Found a way to end pointless debates about character motives at my book club in Chicago

Every month we'd argue for an hour if a character's actions made sense, and nobody agreed on the 'right' read. So last week I suggested we each write down what we thought the character was feeling on a sticky note before any talking. It shut down the debate instantly because we saw everyone had valid takes based on different lines in the book. Has anyone else tried a time limit or a silent vote to keep discussions from dragging?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesleyflores15d ago

Three sticky notes per person might help even more. One for what the character felt, one for what they wanted, and one for what they actually did. Forces everyone to separate intention from action before the talking starts.

iris_schmidt15d ago

Wesley actually talked to me about something similar last week. He was in this writers group where they did the sticky note thing and one guy went totally overboard, ended up with like fifteen notes for one scene and couldn't figure out which one mattered most. Kinda missed the whole point. But the core idea is solid, especially for people who get stuck in their own heads about motivation. Three is a good number because it forces you to pick what actually drives the moment instead of listing every possible feeling and wanting everything all at once.