Weekly Writing Tip

Characters. They can make you grin or pull out your hair in frustration.


    Last week we talked about naming our characters. It's easier than naming your own children but by just a fraction. :) 

    This week lets talk about the psychological make up of your character. Uh, oh. My character isn't crazy, he's not an axe murderer why do we have to analyze him? Because we need to know what makes your character tick. Everyone has quirks, habits they perform, things that set them off because of events in their lives and a great character 'experiences' those same problems.

    Now, with that being said, the reader may not know everything you know. Just because you know your character to drink three cups of strong coffee and a single piece of toast for breakfast, doesn't mean it might ever make it into the story. The reader doesn't need to know all that is mundane, just what pertains to the story.

     So why bother to know so many details? Because it adds depth and realism to your character. If you understand your character than you know what they will do in situations, how they will react, what emotional response they will have and you will be able to convey this information in a way that captures our emotions and makes us care about your character. There's nothing worse than having a character that no one cares about it. The readers have to care about your characters to care about your story. 

     To start figuring out your character write down this information; where they live, what job do they have, what job would they like to have, what foods they like and what foods they don't like, do they have a pet and how do they treat that pet, their family and the thing they hate most. What are their views and how do those views effect their outlook on life? 

     You don't have to write a complete diary or a novel on your character. You would never have time to write the story if you did that but write a couple of pages just to start to understand your character, realizing that you can add to it as you write the story or even change things if you decide something would work better. You can also write down slang or certain pieces of dialogue they are prone to use. 

     The idea here is to have a reference guide of your character. To add depth to the why your character does certain things. It can also help keep characters consistent if you take the time to write their details down, then as you write the story you can refer back to it as you need to. 

      Remember, this is your character and they need to seem real, like they could step right off the page and into someone's living room. Know the mundane of your character but focus on what makes them likable (or unlikable if need be) and human.

Just a Musing...

Lunar Eclipse and Freezing in the Cold...

       Monday night and into Tuesday morning I was shivering under layers of clothing and a thick blanket watching the slowly disappearing full moon. It was wonderful and agonizing slow. I've never seen a lunar eclipse and didn't realize that they stretch over a bit of time. Or at least it seems a bit slow when your toes are going numb and your nose is as bright as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer's. Brrr. 

      But it was worth it. I'm not going to try to wax poetry here, it isn't my strong point in writing, but the moon was beautiful. A wispy winter cloud cover made it difficult to see the copper orb high above us, but binoculars helped us see more of its awesome red color. And slowly as the minutes past, more and more of the moon faded from the sky. 

     The night was still, the city was quiet. And the Earth was blocking the sunlight from hitting the moon and so for a few minutes in time, the sun, Earth and moon were in alignment. Does it mean anything? I don't know. Some cultures and religions put significance on the event. Is it cool? Completely. When else can you be reminded of how small you are in the universe than when you're watching heavenly bodies line up all in a row?      

      We are all part of something much bigger than we can even imagine. 

     As the moon was nearly completely blocked and had turned a lovely copper color, I woke the kids from their warm beds and they hurried into boots, coats, and mittens. They were ready to see a full lunar eclipse on the night of the winter solstice. My youngest looked at it for a few minutes with a huge grin and then went promptly back to the bed. My oldest pondered the mysteries of the universe through the glass of a heavy set of binoculars and then joked about greeting the start of winter because it seemed just as cold yesterday when it was Fall. Around here winter tends to kick Fall out on her arse a little early. Grin. 

      Twinkle, twinkle little star...because we start to ponder the sky above us from birth. 

     On another brief musing...Last week I wrote about miracles. And it's fascinating me, must be the season. But I came across this quote that I would like to share. 

 “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

 Albert Einstein

Merry Christmas to everyone. 

Weekly Writing Tip

Characters. 

Do you have one? Or the faint shadow of one?

      Why do we love stories? Obviously, the plot plays an important part. If you don't have at least a decent plot with all loose ends tied and knotted than you're going to have trouble building a readership. Readers are easily disappointed and will remember if you finished your story by making up something crazy at the end or forgetting to address one of your subplots. Also, you can't rearrange the basics of science or life, unless it's your own world and you have built it up that way. But we'll talk about plot at a later entry. 

      Today we're going to talk about characters and their development. Think about why you love some stories. Yes, the plot was probably good and the writing was more than likely interesting but it's the characters that live in our minds way after the story is finished. If we care about the characters, if what happens to them in the story affects our emotions than we'll remember the story far after the words, 'the end.' 

       So how to make characters that come alive off the page and stay with your readers? You have to know them first. They're your characters, develop them. Think about their name. Most characters carry names that show a bit of their personalities or quirks. Pick a strong name for your alpha males. Choose a elegant name for your lady, unless she's wild and unconventional and than perhaps go by a nickname that reflects her playful attitude. 

       If they carry an unusual or an old fashioned name, explain it. Put a bit of the story around it, make it important. Do a bit of research, what does the name mean? Sometimes you can choose a name for it's meaning rather than just the sound of the name. A great source for names is the Internet, check out any baby naming website. Or the phone book can be an informative location. Parents spend a lot of time stringing names together that sound pleasing to the ear and it can make finding a name easy. (It's also a great way to unblock a muse that doesn't want to give up any names.)

      Don't forget the culture of your character. If it's important to the parents of your character, then a cultural significant name may be valuable to your story. If you're writing historical fiction, names need to be given a bit of thought. The popularity of names go through cycles, so perhaps Doris isn't one of the most popular names of today but in other time periods it would have been. Search the web for the most popular names of today or during certain years.

       Religion can also be a factor in choosing the 'right' name for your character. Especially if you're writing a historical piece. Or if you're writing about characters from other cultures. 

       Memorable names are vital. Think of some of the great classics, Little Women, Tom Sawyer, Anne of Green Gables. Even comic book heroes have awesome names that can be unforgettable. Superman, Spiderman, Wolverine. The characters are with us long after we finish the book. So name your characters with thought, care, and with fun. :)
      

Just a Musing...

Miracles.

Since it's the Christmas season I thought a musing on miracles would be fitting and easy. Whew, was I wrong. Once I started thinking about miracles and the meanings and reasons and origins of such things I was struck by how much punch this one little word can pack. 

First of all...I love the word 'miracle.' It's a strong sounding word. Powerful. Elegant looking. 

And then there's the meaning. From Wikipedia, "A miracle is an unexpected event attributed to divine intervention." Wow, not a shallow definition by any means. It's also one that could be debated, picked apart and used universally in most if not all cultures and religions. 

So using the word to say, 'darn, it will be a miracle if I get these dishes done' is perhaps a misuse of such a powerful and meaningful word, unless of course I have divine help in accomplishing such a mundane task. Which you never know... :) 

I read Guideposts magazine every month and there's always stories on miracles. Perhaps one has to have faith to believe in miracles, otherwise it would be easy to dismiss the event as either a coincidence or good luck. Or maybe the cynics would say we only have miracles because we think there is more than what one can feel and touch and see. The hateful would say miracles can't happen because why wouldn't they happen for everything. Protect us from anything. 

     I say I don't have all the answers. It does seem like the more answers I find, I find ten times as many questions to go with them. But I believe in miracles. Not lightly because I don't have answers but because it simply makes sense to me. 

     Once when my children were little, I inadvertently left the tub full while I dried them off and then forgot about it. Well, my toddler, who couldn't climb out of the tub without assistance fell in but I didn't hear it. Suddenly, this wet and soggy toddler appears, unfazed in the hallway needing a new set of clothing and I realized with only the horror a parent can experience in the deepest halls of their hearts, that something horrible had almost happened. But it didn't. Is there an explanation? Possibly. Perhaps, just once my toddler managed to climb out of a tub, even though everything was wet and slippery.    

      Unlikely. 

      Perhaps, they didn't fall all the way in even though they were totally wet.    

      Grimace. 

      Perhaps, it's a miracle and one I never take for granted. 

      A search on miracle and books will provide quite a list of books about miracles of all sorts. I haven't read many of them. I think the most wonderful fictional book I ever read about miracles was a children's book, 'The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.' By Susan Wojciechowski. The story is bittersweet but more sweet at the end than bitter and the illustrations by PJ Lynch are a pleasure to look at. This book gets read more than once during the month of December. 

       Miracles. A topic that deserves more than just a blog entry.

Monday Musings...

Do you remember the little paragraph in the front of the book stating that this is a work of fiction and all characters are totally made up and in no way, shape or form relate to anyone real? It's a pretty sweeping disclaimer to protect the author and the publisher from people, typically that know you but not always that think you're picking on them. It's an important paragraph to have on you, that way at those family thingys where people wear their quirks on their shirt sleeves, you can whip it out like a three hundred pound shield and read it to them. Trust me, I know I will have to at some point. 

     One year, I wore a t-shirt from Signals. It says, 'Careful, or you'll end up in my novel.' I think it's a fair warning. Because, let the truth be known, but I'm a writer and if I get mad at you, my revenge will be with words. Wahahaha!!!     

     Just be glad I'm not a singer/songwriter then you would find yourself in a song. How horrible would that be, to break up with someone and then a year down the line know that their number one hit song is about how much they hate you? I'm glad hero hottie gave up his band aspirations before we met. Whew. 

      But anyway, back on track. I wore this shirt to his side of the family and someone, they will remain unnamed in case they ever read this, read it and their face dropped, they grew pale, eyes wide with panic and they asked in a horrified voice, "Are you going to write me as the evil witch?"

     "No, of course not." I replied, that would make that little disclaimer at the front of my book a lie. A farce. A planted piece of evidence to protect my guilt. 

     Except, as a writer, we use things that happen to us as ideas, character flaws, plot grippers, tidbits to add depth to the story. We use everything. And even though I wouldn't write a character solely based on one person, they would be an imaginary character to begin with, and then I might take things from the people around me to round them out, I can't say that something that has happened to me isn't ever going to be a story. You may not recognize it by the time I mold it, squeeze it, and shape it to fit my story but writers write about what they know, but especially what they feel. 

       So I guess the moral of this tale is if you wouldn't want it in a song or in a book, then should you be doing it? And I suppose the other moral is don't make a writer mad, they just might slip you into their book and you might just end up locked in a tower or melting from a bucket of water. Wahahaha!!!

    (To clarify, I would never actually write anything revealing or mean about the people around me, I write fiction. It isn't my autobiography. :)