Ever heard of GMC? Review:GMC Goal, Motivation, and Conflict by Debra Dixon #writing

Prelude to a review

You’d think that when you sit down to write a romance novel, the conflict would automatically be part of it. For my latest WIP I accidentally thought the romantic aspect was part of the GMCs, the main aspect. So I proceeded to write a whole book driven by romance.

I’m shaking my head at myself because after reading countless books, and publishing four, each with clear GMCs, I should know how to include it in all of my stories. I keep wondering what happened. Of course as I wrote it, something kept nagging me that an integral aspect of the story was missing. I ignored it.

Finishing the book didn’t make me happy but I still sent it off to one of my awesome beta readers asking her to tell me if the story made sense and if it had enough conflict (never ask a question you already have the answer to).

My fabulous beta reader saved me a huge rejection when she told me she’d reached page 55 and no conflict had made itself clear.

With my suspicions verified, I had some major work to do, but first I needed some more insight about conflict. I did some reading on the net but it wasn’t enough so I decided to buy a book on the subject. That’s how I ended up with Debra Dixon’s book.

Now I’m doing a rewrite with clear GMCs for the hero and the heroine that are outside of the romantic aspect of the story. It’s a much better novel for sure.

The Blurb

Goal, motivation, and conflict are the foundation of everything that happens in the story world. Using charts, examples, and movies, the author breaks these key elements down into understandable components and walks the reader through the process of laying this foundation in his or her own work.

Learn what causes sagging middles and how to fix them, which goals are important, which aren’t and why, how to get your characters to do what they need for your plot in a believable manner, and how to use conflict to create a good story. GMC can be used not only in plotting, but in character development, sharpening scenes, pitching ideas to an editor, and evaluating whether an idea will work.

Be confident your ideas will work before you write 200 pages.

Plan a road map to keep your story on track.

Discovery why your scenes aren’t working and what to do about it.

Create characters that editors and readers will care about.

My Review

The concept of goals, motivation, and conflict seems easy enough to grasp, but if you’ve never had it explained to you, then it can be difficult for a writer to implement.

Ms. Dixon does a tremendous job of breaking down the meaning and importance of GMCs,  making sure the reader understands its importance by giving many examples of how it’s applied in a novel.

This is a great book for any and all writers, especially those who are new, stuck on a WIP, or unclear about what GMCs are and how to form them for their characters.

I purchased this book from Amazon.

I give this five out of five chocolate bars.