I’ve been studying lately secrets to making my characters not only unique, but the kind of heroes that cause readers to cry over them. I’ve discovered three secrets that hold the keys to great characterization. Secret #1 is Compassion. Secret #2 is Strong Motivation. And now, Secret #3: Sacrifice – We love a man who sacrifices. Whether he sacrifices his noble cause, his dreams, faces his fears, or even sacrifices the woman he loves for the greater good…sacrifice is the key to a hero that makes us cry. Why do we love Jack Bauer – maybe some of you don’t but I do…and it’s because Jack continually sacrifices himself for others…for American, for Audrey…I for one was in tears at the end of last season. I just want Jack to […]
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Ask the Doc: Finding material for scenes
I have the big picture for my plot ~ but I am stuck on figuring out individual scenes. How do I come up with scenes that don’t drag? Good question! I am loving the new show, Journeyman, a time travel show about a guy who gets snatched (by who, what cosmic force?) to be sent back in time to “put right what once went wrong” (to quote my favorite time-travel show Quantum Leap). I love time travel shows, and this one is stellar because of the layers of relationships and trouble his “bouncing” causes. It also raises a lot of questions. Like, what if he gets killed back in time? Or what if he changes something that affects his life, or the life of someone he loves? What if he’s […]
Read the RestPerscriptions: Writing Lits III
This is our last week to discuss writing lits. I hope it’s been helpful, even if you don’t write lits. Maybe you found a nuggest of truth for you writing. Today we’ll talk about dialog, setting and research. Dialog is part of voice, and very important to lits. While some genres like women’s fiction or romance can get away with long passages of narrative, Lits can’t. Why? Because it becomes too introspective, especially if writing in first person. Dialg shows the voice of your character. Dialog is great to create tension. Dialog must ring true. Be authentic. Don’t be nice, say the hard words. Dialog puts the reader in the scene. Sol Stein says dialog is invented. Every word counts. One great dialog tip is to watch trailing conversation pieces […]
Read the RestDoctor’s Notes: Secret #2 to making our readers cry over our heroes!
I’ve been studying lately secrets to making my characters not only unique, but the kind of heroes that cause readers to cry over them. I’ve discovered three secrets that hold the keys to great characterization. Last week I talked about Secret #1: Compassion. Secret #2 is…Strong motivation – The key to every hero’s guarded behavior is his motivation, or his noble cause. Even if we don’t discover it until half-way through the story, we need hints of what it might be. Braveheart does a good job of this by setting up the death of his wife. We need that if we’re going to stand beside him through all the warfare. But, let’s take Jason Bourne – we don’t know much about him. We do know, however, that he was shot, […]
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