Anna Brie

@anna-brie That looks fantastic. I really like how both themes weave together there. Nice work!

@anna-brie Sorry to hear that. :/ Unfortunately, I don’t recall seeing any posts here either…

@hope Yeah, characteristic moments are harder when you’re plotting over a full trilogy. That story actually looks like a flat arc to me with just a really poignant third plot point. To turn it into a disillusionment arc followed by a positive arc, I…[Read more]

@anna-brie Hmm, your comment wasn’t trashed or spammed. It’s possible it was deleted, but very unlikely.

@anna-brie Oh. xD Okay, yeah, I was thinking about The Land of Elyon series by Patrick Carman. So something completely different.

Yes, having multiple main characters definitely complicates things. We’ll be tackling that in a video later in the series–I’m actually scripting that lesson this week! So if you have any specific questions on having…[Read more]

@anna-brie I read that series a loooong time ago, but if memory serves me well, that’s a great example of a strong flat character arc, especially in the later books in the series. Thinking through your favorite flat character arcs in other stories is a great way of learning how to do it in your own story.

@anna-brie Looks like a good solid base there for what looks like 2 similar but distinct character arcs on the importance of community and on how to relate between genders properly. Nice work!

@anna-brie Examples and messages are both great potential catalysts! Repetition is a great way of helping characters to change.

@anna-brie That makes a lot of sense. Sometimes (probably most of the time, now that I think about it), God’s sanctifying process is slow and gradual, so it can take some work to see how God has been changing you over the course of several years. And it certainly works differently for personalities as well! That may be something to keep in mind…[Read more]

Thanks for the input everyone! It looks like the best option is going to be February 24th from 3-4 PM EST, so we’re going to be scheduling the Q&A for that. I’ll be sending out an email the day before with a webinar link, and will also make sure to post a link in this thread! Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible there. 🙂

And to…[Read more]

@anna-brie That looks much better. And yes–the important thing is that you have it settled in your head. Some themes aren’t as easily analyzed in this format, but it sounds like you know where you’re headed, so all of that looks good.

@jenali Yeah–that looks great! I particularly like the contrast between moral strength and the strength that…[Read more]

@anna-brie I’m glad you’re interested! May I ask how much extra time you would need? If it’s not too much longer, I could tweak the deadline a little bit. 🙂

@anna-brie Ah–I got you now. 🙂 Great job with thinking through how your character would justify their actions!

@anna-brie Those look like a really good set of Experiments! I like them a lot. Could you develop a bit more, tho, how #1 leads to that consequence? I’m not completely sure I’m seeing the connection.

@anna-brie Using other author’s characters for inspiration is great. And being able to put yourself in their shoes like that as an ENFP is awesome! Understanding characters who are very different from you is crucial to being a skilled author, and it sounds like you’re on the right path. 🙂

@anna-brie Yeah, writing with multiple themes can be a tricky. When we polish this course, we may need to move that lesson closer toward the beginning since a lot of people here seem to be working with that. My recommendation here, though, would be to only focus on the theme of righteousness here and the specific message you’re drawing from that,…[Read more]

@anna-brie Creating Character Arcs is my favorite book she’s written so far on writing. I have both books in paperback and find myself referring to them quite frequently, so that would probably be a good investment to make.

@anna-brie Ah; I get what you’re going at then. I agree that respecting authority seems to tie everything together.

@dragon-snapper Hmm… Yes, I think you’ll want to make a couple adjustments to that. One thing about a focusing question is that I think it should be a bit broader than you currently have it. The issue with the answers you have is…[Read more]