Writing Your Best Story. Tips & Tricks

shine bright like a diamond

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Ohhh this one is my favorite! This is a method of screenwriters---or at least that's what I heard. A short personality test called Diamond Character to figure your MC's strength and weakness and inner conflicts. It really works for building a believable character, and for plotting a whole story scenario from that one character. Fun and helpful!

You can even test yourself first---I've found out something curious about myself too...

FIRST, ANSWER 6 QUESTIONS:

1. What misconception about you exists among your friends and people who know you?

2. What were you most afraid of as a child?

3. Which personality trait of yours do you consider your competitive advantage?

4. What one personality trait do you value in others?

5. What quality of yours prevents you from finding common language with others?

6. Which quality do you hate in others?

NOW, HERE WHAT YOUR ANSWERS MEAN:

1. This is the mask you put on when you go out into the world.

2. Childhood fears are the reason for putting on that mask. This is what you try to hide from others. Often this answer happens to be a metaphor as you need to find the reason behind your fears first.

3. Do not be surprised, but in order to overcome your fears, you need to get rid of this quality of yours. You have developed it during your life to cope with fear. This is kind of a crutch with which you hobble along the boundaries of your fear.

4. This is your true "self", who you want (and can) become.

5. This is your "Achilles' heel",  your weakness, which your enemies try to use against you.

6. This is the dark side of your personality, which shows itself when your "Achilles' heel" is hurt.

AND NOW, WE HAVE THE  STORY SCENARIO:

Act 1. The hero puts on a mask (1) so as to avoid facing their fear (2).

Act 2. The collision with fear (2) still happens. In order to somehow cope with the trauma, the hero actively uses their, as it seems to them, best quality (3). At this moment, they meet an antagonist who tries to find their Achilles' heel (5). As a result, the dark side of your hero's personality shows up (6).

Act 3. As a result of the direct collision with their fear (2), the hero finds their true self (4) and wins, or suffers defeat.

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Now, let's try it in practice? Let's use it my new LGBTQ+ fantasy story Gods & Thieves, and its protagonist Elisey Tamm---whose personality I created, using this very method.

1. Misconception: Everyone believes Elisey is a troublemaker. He doesn't agree---he knows what he's doing, and he believes he always gets into trouble simply because others provoke him, treating him unjustly.

2. As a child, Elisey was afraid of being neglected. His parents argued a lot, his big brother spent time with his friends, and our Elisey felt lonely and unwanted.

3. Comparative advantage? Strong sense of justice! Elisey will always fight for his rights---or the rights of his friends---if someone treats them wrong.

4. Most of all, Elisey values honesty. He lives in a world where shamans rule---power-hungry and dangerous and cunning magicians. Elisey can't trust treacherous shamans, so he has learned to value honesty in others.

5. This is a trick question, actually. Elisey knows that he has bad quality---he's hot-tempted and sometimes impulsive---and that's exactly why people think he's a troublemaker (1), and don't understand him.

6. What Elisey hates in others is---lies. He values honesty (4), therefore liars are the worst, right?

LET'S SEE WHAT WE GOT NOW?

Act 1. Elisey behaves as a troublemaker (1) so as to avoid being neglected (2). He draws attentions to himself so as to feel seen by his family, taken care of, not lonely (not intentionally, of course).

Act 2. Elisey find himself stuck in a shaman palace (2), ALONE and among his sworn enemies---the fear faced. In order to somehow cope with his loneliness, he actively uses his, as it seems to him, best quality---strong sense of justice (3). He tries to prove he's better than wicked shamans and their 'false' values, questioning every law and tradition of theirs, but ends up making more trouble. At this moment, he meets his antagonist---falls in love with (oh no!) a shaman named Loretto who finds his Achilles' heel' (5) by putting our Elisey in difficult situations. Now Elisey has to follow the rules---like pretending to be a shaman too---or he risks getting killed as a relationship between a human and a shaman is kinda forbidden...As a result, the dark side of Elisey's personality shows up (6)---dishonesty. He's forced to lie, like those wicked shamans who Elisey despises the most!

Act 3. As a result of the direct collision with his fear (2)---fear of being neglected---Elisey finds his true self (4) by allying with a shaman, his ex enemy aka lover, living up to his truth and choosing love over prejudice, and therefore he wins by conquering his fear and then stopping the eternal war between shamans and humans. Boom! We've a plot!

Okay, I simplified my plot A LOT to put it in these few lines and avoid spoilers, but I hope you got the idea.

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