Summer Writing Project - Act Two Planning: The Low Point

Were you mean to your hero? Was it hard putting them through a tough time?

We spend so much effort to create these characters (and often we put parts of ourselves into them) so it can be especially difficult to see them go through trials and struggles, because it's hard when we go through things like that.

Something that I find helpful is that if there is similarity, your hero gets to do something for you.

They get to face your biggest fears with no real world consequences.

In fact, they may help you to overcome your fears or the challenges you're facing because they've had to face what you were worried about.

Sometimes the characters we write can be a big help to us in the real world, because in many ways story structure can imitate how life goes for many people. I'll save that lesson for another time as I'm still developing it, but I know from a personal level, when I put my character through an immensely difficult time that mirrors something I've had to face, it has let me safely explore and confront my imagination when it's being misused for worry.

Our imaginations are very powerful tools, but so often we make up realities that will never happen, and all it does is stress us out.

Now, don't get me wrong. I believe that thinking things through and being smart about what could possibly happen has merit to it. It's good to take life experiences and learn from them so you can watch out for making the same mistakes again.

But so many times, they are just that...a story.

So let's go back to our story. By this point, about 75% of the way through, we're approaching the darkest part when nothing seems to be going their way, and things have gotten so bad that they wonder why they even are on this journey.

The thing they have wanted has fallen apart. Or, they feel like they have failed so completely that they'll never get what they hoped for. They may feel betrayed. They might be hurt, either emotionally or physically, and they probably think this could be the end of their journey.

Poor Wesley. The Princess Bride is my favorite film and this scene is always the hardest to watch.

Even if they have lost their mentor or their guide along the way, we want to revisit the theme, or the advice that they should have received early on from a trusted friend, family member, or mentor, because usually there is a kernel of truth there about themselves that they just weren't ready to see or ready to believe.

But now that they've been through this journey and have learned more and struggled to gain that wisdom that only comes from enduring difficulty, they're ready to do what needs to be done in order to rise up and decide it is worth it to continue on, despite the setbacks.

And that's something that is incredibly valuable in life: the ability to get back up when the going gets tough or you've been knocked down.

Stories can model ideas for us in the real world, and I like to hope that when someone reads a story when the hero has reached their lowest point, but still gets back up, it can be inspiration for the person reading the story to be motivated to get through their own set of circumstances and survive the difficult times.

Finding Your Why (or Who)

The light at the end of the dark tunnel can be found when the character recognizes why they really are on this journey.

We usually start of with wants that are motivated from kind of a selfish desire, and over time, they hopefully start to see that the world is bigger than the things that they want, and that they have an opportunity to do things that help others and ultimately, the growth will help themself.

Sometimes it's remembering that they are doing this because of another person (or a group of people), and that they can't give up at this point because giving up would directly impact not just themselves but others that they care about.

As a writer and creative, I've been through some low times. I've used some of that to tell very honest stories that have helped me personally.

While I do write for myself, I recognize that when I hit tough times, that my kids are watching to see what I do and how I handle myself during those hard times.

Do I give up? Do I wallow in self-pity?

I recognize that I have to get back up and show them what not giving up looks like.

And sometimes our heroes in our stories can do that job for us as well as we remember that the characters we create are still kind of a part of us, and that part of us that decides we won't give up is the part that our story needs.

Hopefully once you get past this part of the story, you'll learn something about yourself.

Something I find useful is to look back at times in life when things were hard or disappointing, and think about how I (or a loved one) got through it.

Activity: Remembering the way through.

Now it's time for the two of you to think of 2-3 times in life where things really didn't go the way you hoped they would and it made life difficult for you.

Each of you then thinks through how you got through it and share that with your writing partner.

If you're in the middle of something hard right now and you don't know how you're going to get through, my hope for you is that thinking through all of this and processing it through story will be of some help to you during a hard time.

It has been a help for me.

Lastly, I want you to each think of the best advice you've ever been given before, and share that with each other.

Telling stories is important, and not just the highlight reels. Let's get through this difficult time in the story and then we'll be ready to pick ourselves back up and fight to the finish as we enter Act Three.