How to Write: Characters Who Have, uh, Character

Why do we sometimes say that a person we know is "quite a character"? You know the type I'm talking about. This person is distinctive, amusing, mystical, humorous, larger than life,etc. In a word Interesting.

Characters in a book can't be run of the mill. They need to be interesting, so that your readers will want to hang out with them for the course of the book.  No one wants to be exiled to yawnsville when they start reading.

So, how do you make your characters interesting? It's all in the details.

For instance, I recently finished a Middle Grade, but it was based on a story I'd written when I first started writing.  The MC is forced to visit his grandfather who lives in a small town. This is the scene where he meets up with a couple kids down the street. The original reads like this:

   "Hi Tim. It's me Nathan." He didn't say anything.  "I'm here for the summer." Tim kept silent, narrowed his eyes and glared at me. He finally said, "Nice hair-do" in that sarcastic way where you know he doesn't mean it. What's wrong with my hair? I wondered. My hand instantly went to my head. I had just been to the barber. Then I noticed that Tim hadn't had a haircut in a while. At least not a good one.

   "Where's Mikki?" I said. Tim stood up. I noted he was tall for eleven, about the same height as me. Then he just walked away. I was flustered at this cool reception and started kicking small rocks in the street, trying to figure out what to do next. Just as I was about to leave, Mikki walked around the corner with two little girls following behind her. 

What's wrong with it?  Well, besides being boring.....oh, that's enough, it's boring!  Who'd want to hang with these people for a whole book?

This is the current version. You'll notice name changes, a change in the MC's voice and perspective, as well as in the secondary characters. Notice also, the details sprinkled in. 

I’m out of breath. I rest my hands on my knees, feeling stupid. Why didn’t I stop to catch my breath before I rounded the corner looking like a feeble dweeb?

            Mikki and Mason don’t say a word, just stare at me, eyes narrow and searching.

            “Hi Mikki. Hi Mason,” I say once I can breathe again like a normal human being.

            “Well, if it ain’t Owen True.” Mikki's voice is stretched and thin, like she’s forcing herself to be friendly.

            Mason's lips turn up in a smirk. “Nice hair-do.”  My hand automatically brushes across the top of my head. My Mom made me get my hair buzzed for the wedding. Mason snorts then gets up and goes inside. Two little girls come out at the same time, skipping down the steps.

            “Oh crickets,” Mikki says. “Opal and Ruby, you two need to clean up this mess. What do you think this is? A pig pen?” I’m glad she hadn’t asked me.

            Mikki stands up as if to supervise. She props her hands on her waist and her pointy elbows stick out on either side. The triangular spaces remind me of space shuttle wings. I bet she’d like to just fly off if she could. Get outta Haywire. I feel a little sorry for her then.  Even though I’m stuck here for the whole of August, at least I get to leave when it’s over.

I'm hoping this example explains what I'm trying to say, better than my trying to describe the difference. To form interesting characters you need, character arc, felt need, distinctive character voice and details. 

How about you? Do you have anything to add? What do you do to give your characters character?

 

The Tale of Two Authors

 It's The Tale of Two Authors (to quote Nathan Bransford) in which you have one bestselling author, Barry Eisler, passing up a $500,000 deal from a major publisher (St. Martins) in order to self-publish and self-published superstar Amanda Hocking who went the other way and signed with a major traditional publisher, to the tune of a $2 million deal (also St. Martins, though this is probably coincidental).

Is anyone else out there a little confused?

I highly recommend reading the interview Barry Eisler had with Joe Konrath (on the long side, but worth the read) and also Amanda Hocking's take on what she did.  

Barry Eisler had this to say (among a lot of other things) which I found interesting. "Apple sold 15 million iPads in 2010, and the iPad2 just went on sale. And Amazon sold eight million Kindle books in 2010--more digital books, in fact, than paperbacks. Meanwhile, Borders is shuttering 224 stores. So I think it’s safe to say the trends I just mentioned are continuing. And the trends reinforce each other: the Borders in your neighborhood closes, so you try a low-priced digital reader, and you love the lower cost of digital books, the immediate delivery, the adjustable font, etc... and you never go back to paper. The reverse isn’t happening: people aren’t leaving digital for paper. There’s a ratchet effect in favor of digital." 

One of his main beefs is with the price point Legacy publishers are putting e-books at. It is Eiser's belief that lower prices generate higher sales volumes, and that the big publishers have chosen the model agency's prices in order to protect the sales of paper books.

(My own DH has said, that since getting his iphone and finding the joys of reading e-books on it, he'll probably not buy another paper book again. He also buys more e-books now than he did paper books. Ease, convenience and lower price point  are his reasons--much like the point Eisler is making.)

Other reasons Eisler left traditional publishing were their royalties and pricing model and his frustration with how long it took for a book to get on the shelves.

This from Amanda Hocking, who's had some experience with the hard labor associated with self or indie-publishing.  “I want to be a writer,” she said. “I do not want to spend 40 hours a week handling e-mails, formatting covers, finding editors, etc. Right now, being me is a full-time corporation.”

Other reasons she went back to traditional publishing is her desire to see her books in bookstores. Her readers are looking for her books there, and she wants them to find them there. She's looking for visible branding a la James Patterson. She's also frustrated with the standard of editing she's found in indie publishing.

However, it's interesting to note that she only sold one series to St. Martins. She still plans on self-publishing some of her other titles. 

That's right--she's doing both.

Publishing isn't boring, that's for sure. What do you think about all of this?

How To Write: Look Who's Talking -- What is Voice?

Last week I touched on how I write Character Arc, (see link for disclaimer) with a promise to follow up with voice this week.

First of all, we have to keep in mind that there are two kinds of writing voice: the author's voice and character voice.

Trying to teach someone how to write Author's voice is like trying to teach someone how to hold onto a slippery amphibian--it's a hard concept to grab onto. Author's voice is the feel of a book, what make's it distinctively one writer's story over another. It's the choice of words, and flow; it's the cadence and style.  The elements of voice are hard to pinpoint. Think about John Grisham or Stephen King, Danielle Steele or Helen Fielding--all great writers, but completely different in style. You know when you're reading a John Grisham book, just what kind of book to expect. Not because of branding but because of how he writes.

How do you find your voice? By writing. I remember the moment when I realized, Hey, This is my voice! It happened after I had written a lot of different stuff. In fact, I'll admit it happened while writing CLOCKWISE. Everything I wrote before that lack a certain something. Mostly I was copying other writers that I admired. My work sounded a lot like whatever author I'd been reading at the time. Then suddenly, my work started sounding like me.

This doesn't mean a writer can only write in one genre, or else they'll lose their voice. Once you've found your voice it'll follow you, no matter the genre.

For Character voice,  we're talking about something different. We're talking about what each and every one of your characters talk and act like.   Beginning writers often default to the character voice they know best, their own. They have a very strong tendency to give all their characters their own personality. They all say what ever is said, the way the author herself would say them. Do you know what I mean? Have you done this?

So when writing character voice, you need to know your characters a little bit before starting. Do they have a chip on their shoulder? Are they depressed? Are they in love? Are they fighters? Or givers?  You need to know something that will shape how your characters speak. See my post on Felt Need for more on this.

I just finished a light paranormal YA novel where the main character starts off the story overly self-confident. Of course this attribute is shaken up as the story progresses, but it shapes how she sees the world and it comes through in her voice, whether it's inner dialogue or spoken word.

What I usually do in second to final drafts, and what I did with this ms, is go through each main and secondary character's conversations from start to finish, by putting their name in FIND. I should be able to identify each speaker by how they talk, and not just by the dialogue tag.

For instance in this ms I had three characters vying for the protag's attention (for differing reasons). One character was the boy next door, the guy the MC grew up with. He spoke with a lot of slang, like gonna, wanna, and modern vernacular. The main love interest was more formal with his behavior and speech and the one who turned out to be the antagonist was very forward and brash in his encounters with the MC.

As I searched for each of their names, I checked to make sure that each one had his own speech pattern. I had to make some adjustments at this point. It's interesting to note that I wasn't aware of these distinctives as I started the first draft--their characters defined themselves in the writing. I honed in on their differences in the revision process.


Any questions? How do you define voice?

I Have Morning Face and Other Random Monday Ramblings

I have morning face. You know you're starting to get old when your face takes longer to bounce back in the morning.  You need to get up earlier in order to give your face more time to recover, but your face needs more time to recover when you don't get enough sleep because you have to get up earlier.

It's a vicious circle.

 Whenever I come across something interesting on the blog I think I may use for fodder down the road, I save the link in a document called Blog 2. (I don't remember why it's called that, or whatever happened to Blog 1).  I may never getting around to blogging these great ideas, so I thought I'd just clean out Blog 2 doc and list them here for your viewing pleasure.

How Much is Just Too Much for an Author to Do? This is a topic much agonized over by many authors and Arielle Ford, writer and publicist, gives her opinion. "I'm not sure I can take in any more information on what I need to do next to succeed as an author using social media and internet marketing. I think it's all just too much for one mere author to handle."

If you're still not sure about how to get published, Rachelle Gardner gives us her definitive post. "I get emails every day asking for advice on getting published or getting an agent. This is the post for people needing an entry-level introduction to publishing."

And when you've done all you can do to get yourself social networked, Nathan Bransford poses the question: Have Blogs Peaked? "I have no stats to prove it nor expert analysis to cite, but is it just me or are things quietier in the blogosphere?" You have to read the comments to get the most out of this discussion.

Do you have questions about Point of View? I thought about writing a blog post about it, but then came across Ingrid Sundberg's post and felt I could never say it better than this.

You've probably heard about Amanda Hocking--the accidental e-book millionaire? The blog is all a buzz about her and others like her and how they made it big in self-publishing. Well, Amanda has a few things to say about that and they're worth listening carefully to.

Nozomi from Write Hope, an international group of Kidlit writers with a connection to Japan.  is organizing another auction to help Japanese survivors, especially the children.

SHOW ME THE VOICE! Blog fest at Kayeleen's Creation Corner is also a contest being judged by Natalie Fischer of the Bradford Lit agency.  The deadline is today if you're interested in getting in on this.


And finally, for you singer/songwriters out there (or maybe you just sing or just write) the  Tribehouse Collective (of which my husband is a part) is hosting a Johnny Cash Bash. Make a video of yourself singing a Johnny Cash Cover and send it in. The details of how and most importantly, why, are found in this youtube video.

Margaret Atwood and the Publishing Pie

Margaret Atwood and the Publishing Pie

 If you haven't see this yet, it's worth your 20 minutes to watch. Very insightful with a dash of humor!






Happy Weekend!

AUCTION: Authors For Japan

If you haven't already heard, authors have stepped up to the plate again to help those in dire need. (Remember the flooding in Nashville last year and the loads of money raised for that caused by authors and other members of the writing community? Well, they're at it again!)

Checkout the site Authors for Japan for your opportunity to bid on awesome items donated by many generous authors. This effort is based out of England and calculated in English pounds, but a quick conversion link is provided.

Have fun!

How To Write: Those Darn Characters and making sure there's an ARC

According to Google Stats,  three out of ten of my most visited blog posts are How To Write. So I thought I'd write another one today on Writing Good Characters. (Caveat- this is a How To Write Like I Do.)

I'll fess up and say I've avoided teaching about Character, because, well, it's complicated. And everyone has their own process. So, I have to ask myself, How do I write character? Because I do write it. But how? What's my internal process?

So, this is kind of sort of how I do it.

Let's start with the main character. The process is basically the same for all the secondary characters.


First of all, after thinking and planning out my story,  I get a sense just through my imagining, what the main character looks like. (And of course, whether male or female. For this study I'll go with female). I nail down the basics: height, weight, hair. Then I give her a name. This is subject to change as I get to know her and what the story demands. In fact all my first assumptions about my characters are subject to change (and they usually do).

I know a lot of people will do character study lists at this point, including deep emotional questions like what's their biggest fear, what's their favorite food, etc, and it works for them, but for me, I can't do this up front. These kinds of deeper questions are answered in the writing of the story so I like to do those deeper lists on the second draft.

So for the first draft, besides basic looks and name I try to determine the Felt Need. This is a concept that I seem to understand better than simply motive or  motto. Felt Need to me is  that deep underlying need that propels them through each day. I can ususally figure this out easily once I've mapped out some to the story, even if that info is all in my head.

For instance, in CLOCKWISE, the protag's felt need is to be normal. She laments because of her inability to control the fact that she's a time traveler and how inconvenient this "gift" is. Once I determined her felt need, I gave her other problems or self-perceptions that fed into that belief system. She's too tall, too skinny, her knees are knobby, her hair is too big and curly. And because of these personal problems, she's also believes she's unworthy of the affections of the "cutest boy in the school".

Other examples of felt need: the need to belong, the need to feel safe, the need for acceptance, the need to find something, like a loved one or the truth.

Then I determine the Character Arc. Characters need to change as the story progresses.  My character in CLOCKWISE  can't be the same person by the time the book ends. All of the conflicts and crises she goes through in the story must bring change to her character. This happens gradually over the course of the manuscript. By the end of the book, the protag sees herself much differently. She's grown into her scrawniness and likes her new curves, she doesn't mind her hair, she's accepted her brand of normal and that she is worthy of the cute boy's affections. I try to nail down the basic character traits and the arc path before I start writing. Sometimes these are revealed as I write. Or at least, become more clear.

Any questions? How do you approach writing character?

Next week I'll discuss Character Voice.

Can you give up an indulgence for Japan?

I know I'm not the only one to appeal for the plight of Japan. Images on TV and the internet over the weekend recording the devastation that occurred with the earthquakes and tsunamis and the crisis that is ongoing are unimaginable.

My challenge to myself when something terrible happens like this is to give up a personal budget item--an indulgence, for one month and instead give that money to the Red Cross.

It could be your monthly latte budget, or shoe budget or even book budget. It's hard for me to stand by and say I can't afford to give anything to help a nation in dire need when I'm drinking Chai Tea Lattes at Starbucks once a week, or etc. It's a small temporal sacrifice, but if we all do a little it can add up to a whole lot.

The Red Cross makes it really easy to give. You can even do it with paypal.

Click on these links to give and do it now if you haven't already. Red Cross America and Red Cross Canada.

If you are from a country other than Canada or the USA just type Red Cross and the name of your country into your browser.

Or if you have another charity agency that is helping the Japan crisis and you'd rather give that way, go for it!

I pray for the nation of Japan and all the people there. But action along side of prayer is a good idea too.

Friday Four or Five

1. I have a new favorite chocolate: Lindt Excellence SEA SALT dark. So good. Love.

 2. Even though I unplugged last week, I didn't get a whole lot done. At least it doesn't feel like it. I guess I thought with all the extra time I'd get to things like cleaning and stuff. Instead I just wrote. It was weird not having extra email to wake up to, and actually, it's kind of boring and lonely not being on line. I miss you guys! Still, it's good to disengage once in a while, and use that extra time to think.

3. Back to the part where I wrote. Well, it's more like revised. Like I said before, I'm working on an old wip. I'm  happy to say I was able to figure out where it was going wrong structurally, (thanks to Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet--see his book Saving The Cat!) and also that I was doing too much telling. Knowing what I need to do to and actually doing it are two different things. It's amazing how long you can stare at a paragraph that needs fixing and not actually fix it. (slaps hand. my bad)

4. Hubby and I started going to the gym once a week.  This is due to my Younger Next Year commitment to adding more exercise to my lifestyle. So that's Yoga, once a week and weights once a week. Plus I'm working out with Billy Blanks's Taebo video once a week. That's 3 times of the YNY 6 times a week goal. My own goal is 5 times. With spring on its way (YAY and it's about time!!), I can add biking and hiking. That's the plan, anyway. And yes, I'm stiff and sore.

5. In case you haven't seen this yet-- Why you should marry a good speller. SO FUNNY!





Happy Weekend Everyone!

The Submissions Quandary

You finally get an agent. Who-hoo victory dance!! You work hard on edits to get your baby shiny pink and cleaned, ready to go out on SUBS, aka submission to editors.

This is it! You just know it. A quick sale is just around the corner. Right? Look at all those stories. On the blog. On Facebook. Twitter. Writers get agents and quick sales All. The. Time.

Not so. In fact, for every author who gets an agent and sells within a few months, there are many, many, many more who take a lot longer. Sometimes years longer.  Sometimes, when they finally sell, it's not that first shiny pink baby.

If you thought seeking an agent and dealing with rejection on that front is bad (and it is), wait until you start getting editor rejections. No fun at all.

Plus, there's some kind of gag order in the blogosphere that says, we can't talk about it. Must suffer in silence. Because we don't want editors who check out our blog to see how long we've been out. Looks bad. (I guess, except that it's so NORMAL to be out for a long time, so I'm not sure why it looks bad.) Natalie Whipple has broken silence on this topic.

Here's how it works:

1) Elation. Your work is finally being read by real, honest-to-goodness editors.

2) Terror. Your work is finally being read by real, honest-to-goodness editors.

3) Hope Rises.  Surely the first editor who reads your baby will be filled with as much love as you are.

4) Hope Nose Dives. First pass. Editor not feeling the love.

5) Fall into black hole. Spend hours/days/weeks there.

6) Pull yourself out of black hole. You're fine. It was only one editor. You still have x left.

7) Second pass.

8) Fall into black hole. Spend hours/days/weeks there.

9) Repeat.


What happens if you don't make a sale on your first round? Well, you'll run through your ms again, tweak it based on any feedback you may have gotten and then probably go out on a second round.

You start the cycle again, except you rename step one. Elation  is now Cautiously Optimistic.

That's where I'm at now. Step One. Cautiously Optimistic. Except this time, I'd rather avoid regular shoves into the black hole, thank you very much. I've asked Agent Awesomeness to kindly not inform me of any passes this time around.  I'll wait around for good news and keep my emotions level enough to be functional in my life whatever hat I happen to be wearing.

Should we get to the end of the list with no offers? Well, I guess I'm prepared for one good push into the black hole. But one is better than many.  Last time I was sure I wanted to know. This time I'm sure I don't.

How about you? Are you really ready to go out?

The Scandal I Missed

 So, I took a week off and apparently I missed out on a "big scandal".  It's the old debate on whether authors, aspiring or otherwise, should be book reviewers. Apparently some book reviewers aren't very kind. Apparently some authors with so-called clout are threatening to shoot a reviewer's career aspirations down. This has a few legit reviewers running scared.

Sounds like a made for TV movie.

As an aspiring author I have chosen not to be a book reviewer. This is why I no longer give stars on Goodreads. If I don't like a book, I just don't put it on my list.

On the other hand, I value honest thoughtful book reviews. I want to know what other people are thinking about the books that are being released. It helps me to choose because, frankly, I don't have time to read them all. There's just too many.

That said, book reviewers need to take a professional, non-emotional approach to writing negative reviews. They must not attack the author. If they don't like a book, fine, tell us why. But be professional. Be nice about it. Authors are people too.

But, some may say, how would I feel if my book is published and gets bad reviews?

It would suck. However, I'm not expecting every reader to like my books, in the same way that some people love books I don't like so much. We're not robots. We have opinions. This is a good thing and muffling book reviewers because some author might feel bad about a negative book review is not the answer. And authors who attack reviewers because they don't like the bad review are just as bad as reviewers who attack authors while reviewing their book.

If you're professional enough to get published, you're professional enough to take your reviews on the chin--good or bad. Otherwise, maybe you should pick another career.

Besides, you never hear of an author bemoaning a good book review. We depend on book reviewers to help get word out about our books. It would be a shame if all the book reviewers closed shop out of fear of not realizing their own writing dreams.

Have you heard about this debate? What are your thoughts?

Update: Thanks to Jennifer Shirk who sent me this link and may explain what the hoopla re: YA Mafia is/isn't all about better than I can. (since I missed the scandal after all)