​When I was younger, I had notebooks filled with stories I had written. Now, I have a whole hard drive filled with unfinished manuscripts and, even worse, ideas I have yet to develop.
Just like any other career, or hobby, storytelling can fall victim to excuses. Here are some of the excuses that I found myself making in the past. Maybe you can relate to them.

• I don’t have the time.

As a wife and mother of three boys, I have used this excuse more times than I care to admit. The truth is that when something is important, we will make time to make it happen.
Have you ever seen someone twirling plates on sticks? That is how we should spend our time- focused. Time needs to be spent with loved ones, time needs to be spent on relaxing, time needs to be spent on hobbies. But when we focus all our time on one area everything else soon feels like it is crashing down. If you enjoy writing, make time to write.

• I’m not sure how to finish the story.

There are manuscripts I have had to set aside and pick back up at a later time. All of them for various reasons. Some of them I found myself no longer interested in writing. Some of them I wasn’t sure how to end the story, it just kept going on and on. If you’re finding yourself in this boat a good thing to do is find other authors you can pair up with and bounce ideas off of. Ask them how they would wrap up the story.

• I don’t think anyone will like it.

This is more of a copout than an excuse. If you started writing it then obviously you enjoyed the story. While you may have a unique style you enjoy, you are not so unique that you cannot find an audience. Joining a writer’s critique group helped boost my confidence in this one. They were able to help me decipher through the topics I was using for my own benefit (to work out details of my beliefs) and topics I was using to create entertainment for others.

• It’s not going to pay the bills.

While this may be true in most cases that doesn’t mean it is not worth pursuing.  Once upon a time it wasn’t about money. It was about telling a story and entertaining an audience. Not because it paid in dollars but because it touched lives. Even if it is a side job or hobby, don’t get discouraged and stop writing. Hear it from someone that knows. You will regret it.

​“Suspension of Disbelief” is a term I have found linked to good storytelling. The reader may not believe that elves exist. They may not believe in aliens or out-of-this-world encounters. They may believe the world is a perfect place without-poverty, crime, or prejudice (obviously this reader may need to get out more). But, when they pick up your story, just for a moment, they choose to suspend their disbelief and jump on your ride as you take them on a journey.
They choose to set aside what they believe and see the world through your eyes for a moment. Whether it is through the eyes of a magical creature embarking on a quest in a fantasy world, a homeless injured war vet turned vigilante in Los Angeles, or an eccentric professor monologuing about robots being our future. Whatever the setting, whomever the characters—the reader wants to believe in what is happening.
This is where character development and storytelling collide. You could develop a character that has a lot of layers. Kyren is an Elvin princess. Her family was murdered which sent her on a quest for revenge. During this quest she ran into a wizard and learned the art of sorcery. Next, she came across a mute monk who taught her how to fight. Suddenly Kyren meets her adversary. Does she use the sorcery or fighting skills she picked up along the way to defeat her adversary? No, instead she disintegrates the adversary into a pile of ash from laser beams that blast from her eyes. At this moment are you saying, “wait, what?”
The suspension of disbelief has suddenly been popped and while the reader had been tracking with your make-believe nonsense up to this point you’ve now made things so unbelievable; they are no longer sure they want to invest in your story.

​I’ve had stories that started out really strong and fizzled out. The main reason is that I lost interest in writing them. The story was fun at first but I soon lost interest in writing in.  I lost belief in the world I was creating and the characters I was leading. When the creator loses their belief, the reader will be soon to follow. 

In the last blog, Non-Fiction: Everybody Has a Story, Part 2, I wrote about “dumping the details”. Making sure that you unload all the details into your first draft whether they are comfortable or not. After you do this, how do you best determine which details are relevant to the story that you’re telling? Well, for that, let’s bring back the somewhat star character of my previous blog, Albert the ex-boyfriend. (Apologies to all the Alberts out there, I’m sure some of you are really nice people. Not even entirely sure I know any Alberts personally.)
You’ve laid out the details from your relationship with Albert now it’s time to decide whether or not it is relevant to the reader and, most importantly, your story.
For our first author, Albert is a summer fling before their junior year of high school. They had so many fun memories of the places they went with Albert but unfortunately the relationship dissolved when they returned to school for no particular reason.
To which I would say, “Dear First Author, Albert may had provided you with some fun memories but it is irrelevant to your story and the reader really won’t find Albert’s appearance quite as significant as you do. You can leave him in or exclude him but the reader really won’t care either way. If they do care, it will most likely be because you wasted a few moments providing useless information to their mind.”
Now, for our second author, who also happens to have Albert as an ex-boyfriend (sorry Albert, my readers have now mistakenly identified you as a player). This author had an awful experience with Albert. Such an awful experience that they would rather just forget Albert ever crossed their path. For this reason, our second author decides it is best not to even mention Albert. Unfortunately, this author is speaking about their struggle in their first marriage because of the destruction Albert created.
To this I would say, “Dear Second Author, while Albert may have been someone you want to erase entirely from your memory, he is unfortunately relevant to the story you are trying to tell. Since you know Albert has now turned his life around and is happily married with two children. I can understand why you don’t want to cause any problems for him. Let’s label him as ‘one of your ex-boyfriends’.”   
There are some stories which will contain sensitive situations where the details required for storytelling could cause the authors to put themselves in sticky situations if actual identities are revealed. First of all, it is important to ensure all your details are factual. Secondly, Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. If the details of your story are that delicate you may want to consult one. 

​Here are some of the options:
Vague Names
As mentioned earlier to Author #2, use a vague description rather than a name “ex-boyfriend, ex-wife, cousin, aunt, etc.” There is always a chance those closest to you may be able to identify who your unnamed character is. If you really don’t want that to happen then you should probably consider the next option:
Identity Swap
If switching identities on your character, doing so after finishing your manuscript is the best option. That way if you randomly throw something in about Albert towards the end you won’t accidentally miss switching out his identity.
I would recommend creating a cheat sheet of name changes. Albert=Xander, Alice=Jane, etc. That way you can do a quick CRTL+F on your manuscript and swap out all the identities once you’ve finished writing.   

You’ve finally decided your life story is worth telling but there’s the small detail that it is in fact- the story of your life. How do you tell your story without bringing down everyone around you? I mean, life can have some pretty sticky details. It’s one thing to write a fictional story about a teenager who grows up in an abusive home but it’s a whole other ballgame when it’s not only real life but your own life.
I’ve helped many authors work through the delicate details of their lives. Remarried women who don’t want their children to view their fathers as deadbeats or losers, victims of abuse who don’t want their attackers to find where they are now, and even individuals who have converted from one set of beliefs to another but have no desire to bash their previous faith.
I always tell my authors to have TMI (too much information) set as their default mode when writing through the first draft. Why? Because I can always, always tell when they are holding back information. When you write out all the details for your story, especially if it is your own life story, the best thing to do is dump out all the details like a trip to the bathroom after eating Taco Bell. It may sound like an awful analogy but for some people that is what dumping all the details feels like- horrible and uncomfortable.
If you’re not entirely convinced this exercise is relevant to your story, please refer to the blog I posted a few days ago entitled Character Development: Part 3.
When the author says,
It was still hard for me to sleep at night because of the nightmares I had to endure from my abusive grandmother.
The reader is going to go berserk with questions. “What happened?” “What nightmares?” What’s even worse is that their mind could take your words to the worst possible scenario and entirely change their view of the story you’re trying to tell. Suddenly Grandma becomes just as bad as the evil stepmother from Cinderella in their mind. Even though that was never your intention for her character.
Growing up, I always found it hard to sleep. Every night was an interrogation of myself- where was I falling short and how could I fix those areas? Looking back, I realize my grandmother played a significant part in my lack of confidence. I had so much respect for my grandmother and still love her to this day. But she had that one question which—for whatever reason—made me doubt the decisions I was making, “Why’d you decide to wear that?”
It was such a simple question. Probably an entirely innocent question in her mind as we had much different tastes in styles. How could she know the ridicule I’d been experiencing at school?  
Can you see the difference between the stories? One of them paints the grandmother as “abusive” which could cause the reader to wrongfully picture grandmother as a belt-toting white-haired lady in a nightgown ready to beat someone’s behind. The other depicts grandmother as someone the author loves and respects. Someone that unknowingly caused pain in the author’s life. Even the author hadn’t realized the impact of grandmother’s words until later on in life.   

​I will say it once more—dump out the details! Characters have layers. In non-fiction, you are the character and you’re going to have to dig into those layers whether you like it or not.
Names can always be excluded or exchanged. ‘Albert’ can easily be labeled ‘my ex-boyfriend’. Or, ‘Albert’ can become ‘Xander’. But don’t, and I repeat don’t, exclude ‘Albert’ from the story if he is relevant to the story you’re writing and the layers that make up your character. 

​Everybody has a story to tell but not everybody can tell a story. If they could there wouldn’t be jobs for ghostwriters or developmental editors. Right? The moment I meet someone and they find out I’m an author three out of five people will reply, “That’s so neat, I’ve always wanted to write a book.”
I’m not entirely sure why this seems to be their default response. When I meet a car salesman I don’t say, “I’ve always wanted to sell cars.” But if I had to guess, it would probably be because most of us love storytelling. Some of us enjoy watching those stories play out on the big screen, some of us binge through them on our favorite video streaming programs, others bury our noses within their pages and some listen to musicians belt them out on the radio. No matter the outlet we enjoy being told a story and there are certain things that make those stories worth our time and money.
What is even more interesting is that we are all drawn to different stories. I had a friend who was super thrilled to watch the new Nicholas Sparks movie, whatever it was at the time. She thought for sure two ladies against one guy, her husband, would win the vote between watching The Best of Me (I googled which one released the same year for the curious readers) or Dracula Untold. Dracula won. Why?
Because while I enjoy love stories, or stories about love, I’m not a hopeless romantic. For me, adventure, mystery, or suspense is always going to win over the love story. (As you can probably guess, Hallmark is not my movie channel of choice. Although, I will admit, I quickly get sucked into whatever movie is playing if I sit there for a moment too long.) 

​You lived during the prohibition? There’s an audience for your story. You survived a traumatic experience against all odds? There’s an audience for your story. You escaped from an abusive relationship? There’s an audience for your story. For every story a person has to tell there will be an audience. So, if you are willing to tell your story make sure to tell it without holding back.

I was given this topic back in May. I've had quite a while to think on the topic. In fact, it has been something that I've sat down to write and walked away from numerous times. If I am honest with myself, I've done this because I don't feel like I'm the best candidate to speak about unlocking potential. I can speak to sabotaging potential. I can speak to avoiding potential. But, unlocking potential...that's a little difficult. 
So, I'll simply share my honest opinion about unlocking one's potential.

• We Are Our Own Worst Enemy

We can blame other people but it will always boil down to us. We will be the ones to block our potential- intentionally or unintentionally. Sometimes we are scared, sometimes we are unsure. If we desire to unlock our potential the biggest adversary we'll most likely discover will be ourselves. Once we learn to get over ourselves we'll be on our way!

• There is Not One Right Way

There is not an exact science or set way to unlocking your potential. I understand that the rows and rows of self-help books might say otherwise but honestly, even though those authors sound like experts on the topic they have to admit their way WILL NOT work for every single person. We were created unique. Because of this, there are too many variables to create a "perfect" formula for unlocking potential. Some advice may work for a hundred people but there will always be another group it does not work for. Which brings me to my next point in unlocking potential...

• Be Yourself

If you ever want to unlock your potential you'll have to perform an honest self-evaluation. I can look back at all the times I damaged or delayed my potential because I was trying so hard to conform to what I thought others wanted or expected of me. Shoot, there are still times I find myself doing this. If I ever want to progress I have to accept my weaknesses and my strengths. I have to accept who I am and who I am not. I have to put on some mental blinders and stop trying to compare myself to others.

• Exercise Patient

Potential is not something that is unlocked overnight. Potential is a lot like a seed. There will be a whole lot of stuff going on that nobody ever sees. Then, at some point there will be a small sprout and people might take notice. But overall, it could be years before something big is visible. There are so many times I have gotten discouraged with my progress in the "dark stages". So, many times I was frustrated because I was working so hard yet nobody seemed to notice. Don't get discouraged...

• Stay Focused

Ask yourself why you're envisioning yourself in this place or that place five years from now. Why are you working towards the things you are working towards? If you are on the path you know you should be on-stay focused. Especially on the days where you feel like giving up or take a moment to whine saying, "What's the point?"

• Envision the Potential

According to Webster's dictionary, Potential is something that can develop or become actual. If we do not have a vision for our lives there is no potential to unlock because there is nothing to develop, nothing to come into existence. 

​The first night I visited a writer’s critique group, they had me introduce myself and tell them what genre I wrote. Up to this point in my writing career, I had never actually narrowed down what kind of genre I wrote, or even gave it any thought. I didn’t write for a specific genre. I just wrote to get the story out of my head. Their simple question was humbling but also embracing. I felt like I had stepped into an advanced Spanish class with my vocabulary from Dora the Explorer. This simple request automatically put them way out of my league. My only hope is they would allow me to sit around and gleam off their writing knowledge.
Truth be told, my intimidation of the group was partially because I wasn’t even sure what genres existed other than horror, fantasy, romance, and adventure. My stories didn’t really fall into those. Little did I know there were many, many, many, many, many other genres, and sub-genres.
For Halloween, we received a challenge. Everyone got to push the button and received an auto-generated genre. We needed to take that genre, add a touch of Halloween, and challenge ourselves to write something within the specific genre we received.
I can’t remember the exact genre I received but it was somewhere along the lines of Sci-fi fantasy. Up to this point I had only submitted stories about things that could happen in real life (still not entirely sure what genre to label them as). So, this seemed like a stretch for my capabilities. However, my go-to stories for reading or watching on the big screen are always laced with fantasy, superheroes, mythical, or magical elements. I love these kinds of stories even though my own published stories currently reflect otherwise. 
The story I wrote about an elf who meets a wizard and receives magical powers was a hit and they wanted to read more. What was really interesting is the stories that came out of this challenge. Some authors had some really great stories when they branched away from their genre of choice. 

This challenge made me think back to the assignment I had received during the writer’s course. The bears performing activities assignment which I had deemed to be a waste of my time. This assignment was never meant to cramp my style, it was meant to draw out my storytelling. Could I make up a story about anything? Was I a good storyteller or simply a writer? Anyone can type up a bunch of words for people to read but a storyteller will suck a reader into their world so deep that they soon forget about everything else. They will find themselves saying, “Just one more page.” Because they have to know what happens next.

​The best way to experience some successful character development, is by tapping into your inner child. What do children do? They ask questions about everything!
I picked up this technique while ghostwriting. Most of the ghostwrite projects I work on are non-fiction. That’s a word that use to make me cringe just a little. I can make up a magical world and invite the reader in but retell all the details of someone’s life in such a way that it becomes a bestseller? Is it even possible to accomplish? Speaking from experience-Yes!
It takes a lot of questions though. So many questions, in fact, I have jokingly begun to label myself as the ghostwriter/therapist. Asking my authors questions like “How did that event make you feel?” “Why did it make you feel that way?” “Why is this person significant to your story?” “Why did you feel the need to say this?”
Keeping these words—who, what, why where, when, and how—at the front of your mind in every story you choose to write will always prove beneficial in the development of your characters.
Why is your character afraid to walk into the cave? What caused that fear in their life? Why is your character willing to boldly charge into the dark cave? What made them brave? 

​Even if you don’t answer these questions for the reader because they are irrelevant in the moment, you, as the storyteller, still need to know. Because eventually all the answers to these questions will show up throughout the story in some way, shape or form.
So, as you’re writing your story don’t hesitate to question yourself. Why is your character doing what they are doing? What caused them to hate the smell of fresh bread? Why do they have a distaste for strawberries? Why do they always wear blue jeans and flannel shirts? Why are all these details relevant to your story?
There will be some answers you’ll never add to the story, they’ll be your insider information. But even if this becomes the case, they will still prove relevant to your storytelling.

​Experiencing a bit of writer’s block? Take a moment to evaluate your character development.
Recently, I was working on a sequel to a woman’s novel I wrote a few years back. I had never intended to write a sequel but, due to requests from readers, I decided to give it a go. In the first book, I spent no time purposefully developing my characters. There were things that they faced throughout the book and as a result of these situations their layers began to appear to myself and the reader.
However, with the sequel I had to spend a bit more time thinking on the layers I had created during the first book and how those layers would affect the decisions my characters were making in the second book. I had to stay true to the characters I had created. The super outgoing chatterbox couldn’t become mute in the second book, it simply wouldn’t work for the reader.
I got about 40,000 words into the story and began experiencing what some label as “writer’s block”. Upon further evaluation, I recognized that I didn’t have the same interest in my characters as I had with them while writing the first book. During the first book, I was engaged as the storyteller. I wanted to know where these characters would end up just as much as the reader wanted to know. But for this sequel I seemed to be shuffling them through a bunch of motions just to get to THE END, literally.

As a writer or, better put, a storyteller, it is so very important that your characters become as real to you as the people you interact with on a daily basis.
In Character Development: Part 1, I mentioned the layers that we have to work into our character and into our story to draw in the audience or reader. It doesn’t matter if this is a work of fiction. The audience wants to believe that this person is real. They want to know what they are feeling and why they are feeling it. The abused wife cannot suddenly find another man and live happily ever after. I mean, this can happen but let’s be real for the readers’ sake it won’t happen suddenly.

​Character development is something that is somewhat talked about within writer's guilds but what do those words really mean? I’ve had authors explain it to me in various ways and I even have a book (somewhere) with a bunch of chapters an author wrote on how to develop your characters.
Some authors will even spend years upon years writing out character backstories before they even think to start on the actual story. You know what, props to them! That is some well spent time.
But what’s so important about developing a character? It’s a valid question that every author should ask. For that, I’ll default to Shrek’s description to Donkey “…have layers.” If the characters we put in our stories do not have any layers they will simply become nothing more than names on a page.
Sally walked into a store. The aroma of freshly baked bread flooded her mind with memories. She exited the store, tears filling her eyes, and got in her vehicle.
Sally soon became boring and unrelatable to the reader and they quickly set down her story. Nobody wants to read about someone who has no layers of complexity. Why? Because whether we like to admit it or not, we are all composed of complex layers that make us who we are. And, more than anything, we want characters that we can relate to.
Sally walked into the store. The aroma of freshly baked bread pulled from the bakery oven took her back to her grandmother’s kitchen. The memories flooding her mind were more than she had prepared for. She quickly exited the store, wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and hopped into her minivan.
Oh, poor Sally. Did she recently lose her grandmother? Wait, did something bad happen at her grandmother’s house? Is her grandmother even really her grandmother? Why is Sally crying? Will she ever be able to smell bread again?
Ok, maybe the reader won’t ask all these questions regarding Sally but they will subconsciously start deciphering whether Sally’s story is worth their time to continue. 

​As I stated in a previous blog: books don’t sell, stories sell. The same can be said about characters: flat doesn’t sell, layers sell. (Unless you’re Flat Stanley which is a perfect example of a “flat” character who isn’t super complex but still has layers.)