Favorite books of 2013

For my last post of 2013, I thought it fitting that I offer a list of my Top 10 Favorite Books for 2013. They weren't necessary published in 2013, but that's when I read them. 

(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

Here are my Top 10 picks, in no particular order:

10. Six Years by Harlan Coben.

9. Thankless in Death by J.D. Robb (and the two previous In Death novels that came before this one--loved them all!)

8. Kiss and Spell by Shanna Swendson (and No Quest for the Wicked, which came right before Kiss and Spell in the series.)

7. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (the second one in this series wasn't quite as good, but I did enjoy it.)

6. The Weird Girls by Cecy Robson (this one's a novella, but it goes with Sealed with a Curse and A Cursed Embrace, both of which were really great books)

5. Cold Days by Jim Butcher

4. The First Prophet by Kay Hooper

3. Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich (and Notorious Nineteen)

2. The Stranger You Know by Andrea Kane (and the two Forensic Instinct books that came before this one)

1. Royal Airs by Sharon Shinn

It was rough choosing just 10 (I know, there are more than 10 in that list, don't get technical with me). Some other really good books I read in 2013 include most of The FBI Thriller novels by Catherine Coulter, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, Deadly Forecast by Victoria Laurie, Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb, Words by Ginny Yttrup, In the Presence of the Enemy by Elizabeth George, What a Ghoul Wants by Victoria Laurie, The Witness by Nora Roberts, and Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book by Terry Jones.

I think I read over 120 book in 2013 (thank you, Goodreads, for keeping such good track of them all for me). I discovered some new authors I enjoy, relaxed with old favorites, and found inspiration in nearly everything I read--even the bad ones. I thought about listing the books I hated (or didn't finish), but that seems a great way to offend a bunch of authors who don't deserve that kind of treatment. Thankfully, there weren't that many. Most of the books I chose this year were pretty good.

Are there any on the above list you would also put in your Top 10? Care to share some or all of your Top 10 in the comment's section? My stack of library books is down to five. That'll take me through next week, but then I'll need more. Give me some awesome recommendations, please. 

-Sonja

Resolution? or Wishful Thinking?

Kat Heckenbach posted "Goals and Wishes for 2014" on her blog a couple of days ago, but I just came across it today (I'm behind in blogging AND blog-reading). I thought these things were done in January, but Kat did hers now, and that reminded me that it's time for those lovely dreaded resolutions. January 2013 was so long ago, and I'm not all that excited about looking up my last resolutions list (and all the guilt that will go along with realizing I met NONE of my goals for the year), so I won't bother to look them up. Feel free, if you're that curious. I'm more interested in looking forward.

For 2014, here are the things I'd like to accomplish in my writing life:

• Finish the three novels I started this year (two romantic suspense and one urban fantasy).
• Sign a contract with a book publisher (seeing an actual book in print will be for 2015).
• Attend at least one writer's conference and meet new people. It'd be fun to meet more famous authors while I'm at it.
• Build my blog readership. That includes more discipline in posting three per week, preferably on the same three days of every week.
• Study at least two new books on the craft of writing. (I hope James Scott Bell puts a new one out next year.)
• Continue in my habit of reading 2 novels per week. I'd like to branch out into a new genre that I haven't read widely in before--but it won't be romance or Amish. Although I do have a werewolf romance someone gave me that hasn't hit the give-away bin yet. Maybe I'll try that one. I'd love to find a romantic suspense with a parapsychological element. Can anyone recommend something along the lines of Kay Hooper?
• Begin my new blog that caters to fans of my Cassie stories (and thus counts as marketing): a recipe blog featuring a lot of the Greek food that appears in my novels.

That looks like a respectable list. Does it make you want to write your own list? Or would you rather stick a fork in your eye? Share with me some of your goals for the coming year (if you can still see the keyboard through your one good eye).

-Sonja

The Inner Journey of Scrooge

I've been dwelling a lot on inner journeys (inner arcs, character change, etc) recently. It's a fascinating part of story telling, and I've got a work-in-progress that features a character with an interesting inner journey that I'm not sure I can pull off. So I've been studying again, and sharing what I've studied.

Kristen Lamb has an awesome post today called "What Ebenezer Scrooge Can Teach Us About Great Writing." I love how she incorporates the Christian message of redemption in her post. By far, it's one of the most powerful posts I've read in a long time. Hop over and read what she's got to say, then pull out your WIP and see if your protagonist has an inner journey worth exploring.

-Sonja

Character Motivations

Sechin Tower is one of my favorite bloggers over at Adr3nalin3. His post from last Friday is entitled "Bidding $100 to Win $20." Don't be put off by the title--it's an interesting post about game theory that ends up a lesson in writing. As Kurt Vonnegut said, "Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water."

What are your character's motivations? Why does he do what he does to get what he wants? If your character wants nothing, you have no story. If he wants that glass of water but no one stands in his way, you have no story.

Hop over to Ad3renalin3 and read what Sechin wrote. Then pull up your WIP and look at your first scene. If you can't identify your character's objective, it might be time for some re-writing.

-Sonja

Character Change Part III

My last two posts have included excerpts from an article in this month's Writer's Digest by David Corbett called "The Science of Character Change."  I've always been interested in the inner journey, or character arc, or character change, whatever you want to call it. It's the meat of every story, the element that creates a powerful emotional experience for the reader and makes the story memorable. Great plots, word choice, grammar, and voice are important, but without character change, the story doesn't have enough impact to be truly great. 

Corbett says, "Even in stories where the outer goal is totally justified--find the murderer, save the child, cure the disease--that goal is usually pursued on relatively superficial terms. In these cases, as the conflict intensifies and failure, disaster or destruction looms, the character has to ask: Why am I doing this? Why continue? Why not give up? The answer to this question reveals the true longing at the heart of the character's quest. That longing defines the stakes and points the way toward fulfillment of her state of lack--if she has the courage to decide to act on this insight."

I've written several mysteries where "catch the bad guy" was the main goal of the story. There's plenty of opportunity for conflict and suspense in this plot device, but to have a truly great mystery, the protagonist must face his fears, his demons, his conflicted psyche before he can outwit the bad guy and provide justice. Throughout the story, the protagonist has tried things "the old way," using his tried-and-true methods and procedures, all those things that have, in the past, helped him pursue justice. But in THIS story, there's something more. That something more is what the reader needs. 

"The character has exhausted his original idea of how to proceed (and perhaps several others); his skills and insights have proved wanting; he's despondent, destitute, out of options and out of luck. This is where the character recognizes he must 'change or die'--and death can take the form of losing the loved one, failing to rescue the hostage, defeat at the hands of the enemy, disgrace before his peers." This leads to the Point of Crisis, or the Crisis of Insight, or the Breaking Point (whatever you want to call it), when the character recognizes what has gone wrong and what must be done. It's an attitude adjustment, a facing of major fears, maybe even an entire personality shift. 

When that moment comes, it's not enough for the protagonist to admit what he's done wrong and what he needs to do to make everything right. His behavior must be modified. He will act on his new insight with a deeper understanding and sense of purpose.

Corbett finishes with this: "To craft a great Change-or-Die Moment, you have to understand the competing forces vying for the character's soul--safety versus wholeness--and push the character down a path of 'success through failure,' where by acting in accordance with his original ignorance, cowardice or deceit, and by harming those who care most about him, no matter how harmless or gentile that lifestyle may seem on the outside, he's on a collision course with a failure so devastating, so shocking, that he's forced to reevaluate the course of his life. That insight will prompt a decision." And then the book ends.

In Casablanca, Rick realizes that his reaction to heartache has pulled him too far out of the world, too far into apathy and cynicism, and he's no longer an honorable man. He must sacrifice his love for Ilsa and get her AND her husband to safety for the greater good. 

For a handy checklist to craft a Crisis of Insight moment, visit writersdigest.com.

-Sonja

Character Change Part II

This month's Writer's Digest contains an article by David Corbett called "The Science of Character Change."  I shared some of the goodness from the article in my last post, and I want to continue the discussion here. In summary, every character should begin (in the novel) in a state of ignorance or deceit, a place that he's devised for himself that helps him avoid pain and gain happiness. Think of Rick in Casablanca, surrounded by beautiful women, plentiful drinks, and an attitude that keeps him from getting hurt--he has every reason to be happy, yet he's not.

Corbett says, "By recognizing his true longing, he will realize the impoverished state of his prior life, to which he can never contentedly return. This defines the stakes, and they are ultimate. He's been wrapped in a lie... once he recognizes this, there is no turning back that doesn't include one form of self-destruction or another."

It's not enough for your character to realize that something must change. That revelation must be so powerful that returning to normal life as it was before is impossible. Again, think of Rick in Casablanca. He can't go back to the apathetic, cynical guy he was before. He's been confronted with true love, honor, patriotism, all the things he should have embraced before but let them slide because of a past hurt. 

Another important part of this journey is that the character, while living in his delusion, was hurting people around him. He might be totally unaware of the pain he'd caused others, but once he recognizes the consequences, he can't go back. It's another layer of motivation for not returning to the previous way of life. 

The journey from the "deceptive" normal life to the epiphany at the end is the true meat of the novel. Yes, there will be an external plot, but it's the character's inner journey that will grab a reader's heart strings and make the story powerful and memorable. During this journey, the character will struggle to maintain the status quo, to continue living the lie he's so carefully constructed, but time and again it will fail. And the cost of each failure will increase each time. 

"When exploring how your character is hiding from her true longing, ask yourself: Who is she hurting? The most compelling answer lies in characters who care deeply about her, and who therefore have the insight, power and desire to help the character change. It's the fraying, deterioration or destruction of those relationships that will force the character to recognize the error in her thinking and its disastrous consequences."

Try this exercise: Who is your protagonist hurting by the most by living the lie? How can that character help the protagonist see that change is necessary? For Rick in Casablanca, only Ilsa could make him see reality for what it was and feel remorse for his attitude and life-style. Sam the piano player didn't mean enough to Rick to facilitate those changes. Nor did the nazis, or Lazlo, Renault, or the bar patrons. 

Questions? Comments? Frustrations? Leave them in the comments section.

-Sonja

Character Change

I've written before about the importance of an inner journey (or inner arc or character change), and it's one of my favorite topics to study. Imagine my joy when I discovered this month's Writer's Digest contains an article by David Corbett called "The Science of Character Change." It's worth the price to subscribe to the magazine, but if you're on a strict budget like me, head to your local library and read the entire article. It would be unethical for me to share all the good stuff from the article here, but I want to hit a few things that stood out to me as The Best Stuff.

About a third of the way through the article, Corbett wrote something I had to re-read several times to fully digest. "Human beings are inherently divided by conflicting, irreconcilable desires: the desire to avoid pain, and the desire to be healthy and whole. To avoid pain, however, we must avoid risk, and some risk is required to attain most of the rewarding challenges and adventures of life." 

(photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.com)

When I first read it, I wasn't sure I agreed with it. Only two desires? Avoid pain and seek health? What about wanting a spouse? I guess that falls under the "healthy" column. What about wanting healthy children? That contains the answer within the question. What about avoiding evil? Is that pain avoidance? Or does that, also, fall into the "healthy" category? (Quick example: I don't steal a car because I don't want to go to jail. Being in jail would not be healthy for me, therefore my car-stealing days never begin because of my desire to stay healthy--either spiritually or physically. Simplistic, but it works.) 

Corbett goes on: "In particular, wounds we (and our characters) have suffered in the past--physical injury, humiliation, abandonment, betrayal--misshape our personalities, forcing us to avoid relationships (or seek out only "safe" ones), hide our secrets, disguise our vulnerabilities, suppress or wants, and otherwise "act normal." But beneath all this emotional scar tissue and fakery, the human spirit retains its inclination toward openness, trust, generosity, commitment--love, courage, and truth--and an understanding that without these qualities our lives are lacking."

I agree with the basics of these things. I think he left out people who are outside the norm (sociopaths, people who've let evil rein in their lives, etc), but for most people (and characters), this assessment is spot-on. He sums up his point with this: "At heart, it's a conflict between a protective mask and a deeper, more honest, more loving, more courageous self."

"Your character unknowingly begins the story in a state of ignorance or deceit, believing the bargain he's made with life will see him through. No matter how successful or even happy the character's circumstances may seem on the surface, the compromises he's made with his more truthful, more caring, more daring self have created an untenable state of lack that is "ruining his life," even if that ruin has beautiful women, a casino, a bar, and live music" (think Casablanca).

Try this exercise: what are your protagonist's circumstances at the beginning of the story? Are they in conflict/opposition to the way he needs to be in order to face the final conflict? In other words, is he thoroughly equipped and ready to handle that final conflict/ If so, they your character has no need of an inner journey. There's a fix to this problem. Re-do your beginning so that his is NOT capable of winning that final climax. Then put him on a path that will challenge his beliefs, his abilities, his preconceived notions of himself, then give him a moment of clarity, of epiphany, right before the final climax of the story where he will recognize his true longing and respond. It should be such a huge moment that he can't help but respond, then realize the foolishness of ever going back to his old ways. 

There's more in this article I'd like to discuss, so I'll sign off for now and continue in my next post.

-Sonja

The Thomas Concept - Pattern VIII

This is the last post on The Thomas Concept with its patterns of strengths. Pattern VIII people are "dynamic, eloquent, spirited, enthusiastic, convincing, inspirational, dramatic, charismatic, optimistic, persuasive, impulsive, exciting, innovative, imaginative, versatile, colorful, impelling, exuberant, and has vision." He stimulates change.

Relationship Strengths: The Pattern VIII person puts his focus of attention on his own vision. He has the courage to risk everything. He wants to influence others. He seeks the spotlight, enlivens relationships, and loves to talk.

Vocational Strengths: The Pattern VIII person gives dynamic leadership to a "cause," sells a dream, promotes an idea, puts deals together, and is an excellent public speaker.

Wants Others to: Pattern VIII people want others to notice them and react, show excitement and enthusiasm, be influenced by them, follow them, and be supportive.

In the Myers-Briggs world, the Pattern VIII person most closely resembles the ESTP (Promoter) or the ESFP (Performer). Famous Promoters include John Kennedy, Lucille Ball, and Madonna. Famous Performers include Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley, and Homer Simpson. 

(Elvis, courtesy of wikipedia)

To shake up a Pattern VIII protagonist's life, introduce an opposing character who is not easily swayed by words, who is extremely independent, and who finds the protagonist to be a "fraud" or "foolish." If the antagonist is someone close to the protagonist, like a spouse or sibling, the "betrayal" is more deeply felt. 

That concludes The Thomas Concept discussions here. Personally, I find the Myers-Briggs 16 core personalities to be more helpful in building believable characters, but the "wants others to" category of The Thomas Concept can be very useful. Have you found the study to be helpful? Please share.

Sonja

The Thomas Concept - Pattern VII

Another apology owed to my loyal blog readers: I'm off schedule again. Life is what it is, and sometimes it feels like I'm drowning in the pile of must-do's and need-to's. My blog posts were one of the things that had to get shifted to the bottom of the list in order for me to survive this past week. But I tackled life the way I usually do, like a black lab with a rawhide bone--steady and determined until the whole thing is annihilated. I am in control, I have conquered the to-do list with lots of coffee (and two minions who Must Help when Momma demands it), and I am ready to blog on-schedule again.

I'm nearly finished with the series on The Thomas Concept with its patterns of strengths. I use them for creating believable characters. Today's post is on Pattern VII. This one is special to me because I'm a Pattern VII. I understand it, live it, and get it. Now lets see if I can communicate it. 

The Pattern VII person is "self-assertive, forceful, decisive, ambitious, action-oriented, vigorous, resourceful, adventurous, enterprising, self-starting, self-confident, competitive, aggressive, outspoken, active, doer, energetic, and takes initiative." 

Relationship Strengths: the Pattern VII person puts her focus of attention on personal goals, is fully dedicated to winning, never gives up, expresses her thoughts and feelings, takes charge, and is impatient to get into action.

Vocational Strengths: the Pattern VII person takes calculated risks, gives leadership to practical projects, starts new ventures, tackles difficult challenges, and is effective in personal sales.

Wants Others To: the Pattern VII person wants others to respond: "Don't just sit there--do something, even if it's wrong!" She also says what she thinks, many times coming off as tactless or rude, and she wants others to speak the same way: directly. She wants others to give loyalty and active support, and her motto is "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."

The Pattern VII person can be compared to either the ESTJ (Supervisor) in the Myers-Briggs system or the ISTJ (Inspector). I'm an ISTJ, but some of those Pattern VII traits apply more to extroverted folks than introverts. Also, I'm not ultra decisive, although that could be a vitamin D deficiency or something. These patterns aren't meant to be all-inclusive, so feel free to tweak these character traits to more fully fit your character. If it works best for your Pattern VII character to be not quite so adventurous, you can make that work.

Famous Pattern VII people include Reverend Billy Graham, George W. Bush, and Katniss Everdeen.

(Photo of Katniss Everdeen compliments of wikipedia)

Adding stress to the Pattern VII person's life is fairly easy: saddle them with a lazy partner. Nothing ticks off a Pattern VII person than someone who refuses to pull their own weight. Also, Pattern VII people tend to be rule-followers and sometimes even rule-enforcers. Introduce an antagonist feels he's "above the law" or a side-kick who bends the rules to accomplish the objectives quicker, and your Pattern VII hero will be ultra frustrated. It's not stated above, but Pattern VII people also tend to be moral and find comfort in religion. Give your Pattern VII character a crisis of faith to shake things up a a bit, or pit them against someone who is amoral or down-right evil. 

Any other ideas about adding conflict to this hero's life? Please share. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile when I see comments in the comments section below.

-Sonja

The Thomas Concept - Pattern VI

The Thomas Concept with its patterns of strength are useful for building fictional characters. Check out my previous posts for Patterns I - V. Today's pattern is VI. 

(This Pattern VI photo courtesy of wikipedia)

The Pattern VI person is "diplomatic, humorous, gracious, cheerful, hospitable, soft-hearted, sympathetic, expressive, open, liberal, responsive, idealistic, compassionate, hopeful, warm, affectionate, trusting, and demonstrative." He wears his heart on his sleeve.

Relationship Strengths: The Pattern IV person focuses his attention on relationships, trusts others, shows feelings openly, seeks "closeness" and "intimacy", makes others feel warm and accepted, and leaves self unprotected and exposed.

Vocational Strengths: The Pattern VI person entertains people, works in public relations, is active in volunteer organizations, is a diplomat and a performer.

Wants Others To: The Pattern VI person wants others to be receptive, show warmth and compassion, share feelings, help them feel good about themselves, and give them compliments. 

On the surface, the Pattern VI person seems like an all-around nice guy, the gal everyone loves, the life of the party. Reminds me of the ESFP (Performer) from the Myers-Briggs system. Famous ESFPs include Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley, Bob Hope, and Marilyn Monroe. What's left out of the Thomas Concept is the darker side of the Performer. They crave an audience. What if they don't have one? They love to party. What if the party's cancelled? They're impulsive and self-indulgent. What does that mean to the family budget?

There are a ton of ways to introduce tension to your Pattern VI character. Put her in a room with a bunch of serious, no-nonsense people who just want to work on the project. Or give her a spouse who expects her to be faithful (ESFP's have trouble with this, as they fall in love often, and every time is the first time). Or simply take away his credit cards--the Pattern VI person NEEDS to be spontaneous and loves to give gifts--the idea of "affording" something is a foreign concept. A great way to introduce tension is to add confrontation. Pattern VI people tend to run from or ignore confrontations. By not allowing your Pattern VI character to run or otherwise avoid a sticky situation, he/she will automatically feel uncomfortable.

Can you think of other ways to stir up the Pattern Vi character's life? Share in the comments section.

-Sonja

The Thomas Concept - Pattern V

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of blogging regularly again... I've been discussing The Thomas Concept and the patterns of strength identified in the system. I use them for creating believable characters. There are eight patterns, and today's post deals with Pattern V personalities. If you do the math properly, you'll see we have three left after today. But enough of math. 

Pattern V has a special place in my heart because long ago, when my employer first introduced our office to the Thomas Concept, my arch-enemy/co-worker (name deleted to protect the guilty) was a Pattern V. After learning all about her and what she expected from her co-workers, I was able to adjust my work performance to give her what she wanted and create a more harmonious work environment. That's all bunk, because we still fought like crazed howler monkeys, and I felt slighted that she couldn't accommodate MY personality pattern to make a more harmonious work environment, but I think that's a discussion for another post. 

Here are the basics for Pattern V people:

They are outgoing, giving, friendly, helpful, sociable, flexible, cordial, gregarious, talkative, cooperative, generous, accommodating, caring, adaptable, empathetic, big-hearted, supportive, and likable. They facilitate communication and others find them easy to talk to. (And, after that amazing introduction, you're wondering what kind of harridan I am for not being able to get along with this gal... wait for the "Wants Others To" section and you may understand better.)

Relationship Strengths: Pattern V folks focus their attention on other people, seek to please others, want to interact and be involved, put emotions out on the table, draw people into relationships, and avoid making enemies.

Vocational Strengths: Pattern V people coordinate practical projects, work in "helping" professions, do personnel work, seem a "warm" counselor, and would be an excellent "soft-sell" salesperson.

Wants Others To: The Pattern V person wants others to give them recognition every day, show warm appreciation, accept their help with gratitude, trust them, and let them "talk out" their problems.

This pattern reminds me of the INFJ (Counselor) from the Myers-Briggs system, yet there are differences. The Counselor usually doesn't share their feelings with others, whereas the Pattern V person likes everyone to know what they're feeling. Also, the Counselor has strong empathic abilities and are often accused of reading people's minds because they're so in-tune with what others are thinking. The Pattern V person doesn't always go that extra step. I think the biggest difference is that the Counselor does not insist that others recognize them and their awesome work performance. Famous Counselors include Fanny Crosby, Mother Teresa, and Luke Skywalker.

(This famous INFJ photo courtesy of wikipedia)

Want to introduce stress to a Pattern V character in your novel? Pit them against someone who is independent, confident, and reserved. If this person is like me and finds "offering validation" to be a total waste of time, as anyone needing validation is weak-willed and incompetent, you'll really have some wonderful sparks flying. Another way to introduce tension is to have your Pattern V character interact with someone who refuses to be helped--either they will not admit they need help, or they know they need help but refuse to seek it. 

Can you think of other ways to introduce stress in a Pattern V character's life? Share in the comments section, please.

-Sonja

The Thomas Concept - Pattern IV

I didn't mean to take a week off from blogging, but life got in the way. My apologies to my loyal readers. I'll try to get back on track. Before the break, I was discussing The Thomas Concept and the patterns of strength. For those who don't know anything about it, The Thomas Concept is yet one more way of summarizing human behaviors and breaking them into recognizable personalities for whatever use you have. I use them for creating believable characters (which is why I'm writing about them on this writing blog). In the past, my employers used The Thomas Concept to help co-workers get along better and be more productive as a team. Today's post deals with Pattern IV personalities and how to use them as characters in your writing.

The Pattern IV person is "contemplative, intense, reflective, persistent, introspective, self-sufficient, philosophical, individualistic, insightful, inventive, precise, profound, accurate, earnest, experimental, perceptive, serious, and ingenious." The concentrate deeply on one thing at a time.

Relationship Strengths: A Pattern IV person focuses his attention on his own thoughts. He follows ideas rather than people. He works out his problems alone. He's reserved and private, and selective in choosing friendships. He's reticent in social situations.

Vocational Strengths: The Pattern IV person has original ideas, creates new products, takes initiative to explore and invent, is a catalyst for chance, and is an inventor.

Wants Others To: The Pattern IV person wants others to be thoughtful and reserved, ask for their thoughts and ideas, give them time to think, respect their privacy, and let them make their own decisions.

This pattern reminds me a little of the INTP (Architect) personality from the Myers-Briggs core personalities. My husband is an INTP, so I can see the Pattern IV strengths in there. However, Pattern IV might even more closely resemble the INTJ (Mastermind). I'll let others more familiar with the Thomas Concept make that decision. Famous INTPs include Albert Einstein, Abe Lincoln, and Seven of Nine from Star Trek Voyager. Famous INTJs include General Colin Powell, and Stephen Hawking.

(This photo of Seven of Nine courtesy of wikipedia)

How can this be utilized in your novel? Pit your Pattern IV character against someone who needs to be involved in every step of whatever process is going on. The Pattern IV person wants to work alone. By having someone constantly try to push themselves into the solution will cause great stress for the poor Pattern IV guy who just wants to be alone with his thoughts and ideas. Better yet, make the stressing character loud, obnoxious, flighty, spontaneous, and in desperate need of attention/validation. Sparks will fly.

Can you think of other ways to stress this character? Share your thoughts in the comments section. I love hearing from you!

-Sonja

The Thomas Concept - Pattern III

I'm discussing the eight patterns of strength from The Thomas Concept. Today's post covers Pattern III. 

The Pattern III person is "Thoughtful, mild-mannered, polite, gentle, sincere, faithful, knowledgeable, dutiful, learned, patient, academic, tolerant, scholarly, benevolent, sensitive, studious, shy, courteous," and is a moral philosopher. He's interested in fundamental principle.

Relationship Strengths: Pattern III people put their focus of attention on the relationship, give support in a quiet way, are careful to not hurt other's feelings, are understanding and affirming, seek to be cooperative and agreeable, and go along with the group.

Vocational Strengths: The Pattern III person organizes and communicates knowledge, writes textbook and historical works, teaches and nurtures, keeps cultural values alive, and is a sensitive and supportive advisor.

Wants Others To: The Pattern II person wants others to take the initiative in a quiet way, give them a chance to respond, listen to their thoughts and ideas, take the lead in making decision, and include them in the action.

Application: The best way to add more tension to a scene featuring a Pattern III character is to pit them against someone who is extremely independent, who doesn't want or need any help, who doesn't want to discuss anything, and/or is boisterous about their self-achieved conquests. 

I once worked with a Pattern III person, and if she wasn't asked for help on every project, she felt betrayed and insulted. It made for a very stressful work environment, as I am an independent sort of person. Once I discovered (through a Thomas Concept class) what this woman needed, it was easier for me to change my work processes so she wasn't glaring daggers at me every time I walked by with my completed assignments. It would have been nice if she'd found out that I worked best if left on my own to get the job done, but that's a story for another time. 

Bottom line: The Pattern III personality comes across as extremely caring, loving, wanting/needing to help others, but when their own needs aren't met, they can be quite cranky and un-loving. Play around with these ideas, because this is the type of character who would make a dandy non-traditional antagonist. In the Myers-Briggs universe, the Pattern III closely resembles the INFJ, or Counselor. Can you see Luke Skywalker or Mother Teresa as antagonists? They were both INFJs.

(Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com)

-Sonja

The Thomas Concept - Pattern II

In my last post, I began a discussion of the eight patterns of strength from The Thomas Concept. Today's post covers Pattern II.

A Pattern II person is "rational, determined, logical, firm, analytical, disciplined, objective, conservative, deliberate, prudent, self-reliant, self-controlled, strong-willed, calm, tenacious, discerning, industrious, realistic." They show sound judgment and use common sense.

Relationship Strengths: Pattern II people focus their attention on objective reality, provide stable leadership, bring rationality to emotional situations, keep their own counsel, hold feelings inside, and avoid small stalk.

Vocational Strengths: They analyze problems, take initiative to solve problems, bring order out of chaos, bring efficiency to operations, and keep tight control.

Wants Others to: Pattern II people want those around them to listen to them, show them respect, give them space (no crowding), stay rational and objective, and give them the facts, preferably in writing.

Application: If your character is a Pattern II type, the quickest way to throw tension in their lives is to make them interact with touchy-feeling people who are disrespectful (probably unintentionally) and highly emotional. The Pattern II character is no-nonsense and has no use for fantasy. Set a three-year-old on your hero's lap and watch the sparks fly! Or better yet, a hard-core sci-fi fan who dresses as his favorite characters.

(These Trekkies courtesy of wikipedia.com)

As I'm more versed with Myers Briggs than Thomas, I thought the Pattern II person closely resembled an ESTJ (The Supervisor). 

Is this exercise helpful for your writing? Sometimes labeling your characters traits can feel un-spontaneous and non-creative, but I find it's helpful to create a base for my characters. Then I can add other quirks and habits that make my characters unique, and I can fashion excellent side characters to add extra tension.

-Sonja

The Thomas Concept - Pattern I

I was browsing my blog stats a while back and noticed how many hits I received on different topics. One of the favorite topics (and most-often commented on) are the personality articles. They deal with personality types (like the INFJ), disorders (like sadistic personality disorder) and introvert/extrovert. Thinking how much I love to entertain the masses (and get more comments), I went digging through all my books on personality, building characters, etc, to find something new to write about. Then I found something from thirteen years ago that I'm pretty sure I haven't even opened since I brought it home: The Thomas Concept.

Let me give a brief bit of backstory. I was working as a budget analyst for the Washington State Patrol. I worked with a small group of people (eight-ten) on a daily basis, and about thirty on a once-a-week basis. As a way to get the thirty-something people working more like a team, management sent a bunch of us to a seminar called "Understanding People Through Strengths," also known as The Thomas Concept. The basic idea is to figure out which personality type your co-workers are (The Thomas Concept features eight personality types called Patterns, compared to the sixteen in Myers Briggs), then use that knowledge to interact more constructive with them. It was a huge help to me because I'd been having problems working with one particular individual. I identified which personality pattern she was, then read the section of the book that focused on her type. I zeroed in on the portion called, "Wants Others To..." It basically gave me a summary of how this woman wanted others to respond to her. I started giving her what she wanted, and our working relationship improved drastically.

How does this work for fiction, you ask? Simple. Use the "Want Others To..." section, figure out what your character wants from others, then give him the opposite. Bam - instant conflict. 

(This unique person courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

For the next eight posts, I'll give the basics of each pattern and offer ways to incorporate it into your writing. I don't want to take the time to describe the entire system. The Thomas Concept is quite a bit different from Myers Briggs, but works about the same. If you're interested, buyThe Thomas Concept thru Amazon.

Today I'll discuss Pattern I. (I'm copying directly from the pocket guide.) This person is stable, quiet, dependable, accepting, steady, loyal, orderly, respectful, consistent, conforming, methodical, attentive, cautious, economical, receptive, practical, hesitant, and systematic. She's a good listener. 

Relationship Strengths: Pattern I people put their focus of attention on the practical situation, make others feel secure and comfortable, wait for the other person to make the first move, follow the leadership of others, avoid confrontation and conflict, and keep their thoughts and feelings to themselves. 

Vocational Strengths: maintain established routines, watch over details, provide a warm and accepting work environment, keep things running smoothly, and is a loyal and dependable team player.

Wants Others To: Pattern I people want others to take the initiative in a respectful way, ask for their help, give them encouragement, show them appreciation, and invite them to go along.

Application: If your character is a Pattern I type, the quickest way to throw tension into the relationship is to have someone take her for granted, belittle or ignore her, and be disrespectful. Granted, a lot of personality types would bristle under this type of treatment, but it's especially painful for the Pattern I personality. She wants to feel needed, to feel that she's an important part of the whole, even if she's not in control of it. She's happy to sit in the background and do her work quietly, but she wants recognition of her work. What others think about her matters to her. So introduce a character for her to collide with and watch the tension mount. She's not going to stand up for herself--she hates confrontation--so she'll internalize that stress. Eventually, it'll have to come out.

Because I'm much more versed with Myers Briggs, I immediately saw that this Pattern I personality resembles the INFJ (Counselor) personality type with a little bit of ISTJ (Inspector) tossed in.

Do you have a character in your story that fits the Pattern I personality type? Use the "Wants Others To" section to add more conflict to her days and see what happens.

-Sonja

A Good Scare

With Halloween just weeks away, my kids are begging for costumes. My youngest wants to be Esio from Assassin's Creed. That got me thinking about scary stuff. Esio's not horribly scary, but maybe that's because I've never watched my kids play the game. Stephen King's books are the scariest I've ever read (Misery and Pet Sematary get my top votes for creepiest books ever). Nightmare on Elm Street is the scariest movie I ever watched (made it about three minutes in before I ran screaming from the room). 

(Bela Legosi as Dracula, photo courtesy of wikipedia)

Question: What's the scariest book you ever read and the scariest movie you ever watched? Do you like being scared, or are you like me and run away from the creepy stuff?

-Sonja

Personality as Defined by Birth Order

I wear a pedometer on my waistband. Supposedly, I check it mid-day to see if I've met my daily goal of steps. In reality, I ignore it until bedtime, then write down how many steps I took and ignore it again until morning. Yesterday, as I was cooking dinner, my youngest son came up behind me and said, "Mom, your speedometer says you're going 2,194 miles per hour! Is that possible?" I confirmed--yes, it is possible for Mom to go that many miles per hour, and even faster on hectic days. 

(Busy Mom pic courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

Now you're wondering what this cute story has to do with writing? Let me tell you. My youngest son frequently says funny things. My older two boys also said cute things when they were smaller, but the youngest gets the prize for funnies. I think it's because he's listened to his two older brothers and picked up some big vocabulary words he's not quite sure how to use in a sentence. He wants to participate in the big people's conversations, so he tries out unfamiliar words, or attempts a serious conversation about concepts and topics he doesn't fully understand, and the result is something adorable or funny or  (in some cases) downright rude. It made me wonder: are all youngest kids funnier than older kids? Does birth order have anything to do with humor? Most importantly, how do I use this in my novels?

If you've never studied the concept of birth order affecting personality and behaviors, look into it. There's some interesting stuff out there, and I don't have time or space to do an in-depth study here. However, I want to hit the basics. Is your protagonist the first-born? If he is, he's probably reliable, conscientious, structured, controlling, and ambitious. The middle-born child is often the peace-maker, seeking to please people, somewhat rebellious, thrives on friendships, and has a large social circle. The youngest child tend to be more free-spirited, fun-loving, uncomplicated, manipulative, outgoing, attention-seeking, and self-centered. Being the only child in a family usually means extra maturity for their age (doesn't necessarily apply to adults, but it can), and only-children can also be perfectionists, conscientious, diligent, and natural-born leaders.

These are generalities, but they're quite reliable. I'm the oldest in my family, and I have all those oldest-born traits. My youngest son has many of the last-born traits (he's not very outgoing). Here's an interesting concept you could play with: sometimes the middle child, if there's a massive age gap between him and the next oldest, will have some traits of the middle-born and some traits of the first-born. In situations like that, the oldest may also possess some of the only-child traits.

Www.parents.com has some great information on birth orders and personalities. An interesting bit I found is there are situations in which the birth order doesn't matter. Blended families with step children, foster children, or adopted children, don't usually follow the "rules" (although they can). The article also clearly states that personality is not fixed by birth order, so don't feel the need to make your first-born protagonist out to be a controlling guy, or a middle-born character to be a peacemaker. There's plenty of wiggle room in this interesting arena.

Do you use these concepts when creating your characters? Do you even know if your characters have siblings and what order they came in? Do you think it matters? Share in the comments section, please.

-Sonja

Snap Out of the Funk

I'm behind on my blog-reading (I have an RSS reader that sucks in all the blog posts I think I want to read and stores them in a handy place--I'm sure you know all this, but I'm still fascinated by the technology...). Anyway, I was slogging through my blogs and came to a post from Sept 30 by Meg Rosoff over at Writer Unboxed. What she said spoke directly to me. Allow to quote a bit of that blog for you here:

(This is Meg, photo courtesy of Writers Unboxed)

Whenever I do any teaching, I inevitably get twenty-five middle aged aspiring writers sitting around a table looking mournful. "I got halfway through my book," they all say, "and then I got stuck."

This is when I think a cattle prod would come in handy for creative writing classes. "Of course you get stuck you silly people," I practically scream. "Getting stuck is what happens. Everyone gets stuck!"

"Well, so, what do we do?" they chorus in funereal tones.

"You work harder," I tell them. "You snap at your family, you feel depressed, you waste time on Facebook and Twitter, you clean the house (but only when you're really desperate), you devour whole cakes, you pace, you despair. You read other peoples' books that are better than any you'll ever write and you cry. Eventually you get so desperate that you just write some nonsense, and if you're lucky, something in that nonsense clicks with something in your brain, and you start to see a way through. If you're not lucky, it doesn't click, and you have to be depressed for another day. Or a week or a month."

They stare at me, mouths open, twenty-five identical versions of Munch's portrait, The Scream.

"Yup," I say. "That's what you do. That's what I and everyone I know does, anyway."

(End quote)

Did that speak to you, too? Did you read that and think, "YES! That's exactly the way it works for me. Why didn't anyone warn me, before I started on this journey of learning how to write, that it'd be FULL of days and weeks and months like this?"

I'm just now coming off a 2.4 month period of this "being stuck" business. I haven't written anything new aside from blog posts. I'm not sure they count. Anyway, my two current WIPs (works in progress) are boring, and I don't want to open them up. I'm so frustrated, my muse showed up one day and I kicked her out the back door, wanting nothing to do with her or with writing. Does that happen to anyone else? Apparently so, according to Meg.

I managed to snap myself out of it, and I'm going to tell you what I did. It might not work for you, but it worked wonders for me and my awesome critique buddy, Melody. Get ready to take notes, because here it is, in a numbered list (because I love lists and they make me feel like I accomplished something, which I did--because now I have a LIST when I didn't have one before, but I digress):

1. I whined to my friend Melody that I hadn't written anything since July. She whined back that SHE hadn't written anything in months, either. We both silently agreed that coffee and pastry were not going to work this time. It was the end. Our writing careers were over. We both have agents, but neither of us is published, and Life Just Sucks. 

2. Knowing I wasn't alone in my despair actually made me feel a little better. I told Melody about a stupid dream I'd had the night before, starring her and I as twin sisters fighting crime like superheroes. By the way, she's Indian and I'm Scandinavian. We don't look anything alike, in real life or in the dream. I know, stupid dream, but it was funny and I got a kick out of sharing it with her.

3. Melody agreed that it was a hilarious dream and said I should write it. 

4. I opened a clean Word document and started writing. Pretty soon, I had nearly 4,000 new words. And they were funny! It was a genre I'd never tried before (urban fantasy), it included more humor than I'd ever used in a written work, and best of all, I had NEW WORDS. I sent it to Melody and told her to write the next chapter. Within a day, she sent it back to me with another 1,000 words written. For the first time in ages, she'd written New Words, too! She was excited to be out of The Funk, just like me.

We haven't taken the story any further than that. And it doesn't matter if it never goes anywhere else. The fact is, it pulled BOTH of us out of our writing funks. My creative juices are flowing again, and I want to write. More importantly, I want to write something my agent would love to read. Like maybe the piece she asked for back in July. 

Bottom line: when you're in a funk, pick a genre you've never tried before, go to your best critique buddy, and write something together. What's the worst that could happen? You don't write anything? You're already writing nothing. But maybe you'll get Something out of it and unstick each other. It's worth a shot.

Share with me - what have you done in the past to get out of a writing funk? We all get stuck. How did you get unstuck?

-Sonja

Marketing Words of Wisdom from Randy Ingermanson

Randy Ingermanson sends out a monthly fiction writing E-zine that I subscribe to. I went to a class Randy taught last August and shared some of the awesome content with you a while back. Then he summarized a bunch of the class content in this month's E-zine article. So I'm going to copy and paste the entire article for you here, just in case you missed my previous posts. If you thoroughly enjoy this article, there's a link at the bottom so you can subscribe to Randy's E-zine. Enjoy.

My author friends are buzzing this week about an article that recently appeared on DigitalBookWorld about whether author web sites are worth it.  

 

The rather curious conclusion reached by some of the experts quoted was that most author web sites have very little value and therefore authors should spend their marketing efforts on social media.

 

The article quoted other experts who took exactly the opposite viewpoint—author web sites are more valuable than social media.

 

My own opinion is that it's more complicated than that.

 

It's true that most author web sites have very little value. But it doesn't follow that authors should be spending their time on social media instead.

 

Based on my conversations with many authors, it's clear that most of them believe they're incompetent marketers.  

 

Ask them. Most authors will tell you they don't really know what they're doing with their marketing. Most authors will tell you they can't prove that any of their marketing actually works.

 

Assume they're correct. Assume most authors are as incompetent at marketing as they think they are. 

 

Then it follows that most of them have incompetent web sites. 

 

But the same logic implies that most of them are incompetent at Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, and any other marketing method you can name. 

 

The problem here is that you can't judge the value of a marketing tool by asking how well it's used by incompetent marketers. 

 

The better question is how good a marketing tool is in the hands of a competent marketer.

 

But the best question is what an author's marketing goals should be in the first place. Until you know that, any questions of goodness or badness don't have any meaning. 

 

A little analogy might be helpful here.

 

Dogs are incompetent drivers. Therefore, a Ferrari is useless to a dog. 

 

But it doesn't follow that a dog should forego the Ferrari and drive a Jeep instead. 

 

A Jeep is also useless to a dog. So is a minivan, a Yugo, and a bicycle.

 

The question isn't whether any of these vehicles is useful to a dog. Dogs have no business driving any of them.

 

The question is which of them is most useful to you as a trained driver.

 

Before you can answer that, you first have to define what you mean by "useful."

 

If you're trying for raw speed, then the Ferrari is the most useful.

 

If you're trying to travel over rough roads in winter, the Jeep is probably your best bet.

 

If you're trying to take a bunch of kids to soccer practice, go with the minivan.

 

If you wanted some fun and exercise, try the bike.

 

Avoid the Yugo at all costs because it does nothing well.

 

Now how does all this apply to you as an author who wants to market your work?

 

That depends on your level of marketing skill. Are you a competent marketer or are you incompetent? (Your first reaction to this question is probably correct.)

 

If you're an incompetent marketer, then you're not going to do a good job with anything—a web site, Facebook, Twitter, or anything else. None of these will do you much good, so first get some training in marketing. 

 

What if you're a competent marketer? What's the right marketing vehicle for you? That will depend on what your marketing goals are. 

 

Here are my thoughts on that, and you can take them or leave them.

 

Generally, your customers go through three distinct phases in becoming your fan. Initially, they don't know who you are. First, they have to become aware you exist. Second, you have to get them interested in you or your writing. Third, you have to make the sale.

 

Your three main marketing goals are therefore these:

1. Attract people who don't know you.
2. Engage their interest so they do know you.
3. Convert them to paying customers.

Any marketing strategy that focuses on only one or two of these phases is doomed to fail. 

 

A competent marketer is somebody who can execute all three phases well.

 

Social media tools focus on the Attract and Engage phases. But they don't do that well at the Convert phase.

 

The evidence I've seen tells me that there are two things that Convert very well:

• E-mail announcements of new products. 
• Sales pages on web sites.

So if you're going to be a competent marketer, you need at least a web site that collects e-mail addresses of your fans and that shows sales pages for all your books. If you've got that, you've done most of your effort for the Convert phase.

 

You will also need something to help you Attract and Engage your fans. You can do that with social media or with your web site or with paid ads. Your choice. 

 

There's one issue that you need to always keep in mind. That's the issue of permanence.

 

Your author web site is the only piece of real estate on the web that you control. It's the only one you can guarantee will always be there.

 

Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and Pinterest all own the land that they let you use. They can take it away. They can change the rules. (Facebook seems to change every few weeks.) They can go out of fashion. (Have you been on MySpace lately?)

 

Every year, there'll be some new social media gizmo that everybody says you should be using. Every year, there'll be some old social media gizmo that quietly fades away. Some of these may be useful to you for a few years. Pursue them if they are. Abandon them when they lose their glitter.

 

But your first goal is to control your own land on the web and use it to build your tribe. That would be your web site. With a good professional e-mail list service provider. 

 

Everything else is optional. The web site and e-mail list are not.

 

This article is reprinted by permission of the author.

 

Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 6,200 readers. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.