Changing magic to power, inspired by Holly Black

[jbknowles]

Hello Teachers!!!! Today I'm going to cheat a tiny bit and share with you a post I wrote back on July 19, 2010, which I wrote after attending a lecture by Holly Black. Yes, the Holly Black. It was a lucky day! And since that day, I have been using what I learned to help my own students understand world building and why it's important no matter what

Comments

[ext_2677499]

Thanks, Jo (and Holly), for writing this post. I'm so glad you made the connection to realistic fiction by exchanging the word "magic" with "power". Wow, I can't believe how deeply I am thinking about my characters and their motivations. I thought I had a better handle on my characters, but this really shows me I have to spend more time with them and understand how they interact with each other.

At first, I was confused about whether to concentrate on the protagonist or antagonist. Greg's comment has helped so much. Thanks, Greg for posting your work :) You really zero in on your main conflict, your story.

When I started answering the questions, I found I probably need to change the personality of my main character (in the beginning the story) to be more snarky and emotional. She was too "good" and that doesn't cause much conflict. This task also made me realize my MC is not reacting to her "lack of power" logically. So, answering these questions helped me see the holes in my story. (And, there are lots of them apparently.)

I'm off to write- Thanks again!