Publish: Characters

Hi folks, I'm starting a series that will last for the summer. It's called Publish and is in conjunction with my TEENSPublish workshop at the Ringer Library in College Station, Texas. This second week I'm covering characters. I think some of this will relate to any creative life.

This week I introduced the tribe at Ringer Library to creating authentic characters. We started out with the daunting task of filling out a character profile. I really like this one  from Martinaboone.com.  Here is the link.  These things are just helpful to me. I don't start out with blue eyes and end up with brown. I know what my character likes and dislikes. I know if they get on with their siblings.

Next we moved on to character personality test. I like the Meyers-Briggs test and the Enneagram test. I know some of the questions go over the heads of us all, but these tests give a good read on personality type. You take the quiz not as yourself but as your character. The resulting character personality type helps you make decisions for your characters.

Next we had some play time. Each tribe member walked into the room and took their seat. The rest of the tribe offered descriptors of what they were seeing.  This little exercises helps the writer understand the proprioception of his or her character.The whole thing about five senses is not strictly true. We have many more.  Don't believe me?  Check here.  

Finally we had conversations as our characters.We sat in circles and discussed our story journeys as our characters.  It's an interesting thing to inhabit your character and is informative in a special way. The exercise forces you to do what your character does, think as your character does, feel as your character does. You must leave yourself behind. When writing, this helps you hold to your POV.

I hope our exercises help you create authentic characters. Always look beyond the surface and get down to the bones. Dig deeper and find the sour. This is the way to go.

I will be back next week with more of Publish. We have a journey ahead!

Now a doodle.

And finally a quote for your pocket.

I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become. C. G. Jung

Writing Lessons from Shakespeare: Players

It's going to a 100 F today. I want to go to the pool. This month I wandering with the Bard. Why? I've been trekking off and on to Shakespeare at Winedale for over 30 years and thought I might do some wandering here, over my back fence.

The Bard taught me one of the big writing lessons: all characters must count. This lesson leaps off the pages of his plays. I'm going to chat about that today.

Shakespeare knew how to cast a play: Foolish suitors, faithful servants, long-lost relatives, evil noblemen, wicked kings, betrayed best friends, quarreling pals, drunk dignitaries, saucy spinsters, war weary soldiers, fresh young things, demanding queens, trying tricksters, etc. He mixed dynamic characters, stereotypes, and foils to create a potent mix. I love to write stories with complex casts and using every member to great effect. I love that Shakespeare will give a great line to any one of his characters.

And now for some play. Shh, the Bard and I are backstage and he's sharing his secrets. Here is a little of that conversation.

The Bard whispers in my ear, "Every character counts. Use that."

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts

I whisper back, "OK."

He whispers in my ear, "Everyone does stupid things. Leverage that."

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

I whisper back, "OK."

He whispers in my ear. "Rattle your characters until they roll."

He would drown the stage with tears,
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty, and appall the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears.

I whisper back, "OK."

You might consider going backstage with the Bard and seeing what he tells you. I will be back next week with another lesson from Shakespeare. 

Oh, yeah, the doodle! "Backyard Tree."

A quote for your pocket too! 

Soule of the Age!
The applause! delight! The wonder of our stage!
Ben Jonson

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Now PLUMB CRAZY news: I have a guest blog at the Dragon Blog about my fan fiction roots. Check it out.

PLUMB CRAZY will be out as paperback soon. I ask you to support my work -- buy a copy, share the news, request the book at your library, ask me to blog for you. I'm open. Thank you.

To buy the ebook: Here for a copy from Amazon US. Here is Amazon UK. Here is Amazon Australia. Here is Amazon Canada. Try here for a copy for your B&N Nook .

Also consider participating in my upcoming book tour. Here is the link.



Posted by MollyMom103 at 4:38 PM

April Showers: Implicit Characterization

Hi folks, I've been sharing this month what waters my soul as a writer. I'm at the SCBWI Houston Conference this weekend. I had the pleasure of reading FREAKY FAST FRANKIE JOE by Lutricia Clifton from Holiday House as a homework assignment from Mr. Gary D. Schmidt (an author I've wanted to take a class from for a long time).  I will be honest the title was not exactly wowing me, but I thought I will give it a shot. Dang, I didn't get to bed until one a.m. and I'm getting too old for this. I could not put this book down. This is my favorite one in a long time.

Here's the nutshell synopsis from Amazon: "When twelve-year-old Frankie Joe's mother is sent to jail, he is uprooted from his home in Texas to live with the father he has never met, his father's wife, and his father's four "legitimate" sons in Illinois. Frankie Joe is miserable. Trying to adjust to his blended family proves too much to bear, so Frankie Joe hatches a plot to escape on his bike back home to Texas. For that he needs money, and so Frankie Joe's Freaky Fast Delivery Service is born. His deliveries win new friends, a place in the rural Illinois community, and a sense of achievement. But his planned escape is destroyed by a heartbreaking betrayal, and Frankie Joe needs all of his incredible resilience and the loving support of his new family to survive the devastating loss"

This book is a master class in implicit characterization. I knew every single person (haha, they were that real to me, not characters) after I read it. It's written in first person and I was totally immersed in main character Frankie Joe's POV.  He's a great kid who has been dealt an incredibly awful  hand in life.  Interactions, reactions, and inference stitch this book together.

Clifton doesn't bog down the story with narrative. I love the tension created through her implicit characterization (much showing, little telling). Like when Frankie Joe's dad says he's only had one legal wife, and Frankie Joe gets it internally -- he's not legitimate. I love that Frankie Joe is surviving because of his plan to return home, this is his interior reality, and then that is put up against this loving family and town of stability that is wrapping around him. All  kinds of tension are created from that. I love how much he loves his mother regardless of her faults and his heart shatters when she betrays him. There is such truth in the unraveling of Frankie Joe's perception.

If you want to write in first person, have a large cast characters that are real people, and write cut above middle grade fiction, consider reading this FREAKY FAST FRANKY JOE. BTW, I don't Ms. Clifton at all. I just loved her book.

So that's April Showers. Next month I will be offering some the inside story of my book PLUMB CRAZY (Swoon Romance, release June 2014) for my PLUMB CRAZY May series.

This week we have a guest doodle from my artist son Jesse. He calls this: "British".

Here is the quote for your pocket:

I've never bought into any sort of hard and fast, this-box/that-box characterization. People are individuals. Yes, they may be expected to be a particular way. But that doesn't mean they're going to be that way. Margaret Atwood

Novel Craft: Side Characters

Hi, folks, I'm a novelist and like to spend January chatting about novel crafting.  Novels are huge undertakings and take some serious work.  This series is about practical advice for those with a complete novel draft.  Once you have a substantial draft, you must fine-tune your novel.  During this stage of novel crafting, you must leverage each element of your novel. How is this done? I will spend this month offering tips and suggestions to add texture and depth to your novel. This week I'll focus on side characters.

Solid drafts have powerful main characters that are fully realized. They have interesting and complex plots. The settings are also rich and detailed. Even with all this in place, your book is not complete. This is the time to add dimension to your story. One way to do this to pay close attention side characters. It's important to make sure that each one of your characters is uniquely distinct from all other characters in your story. There is nothing more annoying than a story with one-dimensional side characters. Stereotypical side characters will also weaken your story.  You must take time to bring these side characters to life.

Look at them closely. Are they always making obvious choices? Consider letting them make unusual choices that clash with the choices of the main characters of your story. What can your side characters do to surprise your reader?  Allow side characters to steal scenes. I learned a lot about side characters from Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. This classic comic strip is packed scene stealers.
Main character Charlie Brown's friend Linus clings to his security blanket but speaks eloquently about matters of faith. His sister, Lucy, is the bully of the story, but is also the manager of the psychiatric booth, offering five cent advice. On top of that, she's an awful baseball player. These side characters shine.

Allow your side characters to grow. A side character can become quite significant. Think about Snoopy, Charlie Brown's pet dog, who began as a conventional dog but acquired alternative personas -- the Red Baron and Joe Cool. Snoopy is a struggling writer and is an excellent baseball player (note the contrast with Lucy-- defintely look for those opportunities.) . All the Peanuts characters have a unique slant.  Are you using your side characters to add color and depth to your masterpiece? 

Look at stories that have an ensemble approach for the best examples of side characters. Not every story needs an ensemble approach but every story will benefit from more complex side-characters. Come back next week for more advice to fine-tune your novel.  

Here is a doodle: "Rainbow".

A quote for your pocket!

A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man. Carl Sandberg

Golden Advice: Make Imaginary Friends

Hi folks, this week may be a little tongue in cheek, but it's some of the truest advice you'll every get. Writing is about making imaginary friends. It really is. A youngish writer I know mentioned to me that he thought he was going a little crazy because he was worrying about his character. He was feeling guilty that he was putting his character through such hell. He also could see the great necessity of making his character go through said hell and that it was unavoidable.

I said, "YAY! Your work is popping."

A good litmus test to know if you will find success with your current work is this: Are you worried about your characters? I mean, I go into stores and think somebody I know would like that top, and then I remember the somebody I know, is somebody I made up. Oh, yes, I have had friends match-making for their character at coffee shops. "That guy who just served us our venti-sized mocha valencias, he'd be a great hookup for my character." We writers are a fanciful bunch, full of stories, and, yes, we are grown-ups with imaginary friends who we basically treat like crap. That is our job.

I hope you work on building those friendships this week. I hope you make your friends suffer. This is the job of writers. Amazing, weird, and wonderful.

This week's doodle comes from my thirteen year old son Jack. I am related to some creative folks, and I think that this means that artists take real things and make them imaginary. He calls this "Self Portrait".



Using the device of an imaginary world allows me in some strange way to go to the central issues - it's one of many ways to express feelings about real people, about real human relationships.

Lloyd Alexander

Golden Advice: Close to the Bone of Your Characters

Hi, folks, I'm continuing my month long series on craft. This week I'm going to focus on authentic characters. I do believe that this is one of the hardest things to do. Mainly because it requires digging into the life of the most important character in your story, yourself.

You might have noticed by now that writers usually have a personal story lurking in the background of their work. Your own story shapes what you write whether you like it or not. I think a good way to figure out how to shake out the deepest secrets of your characters is to shake out your own.

This week involves a little writing exercise. Get a sheet of paper (yes, I know, old school) and write your list of burning secrets, yes, the stuff you have never told anyone. (You might want to torch this sheet when you are finished with the exercise.) One more task to complete. After writing your secrets, think about how you feel. Now write about that.

Now let's try the same thing with a character. Sink into the fullness of that character in your thoughts. Now write that characters deepest secrets from their point of view. Honesty and bravery will bring you close to the bone.

I don't want to neglect the artists that read this blog. Here's a little thought to take with you, too. Creative work is all about our choices. One of the biggest choices you can make to take the interior pain you have known and to turn it out as something bright and beautiful.

Take the emotional content of a negative experience in your life and let it transform your work. Get your mind around the complete feeling of how your felt in one of your worst moments. Now, go to the happiest moment in your current work and let that energy fuel the work.

Exactly how is this really supposed to go? Lean into a light airy palette though you are full of dark browns, blacks and purples. Reshaping the negative into the positive will bring you close to the bone of your art.

Hope something here helps. I hope you seize the day. See you next week for more of the golden advice series.

I call this week's doodle, "Figure in the Light."



This week's quote:
What is uttered from the heart alone, will win the hearts of others to your own. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Oh, Say Can You See

Today will be short again. Happy 4th of July, Americans! I know there are a few readers out there who live down under or across the pond who might not have the 4th on their radar. I'm hearing unending explosions right now. They really love fireworks around here. The air smells acrid and the smoke is shrouding the full moon. We zipped around about 5 police cars surrounding a wild party at house on the way home from a family gathering. Ah, the 4th.

This week I was thinking about the power of the things you don't say when writing. It's the heart of showing. Don't tell me your character is angry. Slam a fist into a wall. Kick the bedstead. Throw out a string of angry words. The heart of story is to not say things but invoke the undstanding of these things in the reader. You have to search for the words make your reader think. The words that open their eyes. Don't be satisfied with the surface of your writing. Dig deeper.

The best writing has a bible of subtext. Some of this subtext will always be subconcious for the writer. You won't be aware of it but I do think that there are ways to sense it is there. Your passion for your work is a good barometer.If you feel so deeply about your work that you are laughing and crying while you write, this is a good sign. Let the work speak without trying to shovel out what you mean. Be crafty. Be delicate. You might surprise yourself. Enjoy the journey.

Today's doodle is a quick watercolor of one morning a few months back. I call it "Washington at Dawn."



The playlist hit come from the US Marine Band with a nifty version of The Star Spangled Banner! I know there a few Marines out there who visit this blog. Thank you for your service! Remember to write every day.



When you wander, as you often delight to do, you wander indeed, and give never such satisfaction as the curious time requires. This is not caused by any natural defect, but first for want of election, when you, having a large and fruitful mind, should not so much labour what to speak as to find what to leave unspoken. Rich soils are often to be weeded. Francis Bacon

Hero

Hi folks, my book signing at the local Barnes and Noble was today. Fun. fun.

I'm about to dive back into novel writing, and this week I'm thinking about that central character of every story -- the hero. This is going to be my experience with the hero, so a narrow view.

For me, strong heroes must be flawed. A little naivety doesn't hurt either. I think it is important for the hero to suffer. Take the hero to a very dark place, that always seems like a good plan. I also think that true heroes begin with false beliefs and the mix of their journey (i.e. personal experience) and their 'spirit to be more than they are' always results in a refocusing of belief. I love for things to work out for the hero. Yes, a few disappointments are to be expected, but my hero is going to be in a better place to be in the end.

I want to cry with my hero, but I want to laugh too. I want my hero to endure a thing or two. I also want my hero to struggle with dealing with an enemy. Missteps are welcome. I want my hero to feel what others feel. I search for that universal connection, the everyman, not some golden god. I also want my readers to feel like that they are wearing my heroes' shoes. A great hero is going to make a reader say isn't that just the way it is.

I hope that my thoughts inspire you to create believable heroes that readers will follow them to the very last page.

So folks that is the up and down of things.

Here is my doodle of the week. I call it Window of the Soul.

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Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!

My quote for the day

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author. G. K. Chesterton

Novel Writing: Character

Today I'm going to focus on character development. The more you know about your characters the better. I keep many notes on each character in a story. I also keep a file of scrap that includes elements of the physical appearance of each character. This practice keeps the descriptions consistent throughout the book. I keep notes on the history and future of each character. It's useful to think about where a character has come from and then extrapolate out to where they are going. This kind of exploration brings authenticity to world building. This link will take you to a site that offers many links with hours of advice on how to build characters.

Some of the common pitfalls:

*characters that are too similar (Rx: You need to do the back-story work.)
*characters that don't suffer enough (Rx: Look for someone close to the character that must die tragically. Loss is a great way to make a character suffer.)
*characters that lack dimensionality. (Rx: This is usually a love/hate problem. What does the character love? Hate?)
*too many characters (Rx: Combine some of the characters into one.)
*characters that we don't care about (Rx: You need to add nuances of complexity to the characters' thoughts and speech. Work on understanding the uncertainty of each character. What are the characters unsure about?)

Hopefully something here has sparked your drive to create a meaningful novel.

This is the time of year that I work on a novel push. I'm writing Profit and have about 37000 words currently. I'm past the halfway mark.

Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ... WOW! What a ride!

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