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How Bad Do You Really Want That?

This month we talk about desires and priorities. Let's say you've always wanted to visit Hawaii. You tell everyone you'd love to go to Hawaii. It's your favorite place on earth to visit, etc. Now, let's say your favorite uncle comes to you with a round-trip ticket to your favorite place on earth. He says you can go but you have to leave the day after tomorrow and you only have one ticket. Do you still want to go?

Hmmm, maybe not. You can't leave work on such short notice. You have to pick up your son from basketball practice that day, and you have dance classes you don't want to miss. Suddenly, a million things are in the way. So how bad did you really want to go to Hawaii? Not that much after all.

This exercise is to be used as a means to get to know your characters better. If you want to get to know yourself better, feel free to do it on yourself first. You might be surprised at how many things aren't as important to you as they have seemed.

Once you decide on whom to do the exercise, pick up a pen and paper or get comfortable in front of your computer. We are going to make a few lists. For the first ten minutes, make a list of all the things you, or this character, wish to have or do. Here's an example:

I wish to:

• Quit my job
• Travel the world
• Write for a living
• Marry Tim
• Have children
• Learn how to speak Japanese
• Buy a dog

Now that we have our list of wishes, it's time to enhance it. Go through each item on the list and write two or three sentences that reflect what's keeping you from fulfilling that wish. The above list could be expanded as follows:

Quit my job: I really want to quit my job, but what if I can't find another job? What makes me think all jobs aren't like the one I have? I really should wait until the end of bonus time. Maybe in a couple of more months.

Travel the world: But for me to travel the world, my boyfriend has to quit his job, too. How fun is traveling the world if you're alone?

Write for a living: There is no way I could afford the pay cut right now. How will I find jobs? How will I think of things to write each time? What if I get lonely?

Marry Tim: What if I'm too young? What if he's not the one for me? I don't get another chance, you know.

You get the idea. So make changes to each of the items in the list. This will not only give you a good idea of your character's priorities, but it might help some fantastic plots to emerge as well.

As always, make sure to have fun, fun, fun!