THE PASSIVE MC AND WHAT WE LEARNED FROM NOVELS

UK hairdressers.com is one of my
favourite places to find my MCs.

Once the summer holidays arrive my writing time goes from limited to endangered.

I feel bad for not getting to Blog, or Tweet, as often as I'd like but I have written two books in a week... enough said ;)

I hope everyone who stops by is enjoying their writing, feeling the pleasure of gathering words and gluing them onto pages. I know I've been having a lot of fun.

I found I needed to go back to Characterisation 101 yesterday when I realised my MC was running after her friend... again.

“There is no such thing as a passive lead character. Your main character must take control of her own destiny – she must make the decisions and take the actions that drive the story, and these must stem from who she is. This applies no matter which genre you are working in - including genres structured in a more plot-driven format. Even these are ultimately more character-driven than they may appear.” ~ Jennifer Knight

My MC is a girl.

She has a friend who is a boy.

They are the same age.

He knows more about what’s been going on than she does.

However, this is her book.

As their relationship is unbalanced I’ve had to keep this quote from Jennifer Knight pinned above my computer.

I've been checking one page at a time to ensure she is making decisions based on the evidence, to make sure the MC is in control.

As her friend is biased because of his prior knowledge I've given him an eager determination but also made sure he is guilty of seeing only what he thinks should be going on.

The important thing I re-learned this week is that no matter what age you are writing for the MC cannot be passive – a passenger in the vehicle you are creating – she needs to have the same emotions and motivations as most other girls of her age but she must have impulses and qualities that make her unique.

I have just started reading MATCHED  by Ally Condie and I'm loving it. 

THIS IS ONE BAD THING I LEARNED FROM NOVELS:

               Girls run after boys because boys have all the ideas... first.

CAN YOU THINK OF ANY MORE BAD THINGS YOU LEARNED FROM NOVELS?