What's Your Character Waiting For? Quick Writing Ideas

We spend a good portion of our lives waiting for something to happen. According to this article in The Washington Post, the average person spends one to two years just waiting in lines. *Fun side note: Stephen King carries paperbacks in his back pocket for this reason.

"Wait for it... wait for it..." ~ SpongeBob SquarePants & me, when hoping for Stephen-King-like-success

It's not just the 'little waits' to consider, though how your MC behaves during a long wait might give insight into her character. Think about the BIG waits, too. Writers have MANY of these--waiting for the query response, the agent, the book deal, the release, the best sellers list. Writing is as much a waiting game as it is a, well, writing one.

But everybody waits. Sometimes. (Hurts, too).

Here are some ideas for what your character could be waiting for:

• The best date ever to call... ring, phone, ring

• The New Year's Eve Party where the handsome stranger from last year promised she'd have someone to kiss

• The test results to come back

• His boss to take the poisoned pills from the Excedrin bottle

• The scandalous newspaper article to come out

• A call from an agent, producer, bank manager, probation officer

• Someone to come home

• The beam to give way, plunging her to her death

• The election, publication, hearing, trial

• The acceptance call/letter/email to college, Chopped, Jeopardy, Married at First Sight, Mensa, Space Camp... whatever

• The monster to fall asleep. Goodnight, sweet Grendel.

• The voices to stop

• The coffee to brew... Need energy for writing

To raise the stakes and heighten tensions, let your main character wait for something... and when she finally gets it, maybe it's not what she wants anymore... or she doesn't get it, and she has to rethink her life.

Please don't make us wait for your brilliant waiting ideas... share below! What is your character waiting for?

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