Hi guys,

Choice is what we all want to have. We want to keep our options open, to make sure that we get the best out of any possible situations. The problem with the idea, is that when we “keep our options open” we actually cut ourselves off from bigger gains or from the peace of mind that only come from doing the right thing.

How does this deal impact my writing? In two ways.

Your character in your story will also make choices for your story to continue, they will make choices that will either benefit them or hurt them. If you can write this into sort of dilemma in your story you create great tension. Tension is what keeps the pages turning and people coming back to your work.
Your own self improvement, by deselecting some choices that are set before you your choice not only becomes easier to deal with, it also leads you to better situations. These situations will not also be easier but you will know that you are there because you chose them not because you kept your options open and took the best that you had.

The other side of the coin is that when options are kept open no choice is actually made.

e.g. This happens in relationships quite a lot. A person keeps options open when the person that is right for them comes along they miss it because they were too busy perusing the menu rather than keeping a good look out. So they end up with something less, because they are comfortable with that.

This example can be very useful in your story because it will create a tension, a tension between what they are doing and what the characters wants. Many characters will find themselves with the right person ‘because story’ but that doesn’t happen often in the real world. People will often have the choice made for them by lots of smaller actions. Its a choice to be with this person rather than becoming the person that will attract the right person to you.

Choice gives rise to change and this leads to the greatest tension that we can use in our writing the conflict between what a person is comfortable with and what a person want to become.

So in summary we have some great personal choices that we can look into when writing our characters to prevent them becoming static throughout the whole book.

Comfort and progress.
Options open and what is best.
Missed opportunities

For a writer we need to know when what we are writing is taking place in our own lives. Many times I have looked at doing what is the right thing and chosen to put it off and that has bitten me, and I have chosen to not to something that will benefit my writing and found that I am now further behind again.

Success does not come by wishing but by hard work and deselecting some choices.

Keep reading and keep writing.

Peter