I got engaged on an unseasonably warm November night beneath a huge oak tree. Upon hearing of my engagement, my dad did two things: First, he signed up for ballroom dance lessons. Second, he read everything he could on great toasts and how to give one.

Eleven months later, on my wedding day, my dad and I danced to The Temptations’ “My Girl”–a modified fox trot that we rehearsed over many Saturdays in my parents’ basement. And he blessed us with a toast that made me laugh and squeezed my heart.

But it didn’t stop there.

In the years since those first dance lessons, my dad has waltzed, tangoed and salsa’d his way through countless receptions, concerts, parties and gatherings. To this day, if there is music and a dance floor–no matter how small–you’ll find my parents gliding and whirling across it.

And the toasts have continued as well. He still delights in finding a particularly perfect wicked, witty, heart-felt and/or hilarious tribute to share. (My favorite: May those who love us, love us. And those who don’t, may God turn their hearts. And if he doesn’t turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we will know them by their limping.)

When I got engaged, my dad decided to learn to dance, but he’s kept dancing long afterward. The same with the toasts. My engagement drove him to try something new and very specific. It was an inciting incident for him.

Every story begins with an inciting incident. The plot moves forward as the characters act on and react to that incident. In the case of my dad, my engagement not only drove him to learn to dance and to boost his public-speaking skills for my wedding, but it also affected him long afterward. I think it’s the same in great novels. The best stories show how individual characters act, react, evolve and change from the inciting incident on through the course of the story.

I’m trying to keep that top-of-mind as I write. Who are my characters and what drives them? What’s their emotional reaction to the inciting incident? What is the first thing they want to do–their first impulse–when the incident occurs? Do they act on it? How? If not, what do they do instead? What happens next? How do other characters react to the actions of others? How can I make those actions/reactions as unique and specific to each character as possible?

It might seem daunting, but the result is so worth it. And when I get too overwhelmed by it, I just try to think of my dad, going from the man with the mean hip shake to a waltzing dynamo.

© 2018 Rachel Martin. All Rights Reserved.