I’m hacking my way through a first draft. I get frustrated with the first round of writing. Everything sounds corny, the same-ole-same-ole, and I either under write or over write. The scenes usually skim the surface of what’s really going on. I write things like, “she walked through a crowd of her friends, greeting them, air kissing their cheeks.” It’s because I don’t really know what’s going on yet. I don’t know how much detail I need in the scene. Sometimes it’s perfectly valid and needed to skim past a detail of friend’s names. Sometimes we don’t need the color of every dress, the table cloths and velvet curtains. But yea, sometimes we do. Most of the time we do. Susie was reading to me from the Pioneer Woman’s book […]
Read the RestTag Archives | Characterization
“PUT CHARACTERS IN OPPOSITE SITUATIONS.”
Continuing from my post last week on fast notes on characterization during a Donald Maass session. These are an eclectic gathering designed to make you think differently. Have fun! “These are the moments the characters become larger than his or her own life. Break out of box, out of character, do the unexpected. The are the moments we remember.” “A “wink” can be the most unexpected thing a character can do.” But it must be out of character. “Take your characters to places they would never go.” Eventually they have to become who they really are – reverse or repent of what they’ve done. Stop thinking about redeeming our characters. Can’t always be thinking of redeeming them. Redeem them from what? Take your characters to the bad/dark/confused place, wrong place, […]
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Quick Skills: Make your Hero/Heroine unique
How do you make your hero or heroine unique? Have you ever written a hero or heroine and thought…oh, they seem just like the last character I created? It’s easy to do – you can only pick so many creative combinations for your character…UNLESS… …Unless you go about character creation from the inside out. I’ve talked at length about finding an identity for your character unique to him, and then building the “outside” to match that inside identity. However, I have a quick trick to help make him even more unique. To make him stand out on the page without going over the top. Yes, we’re going to start with identity again, but this time we’re going to focus in on his greatest fear. We’ve asked him about his dark […]
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Quick Skills: Act 2 Plotting
Act 2 plotting in 5 easy questions! I always get the Chapter Seven Blues. I know it’s inevitable, but I seem to forget that it happens, and often I’ll find myself down in the kitchen, moping (and looking for chocolate) and my husband will say… “You’re at Chapter 7, aren’t you?” I’ll turn, stare at him, and nod. “How did you know that?” “Because the excitement of the story has gotten you through chapter 3, and Act 1, and the momentum carried you into chapters 4-6, but now the steam has died in the middle of Act 2, and you’re down here hunting for inspiration.” (This is usually accompanied by him taking the bag of chocolate chips out of my hand.) He’s dead right. I’m smack in the middle of the […]
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