Jars of Words

The Lost Art of Building Up Others By: Jenny Lynn We live in a society today in which everyone likes to point the finger and condemn rather than practice grace and forgiveness. How much more do we witness everyone from celebrities to your next door neighbor being slammed for things like unwise choice in words, unpopular fashion choices, or their body composition rather than being praised for good works something constructive? DRAMA PAYS These days television and media outlets love to promote negative drama because that’s what gets a response from their audience. Mo s t people are not interested in uplifting stories with a positive spin. Those of us who are really need to speak up and start making our voices heard. Maybe then, decent music and television would make a comeback. Our teenagers wouldn’t be acting like the women from Sex and the City. And our new mothers wouldn’t starve themselves and torture their bodies with brutal workout regimens just to “bounce back” from pre...

1. Don’t let the climax happen too early; build up anticipation. Do this by establishing a formidable, lethal villain and indicating the protagonist’s resolve to defeat them before you dive into the third act. Then, have your protagonist do what she would naturally do to get to the villain - or to get the villain to come to her. Furthermore, set the climax somewhere interesting or symbolic of or conducive to the character’s change. 2. Make the protagonist the expected loser and your villain unstoppable. Remove every tool at your protagonist’s disposal, and make the situation deadlier than ever. This will create interest and tension, and it will force the protagonist to work infinitely harder, making their growth and ultimate victory more satisfying. 3. Place the protagonist’s moment of truth before the climactic moment so they can use that change to defeat the villain. This change is what the character’s arc has been progressing toward for the entire book, and it’s all-or-noth...