This is a new series of Coach Your Characters posts. The working title of the novel I may create from the inspiration in this series is ‘I Know You’.
In this week’s fictional coaching session Dave, Lara’s husband, is invited into the coaching room.
The Coaching Session
Dave, Lara’s husband, is invited into the fictional coaching room.
The coaching session has already started.
DAVE: Everything was fine before I went skiing. Then I got back from France and it was like the minute I stepped through the front door Lara, my wife, made every excuse not to spend time with me.
COACH: You feel Lara is making excuses not to spend time with you.
DAVE: Yeah, and it definitely only started this week when I arrived home. She won’t even look at me. She gets up early and takes the dog out while I’m still asleep. One day I woke up earlier than usual, and I asked Lara to wait for me to get out of the shower so we could take Bessie out together. When I finished getting dressed I realised she’d gone without me.
COACH: And how do you feel about this?
DAVE: It’s like Lara’s decided to hate me overnight and I don’t know why.
COACH: Have you spoken to Lara about how you feel?
DAVE: I haven’t spoken to her about anything. I haven’t mentioned her weird behaviour or that I think she hates me.
COACH: So, where do you go from here?
DAVE: Isn’t that what you tell me?
COACH: It’s what you tell yourself. You feel that your wife is avoiding spending time with you and that she hates you. So where do you go from here?
DAVE: Do I have to make a choice?
COACH: I don’t know. Do you want to make a choice?
DAVE: No, I don’t want to decide what to do. Who does?
COACH: OK. Not making decisions - what does that give you?
DAVE: What?
COACH: For you, what’s the upside of not making decisions?
DAVE: I guess when I don’t make a decision I don’t get to be wrong. I don’t get to make the wrong choice.
COACH: When you don’t make a decision you don’t get to be wrong or make the wrong choice. And what’s the downside of not making decisions? No, let me rephrase that. What’s the downside of not making this decision of how to deal with the situation with Lara?
DAVE: Well, right now I’m miserable wondering what she’s up to. The truth is I think there’s only one possible explanation - Lara is having an affair. She got together with someone while I was skiing in France. Now she doesn’t want anything to do with me. She’s probably deciding whether to leave me, and she’ll take Bessie with her.
COACH: Do you mind if I cut in here? You say Lara’s having an affair and you are miserable thinking about it.
DAVE: Yeah.
COACH: Is there any possibility that you could be reading too much into this?
DAVE: Well, yeah but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
COACH: What would be worse for you, 1. thinking the worst and burying your head in the sand or 2. finding out the truth whatever the truth is?
DAVE: If she was actually having an affair - that would obviously be worse. If that’s the truth then I don’t want to know.
COACH: If she’s having an affair you don’t want to know.
DAVE: No.
COACH: OK. Let’s for one moment pretend that Lara is having an affair - we have no evidence of this but we’re going to pretend. In this pretend world, how long could you live with Lara while she’s having an affair?
DAVE: Forever.
COACH: Forever.
DAVE: Well, maybe not forever.
COACH: Not forever. So for how long?
DAVE: Two years.
COACH: Two years. Why two years?
DAVE: Because it’s hard living with someone who is having an affair.
COACH: Why not three years or one year?
DAVE: I don’t know - because it would be hard to give it up, but it would be too miserable to live like that for three years.
COACH: It would be miserable.
DAVE: You’re trying to make me make a decision, aren’t you?
COACH: I’m not trying to make you do anything.
DAVE: OK. I have to talk to Lara, don’t I? I just have to ask her and find out either way. Is she having an affair or not?
Coaching session continues.
Coach Your Characters
Is there a character in your story you would like to ask the following questions to?
What would be worse for you 1. thinking the worst and burying your head in the sand or 2. finding out the truth whatever the truth is?
What happens next?
Writer’s Notes:
Thoughts
A suspected affair storyline will work well.
Dave is someone who bottles up his feelings and avoids communicating about potential issues.
He avoids making decisions.
His mind goes to the worst-case scenario.
The Story
Working title: I Know You
Basic storyline: Lara’s search for answers - who killed her mother twenty years ago and why? Can she get justice for her mother?
Inciting incident: At work, Lara comes face to face with the man she believes killed her mother. She was seven when she witnessed the murder, so can she trust her memory that this is the guy who did it? She sets out to find out.
Developments: To include:
Lara follows the mystery man in her office and find out his connection to her company [TBC]. She stands up her work friend, Steph, who she was supposed to meet for coffee.
Lara looks up the mystery man’s name in the visitor’s book and does online investigation.
Lara finds out where the mystery man was living around the time of her mother’s murder. She comes to the conclusion that he was her mother’s murderer.
Lara spies into the mystery man’s family life, and finds out he’s married with kids.
Lara tries to keep the investigation a secret from everyone, including her husband and her work friend Steph.
Lara starts walking the dog early in the morning while she is out spying on the mystery man.
Lara is spending so much time on the secret investigation of the mystery man that her husband thinks she’s having an affair.
Lara and Steph go for the same promotion / job opportunity at work and there is conflict.
Steph starts to investigate Lara.
This is a light-hearted experiment to see if I can create a story concept by fictionally coaching newly-invented characters, and making notes using what I’ve learnt. Through the conversation with the coach we will learn what the character wants from a recent situation or their life. Hopefully, some interesting challenges and secrets will be uncovered.
This experiment may prove valuable. It may fail. I wonder if I’ll find it challenging to get under the skin of characters I’ve only just met. Whatever happens, I’m interested to find out.
If you would like to try coaching your own fictional characters from work in progress, you may use this post as inspiration. I also offer a journal to subscribers with ideas of how to coach your fictional characters. When you subscribe, you’ll find a link to the journal in the welcome email.
I offer coaching to writers who are feeling stuck in their writing life. Sessions may include conversations to help you focus, work through blocks and create a supportive writing routine. You can find out more about the coaching I offer here.