Hello!

Have you seen the word on the street? I hear it’s 2025 and with that comes the annual appearance of goals and dare I say resolutions. I know some who welcome with open arms the arrival of our temporary fixations, while others would rather resolve not to worry about such matters. Both are valid, because the moment a resolution or goal begins to overtake our identities and we find ourselves in the dark wood of a fractured sense of self, then we’ve taken a misstep.

I’ve always loved New Year’s. It’s my favorite holiday next to (quite literally) Christmas. The only problem with resolutions is that they’re particularly difficult to spot, much like fairies in the wild. We sure do like the idea of them, but if you try to nail one down, you might find yourself wandering for some time. Wander too long in a world like this and you will also come to find you’ve completely forgotten what sort of fantastical resolutions you’ve been hunting down.

We are, after all, dynamic beings. We evolve with time, or I would even say that time evolves us. We will change either way with time, and our resolutions and goals are the structure by which we have chosen to evolve. And believe me, we do have a choice. I mean, do you believe in resolution fairies or not?

Now, is this Newsletter going to be me continuously waxing poetic about the static nature of robotics or the dynamic nature of humanity? No. I bring this up because it’s highly relevant to us who meddle in storycraft.

Character goals should be both concrete and dynamic

A character’s goal should not be a resolution because, again, those are finicky fairies and you’d be better off defeating a dragon than netting one of those. Let’s consider the Young Sir James.

Young Sir James lives in an ordinary world full of dinosaurs (as ordinary worlds often are) but he’s not quite happy with his life as an auditor.

1. Young Sir James could resolve to change his life. Well, that’s not helpful to anyone. Good luck Young Sir James—perhaps while you’re changing your life you could also find some ambition?

2. Young Sir James could have a general goal to get a new job. This is an inkling better, but it’s not specific enough to generate any sort of momentum. Honestly, at this point, the only thing that will generate momentum in Young Sir James’s life is if he’s being chased by the local T-Rex.

3. Young Sir James could have a concrete goal to get a new job as a brachiosaurus shepherd. Now we’re talking!

   Bonus points if you give me a good reason he wants to be a brachiosaurus shepherd—like the fact that Young Sir James believes that a blessing from a brachiosaurus will heal his sister’s undefined disease.

4. And, to take things to the next level, Young Sir James should have a dynamic goal. This includes you, as the writer, taking an active role in James’s life and having his goals change over time as he changes as a person. The midpoint is an excellent place to introduce a new goal.

   For example: Young Sir James has always wanted to be a brachiosaurus shepherd, and you either give him this or you don’t. Then, there’s something else that interjects itself (say, a Brachiosaurus shortage) that alters his path or demands Young Sir James’s attention. As circumstances change and as Young Sir James changes, so must his goals.

Now you see why it’s infinitely more interesting for Young Sir James to want to be a brachiosaurus shepherd rather than to simply change what his life looks like. This post is not a commentary on dinosaurs or even how to come up with a plot. What you should keep in mind is that a plot is a natural byproduct of what a character wants and the obstacles you invent.

What’s Next?

You supposedly received the “you’ve subscribed” email, and if you did, I mentioned that I’d be talking about my reads, my writes, my publication journey, and all the blog posts I’ve been sharing.

With it being the top of the year, this post is a stand-in until we get more data in 2025. For now, here’s the briefest of updates and a sneak peek for the next newsletter:

1. My Reads: I’m currently reading Shades of Grey by Jasper Fford. Full review will be inbound, but so far this book feels both dystopian and steampunk, where manners matter and where your ability to perceive different portions of the light spectrum has a good deal of say on whether you’re respected in society or not.

2. My Writes: I’m in the brainstorming stage of a new cyberpunk novel currently, and I don’t have any WIPs in the writing stage. More on my progress and where I’m going with this idea in the next newsletter!

3. My Publication Quest: I have completed Round 1 of edits on a robot science fiction. It’s been sent off to my critique partner and an alpha reader to find those lingering plot holes I might not have caught myself. After that, I’ll be looking for beta-readers when Round 2 of edits are complete!

4. My Blog: I posted yesterday a wrap-up of my 2024, late though it may be, and vision for what 2025 has in store! No, I’m personally not interested in joining Young Sir James as a Pterodactyl trainer, though I appreciate the sentiment.

That sums up today’s conversation. If you liked it, let me know over on Threads or Instagram (although pigeon mail is acceptable as well). Thanks for being here, and I can’t wait to share more about my stories with you!

Snapper out.