Words

Recently, I was hornswoggled coerced invited to play Words With Friends, which, if you haven't heard of it, is an on-line Scrabble game, where you play against another opponent. As time sucks go, it probably has slightly more redeeming value than Angry Birds.

I also subscribe to the "Word of the Day" from Dictionary.com, and I get a random vocabulary word in my email each day. I post these to my Facebook wall, and some of my readers over there have fun coming up with alternative definitions.

Now, knowing obscure words might help when you're playing Scrabble. (Especially if you're savvy enough to understand the strategy of using all those bonus scoring spots on the board—I'm not.) And what about knowing the meaning of those Words of the Day?

Cooking With Characters

What I'm reading: Too Close to Home, by Lynette Easton

Today, I'm over at "Chicklets in the Kitchen" talking about characters and cooking. I hope you'll pop over and leave a comment, even if it's just to say hello. (There's a recipe!) And why not send some of your friends over. (In case this post goes up before hers does, PLEASE make a note to go back later.)

Normally, I try to blog even on days when I'm a guest elsewhere, but sometimes, you just need a day off to deal with all the other aspects of writing, which right now include workshop proposals and "lessons" for my February workshop on Point of View at Savvy Authors.

And take a peek at this new site for mystery books for the Kindle. Don't you just LOVE the banner? Kudos to daughter Jessica for putting it together at very short notice. One quick question. When you visit a blog or website, do you click on images? Just curious to see whether people are aware that the banner is a clickable link.

Tomorrow, I'll have the writing duo of Alicia and Roy Street talking about how a marriage can survive being writing partners. And while they're here, I'm going to be a guest at Sarah Butland's blog, so plan to leave yourself a little extra time for your blog hopping!

Like this post? Please share by clicking one of the links below.

Caring About Characters.

First -- Happy Birthday, Jason. Hard to believe you've hit the Big Four Oh. 

Next, I'm a guest blogger at Just Romantic Suspense today, and there's a giveaway. Pop on over and leave a comment. 

Once a week, Hubster and I watch a Netflix movie. Since we've never been big moviegoers, we have a lot of "new to us" movies to pick from. And we just put whatever strikes our fancy in the queue, because trying to find something we know we'll both like would make choosing a movie a challenge. Our only "rule" is that we each promise to give the movie 15 minutes. So, if I pick a romantic comedy, or he picks a slapstick, we're not obligated to sit through the other person's movie. Often, rather than leave the room, we'll have laptops out and divide our attention between the movie and solitaire.

Recently, we've watched a series of train movies. We saw the remake of The Taking of Pelham 123, which we liked, so I ordered Unstoppable. When I tweeted the latter as our Netflix Nite selection, someone suggested Runaway Train a 1985 movie, so that went into the queue.

Unstoppable was pretty much the same story as Runaway Train. Both had the same basic conflict. A train was out of control and if it wasn't stopped, bad stuff would happen. The people responsible were of two sorts—those who had reasonable solutions, and those who were more concerned with saving face for the company.

Unstoppable was a compelling movie. Hubster left his laptop on the coffee table. Runaway Train should have been a compelling movie, but solitaire got more attention than the screen. Why? Runaway Train got decent reviews when it came out, but I wouldn't have given one, and it had nothing to do with the performances of the actors.

Develop Those Characters

What I'm reading: Pray for Silence, by Linda Castillo; Crazy for Love, by Victoria Dahl

Thanks to Maryn for her post yesterday. I'm working on re-editing a backlist book so I can publish it when I get my rights back. It was the first book I had published—and actually, the first book I wrote, although it had been rewritten countless times before being picked up by the publisher. Anyway, I know exactly what she's talking about. And don't forget – you have until Friday to leave a comment to win a book. Since she's giving two books away, that doubles the odds that you'll win.

And don't forget the summer sale at Smashwords. What's in a Name? is 25% off, but only until the end of July.

In my blog hopping the other day, I came across two posts talking about developing characters. One used worksheets and questionnaires, and suggested spending a LOT of time getting to know characters before putting words on the page, including suggestions to spend ten minutes writing and reflecting on the character. This, while it might work for some, is a total turnoff to me. If I'm going to write for ten minutes, I want to be working on the WIP.

The other said you could do that, but it wouldn't create the depth of character you'd achieve by looking at how your characters behaved, and that you have to write beyond the character notes. If I may quote their guest blogger, Harry Bingham:

First of all, character emerges from every tiny detail. Those little snippets of dialogue. The humour. Weird little choices of vocabulary. You can’t get those things from writing character notes, you just get to them by writing the character. Letting yourself sink into the moment.

Character Quirks

What I'm reading: Burn, by Nevada Barr

Thanks to Laurin for her excellent advice on making settings matter. Settings are excellent ways to show more about your characters.

My recent visit home triggered some thoughts about other ways to approach dealing with the characters who populate our novels. We've all met people with identifying characteristics. Sometimes it's physical appearance. Sometimes it's an unconscious gesture. Sometimes it's speech patterns.

All of the above are ways to help your reader see and understand your character. But what about some other idiosyncrasies? Does your character have an endearing habit? What about an annoying one? Is the character aware of how the habit might affect other characters on the page? Does he care?

You know those clever little magnets that you put on the dishwasher that say "clean" on one side and "dirty" on the other? In our house, they would have been a waste of money because my mother never left clean dishes in the dishwasher. As soon as it finished running, it was emptied. The one night she complained about how tired she was, but couldn't go to bed until the dishwasher finished, my dad told her she could do it in the morning. No go. We finally agreed to wait until the cycle was over, and one of us would empty it.

Character Frustrations

First, a few reminders:

Thanks to LaVerne for her post. She's giving away a book, so scroll down, read her post, and leave a comment. Winner announced on Saturday.

FREE STUFF. Leave a comment over at my post at the Guide to Literary Agents blog, and you're entered to win a free book. Enter my "Grab Bag" contest, and win a whole bunch of stuff, from books to bookmarks to cover flats. Click the Contest tab above.

CHEAP STUFF. 20% OFF What's in a Name and When Danger Calls at Smashwords and All Romance eBooks. This one expires April 17th, so take advantage of the reduced prices while they last. Of course, the books are also available at Amazon's Kindle store, and even without the discount, they're only $2.99. Click the Deals and Steals tab above.

One of the points I made in my blog at the Guide to Literary Agents, which was about characters, was that you should kick them out of their comfort zone. I wonder how my characters might have dealt with what should have been a very simple problem, easily fixed.

I've had issues with the cell phone I bought when we moved here. Given our remote location, there's only one provider, so choices were limited (not to mention the cell reception up here is terrible anyway), so even with this provider, there's no point in using a cell phone at home. But it's something I like to have when I'm away.

So, about two weeks ago, I noticed that the external button that's supposed to control the volume wasn't working. And, if I wanted to text someone and turned the phone sideways to get the larger touch screen keyboard, it wouldn't display what I'd typed. I stopped in at the closest store, and the clerk agreed the phone (actually this was phone #4 in less than a year) needed to be replaced. But, of course, they can't do that at the store, so I could either drive an hour down to the Springs and hang around there (speaking from experience—first and last trip took over 3 hours), or call customer service. She documented the problem in my file, and told me to request a different phone entirely.

Have You Hugged Your Characters Today?

My guest today is author Ellis Carrington, who's telling us about the importance of loving your characters.

I recently acquired a fabulous audio book called Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee. I love it for two reasons: The first is that the author’s soothing voice never fails to lull my kids to sleep at naptime, but also it has a TON of fabulous principles that can be applied equally well to those of us who write books as well as screenplays.

One of those principles has to do with the importance of a writer loving their characters. Makes sense, right? He points out that sometimes you can really tell that a writer hated a particular character when they write it, and that’s no good. “Absolutely,” I murmured, as my head bounced in agreement like one of those bobble-head dolls. “Why would you write a character you don’t like?”

And then one day I am reading critique notes from a fellow writer on a novel I had written. “Your protagonist is dull,” he tells me. WHAT?? Why I never… Oh, but wait a minute. He’s right. All along I had known that there was a little something missing from the character and I couldn’t put my finger on what, but that was it: I didn’t like him.

OMG!! How did I not realize that??? And as Robert McKee said, why did I create him if I didn’t? Well I think the answer lies in the big mistake that a lot of rookie writers make. I created a character in my own image. Not entirely, of course (he’s a vampire for crying out loud, whereas I routinely enjoy sunlight), but many of the things I didn’t like about him were things I didn’t like about myself and I wasn’t really giving him the respect of his own personality. Moreover, I felt pity toward the guy. So I wasn’t willing to torture him sufficiently to give her story the tension it needed.

Tools of the Trade

What I'm reading: Love is Murder, by Allison Brennan

A couple of weeks ago, my printer died. Then, last week, my keyboard decided that hitting a key would produce a random response. No telling what you'd get, if anything.

Both of those tools are critical for my work. I have backups—there's another printer in Hubster's office, although it's not a color printer. I have a laptop, and we have an old keyboard. Although I wasn't dead in the water, working wasn't the same.

My solutions? A refurbished printer just like my old one is on its way (I have almost new cartridges of toner, and this way, I'm not out the mega-bucks they cost.) I found a new keyboard. It's not quite the same. It was a trade-off of getting one that worked immediately, or driving all the way down to the Springs to see if there was a better selection at Office Depot. Or going on line and ordering something that might not be what I wanted, or would take too long to get here. There's a bit of adjusting to the new keyboard, beyond simply the feel of the keys. The function keys aren't all the same, and the mouse doesn't have all the same hot buttons. Some of the extra keys aren't where they were on the old keyboard.

But I can work.

What about your characters? They all have their own tools. What happens when you take some (or all) of them away? How do they cope? Do they give up? Go get new ones? Make do with something else?

No Mary Sues Allowed

Since I was talking about heroes last week, I thought it only fair to include heroines as well.

One thing we've all been warned against is the TSTL heroine. (Too Stupid to Live, should you not be up to speed on all the acronyms.) This is the heroine who goes down into the dark basement to see what the noise is—when she's aware there's a killer in the neighborhood. How to avoid this syndrome has been discussed at length, and I'm not going into it again today. Instead, I thought we'd look at the perfect heroine.

The romance heroine of days long past was dependent upon the hero. She was subservient, and if in peril, had to wait for the hero to come to her rescue. The pendulum swung the other way, and today you're more likely to find the heroine as a no-nonsense, kick-ass character who can handle herself.

Back in my early writing days, when I was learning the craft via fan fiction, there was a great deal of discussion about not creating a Mary Sue. In fact, there was even a test to make sure you didn't have one of these unbelievable heroines (or, in fact, any character) in your books.

Is this to say that you can't have a heroine who is fully competent? Of course not. But you can't just plop those convenient skills in front of the reader when it becomes convenient for her to have them.

But Don't Start Here

What I'm reading: Pirate Latitudes, by Michael Crichton

Thanks, Carolyn for your post yesterday. I admire someone who can write historical fiction.

(and a brief commercial message - I recently discovered many of my titles are now available for the iPad and iTouch. If you have one of these gizmos, you can find my books in the Apple iBookstore by searching on my name.)

On Monday, I talked about starting a book in the wrong place by dumping too much back story about the characters. So, it's better to start with action, right? Maybe. Maybe not. Again, it's a matter of what kind of action and how much. What's more exciting than a battle scene? Or a car chase? Or a hostage situation? Well, if you don't have a vested interest in the characters—those scenes can be as enticing as watching paint dry.

Hubster and I watched the first episode of "Hawaii Five-O". The show opened with a crisis situation—but not knowing the players, it was hard to worry too much about the outcome, because I had no clue who were the good guys, who were the bad guys, or even where the opening took place—other than it clearly wasn’t in Hawaii. Once we got past that opening gambit, it was still challenging to empathize with the characters, although it was clear that the writers were making the attempt to show more about their individual goals and motivations.

More Choices

What I'm reading: The Black Cat, by Martha Grimes

Thanks, J.L. for your post yesterday. A lot of those authors are on my Keeper Shelf as well.

Today, as well as being here, I'm at the Single Titles blog, discussing multi-layered characters.

Since Monday's blog on Choices seemed to generate some interest, I thought I'd take it a little further with some examples.

Writing professionals much more knowledgeable than I have stressed that your characters must want something in every scene, even if it's only a glass of water.

For any "want" there are three possible outcomes: Yes, No, or Yes, but.

Let's see what happens with each.

Launch Party #6

Things are winding down, but I'm still accepting entries. Plenty of time to bring more food, scroll through all the excerpt posts, read the 'behind the scenes' at my website, as well as a couple of reviews.

This scene shows some local setting to give readers a quick sense of place, as well as show something about Graham--both as a cop and as a man. He's off to question one of the players in the case he's investigating. It's his first solo interview as a detective.

The Allure of the Bad Boy

Today I'm pleased to welcome Lynda Hilburn to Terry's Place. Admit it--we all find bad boys intriguing. Let's hear from an expert about why we do. Be sure to leave a comment answering her questions -- she has prizes! And it should make for an interesting discussion.

I had a psychotherapy session with a client yesterday and she reminded me of an ongoing question in my mind: What is it about bad boys? Why are we attracted to them? Why do we abandon good sense (along with clothing, sometimes, LOL) when one walks into the room?

From a psychological point of view, we’re often drawn to men who remind us (consciously or unconsciously) of an important male figure from our childhoods. Or, we’re enticed by the opposite. For example, if Dad was a bad boy, depending on how his behaviors impacted us, we might either idealize or demonize him. If he was a laid-back beta male, we might crave what had been missing.

Hmmm. Do we believe that hanging out with a rebellious, borderline criminal will somehow rub off on us and we’ll begin to explore our primitive sides? Is this really about our desire to be wild and crazy? Unrestricted? Less like good girls?

What is a bad boy? When I use those words, I don’t necessarily mean someone who is evil. Although, he could be. He certainly doesn’t follow rules or conform to society’s ideas about what he should/shouldn’t do. He might have a flexible moral compass. He’s often a risk taker, who probably wouldn’t be satisfied with a traditional nine-to-five job or a “normal” life. He’s the perfect projection screen for our fantasies.

Counting Down to Nowhere to Hide

What I'm reading: Fantasy in Death, by J.D. Robb


What with the moving, the renovations, and everything else that interrupts routine, I neglected the calendar. I really have to get my white board mounted on my office wall. It's less than a month to the release of my next book, "NOWHERE TO HIDE" from The Wild Rose Press. I have a million things to do. Sorry if this post is interrupted, but I've got to dash for a bit. While I'm gone, maybe you can check out my recipes for Key Lime Pie over at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen. Or poke around the Coming Soon link on my website. I'll be back as soon as I can.

......

Oh, Good. Hi, everyone!

Terry's off running errands and she left her computer on. My name's Colleen McDonald, and I'm going to sneak in for a bit. Don't say anything to her, okay?

Skill Sets and Transitions

No new wildlife—I think the construction noise freaked them out. Hummingbirds are fearless, however—they don't even wait until you hang up the feeder.


Construction update. Tile laid in one of the entries and in front of the fireplace. The darker tile is going to look good with the lighter oak. Hall bathroom gutted and ready for tile tomorrow, along with the other entry (if they did them both the same day, we wouldn't be able to get out of the house until they set). They're discovering extra work due to strange techniques used by the previous owners. I thought things would be quiet, but they got out power saws and power screwdrivers and power noisemakers in general. And … drum roll … we have a Dumpster! Yes, Dumpster is a trademark, just like Kleenex, so it has to be capitalized.

As I listened to the workers dealing with laying the tile, I started thinking about layers of skill sets for characters. Depending on our upbringing and experience, we might consider those who work in 'blue collar' trades as people who work with their hands, not their brains. I know the focus on my generation was to get a college degree and work in an office, rising the corporate ladder.

Slight digression here...

What A Character!

Today I'm delighted to introduce the debut paranormal suspense author, Karin Harlow. Join me as we learn about her new series. And don't miss a chance to win the special prize she's offering. Read on.

Recently I did a little traveling on family business. The airport we flew into was a first for me. On our approach, which seemed to take forever, took us directly through a city! A city with high rises! Lot’s of high-rises. Thank goodness, on the outbound flight home, we took off over water. The airport had other issues, and, as much as I love the area, I won’t be flying into that particular airport for a while.

But the hassles of this airport aside, which were many, and I won’t bore you with the details, the reason for the trip was priceless: Family. A mile-stone birthday for a favored elder uncle. I was able to visit with and catch up with family members I have not seen in almost 30 years! Even cousins I have never met. It was interesting to see how this particular side of the family, which has been hit heavy with divorce, desertion, devastation and alienation, had managed to heal.

There was one person who was not invited to the party, the catalyst of it all that destruction, the woman who more than 40 years ago ripped that family apart. As a writer, I found the character arc’s of this side of the family fascinating. I mean, I look at the initial damage one person caused and then over the span of 40 years how that damage played out in the main characters’ lives before coming full circle. I saw a family who was bruised, battered and battle weary, tho’ never beaten, come together in love and celebration of their patriarch. By their presence and peace of mind, they showed their true character.

Pikes Peak Writers Conference 6

House/Move recap. We're starting to order major stuff—to the point that we're asking for higher credit limits on our credit cards. One headache: One of my cards that was due to expire didn't make it. For security reasons, they're issuing a new card with a new number. I dread having to figure out all the places that have my card on file where automatic purchases will be rejected. But, of course, the alternative—that someone else got the card and might use it—is even more of a headache.

"Meet the Author" recap: Barbara O'Neal (Samuel) led a great discussion & Q&A at the library. Members of two book clubs, plus "regular" people discussed what they liked about her books, and asked questions about her writing process. I did meet two librarians and hope that I can hook up with a program there as well. I didn't get my library card, though, because the desk had closed by the time we wrapped up. Maybe tomorrow, since I'm going all the way down the mountain—Mom sent a gift card to BB&B!

Writing: I've moved forward a tad—one scene from Chapter 3. I'm trying to apply what I've learned at the recent workshops. Mixed feelings there. I'd rather deal with that after I've written the scene, not feel bogged down and outside the action trying to see whether I'm handling tension, pacing, and suspense properly. I think I'm going to revert to my old system of writing the scene, then re-reading it and doing the edits the next day. I'll let you know if it's working. But second-guessing every paragraph is slowing me down.

And, speaking of workshops: The Last Pikes Peak Workshop – Characters

On the Road - and SleuthFest Sex Panelists

Normally, I'd have a Friday Field Trip posted today, but I've been taking a 'real' field trip, but at 70+ mph on the Interstates, there aren't a lot of nifty photo ops. Plus, I'm not exactly sure where I packed the cables that let my camera talk to my laptop, and my cell phone camera doesn't do anything justice. And, most of my travel shots are on my PC, not my laptop.


Some observations – interesting signs at one of the rest stops:
Also, I had to stop and think about the signage where one sign directed people to "wheelchair accessible stalls" and another to "ambulatory access stalls."

After the stress of trying to cram everything into the back of hubby's pickup and my Honda Fit (my neighbor made out very well with things that didn't fit), we did one last "I hope we have everything" pass through the house. The electric and water companies were timely in shutting off service.The closing was relatively painless. One last trip to Panera for a sandwich and WiFi, and we hit the road.

Hubby and I have different driving styles, so rather than frustrate each other, we set up rendezvous points at rest stops along the route. Tuesday night was spent in Tallahassee, and Wednesday in Hattiesburg, which is where I'm writing this. The Holiday Inn chains offer free WiFi, which means I can check in twice a day.

Scenery isn't breathtaking, although there are some glimpses into the wetlands with cypress trees festooned with Spanish moss. And there was the long-haired man wearing a backpack with a cardboard sign strapped into the back reading "I-10 West" walking along the highway with a small dog on a leash. Of course, questions arise, all of which would make for an interesting character. And man driving a pickup towing a U-Haul, with the woman obviously following behind, her small car stuffed to the brim with household possessions. Very similar to our situation, although we nixed the U-Haul after seeing the cost, and have managed to keep all the "stuff" in my car below the level of the front seats so I can see out the rear window. But one wonders if they're moving to something new, or away from something bad, or if they even know where they're going.

Jason is doing photo shoots in the Everglades this week, so I'm hoping he'll have more of his great nature photography to share, if not next week, then shortly thereafter. I'm still open to guests sharing pictures.

And, for anyone who's been curious about the answers to the Sex panelists identities, here they are:

Keep Reading...

1. At the age of 12, one read "Forever" by Judy Blume, and considers it a major literary influence. Our absentee panelist, Barry Eisler

2. One is a former hairdresser who once weighed 250 pounds. Amy Fetzer

3. One graduated from high school before being legally old enough to drive a car. Rhonda Pollero

4. One was a misfit in high school who sported a brown, black and gold Mohawk. Traci Hall

5 At a publisher-sponsored launch of this author's book, models with painted-on bustiers strutted on a makeshift catwalk. Leanne Banks

SleuthFest Followup - Characters

What I'm reading: Sudden Prey, by John Sandford

Continuing my SleuthFest recap:

This year, the conference expanded from a strictly panel format to include a workshop track, where a single presenter addressed a specific topic. S.J. Rozan spoke about characters, and since for me, what's a book without characters you care about, it was my choice for that slot.

She began by pointing out that of all the creative media, writers deal with content, not impressions. She lives in New York, and was (like most of us, but perhaps more so because of it) impacted by 9-11. Whereas an artist can paint or a musician can compose a piece of music to explore their emotions, writers have to tell a story.

Writing, she went on to say, opens a portal between the conscious and subconscious minds. Characters are a part of the author; they're bits and pieces of the author's subconscious peeking through. And, she made clear that characterization is not character. It's not a description of his wavy brown hair, his muscular physique, his size twelve shoes. It's not what the character does, it's why he does it. Character is revealed in a character's actions, behavior, activity and dialogue.

For example:

Keep Reading...
You're driving down the road. You see an accident. There's an unconscious man lying next to his car. Other cars speed on by. One stops. A man gets out and rushes to the victim, kneeling beside him. What's your impression of his character? He's offering first aid, so he's a good person, right? But what if he takes the man's wallet and then walks away?

She used another example that's been used at so many conference workshops: The DaVinci Code, one of the few books where plot was more important than character. In that book many of the characters were cartoons, but the leads were cardboard. Why? Because there was no internal conflict. A character must want something, however trivial, on every page. She asked us whether we're ever completely content, and if so, for how long?

After that, she put us to work. We were given four minutes to write a description of a room using all five senses, from a specific character's POV. (Why don't pens come with cut and paste?) After that, we had another four minutes to write the same character, same room, but this time the character was going to steal something. The last exercise was the same, but this time, the character had just said good-bye to someone he or she loved.

Much as I dread having to create at someone's command, the exercises do help to remind us that when we're writing, it's vital to make sure it's our character on the page, and that we remain in the background.

More on character channeling

What I'm reading: The Brass Verdict, by Michael Connelly.

More tidbits from Alicia Rasley's workshop.

A character's defenses will fall apart as you get farther into the book, especially regarding falling in love. After all, most romances begin with two characters who definitely are NOT in love at the beginning.

She stressed choosing the right POV for scenes, and as an exercise had us write a scene where a character walks across the room and puts a hand on the doorknob. We did it first in 3^rd person, and then in 1^st. First person, for most of us, allowed us to be much deeper into the character (although there's the fact that we already knew the basic situation after writing it the first time, plus she gave us a little longer for the second part).

Emotion drives characters to wanting what they want, and getting what they get.

Fiction should be equal to, not true. A story should become itself in the reading. Fiction is metaphor. And, she reminded us, let the reader figure stuff out. Don't tell everything.

She also spent some time on dealing with eliciting emotion in readers.

Some suggestions and examples:

Where to set the scene – coming home after Mom's funeral might have more impact than a 'tear jerker' at the cemetery.

Don't rush to the 'punch line.'

Create opposition in other characters so sympathy comes from the reader (but don't make the protagonist just a victim, which would lead to pity, not empathy.)

Use props-the character can search the closet for a special toy for a hospitalized child.

Try taking all the emotion-laden words out of the scene to see if the emotion is still there.

Speaking is tough in emotionally charged situations – watch the 'spilling of guts.'

Have the character try NOT to feel.

Break some punctuation and grammar rules (but know them first) to convey emotion.

Use the emotional event as the scene setting. The emotion is the background. Showing the aftermath of someone's death (funeral planning, donating clothes to charity) can be more emotion packed than the deathbed scene.

Show emotion in character interactions – conversations that hedge the topic, veer off, focus the emotion on the other character. Character might talk about what a survivor will do rather than focus on his impeding death, etc.

Steps back a little and keeps some distance. Self pity doesn't work. "If the character cries, the reader doesn't have to."