Preptober Plans and Inspo for Victoria's mysteries

Oct 7th 23 : Meet your nightmares

Dear writers,

Now that we have some dust on our shoes, let's run faster. You probably know how much for a main character, you need a main problem. Like an entire person problem, a family issue, a bad environment, ghosts haunting their dreams, mice making weird noises at night, a gloomy prophecy ...

I feel that a good character arc should even have multiple problems. like the first obvious one, like a father trying to poison you. A more discreet one, like the fear of being in a committed relationship with anyone. And like the final big one that no one saw coming ... no I won't give it away you still need to read Victoria's Mysteries (coming at you in November).

I feel like it just keeps me on my toes when my brain knows that the big bad issue is not the last one. I will tear the book apart, write fast like Sasha Black (yes her new sapphic romance "a Game of Deceit and Desire" is just looking at me dead in the eye). If you are writing a series, this is even more true. Like you are gonna need a red thread pulling all the stories together and even if sometimes the following of a character is enough, following his issues is even better.

How to create big bad issues? Well, what are your nightmares made of? Please do not share in the comments, I am sure some sensitive souls will pass one of those days, let's keep it PG for them. But yes, do you feel shame in your bad dreams? Lost, afraid or imprisoned? I feel like I can feel my feelings way more easily in those moments and I use them to describe the scenes of big bad stress in the story.

Of course if your problem is a person, the person in itself is not the issue, it's how they are making your characters feel. If the issue is a mental health one, what triggers them is so important, like even more than the effect on your character. I really want to emphasize it, mental health issues in itself are normal, we are humans. We experience the world with our minds. So those are not the issues your character is facing. The triggers that make them spiral into an anxiety panic or a manic episode, those are the nemesis.

So please, take the time to list and give volume to what your main character is going to have to face. Have the honesty to ask what you fear most. What can you describe with the most details and realism? Because in the end...

It's what will make you win the most time in the long run when you are writing. Don't forget to vote and comment.

Until tomorrow, may your nightmares haunt your enemies.

Lady Light