Simply
put, you look at the internal realities and the external situations:
• Are you
strong where you need to be to win at the opportunity you have? Excellent!
• Are you
weak where your threats are greatest? Uh
oh!
At
least that’s what you do if you want to succeed in business. You make sure you
are strong enough to meet your greatest threat and win your best opportunity.
What
if you want to write a compelling character in an engaging story? Well,
matching up a character’s greatest strength against a threat handily defeated
by wielding that strength makes for a pretty uninteresting story. Nope, we want
a heroine whose greatest weakness is matched against her enemy’s greatest
strength. We want to watch her grow and struggle and strive to gain the
internal guts and know-how to meet that threat. Now that sounds like fun! I
want to read that one!
So
lets look at an example we all know:
Luke Skywalker must trust himself (and his control of the Force) to
defeat the Empire’s Deathstar.
*click on the blue box to enlarge
Ahhh! Now, it’s beginning to sound like a writing tool, right? Exactly!
We
all know that our characters innate weaknesses and strengths drive the best
plots. Really great stories track the arc of the characters’ greatest
weaknesses as they play out against their adversary’s greatest strengths. We
love to see heroes and heroines win against the greatest odds and the most
terrible foes.
In SWOT
Analysis for Writers,
my two week workshop beginning April 15, we’ll investigate how to use this
business tool to write stronger plots, concoct more dangerous
threats and insert key weaknesses in our heroes and heroines. In week one,
we’ll analyze characters with SWOT tools from stories we all know and love, and
learn how to apply this fun and visual technique to known plots and characters.
Then in week two, we’ll take your stories and characters and SWOT them around,
producing stronger heroes and more compelling plots in the process.
 |
| author Leslie Dow, PhD |
Bio: Leslie
Dow, PhD
My friends say I discovered DNA, cured
cancer (all kinds) and then sequenced the Human Genome. They’re pleasantly
deluded and like to have people buy them martinis in trendy bars.
Actually, I help businesses make better
stuff or wheedle moody software engineers (If you must..Leslie on LinkedIn). And I write, oh yeah, I do that, too.
I am the current Workshop Coordinator and
WebElf the for the RWA’s Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter. I’m a past
editor of the RWA’s Silicon Valley Chapter and have done some other stuff
involving the web and newsletters. I am also the Director of the most amazing
writer’s community in the known Universe: SavvyAuthors. You
should join, really.
I’m in the process of editing my first
SOLD novel a category-length romance On the Wings of Love. to Entangled
Publishing. YAY! I live on a small La
Honda homestead in the Santa Cruz Mountains just up from the Silicon Valley
where I am managed by 12 14 indignant chickens, 2
not-so-feral-supposed-to-be-outdoor kitties, 1 neurotic cattle dog, and a
Nelson’s Albino Milksnake named Audrey Lou.
Connect with me on:
SWOT Analysis for Writers
hosted by FF&P
This 2 week course starts April 15th
Sign up HERE
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