Writing Excuses 8.22: Pre-Writing with E. J. Patten

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Writing Excuses 8.22: Pre-Writing with E. J. Patten

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2013/06/02/writing-excuses-8-22-pre-writing-with-e-j-patten/

Key points: For characters, ask "Who are they? What do they want?" Focus on the goals and evolve the plot from that. Concept includes milieu, plot, and character. X does Y at Z. Try writing monologues from the point of view of the characters to find out who they are and what their voice sounds like. Or simply chapters to explore the character. Ask yourself who your character is, who can be hurt, and what do they want. Then ask why questions. Try asking "Who are they, what do they want, how are they going to get it, and what stops them from getting what they want." Do your character work, random bits, and then lay it onto the three act structure. Use normal world, inciting incident, and first act turning point. 
( Start your engines... )

[Dan] Writing prompt? Is... We're going to do the kids in Halloween costumes?
[Brandon] Yeah, Halloween costumes. We'll just do magical and/or scientific power armor or something, that the costumes do something cool, and the kids didn't know that they would. This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.