Thursday, May 26, 2011

Triggers

What is a trigger?  Good question.  Glad you asked.  A trigger is a inciting moment.  An intense beat in a character's life that forces them to begin a journey.  It's a catalyst.  Often times, it's a seriously icky moment cause it breaks an old wounds and makes you have to reset it so it can heal properly.

I am not a fan of triggers.  They seem to come at the most inopertune moments.  And they hurt like hell.  But they are necessary.  Like Epicac for the soul.

Every character has a trigger.  My challenge to you is to uncover what yours' is.  When in the story did your character decide they had to take action.  Pushed against the wall, they had to do something or die.  Life or death stakes - literally or figuratively.  And is he going quietly into that good night or is he fighting it all the way?

Me?  I fight those damn triggers.  I bury my head; I shake my fist at the unfairness of it all; I run away.  Eventually, though I accept.  If only I could receive the trigger as a gift sooner, wouldn't my life be so much less painful?

1 comment:

  1. I agree. When I initially get the trigger idea I back away. Do I have to make my character do that? Finally I relent, realizing that's what makes the character compelling and drives the story.

    Thanks for commenting on my blog. Delighted to discover yours.

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