Ask the Doc: My question has to do with secondary characters. Do you generally create them before you start writing? How well to you have them sketched out? Or do you write the story and then realize you need a character here and create them on the fly? It happens. There you are, cruising away at your story, and you run up against a moment where you need your heroine to interact with someone other than the hero, other, even than her co-workers, or friends. So, you put together a quickie character, someone who just serves as a sounding board. And then, suddenly, that minor throwaway character gets up and demands a voice! But wait, you say – I don’t know what you look like, really. Or what your flaws […]
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Perscriptions: Writing Lits II
Last week I (Rachel) talked about writing chick literature be it chick, mom, lady, hen, southern, super chick or whatever. There are a wide variety. This week, Prescriptions continues the Lits lesson. Lits have plot, believe it or not. When I started ready chick lit, I could not figure out the plot or true point of the story. But, it’s there. Authors like Sophie Kinsella write high concept plots where almost every thing in the book revolves around a theme like a secret, or money. Here are a few Lit plot tips: Start with a situation, or inciting incident that sets up the story question. “You have a woman with a problem.” She goes on a journey of discovery or to find a solution. Things don’t go as planned. She […]
Read the RestSelf-Therapy: Sympathy versus Compassion
Yesterday, I talked about the first secret to creating characters that make the reader cry: Compassion. It’s always a challenge to decide what element is most important to lead with in introducing a character – Sympathy (helping the reader identify with the main character) or compassion. Ideally, it should be both. But in the opening scene of my upcoming book Taming Rafe, I struggled with finding that perfect mix. In Taming Rafe, socialite and philanthropist Katherine Breckenridge just wants to make her mark on the world, her mother did. But she thinks she’s running out of time. I started with that premise in my rough draft. RD: One hour before her engagement party to the most eligible bachelor in New York Katherine Wilcox Breckenridge had the insane urge to throw […]
Read the RestDoctor’s Notes: Secret #1 to making readers cry over our heroes!
I’ve been studying lately secrets to making my characters not only unique, but heroic – heroes and heroines that live on in our hearts, and will make readers cry over them! I’ve discovered three that hold the keys to great characterization. I’ll be revealing them over the next three weeks on Tuesdays “Notes” blog. First – I’ve learned that If the character isn’t someone we would want to know, then won’t care about him, regardless of the fantastic things he does in a book. I have to want to know the hero to invest in his story, to put him in my heart, and I have to like him to be able to cry for him. So, the first secret to making readers cry over our heroes is: Compassion — […]
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