Happy Thursday All, Smokey Mountains in Gaitlinburg, TN, 2013 In writing, editing, critiquing, and being a judge (yes, I've done a little judging for a contest) there's a few things about writing that are true all the way across the board--no matter what genre, no matter if you're a newbie, or best seller, or somewhere in between. Or if you're a "pantser" or a "plotter". And that's organizing your story. Every writer is different and every writer does this differently. I call myself a "half-in-half" writer because I do a little plotting and I do a little pantsering. But the main things every writer needs whether they do it before they write the first draft, or in the editing process are for every important/main character(s) in one's novel: Me, at the NWHRWA Lone Star Conference, 2014 Goal, motivation, conflict. Yes,  GMC that leads to the actual plot. Whether you're writing the hero, heroine, villain, whatever...