Finding What You or Your Character Is Good At

I stink at team sports.

Maybe you do too. Or maybe your fictional main character does.

But everybody is good at something. You just have to find out what that is, for yourself or your story’s character.

In reality, the hard part is continuing to try while knowing that YOU WILL FAIL at times. In fiction, it is ALLOWING YOUR CHARACTER to fail.

I didn’t give up on all sports. When I determined as a kid that I would never become a volleyball, tennis, softball, or bowling star, I fell back on roller-skating for fun and physical exercise. I also tried my hand at a few creative endeavors–including cooking–and found out I was pretty good in those areas.

In BIRD FACE, Wendy tries out for a sport and doesn’t make it. I let her fail, and fail miserably. But I let her try again. And I give her opportunities to excel in ways very different from sports. But I let her fail some more.

That is life. That is what makes us interesting and able to find our true selves. Let yourself, and your fictional characters, try and fail–many times. That’s how we, and they, grow.

In the end, we find out what we are good at.