What is agency? How does it work in your story? And what does it look like? When is your plot driving your character, rather than your character driving the plot? How can you diagnose agency issues? And how can you maintain that agency all the way through your climax, even with a cast of characters?

How does a writers philosophy of writing affect their voice? And how does the canon of literature you grew up on help you develop as a writer? What are the differences between middle grade and adult fantasy? And what is a middle grade reader looking for? Can you write to specific themes within a middle grade book? And how do you get those children to sound like children while still driving your story? Above all, it’s all about staying true to your own voice and who you are as a writer!

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss using a non-protagonist as your point of view character. What pitfalls does a writer face in doing this? Will readers engage with a witness POV? And if the POV character does not have stakes in the action, what then? This topic came to us from a listener’s question and made for a juicy craft conversation!

Show notes, links, & more at www.StoryWorksPodcast.com.

How has Molly’s arc evolved over the course of her storytelling? And how does she craft agency into her own story? How many ways has she had to approach the same topics? And is it okay to leave the actual abuse off the page in an abuse narrative?

What is narrative drive? And why is it so important to your story? How can you craft drive with characters choices, cause, and effect? What happens when your character comes alive? How does it affect your plot, their agency, and the surprising inevitability of your story? And finally what are some ways you can develop these narrative drive skills?

How should you mirror your Act one and Act three? And why should they be related? What tools does that help you access? Remember your inciting incident doesn’t have to be one climactic moment, but your protagonist must have a choice! How should you develop your character with plot in mind? And what if you are writing a very interior or quiet journey?

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss character agency. In this, Robert’s final episode as a co-host, he brought us the question of what to do with a character who is kept “on the back foot”? How do you write a protagonist with agency when the hero is in a position that seemingly rules out taking charge? This episode will be linked in the show notes to all related episodes in the library.

Would you like to be considered as the next co-host on the Story Works Round Table? Drop me a line!

Show notes, links, & more at www.StoryWorksPodcast.com.

What are stakes? And how does your characters agency interact with them? How do you make your stakes personal and individual for your character? And how can you use your stakes to evaluate your plot structure? How should the stakes change through the story? And how do the stakes affect your characters actions? Remember, your characters agency must be the thing that drives your story forward!

This week on the Story Works Round Table podcast, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss the ways in which character agency is relevant to the whole of your story and the ways in which how well you handle agency could determine how much readers like your book.
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What is agency? And how do you keep your protagonist active? Do coincidences and natural disasters take away character agency? What is they try/fail cycle and what does Alida have against it? What is the difference between a reaction and a response? When should you plan your characters agency? And how do you handle reaction scenes? In the end just ask yourself: “did my character lose a hand?”. If he did, then you have a pretty good chance – he’s active!