing it on the big screen, all bets were off! I and my best friend were setting there, all-out crying through the last scene.

What makes It's A Wonderful Life such a classic, and why does it pull on the heartstrings? In addition to brilliant acting, the story itself is so well-written. Today I'm going to break down several components of the movie that we can implement into our own writing to leave readers with that "feel good" effect we get after seeing this movie.

• George's motives are very clear, and they are conflicting. Conflicting motivations and values are always a recipe for good writing. On the one hand, George wants nothing more than to be an architect and to see the world. But on the other hand, he loves his family dearly. So what happens when loving his family means giving up his own dreams? Well, that's the magic of the movie. How can you shape the characters in your own story so that they have competing values they must choose between? How can you use that choice to affect the plot?

• The characters are relatable. George and his family represent universal values and struggles with which almost all viewers can identify. Maybe not on the specific level, but on the moral level. Perhaps you've never dreamed of being an architect, but I've bet you've had to make a choice between two things that both matter very much to you. If we train ourselves to be more conscious of these predicaments in everyday life, our writing will be come much more convincing and will have a stronger emotional pull over readers as they come to see themselves in our stories.

• The characters are likable. Even when George Bailey yells at his wife and kids just before his total meltdown, we like him. Why? Because we know what he's been through. We know who he is deep down. How does the movie show us these things? Not by telling, and not even by the words of other characters. Instead, it allows us to see George Bailey in action. We see when he saves Harry's life and refuses to deliver the poison capsules. We see the pain on his face when his father has the heart attack and he must leave Mary. We see the disappointment in his eyes when Harry gets married, taking away George's opportunity to go to college. So even whenever George melts down and considers suicide, we're with him 100% because we are feeling what he's feeling, and we're rooting from him on a very deep level. We're interested in the story because we're invested in the characters on an emotional level.

• The challenges are real. George's father dies. George has to give up his honeymoon money to save the bank. George can't go to college because Harry's getting married. Yet George overcomes each of these things. But when his uncle loses the money, it's just too much to handle. George's spirit is broken. And we get that. We believe it. We understand why George would feel like there's no other option in his life than to commit suicide, and we see why he would think this is ultimately a selfless act to preserve his family. So while we're saying to ourselves, "Don't do it, George!" we're also saying, "But we understand why you want to." This is key. Too often, we shortchange our characters by giving them weak obstacles to overcome. If the obstacles are weak, our characters' success over the obstacles will seem likewise. Worse yet are challenges that are unbelievable. Really work to make sure your stories play off the characters' struggles and fears, just as George's finds that even after giving up his dream to be an architect, his back-up plan also brings failure. What other options does he have left?

• A bigger-than-we-expect ending. I absolutely love the ending of this movie. As a storyteller, I expect George to get his happily-ever-after moment. I expect that he'll get to be an architect, that he'll finally go to college. Thing is, George does get a happily-ever-after moment, but in a different way than we expect. See, somewhere along the way, George's dreams change because his perspective changes. And that's really what makes this movie worth watching again and again. How easy would it have been for the writers to give George a chance to design a bridge, especially since it's a bridge he jumps off of during his black moment? But instead, the ending defies our expectations because it takes the story and puts it into an even greater context. George doesn't get to be an architect. No, what's much more powerful is the fact he no longer needs to. George's realization is that his life has been wonderful all along. Can you take a step back from your story to give it a bigger-picture framework? Instead of giving your characters all they want and seem to need, could you change their needs somewhere within the story, even as George's change in the movie?

I've heard that It's a Wonderful Life was created to restore morale after the war. It's easy to see why the movie accomplished this task. The moral is so much bigger than the typical "reach for the stars" theme we often see. Instead, this movie gives us something we can use in everyday life. Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, you're alive. And that's a reason for rejoicing.

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? Why does the story appeal to you?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Characters: The Love/Hate Relationship Readers Have With Them

I have a secret favorite past time I'm not sure I've ever shared with anyone.

Shhhhhhhhhh.....

Okay, here it is:

I have an insane curiosity for reading readers reviews of books, both on Amazon and on Goodreads.

They are intriguing, especially the "bad" reviews. BOY can those things be brutal.

Now, I'm not obsessed with this, but as I ready myself for the onslaught of "reviews" both good (hopefully!) and bad (I'm a big girl!) it helps me brace for the experience.

Many times, the "complaints" are in direct opposition to the "good" reviews, which makes it even more interesting.

There are so many other fun notes about reviews to post, but today, I want to focus on a fun difference of opinion I see quite a bit.

It's the fun Love/Hate relationship readers have with our characters.

An example in a debut novel by one of my SUPER awesome author friends.

Katie Ganshert's new release Wildflower from Winter got a review with this note, "While the characters were described well, I didn't relate to them..."

Yet, she also go another one with this statement, "Bethany is a wonderful multifaceted character that I easily identified with..."

And even in my very small handful of reviews I've already received on my to-be-published novel, Sandwich, with a Side of Romance, I've seen differences in opinions.

"Maddie was more annoying than adorable"

vs.

"I loved the conversations Maddie had with God. (I’ve had many similar ones with Him myself.) These conversations are where most of the inspiration comes from in this story; Maddie’s ‘requests’ and God’s answers. Her requests were a bit cheeky yet realistic, His answers were as you’d expect. This was definitely a light and refreshing way to give the reader some food for thought."

But these difference in "relating" or "liking" our characters isn't relegated to debut novelists like Katie and I.

Even the amazing Francine Rivers has reviews that talk about how her characters are "flat", yet has hundreds to thousands of reviews gushing over her phenomenal writing and telling how her characters have impacted the reader's lives.

HERE is the thing about characters in relation to our readers-- Get ready for this, it's a really deep revelation!


Some readers will love them.
And some readers will hate them.


I know. Profound, huh.

So what do we do as writers? We can't please everyone, so how do we know WHO to please, and how do we make sure we please as many as possible.

1.) GOD TRUMPS ALL. At least for me, God is my 1st and most important audience. This doesn't mean my character has to be perfect or overly religious or anything like that. But God can use our flawed characters for his glory, and my prayer is always that God is pleased with my writing.

2.) DO YOU LIKE YOUR CHARACTER? This almost goes without saying, but sometimes it's easy to get wrapped up in your character that you need to take a step back and make sure you, the writer, would love/relate to the character if you were the reader. 

3.) KNOW YOUR GENRE. Different genres have different "requirements" so to speak about characters. Someone who writes Amish romance will have a slightly different set of readers to please than someone who writes romantic comedy.

4.) DON'T FORGET YOUR MOTIVATION. You can still have flawed, realistic characters in your novels... as long as they have appropriate motivation for their flaws and actions. We need to understand why they are how they are, and be able to root for them to conquer their flaws.

5.) REDEEM YOUR CHARACTER. For every annoying/unlikable trait your character has, add one or two endearing ones. The more unlikable the trait, the more endearing ones they need. It is easy to get so caught up in making a realistic character with flaws that people can relate to that we forget that our readers need to be able to root for our main characters.



Not everyone is going to like all of your characters. That's a fact we need to accept right now. But that doesn't mean we don't try to make our characters capture as many readers' hearts as possible.

And for the record... the readers who didn't like them? They aren't wrong. It is their opinion... they have their own personality that draws them toward certain types of characters. Have you ever read a book that had rave reviews and you were like, "Eh, yeah, not my cup of tea"? I think we all have.

The customer is always right... and so is the reader!

Discussion: What are some flawed characters you've read that you have still loved? What are some FAVORITE characters in books you've read? How do YOU try to write dynamic characters who will click with the most readers possible?

The Hero and Heroine of Your Readers' Dreams

What separates a good book from a great one?

Many things (ha!). But at the very top of that list is an exceptionally-crafted hero and heroine. You know the kind I'm talking about. The stories you read ten years ago that you still remember. The woman you spent two months imagining yourself as. The man you wished had an existence outside of a fictional reality!

Last time I spoke with my agent, Karen Solem, about my newest novel, she said something so wise. She told me to spend time crafting a heroine my future audience would want to imagine themselves as. Instantly it clicked for me, because so many times I've caught myself doing this very thing. As a teenager, I fell absolutely in love with Robin Jones Gunn's Christy Miller series. I can't tell you how many times I imagined myself as Christy, or how I secretly pretended she was a real life friend. Then years later, I found out that one of my best friends in college had done the same thing when she'd read these books! Maybe you did too. If not with Christy Miller, I'd be willing to bet that if you're a writer, you've been impacted in this way by a character somewhere along the line.

And do I even need to mention the power of a well-crafted hero? Romance just doesn't work if we don't like the guy. I, for example, am not going to spend 300 pages with an alligator-eating, woman-demeaning redneck unless I know he's got it coming in the end. I would, however, spend another 700 pages with Mr. Darcy, any day of the week. Especially the BBC version. What is it about Colin Firth, anyway? (I hope everyone appreciates that I expanded the image above to "large" size. It's almost like he's staring into your eyes, right?)

So we know the draw this kind of hero and heroine can have upon the reader. But the question is, how do we create this appeal, this tension?

Creating An Appealing Heroine...

1) Give her a flaw we can identify with. Is she deathly afraid of shoe shopping? If so, I'm sorry, but your average woman can't identify with that. Being afraid of public speaking, on the other hand, is a different story. This kind of flaw resonates with us and makes us empathize with the character because we already know how it feels to be in her shoes (the same ones that she liked shopping for and got a stellar deal on).

2) Make her brave, unique, strong. Something about your heroine has to be larger than life to encourage the reader to aspire to new places in her own life and faith journey. While you do want your heroine to be relatable and believable, she should also convey an inner strength that is unique to her, just as the gifts of God in our own lives are unique.

3) Make her likable. I chose a picture of Meg Ryan from You've Got Mail to exemplify this because really, who doesn't want to be Kathleen Kelly? Your heroine might have a great conflict and might be very realistic, but if we don't have a reason to like her, we aren't going to care what happens to her in the end--whether she ultimately finds love or not. Try to find ways to endear your heroine to your reader. My heroines, for instance, tend to love animals because that's something that's close to my own heart and is easy to write. Maybe your heroine will help the homeless or work with autistic children. The possibilities are endless, but we need a reason to cheer her on.

Now On To Those Boys.... Creating A Hero Who Makes Us Sigh


1) Make him strong. Self-confession time--I like to write sensitive men. I can't help it. I've always gone for the artsy musician type. Blame the literature-lover in me. So when I say your hero needs to be strong, I don't mean he has to be built like a football player and grunt a lot. Maybe in your book he does. And if that's the case, his character arc can be learning English. Just kidding! But in all seriousness, women like a strong man. We do. It's just a fact. We like someone who's capable of rescuing the heroine but who's also sensitive enough to wait for her to choose his rescue.


2) Give him an "awww" moment. I learned this concept from Rachel Hauck and Susan May Warren. Early on in your book, your hero should do something active that endears himself to the reader. Maybe he helps an elderly lady cross the road or teaches kids how to read in his spare time. Maybe it's as simple as donating a few dollars to the baseball team raising money outside Publix. No matter what you come up with, we need to see his kindness in action so we know his heart and can forgive any insensitive moments he may have with the heroine after that point.

3) Make him good at something, and make him suave. Have you ever seen Tristan MacManus on Dancing with the Stars? I'm loosely basing my hero off of him for the reason I'm about to discuss (and let's face it--being Irish means extra points). Like the heroine, your hero should have a strength that is uniquely his. It could be something about his personality, his career, his family, a talent he has, etc. The important thing is, we need to see his skills in action so that we feel like he's competent to take care of the heroine (who we already love), and also so he wins us over as readers. And this is romance after all, so it needs to be... well... romantic! Even if you aren't writing straight romance, if you have a romantic thread, make sure you spend time really developing the reader's attraction to the hero, not just the heroine's attraction to him. One way to do this is to make him, for lack of a better word... sexy. Dancing, kitchen-cleaning, fire-fighting, dog-loving sexy.


Your turn! I want to hear who your favorite hero or heroine is (they could be from a book, a movie, or real life!) and why these people left such an impression on you. How can we strive to create those qualities in our own writing?

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Ashley Clark writes romantic comedy with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog and herTumblr. She's also on Facebook and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Photos from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4001426/, http://chickflickchic.blogspot.com/2012/03/tuesdays-with-nora-youve-got-mail.html, http://www.threedonia.com/archives/47783