Welcome to...
The Novel Carnival
Five days of lessons, prizes, and invention. By the time the funfair departs, your novel may never be the same.
(in a good way)
This is day two of the Novel Carnival.
Today's dare: disappoint someone
Today's video: an "active" protagonist gets themselves in trouble
Today's bonus: what the curve in a character arc means
Day TWO: The Ringmaster
You return to the funfair on the second day.
Now, a few fellow writers seem to be wandering the tracks, in that quiet way that writers have.
The big tent is being assembled, and for a while you watch from the side as the acrobats rehearse their routines, and an animal trainer bargains with a reluctant donkey.
You get talking to the ringmaster, a bold, quick-talking very green man, who, like you, is observing the show.
He offers to tell you the secret of a great performer.
The Dare... are you ready?
He leans closer, his voice low: "A good performer knows how to work the crowd. But a great performer isn't trying to please them."
You ask for an example or illustration of this claim.
He shrugs, and turns back to the acrobatics, as if he thinks he has already said enough. "You have to be willing to lose them if you want to win them back."
- RINGMASTER WARREN
The dare for day two: let someone down
Add this to your story: at least once, your main character should disappoint another character -- someone they admire, rely on, or care about.
This should not be the result of a misunderstanding, a false rumour, or an excusable lapse. This should be an "active" disappointment, something that the protagonist really has done that lets down someone else.
Ideally (and this is important), their act should genuinely make things worse for this other person. I'm not talking here about simply a rude comment, easily apologised for, nor an earnest forgetting of a task or deadline. No, this is an action taken by the protagonist that leaves a friend worse off.
The protagonist may be surprised at the knock-on effects of their act, but they should not be out-of-the-blue gobsmacked.
Excellent!
Now watch your craft lesson and download your bonus for the day:
"If you're always pleasing everyone, you won't wow no one."
- ringmaster warren
Craft lesson: Why a character "arc" implies the protagonist does something wrong in the middle
Now get your handout for this craft concept:
Handout: Why you need to disappoint someone
Okay! That was day two of the Carnival!
Have you tried out the dare, watched the video, and downloaded the handout?
A new lesson will appear on this page tomorrow.
Ready to join the leaderboard, and share your dare?
All you need is a one-sentence description of how you might apply the dare to your story: