Amen, Sister

Deliver What You Promised

Recently, a writer "liked" one of my blog posts. That doesn't happen as often as you'd think, so I clicked on his name to find out more about him. He's got three novels out, self published. I read his bio and LOVED it! The writing was excellent. It had wit, charm, a bit of sarcasm, and it was a joy to read. So I clicked on the link to his books. The first two didn't really appeal to me, but the third book caught my attention. The synopsis of the book was written in the same style as the bio, with wit, sarcasm, and fabulous word-smithing. Excited that I'd found an awesome style, I bought the book (Kindle version).

The dream faded as chapter one sped by. That wonderful style I'd read in the bio and the book description were lacking in the text. The writing was fine--setting, characters, all that stuff was well done. But the wit, the sarcasm, the sense of humor, were conspicuously absent. I made it to chapter five before I gave up. The plot is fine. The characters are fine. But the humor I thought I'd find wasn't to be found. I didn't recover from that disappointment.

It's ultra important to deliver what you promise to your readers. If the back-of-the-book blurb contains humor, there'd better be humor in chapter one. Conversely, if your book description is fast-paced with world-destroying stakes, there shouldn't be page after page of slapstick humor. Or worse, puns. Reader disappointment is a killer.

I'm not going to tell you this author's name because I have high hopes that he'll discover (on his own) that his laid back, humorous bio style should be incorporated into his next book. And I will finish the one I bought. The story questions raised were enough to keep me interested, and I'll probably end up liking the book. It just doesn't have any humor in it.

Would that bug you the way i bugged me? Share your thoughts.

-Sonja

Introducing Microtension

In the September 2014 issue of Writer's Digest, Donald Maass has a short but interesting article on Building Microtension Into Every Scene. The article was a fast read, and full of useful information, but I'm not going to share all of it. I want to pick out a bit at the end and discuss what he says. He offers three ways to deliver microtension to scenes.

1. "Pick a passage of dialogue and increase hostility between the speakers. It can be friendly ribbing, worried questioning, polite disagreement, snide derision, veiled threats, open hostility or any other degree of friction." 

Of the three ideas, I think this one is the easiest. When you have two characters who spend any amount of time together, tensions will automatically mount. Little things like misunderstandings, misaligned goals, or hurt feelings can easily produce juicy dialogue. Instead of internalizing the pain, have one character lash out with words. It doesn't have to be negative, either. Good-natured teasing (or an ill-timed tickle-fest) can escalate into tension, especially if there are unspoken resentments or unknown variables (that lovely sense of mystery must be made clear to the reader for this to work, though). 

2. "Pick a passage of exposition. List all of your POV character's emotions and find emotions that conflict. Grab what creates unease, uncertainty, fresh worry, new questions, a deeper puzzle or an agonizing dilemma. Rewrite the passage."

This one takes more work, as you've got to establish the conflicting emotions first. For example: in one scene, your female character thinks her husband is planning a surprise party for her. She's feeling a bit excited, but let's be truthful, it's too boring to devote an entire scene to it. Now add an emotion that conflicts. Simple: she hates surprises. Now she wants to find out if he's really planning it, who's involved, where it'll be, how they'll surprise her--and the whole time, she doesn't want her husband to know she's found out. (It's still pretty boring, but if you weave all this conflicting emotion into the main thread of the story, the potential for interest will raise.)

3. "Pick a moment when your protagonist is still, simply waiting or doing nothing. List three setting details that only this character would notice. Detail her emotions. Find those that conflict or surprise her. What's this moment's personal meaning?"

This is the hardest one, especially for me, as I'm not that great at detailing setting. However, it can be done. I'm thinking of J.D. Robb's In Death series. The protagonist, Eve Dallas, is a homicide detective. When she walks into a crime scene, she immediately notes the things that others wouldn't necessarily notice: hiding places, forensic evidence, misplaced items (like moved furniture or pictures askew). Her emotions are almost always under control. But once in awhile, the scene is personal to her--she knew the victim, or feels extra compassion for a survivor, or something about the crime reminds her of an emotionally trying time from her past. That's when the viewing of the scene takes on more meaning. The emotional connection to the setting produces tension.

If you've got a boring passage in your WIP and don't know how to fix it, try using one of these three ideas to increase the tension. 

Questions? Comments? Do you have better examples than what I came up with?

-Sonja

True for me

When in doubt, post something humorous. True for you, too?

Plotting a Mystery

Sorry I haven't been around lately. I'm plotting a new mystery. I'm taking a quick break today to share something I found on Pinterest (yes, I wasted some of my plotting time with a visit to Pinterest--since I only spent five minutes there, I'm not feeling guilty at all). The pic said this:

"To uncover the plot of your story, don't ask what should happen, but what should go wrong. To uncover the meaning of your story, don't ask what the theme is, but rather, what is discovered. Characters making choices to resolve tension--that's your plot. If your protagonist has no goal, makes no choices, has no struggle to overcome, you have no plot." -Steven James, from Story Trumps Structure

What I love most about this quote is the part "What should go wrong." I don't know about the rest of you mystery writers, but I plot my story by figuring out the murder first. Who did it? Why did he do it? How did he do it? How does he think he'll get away with it? How much planning did he put into it? Most importantly, how will he be caught and brought to justice?

At some point in here, I'll also figure out everything about the victim: who he is, why he deserved to die (in the mind of the murderer), how to make him sympathetic (so the reader cares about solving his murder), and all the other little things that go into crafting a great victim.

Once I have all that nailed down, I create my protagonist (she's been in the back of my mind all the while, anyway) and figure out: How does she stumble across this murder? Why is it important for her to solve it? How will she solve it? What are the stakes if she doesn't solve it? What's her inner flaw that she must conquer before she can be in a position mentally, physically, or spiritually to solve the crime?

That's where the "what can go wrong" comes into play. If it's too easy for my protagonist to solve the murder, it's a boring story. If it's too hard, the reader will be frustrated. There's a fine line between Believable and Throwable (as in "throw the book across the room and never read another book by this author ever again so-help-me-God"). Granted, my murderer wants to get away with his crime, so he'll probably try to make things go wrong for the protagonist. But she also faces other problems. People lie. Evidence gets misinterpreted or languishes in a crime lab somewhere for horrific amounts of time. Budget cuts limit personnel availability. Family members want some quality time with the protagonist, so she can't devote her entire day to crime solving. Attitudes and expectations get in the way. Feelings get hurt. Drama distracts.

The "what can go wrong" part can be fun to plan, but if I go overboard, the story isn't believable or fun to read. Balance is the key.

Any comments? Questions? Observations? Share your wisdom with the rest of us, please, and use the comments section to do it.

-Sonja

My Story is Boring

I think this is a problem most writer's face. You get to that spot in the story where everything slows down and you're certain it's boring. What to do? I'm facing that problem today. One solution is to raise the stakes. There are at least five different kinds of stakes that I know of, and any one of them can pull the story out of the blahs. Let's look at them.

1) Spiritual. My character's religious beliefs can be thrown into question somehow. Is it okay to steal food if my kids are hungry? Will God really be displeased with me if I tell a lie (we all lie in real life, so characters should lie, too--and not just when it's convenient. A good whopper out of nowhere can really shake things up). Does kissing this guy who's not my husband mean I'm an adulteress? Is it still murder if the thing I killed is a life form from a different galaxy and I'm not even sure it was sentient? Okay, I'm getting silly now, but you can see where I'm going with it.

2) Emotional. Just when my character thinks life might be going fine, introduce an element that causes an extreme emotional response. Her child almost got run over by a car (or DID get run over--that'll shake everything up for the rest of the novel). His co-worker stole his great idea that lead to the co-worker's promotion--and there's no way to prove it. Her sick Grandma just won the lottery, and that money would be ultra useful to get out of a jam--and then the guilt kicks in for getting greedy over Granny's money. Those emotions can be fun to play with, so slather them on thick.

3) Mental. Thoughts, attitudes, understandings, expectations, we all have these things in real life. So does your character. Explore one of them, then twist it up so it's no longer useful. She thought he loved her and would buy her a ring--until she saw the new pick-up truck he bought with his savings. He truly believed he'd get chosen to be on the team, but when the roster was posted, his name wasn't on it. Misunderstandings can be especially useful to shake things up.

4) Community. Family members are the best for mucking things up, but there are also friends, neighbors, and that guy at the park you see every time you go jogging and you don't know his name but you recognize his face and smile at him. And because they are all people, they can shake up a character's carefully ordered world. Maybe your character is planning on going into business with younger sister, but she elopes and moves to Cancun. Or your protagonist is planning to spend that tax refund on a new golf cart, then one of the kids spills a gallon of paint on the hardwood floor in the living room and lets it dry instead of cleaning it up. Of course, all this physical excitement will lead to mental and emotional stresses, which raise the stakes even higher.

5) Global. Your character is cruising along through life, everything's going good, then out of nowhere, Canada declares war and bombs Seattle. Or maybe it's the Koreans. Or the Rusikans from Theta Seti 5. Or a tornado touches down and rips up the neighborhood. Unless your character is the president of the country, there's nothing that can be done about a national or international crisis. 

Now I must go fix my boring story by raising some stakes. Are there any helpful things in here? Any other stakes you can think to raise?

-Sonja

An Interesting Character

I enjoy Pinterest for a bunch of reasons, and one of them is the humor. I find funny sayings, pictures, posters, quotes, you name it. Today I saw this photograph:

It was easier to post the picture than try to explain a sandwich-board sign coated in chalkboard paint... or maybe not. I don't know who took the picture or where it's from, so if anyone knows, fill me in and I'll give due credit to the source. For those who can't read the tiny font, it says, "Congratulations, you made it out of bed. Come in and celebrate."

My first reaction was to smile. That's pretty cute. Then I thought, does this person really exist? We all like to joke about how hard it is to get up in the morning, or how we don't function until we've had our first cup of coffee, but most of us aren't really this extreme. 

This would make an awesome character in a novel!

I see story elements in nearly everything I see, do, and read. Have you ever driven by a remote spot and thought, "What a great place to hide a body!" Have you ever seen a child laughing so hard they quit breathing and thought that scene had to go into a book? Have you seen a T-shirt with a sarcastic saying on it and knew which of your characters would proudly wear it?

Am I all by myself in this? What would you do with this character who must buy a coffee in response to successfully getting out of bed on time?

-Sonja

Writing Prompts

Over on Pinterest, interesting writing prompts pop up once in a while on my feed. One especially interesting one caught my attention, so I followed the link. It's called Reddit Writing Prompts. Go check it out, I'll wait for you.

The one that jumped out at me on Pinterest is this:

> On your eighteenth birthday, you shoot a mystic bow that is said to kill whoever is destined to kill you, three seconds before they do. Eight years later, your arrow strikes your SO's heart, right as s/he says "I do."

A little melodramatic, but intriguing. And heart-breakingly sad. I don't like sad stuff, but this one got me. Wouldn't that make a great short story?

I haven't investigated the site well enough to know if these prompts are supposed to help you come up with a new novel idea, or spark a short story idea, or just get your creative juices flowing. There is a place for you to share the story you made up, contests, and a chat room. Maybe one of you has perused the site more than I have and can enlighten us all? I was thinking they'd be great prompts to get my son writing.

Let me share a few more interesting ones:

> You're a monster hiding under the bed. You're just about to burst out and frighten your victim when the father bursts into the room and starts mercilessly beating his own child.

> You are the first person ever to enter a black hole. When you come out the other side, you are back in the world exactly as you left it, but nobody seems to remember you.

> You'd always thought your house was haunted. One night, you're attacked by an intruder, but something defends you.

> You are the Chief Magical Officer at a retirement home for wizards witH Alzheimer's disease.

That's just a sampling, and I tried to grab different genres. There are TONS to choose from. Maybe someday when you're feeling writer's block or can't come up with a great idea for your next novel, give this site a try and see if that helps.

Comments?

-Sonja

What Is a Log-Line, and Do You Need One?

Kristen Lamb wrote an awesome blog post yesterday called "How to Tell if Your Story is On Target--What is Your Book About in ONE Sentence?" It's awesome. Go read it (I put the link in there), then come back. Or just stick around, because I plan on hitting the high points and adding a few bits of my own.

The meat of Kristen's blog is that every author needs a log-line. Don't know what that is? It's a one-sentence pitch that summarizes your story. It's the one sentence you can tell people when they ask, "What's your book about?" Don't ramble on for 20 minutes giving a play-by-play of the plot. Give the log-line. Go to IMDB (that's a website) and look up your favorite movies. Odds are, there's a one-sentence summary to get you to watch the movie.

Here are some examples:

"The Green Mile is about the lives of guards on death row leading up to the execution of a black man accused of rape and child murder who has the power of faith healing."

"A vengeful fairy is driven to curse an infant princess, only to discover that the child may be the one person who can restore peace to their troubled land." (That's Maleficent, and I've heard nothing to great reviews about this movie so far.)

"A reluctant hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of dwarves to reclaim their mountain home--and the gold within it--from the dragon Smaug."

The log-line tells the core idea of your story in a way that is emotionally intriguing and piques a reader's interest. It can take time to get it right. Kristen suggests trying it out on lots of people, even strangers in the coffee shop. If their eyes glaze over, your log-line isn't ready yet. If they lean forward and ask when that baby will be published, you know you're on track.

Here are the components of a successful log-line (according to Kristen--I didn't come up with this on my own):

1) a protagonist

2) an active verb

3) an active goal

4) an antagonist

5) the stakes

Check it out in action: 

Luke Skywalker (protagonist) joins forces (active verb) with a Jedi knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookie, and two droids to save the universe (active goal) from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station (the stakes), while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia (another goal) from the evil Darth Vader (antagonist.)

Here's another one, from the movie X-Men: Days of Future Past (which I saw last weekend and thought was pretty good):

The X-Men send (active verb) Wolverine (protagonist) to the past in a desperate effort (active goal) to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants (stakes). 

Notice the antagonist isn't mentioned in this log-line, but it's kind of implied in "the event."

Now let me try it on one of my own stories, Cassandra's Curse:

Cassandra Christofides uses her gift of precognition to stop a sniper who intends to kill Cassandra.

I'm fairly happy with this one. The hard part is knowing what stakes to put in there, as the sniper kills a bunch of people in the book, but I thought the most pressing stake in Cassie's mind is her own demise. This comes at the end of the book, though, so don't use your log-line as the blurb (that's the sentence on the front of the book or the paragraph on the back of the book that's supposed to entire readers to buy/read the book).

Now try writing a log-line for your book. If you feel brave, share your results in the comments section. You might get some helpful feedback.

Questions? Comments? Frustrations? Share them all!

-Sonja

Reading Truth #297

Excellent Quote

"I don't have a muse. I have a mortgage."

-Jim Butcher


No commentary necessary.

Research for a New Novel

My good friend Aggeloi asked me to blog about a recent research venture. It began, as it usually does, with an idea. This one happens to be for a children's story. I've never written for children, but that's a topic for another blog. The story needs to be set in a small town, preferably in Washington state so I don't have to stray too far out of my comfort zone. The small town needs to be large enough to have an elementary school nearby but secluded enough to have a large (5 acres or more) old-growth forest nearby. After taking multiple trips to Seattle to research sites for previous novels, I decided that the small town in my newest novel needs to be within easier driving distance: thirty miles max. That'd make life much easier for me.

I've been driving up and down the Hood Canal all my life (family used to live up north), so I have a basic familiarity with all the small towns along Highway 101. I thought of using Lilliwaup, but it's too small. So I went south just a bit and chose Hoodsport. It met all my criteria, as far as I knew. So last Memorial Day, with nothing better already planned, I asked my husband to drive me up to Hoodsport to look around. Normally before field trips of this sort, I'd use Google maps and Google Earth to scout the area to make sure it was close enough to what I wanted. I didn't have time to do that this time. We packed the kids in the van and headed out.

Hoodsport is a wonderful and unique town. The first thing we did was drive down the main drag and find a parking spot somewhere in the middle (it's a really small town). Before we even got out, we checked Google maps and found out that Hoodsport doesn't have a neatly planned grid-like system of streets. It's got one main street (Highway 101) paralleling the canal, and two other main streets that run up into the hills, perpendicular to the highway, for a couple of miles until they join up and run out to Lake Cushman. There are several smaller side streets, most of which dead-end, and no "neighborhoods" of houses parked in a row with front and back yards and alleys and whatnot. That's a big deal for my story, so I made note of it.

(This is the dock at Hoodsport)

We got out of the van and walked down the main drag, stopping in all the stores that were open. Most of them catered to tourists. I found two great history books on the area: one is the story of one of the original settlers to the town of Hoodsport, and the other is an account of the early settlement of Lake Cushman. They were pricey, but I bought them anyway. During our walk, my husband took tons of photos: store fronts, the view of the water, a panorama of the main drag, and all the interesting, unique things you don't find in other small towns. The Hoodsport dock is amazing. The walkway shoots out over the beach and the water (by the time you get to the end, you're 20 feet above the water), then a steep ramp shoots you down to the docks. When the tide is in, that ramp isn't quite as steep, but when we were there, the tide was out and I was too chicken to try walking down that ramp. Anyway, back on shore there was a box for mooring fees. Yep, just a box. So trusting to leave something like that out in the open and unguarded. Hubby took a picture of that. There was also a unique circular concrete table with attacked benches (also circular) that was rustic, charming, and would fit wonderfully into my story. 

(This is the bench)

After that short tour of the "downtown corridor," we got back in the van and headed up the hill on one of the side streets. We saw a few houses tucked back into the woods, then came across the visitor's center. We parked and I headed inside. A friendly elderly man and his dog greeted me. It told him I was writing a story set in Hoodsport and asked for a map of the area. He didn't have a street map of Hoodsport, but he gave me several maps of the entire area. Then he told me a story about how a local place got it's name. If I didn't have hubby and kids waiting in the car for me, I'd have taken a seat and listened to that guy talk all day! Sometime soon I'll have to go back with a picnic lunch and hear more stories, as I'm sure that kind of background would be useful.

When I left the visitor's center, we shot down a little side street, but seeing nothing but trees and a few scattered houses, we went back to the highway and found a realtor's office. She was so friendly! She had this fat book full of street maps that she used for selling properties. When I told her I was writing a story set in Hoodsport, she got excited about helping and started photocopying pages from her book. I ended up with two street maps of Hoodsport and one of Lake Cushman. She told me where to find the elementary school (it was 15 minutes down the road), and wished me well with my book.

We left Hoodsport and drove to the elementary school, just so I could see where it was and what it looked like. Then we drove to the Skokomish Tribal Center. My story features a Skokomish grandmother who tells stories, but I don't know any Skokomish stories, so I was hoping to meet someone at the Tribal Center who could help me. Sadly, it was closed for the holiday. I later sent an email to the center and asked for contract information. So far I haven't heard back, but when I do, I'll drive out there to interview some people and look around a bit more.

When I got home, I took all my maps, books, and ideas to my computer so I wouldn't lose them. That's when I looked at the area using Google Earth. I found a fabulous spot to my my protagonist's house, not too far from an immense stand of timber (I don't know if it's old-growth, but I'm allowed to make stuff up in a story, aren't I?) and within walking distance of the downtown area. For a spur-of-the-moment research trip, I gathered a lot of what I needed to make my story work.

Have you ever visited the town where your story takes place? Did you interview locals to get a feel for the community? Did you take pictures and try to imagine your protagonist (and antagonist) living and struggling there? Lastly, did this summary of my research venture help you in any way? I appreciate your feedback.

-Sonja

Am I a Writer?

This week, I'm a waiter. Or a procrastinator. Or maybe just lazy. 

The Creative Process

When in doubt about what to post, make it something funny. 

Funny but true

Especially for mystery/thriller writers. Not so much for romance writers...

The Joy of Lists

I want to finish my overview Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters today, despite the fact that there's still a lot to cover. The entire second half of the book is lists. Lots of lists. I love lists, so this is a great book for me. Here's what you'd find if you bought the book:

Need a Society or Association for your protagonist to belong to, but you can't think of one? McCutcheon has 3.5 pages of them for you to choose from. Does your protagonist need a college degree, but you don't know which one? There's a list of them in the book, along with their appropriate abbreviation. 

(this barista courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

The next list is an Occupations Inventory. Does one of your characters need a job, but you want something uncommon? You'll find it on this list. Along with the standard accountant, bank teller, and waitress, you'll also find gems like these: allergist, antique dealer, bagel maker, B&B owner, cartoonist, diver, grifter, hypnotist, loanshark, midwife, panhandler, radio deejay, septic tank cleaner, and tree surgeon. There are 11 pages to thumb through, so chances are, you'll find the perfect occupation for your character.

Chapter 3 is all about Facial Expressions, Body and Vocal Language. Need to show your character is angry without saying "he's angry?" Look at the list in this book. Need great body language to convey pain? There's a list in this book. Need a facial expression for someone who's in love? You get the point. This chapter is full of stuff that you might not need every day, but when you need a different way of showing someone's facial expression when they're drunk, this book can help. Then there's a list of all the ways to show Smiles and Grins. I'm not kidding. It also covers laughs, movements and gestures.

Chapter 4 is simply called Dress. Need the word for that contraption women wore in the late 1800's that made their butts look massive? That word is in this book. Need to know the name of a short evening dress with a low neckline? This book's got it. I didn't realize there were so many ways to name skirts, pants, shorts, jackets, undergarments, foot gear, head gear, and eye wear, but this book has got a ton of great words related to anything you could put on your body AND the description. It's kind of fun to browse for new words.

Chapter 5 is Dialects and Foreign Speech. If you've got a character from the southern US, there's a short list of useful words and their pronunciations. Need a Brit in your story? There's a list of uniquely British words and what they mean in American English, as well as a handy pronunciation guide. There's also a small sample of words in French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian, but there isn't a pronunciation guide to go with those. 

Chapter 6 is a dandy list of Given Names and Surnames from Around the World. There are 25 pages of names to choose from, both last names and first names. I've seen entire books devoted simply to names, so this is pretty slim. It doesn't give the meanings of the names, either. It's just a list for you to mix and match, and it could help if you need a quick something for a secondary character.

The last chapter (7, if you're following along) is a 2-page list of Homes and their descriptions. Need to know the name of a clay and straw brick home common in the American Southwest? It's adobe, and it's on the list. Need to know the slang term for a saltbox? It's a catslide house. Need to know what a saltbox is? Now you know where to find it.

I love having this book in my resource library. I don't need it often, but when I do need it, I find my answers. 

-Sonja

Being lazy, need a laugh

I'm being lazy today, so here's my daily post: something to laugh/agree with.

Self-Doubt and Whining Don't Work

I'm taking a quick break from my series to talk about something many of us struggle with. I'm in the process now, and I'm working on making it go away.

Here's the set-up. I wrote a novel called CASSANDRA'S CURSE. At the time, it was the best novel I'd ever written. It was my favorite of all my works. Then I wrote another novel, and IT took the coveted spot of 'favorite.' It was stronger than the Cassie story, the writing was smoother, the pacing was perfect. I'd learned a bunch of lessons from the Cassie story and used what I'd learned on that next novel. Then, like all awesome writers, I wrote another book after that. Can you guess what comes next? Bah-dum-bum: it was better than the previous. Not by a mile, but slightly better.

Just like my kids, I love all three of those novels. (Okay, I'll admit I love all nine of my finished novels...) I can re-read them and feel the passion I felt when I was in the midst of struggling through them. I still love the characters I created. I remember the lessons I learned from each one, and I take all that knowledge into my new projects.

Here's the problem: I'm working on a sequel to CASSANDRA'S CURSE, and it's Not Going Well. In fact, it stinks. I struggled every day to open the file and add more to it because I was certain something was Horribly Wrong with the story and it'd flop. I whined about it to my husband: "It's not working!" I debated scrapping the whole thing and working on something else. In fact, I started two different projects, then came up with a THIRD that I wanted to work on. I found my sequel shelved to work on other things, which also weren't going as well as could be, and I felt that I accomplished nothing with my time. So I went back to the sequel. I'm only a quarter of the way through with it, and re-reading it verified what I already knew instinctually: there's a fatal problem with the book.

I'm not a quitter, so I had to figure out a way to fix the problem. I looked at my outline again (yes, I'm a fanatical outliner). Nothing seemed to be wrong. The story should work. So I sent the first eight chapters to another writer friend. She, bless her heart, identified the problem immediately. (The problem with the book isn't the main focus of this post, but for those who are curious, I had misidentified the early antagonist as a stalker, when in reality, the antagonist is fear and self-doubt. Now that I'm on track with that, I can start over and take a different direction).

The point of this post is: Self-Doubt and whining didn't fix my problem. Studying what I already had didn't fix the problem. I needed outside eyes. I don't say unbiased, because my critique partner really isn't all that unbiased. We've become friends, and she always has words of encouragement for me even when there's a whopper of a goof she has to point out, like an incorrect antagonist. But she figured out what the flaw was and told me what she thought would fix it.

Authors are generally solitary, but we need each other. (We also need to write every day and meet a word count goal, but I guess that's a topic for another day.) If you don't have a critique partner, you need one, preferably someone slightly ahead of you in the learning curve who's good at finding both the big picture problems and the misplaced commas. Usually spouses and parents don't work, because they love you so much and they're so swelled up with pride that everything you write is golden. A stranger is best, I think, although they don't remain strangers for long. My two longest-running critique parters have become good friends, and I love them to bits.

Am I the only one who's noticed this need for critique partners? What do you readers think? Do you have a good one? Do you have a rotten one and don't know how to shake him/her? Share your thoughts and wisdom with us--we're all still learning.

-Sonja

Hobbies and Sports

Unfortunately, I'm sitting around today wasting time instead of writing. My self-discipline seems to have headed for higher ground, and it only bothers me a little bit. A mental health break to play with Facebook and my iPad seems fitting. But back to business. I'm picking some of the good stuff out of Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters to share with you. Today's topic is HOBBIES AND SPORTS. I know it doesn't sound exciting, but stick around.

McCutcheon gives a four-page list of hobbies and sports that your character could be involved in. When I'm creating a character, I don't generally try to figure out how they spend their free time. After all, I'm going to be putting them through a crucible, so when will there be time to relax? But people in real life have things they do to de-stress, unwind, and relax, so fictional characters should, too. But I'm going to skip the standards (reading, jogging, going out with friends) to pick the more unique hobbies and sports listed in the book.

Amateur Archeology is the first one on the list, and immediately I thought of how fun that would be. It'd also be stressful, with all the permits and government agencies and private property problems that go along with it. But it could still be a fun one to put in a book, as it's not been overdone by any of the best-selling authors (that I know of). Or what about Antique Bottle Collecting? It's not just for old ladies. I think it'd be charming to see a young male protagonist searching antique shops for old Coke or perfume bottles. Not manly enough for you? How about Barbershop Quartet Singing? Butterfly Hunting? Ceramics? Now I'm just being silly, but these are fairly unique hobbies.

Geology (or rock collecting) isn't something you see every day in a novel. And we've all seen characters who are authors, but what about Greeting Card Writers? Or Jingle Writers? Or Letters-to-the-Editor writing? Here's one that ticks me off: Magicians. I used to have a friend who could pull a fuzzy red ball out of my hair when I least expected it, and it drove me batty. Why do sleight-of-hand artists think everyone will be impressed with their abilities? That one has great comedic potential. A few others from the list that stuck out to me are Nature Walks, Pottery/Ceramics, Spelunking (cave exploration), Taxidermy, and Whittling.

(Skater photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

As for sports, try to by-pass baseball/basketball/golf and let your character discover the joys of Archery, Billiards, Cricket, Curling, Frisbee, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, or Mountain Biking. Those aren't extreme enough? What about Rock Climbing or Race Car Driving? Sky Diving, Ski Jumping, and Windsurfing are also up for grabs. These extreme sports aren't just for men. Wouldn't it be fun to create a female character who drives in a demolition derby? And aside from Tony Hawk, how many adults do you know who skateboard?

Hobbies/Sports aren't the most important qualities in a character dossier, but don't overlook them because they're minor. Did anything stand out to you as interesting? Can you think of ways to use a hobby as a major plot point? Please share in the comments section.

-Sonja

Diseases, Disorders, and Afflictions for your Characters

Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters is an excellent tool for your writer's toolkit, and I'm sharing some of the good stuff with you. The next portion of the book is a list of SELECTED DISEASES, DISORDERS, AND AFFLICTIONS, just in case you need a great physical ailment for a character but don't want to go with the standards (cancer, hay fever, asthma). I'll admit, reading through a list of diseases isn't riveting. However, you never know when something might jump out and say "use me!"

Like Albinism. 

(This albino porcupine courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

We all know what albinism is, but when's the last time you read a book with an albino for a main character? It could be interesting to play with. Then again, if done poorly, it could look like a gimmick. Or what about a nasty case of Appendicitis that comes on at the worst possible moment. Nothing like a three-day stint in the hospital to slow things down if you need to give your reader time to breathe.

A Brain Tumor could be intriguing, as there are so many symptoms ranging from mild (headaches) to severe (seizures, behavior changes). How about a Concussion? It surprises me that more action heroes in the movies don't suffer from these babies. If your character got in a car wreck, a concussion would be totally believable and comes with some interesting symptoms to play with: amnesia, vomiting, headache, dizziness, and irritability.

There's the Deviated Septum for those nasally characters who suffer from sinusitis; Flatulence, to entertain your 11-year-old readers; Gallstones, which can be mighty painful and maybe cause your character to lose mental focus during the bouts of agony; Halitosis for your character who thinks he's a lady's man; Prosopagnosia, which could be an awesome tool to use, if done correctly (it's "the inability to identify faces, even familiar ones, as a result of brain disease or damage. Remarkably, sufferers often recognize faces as soon as they hear people speak."); Tinnitus, the permanent ringing or buzzing in the ears, could be used for great distractions and lack of focus in a character that really needs to focus on the tasks at hand; and Warts for the female character who's entire sense of self-worth is caught up in her looks.

I hit the ones that seemed interesting/funny and not over-done in fiction (as far as I know). There are 14 pages of these. Most have a description. The last 3 pages are just a list. To see the complete list, buy the book. It's worth it. 

Any comments? Anything jump out at you as usable? Can you think of a unique way to use a disease/disorder as a stumbling block for a character? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

-Sonja

Something to laugh/cry about

I don't have time today for a "real" blog post, so here's something to make you happy (or cry, if it's true for you today):

Psychological Problems: PICA, PRESSURED SPEECH, PSYCHOGENIC PAIN DISORDER, and PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDER

I'm getting close to the end of this section of Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters. Thanks for sticking with me. Today's psychological problems include PICA, PRESSURED SPEECH, PSYCHOGENIC PAIN DISORDER, and PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDER. Those are some fun words to type. Now let's see what they mean and how they can be used to create a believable character for your novel.

PICA: "Abnormal craving for or eating of unusual foods, such as dirt or laundry detergent, seen in the emotionally disturbed and sometimes in pregnant women." I'll admit, the word "food" followed by "dirt or laundry detergent" brought a smile to my lips, but let's move beyond that little slip-up. The TV show Grimm used this in a much different manner, but the symptoms were the same: the sergeant ate the stuffing from pillows, a penny, and a strange assortment of other non-edible stuff. The comedic value was astronomical when it first happened. Then it became serious. If you use this in your novel, research it well so you do it justice. 

PRESSURED SPEECH: "Rapid speech accelerating out of control, so that words are sometimes jumbled or unintelligible." Again, I can see this being used for both comedy and drama, depending on how it's handled. In a side-kick who has a mild form, it could be used for humor. In a protagonist, it could be quite tragic. Again, research is paramount. I don't know enough about this to comment beyond the vaguest statements, but the idea could inspire someone out there.

PSYCHOGENIC PAIN DISORDER: "The manifestation of mental stress through physical aches and pains, which may be chronic or severe." I had a friend who suffered from severe pain, and her doctor told her it was all in her head. Later she was correctly diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I had terrible wrist pain long before carpal tunnel and repetitive motion syndrome were labeled, and my doctor tried to convince me it was all in my head. Then there are those people who experience pain when there is no identifiable/known cause. Maybe this is it. 

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDER: "Any physical illness that can be traced to a psychological cause. Also known as psychosomatic disorder." I know less than nothing about this, so I'm not qualified to comment. However, the mention of it may spark an idea for you. How could you use this in a protagonist? Or would it work better for an antagonist? Is he doing bad things because of the pain he's in? 

Please share your ideas in the comments section. I love to hear from ya'll.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY, PHANTOSMIA, and PHOBIAS

I'm digging through Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters. I'm still in the  section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS, but I'm closing in on the end if you're getting bored. Check back in a day or two if that's the case. I'm skipping paranoia, paranoid schizophrenia, and pedophilia because I don't want to talk about them. That leaves PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY, PHANTOSMIA, and PHOBIAS for today's discussion.

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY: "a manipulative, immature personality charactered by hostility, petulance, and fault-finding. One suffering from the disorder may express power through passive means, such as by being chronically late or forgetting. They may also alternate between being overly dependent and overly independent. A passive-agressive person placed in a work setting frequently destroys morale through childish or antagonistic behavior." This personality type is especially grating because no one wants to be around this guy. I can't see a way to make a sympathetic protagonist from this one, or an effective antagonist (unless you're writing chick-lit and you make the mother-in-law this personality type)  but this would make a great side-kick character or a lesser antagonist. Am I wrong? Can you think of any passive-agressive protagonists from literature that I've overlooked?

PHANTOSMIA: "Odor hallucinations." I'll admit, I've never heard of this one. I can think of a way to use it though: odors can be a strong trigger for memory, so I'm thinking of a character with a horrific past not worth remembering and a mild case of phantosmia that triggers these memories at the worst possible moments. A nice twist would be to bury a clue in those past memories that is necessary for overcoming/solving/reaching The Goal, therefore making the hallucinations a hated yet necessary thing. Any better ideas out there?

PHOBIAS: "an irrational fear of a particular person, place, or thing." These are so much fun to play with, especially if the phobia you've chosen for your character MUST be overcome before they can reach The Goal. McCutcheon offers a fabulously long list of phobias (and the technical term for each), but I'm not going to type them all. Many of them are common or overdone in literature/TV/movies, so I'm going to pick out the most interesting ones:

Blood

Blushing

Buried alive

Depths

Eating

Ghosts

Medicine

Open spaces

Responsibility

Committing a sin

Sleep

Solitude

Being Touched

Work

Do any of these stand out as something you could use? Share your idea with us in the comments section.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: MISANTHROPY, MISOGYNY, NARCISSISM, and PANIC DISORDER

I'm sifting through Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters for character building goodness. I'm still in the  section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS. Today's problems include MISANTHROPY, MISOGYNY, NARCISSISM, and PANIC DISORDER. There were a few in the list I skipped, either because they've been done so many times they're stale, or they're too yucky to talk about. Buy the book if you're interested.

MISANTHROPY: "A hatred for people." This could be mild, where your character takes a solitary job so he doesn't have to interact with people (and think of the tension when you thrust him into a position where he MUST interact with people!), or it could be severe. Think of Scrooge, Catwoman, or Iago from Othello. Misanthropy can be fun to play with for any character you create. Play around and see what you come up with.

MISOGYNY: "hatred of women." Villains.wikia.com adds to that definition: "...known for anti-female chauvinism, it can be physical or emotional abuse or it may be a deep-rooted prejudice against equal rights: a misogynist may see girls and women as evil, debased or even subhuman and mere objects. The level of misogyny can vary from a sexist attitude (chauvinism) to outright murder (some serial-killers)." While it's easy to see how this could apply to a bad guy (Norman Bates from Psycho, Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones), do you think you could create a protagonist who has misogynistic tendencies and still make him sympathetic enough for readers to root for him? Might be tough...

NARCISSISM: "Excessive self-interest or self-love; self-centeredness." Again, this is a good one for antagonists (the meathead Gaston from Beauty and the Beast comes to mind), but could you create a decent protagonist with this one? He'd have to be super-charming and witty to overcome that ego, I think.

PANIC DISORDER: "a thought disorder, sometimes aggravated by a heart rhythm defect or other physical problem, in which anxiety spirals out of control. Signs of a panic attack include hyperventilation, racing heart, oxygen hunger and a feeling of impending doom. Such attacks can often be subdued by breathing into a paper bag." This could be a useful trait for a protagonist, especially if it's the character flaw/fear they must overcome to reach The Goal. This also makes great comic relief in a secondary character, if it's treated lightly or over-the-top.

Did any of these stand out and make you want to explore it further? Share your thoughts in the comment section, please.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: MANIC-DEPRESSIVE, MARTYRDOM, MASOCHISM, MEGALOMANIA

Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters has a section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS that I'm mining for useful stuff. Today's psychological problems include manic-depressive, martyrdom, masochism, and megalomania. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

The definition for MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PSYCHOSIS offered by McCutcheon reads like this: "a disease characterized by mood swings, from normal to depressed or from normal to euphoric, or a combination of both." I'm having a hard time commenting on this one because I don't know a lot about this condition, and it's a serious problem with some scary side effects, especially if medication is involved (or missed doses, which is worse). Do your research on this one if you use it, because if portrayed incorrectly, it could be a mess. However, mood swings without the manic diagnosis can be fun to work with, because characters who do unexpected things are interesting. 

MARTYRDOM: "'poor me syndrome,' a neurotic behavior in which one takes on too much responsibility, or blames oneself for everything negative that happens, in order to elicit sympathy from others." You've heard the saying, "no whining?" It applies nicely here. I can't think of a way to make martyrdom a trait for a protagonist because you want your hero to be likable and sympathetic. The martyrdom problem could be used quite nicely in a secondary character or the antagonist, though, especially for comedic purposes. 

MASOCHISM: I almost skipped this one because of the ick factor, but I'll include it because sometimes you need the ick factor in your book. McCutcheon offers this definition: "deriving sexual stimulation from being hit, dominated, or mistreated by another." I can see the antagonist's side-kick/minion suffering from this problem. Can you think of a way to make this one work for a protagonist? I'll admit, I'm stumped.

MEGALOMANIA: "Delusions fo grandeur; false belief that one is greater, wealthier, or more powerful than one really is." Again, I'll take a serious problem and turn to it for comedic effect by pinning this on the antagonist (pairing it with a mania would be even more fun). I believe Vizzini from Princess Bride may have suffered from a mild form of this, and that just proves my point. 

Come back next time for more intriguing psychological problems you could use to create believable characters.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: MANIAS

Before Spring Break, I was discussing Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters. (Note: I took two weeks for my break because that's how I roll.) The book has a section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS, and I'm to the bit that lists mania types. The fun part of the list is the right column, which gives the technical name for the mania. Most of them I couldn't pronounce if you paid me. But they're fun to look at. However, the part that I found applicable to writing is the left column, which offers some manias that I'd never thought of before. Can you find a way to use any of these in one of your characters?

Let me back up a bit. McCutcheon first offers a definition of mania: "an excessive enthusiasm or obsession for something or someone; craze." Now consider the list he offers (minus the ones I thought were common, standard, or just wouldn't work in a novel):

Bathing/washing

Books

Cats/dogs/animals

Children

Dancing

Death

Demon possession

Eating/food

Fire

Flowers

Believing one is a genius (I can see the comedy in this one...)

Urge to kill

Money

Nakedness

Night

Pleasure

Religion

Sleep

Solitude

Sun

Talking

Wealth

Wine

Women

Woods

Work

As I typed the list, I thought of several ways to use these, but I'll admit my mind is running toward the humorous. The "enthusiasm or obsession" can run both positive and negative. For example, someone who's manic about books could either be a zealous collector that's pushed to a hoarding level, or someone who's terrified of books and refuses to crack a cover. Think how rough this person would have it if he were a college student or a librarian. Or the woman who's manic about bathing. She's either bathing thrice a day, or once a month. Both could have humorous or devastating effects on the character. 

What did you think of when you read the list? Did anything stand out to you as highly useful for a character in your novel?

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: Cardioneurosis, Cataphasia, Hebephrenia, Korsakoff's Psychosis

 Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters has a section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS. My last post on this topic generated a bit of disagreement, so let's see what I can come up with today from the alphabetical listing of psychological problems. (Note: the list is in alphabetical order, so you can see I'm just beginning. I'm also skipping many of the well-known ones, like bulimia, compulsive disorders, delusions, etc.)

CARDIONEUROSIS: "A neurotic fear of having a heart attack. Symptoms include perceived chest pains, palpitations, and shortness of breath." This one can be used seriously, but I've also seen it done for comedic effect. Victoria Laurie has a series with a young man who's always terrified of getting sick. Not like a head cold, but strokes, heart attacks, exotic fevers, and off-the-wall sicknesses that make him extremely funny. 

CATAPHASIA: "Repetition of the same word or phrase over and over." You could use this one without ever labeling the problem, and I could see this working extremely well. Many well-loved characters have catch-phrases ("Elementary, my dear Watson" comes to mind), but you could magnify this one enough to truly make your character stand out. Too much repetition and the reader will tire of it, but used in moderation, this could be a fantastic tool for creating a memorable character. This disorder closely resembles ECHOLALIA, which is "a brain disorder in which the victim repeats the words of others." Both of these could also be used for comedic effect, too.

HEBEPHRENIA: "A form of schizophrenia characterized by regressive behavior and a perpetual silly grin." If you want to use this one, do a ton of research before diving in. I bring it up, though, because I've never heard of it before and the "silly grin" stood out to me as unique and interesting (in a morbid sort of way). As I know nothing about this problem, I hesitate to comment as I may get it all wrong, so I'll leave you with the description and your own imagination.

KORSAKOFF'S PSYCHOSIS: "Distorted thinking and memory loss caused by alcohol." Again, I know nothing about this, but the memory loss part sparked several ideas. Do your research if you want to use this one. If any of you have heard of this one (or the previous), please share in the comments section.

The next part of the list has a bunch of manias, and I'll discuss those in my next post. Questions? Comments? Rants? Share them all.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: Accident-Prone, Alethia, Anomie, and Anxiety

 Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters has a wealth of information to absorb, and I'm doing my best to share some of it. Today I'm in the section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS. It's an alphabetical listing, so I'll just go through it and hit the ones that stand out to me. (For a complete list, buy the book. It's a handy tool.)

ACCIDENT-PRONE: This is "an unconscious need for attention that manifests itself through an unusual number of accidents and mishaps." This is different that being clumsy or uncoordinated. A character with this problem will intentionally hurt themselves to draw attention. This could be a ton of fun to work with in a novel, but you'd have to be careful that your character doesn't come across as pitiable, or worse, unsympathetic. Make sure that underlying need has a background that's believable and sympathetic.

(photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

ALETHIA: It sounds like a girl's name, but it's really a "dwelling, to a neurotic degree, on the past." This is more than just wishing for the good old days, or pining for someone who's gone. This is an unhealthy fixation on the past. I can think of a ton of ways to use this in a novel. A woman who lives like a pioneer, avoiding all technology. A man who sees his dead wife's face or smells her perfume or hears her voice wherever he goes. A woman who treats a doll as her own baby to replace the one she lost. These are getting kind of sad, but you can see the potential to use this in your novel. Even a minor case of alethia could be useful for a character.

ANOMIE: "Feelings of alienation and not belonging to society." We've all seen this one taken to extremes on the TV where the guy thinks he's an alien sent to probe the planet. That can be fun, but you can also dial this back a bit and use a mild form of it for your character's flaw. A man who lives in the city but stays inside at all times. The woman who lives in the country and can't abide visitors. The teenager who's desperate to fit in but can't find a friend. Play with it and see what you come up with.

ANXIETY: "Fear, nervousness or apprehension caused by a real or imagined source." Most people feel this a time or two during life. It's the feeling of not being in control, of things moving outside your sphere of influence when you're certain you should be in charge. Magnify it in your character, remove any sense of control (locked in a mental institute against her will? held captive by kidnappers? child is dying of incurable disease?), and watch the conflict mount exponentially.

I'm not finished with the A's yet, but I'll stop now and continue next time. See anything here that sparks your imagination? How could you use one or more of these in a character? Please share.

-Sonja

Something Humorous

Personality Traits: Bad Habits/Vices part 3

I'm discussing a section of Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters called BAD HABITS/VICES. It's basically a three-page list of bad habits and vices you could give your characters. Let's get to it.

The next vice that caught my eye is WATCHES TOO MUCH TV and it's twin brother, WATCHES TOO MUCH SPORTS ON TV. We can all see the comedic potential in this one, but think about it's serious impacts. Spending too much time on any one activity has a negative impact on all of life. Think about the man who skips church to watch football, or the woman who doesn't feed her kids until it's nearly bedtime because "her shows" were on, or the college student who's failing classes because she's addicted to daytime TV (soaps, talk shows, all of it). This can be a devastating issue if taken to extremes, and it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how this vice could become the Flaw a character must overcome to reach The Goal. You could substitute "TV" with any other activity and get the same results (video games, reading novels, building model airplanes, etc).

SWEARS TOO MUCH is on the list, and I immediately thought of a retired man who drove into the Cal-Gas one day to fill up his propane tank (this story courtesy of my husband, who was the poor soul who had to help this man). Every other word out of his mouth, to both the propane attendant and his wife, were foul words. He didn't even realize he was cursing. He'd added those filthy words to his vocabulary, and they were as standard as articles and verbs. He used them like adjectives. This is an extreme example, but extremes are so much fun to play with in novels. How could a man with this potty mouth survive in the work force? Could he control his tongue in front of a police officer, or a judge, or his boss? How would his wife deal with it? I'd be mortified to be married to a man like that. Would his children emulate him? How would he respond to teachers who complained about his child's inappropriate vocabulary? Society has become a bit numb to curse words, but they still offend people. Can you think of a way to use this as a flaw for your hero? How and why would he overcome this?

There are a lot of things on the list that deal with food and eating: TIPS TOO MUCH, DOESN'T TIP ENOUGH, BURPS LOUDLY IN PUBLIC, FINISHES EVERYONE ELSE'S MEAL, SNACKS TOO MUCH, CHEWS GUM TOO MUCH, COUGHS WITHOUT COVERING MOUTH (which is really gross if there's food involved). You may have noticed the word "TOO" in many of these. They are all extremes. As I said above, these are fun to play with and will work as both comedy and tragedy. I remember an episode of Third Rock From The Sun where Mary left a tip on the restaurant table and Dick stuck it in his pocket. She caught him at it, and that lead to a half hour of hilarity while Dick learned the art of tipping properly. Just because it's been done once (or twice) doesn't mean you can't put a new twist on it and use it yourself. Does your hero eat too much? Pair it with a high metabolism and she's enviously skinny. Is your hero an extremely picky eater? Plunk him into a middle-eastern society where it's rude to not eat what's put in front of you and watch the tension mount. You've seen this a ton on TV: the girl who's afraid of green Jell-o (Third Rock), the man who only eats white food (Numbers), the characters who only eat live food (Star Trek)... have some fun with this one.

There are a lot more on the list, but I want to finish this up and move on. The last habit I'll cover is PARKS IN HANDICAPPED SPACE because it has so much potential. When I see what appears to be a non-handicapped person get out of a vehicle parked in one of those spots, my first thought is "what a jerk." But what if he really is handicapped, but it's not visibly apparent? Or what if he really isn't handicapped, he's just being a jerk? Why would he do such a thing? Is there backstory lingering behind this excuse, or is he just in a hurry and it's the only spot available? Does he do it all the time, or only once in a while? What are some handicaps that aren't readily visible to passers-by that could make someone think ill of them? Diabetes came to the top of my head, but I'm sure there's more. Heart trouble, nerve damage in feet, seizures (although why would this person be driving?), passenger who's handicapped... what do you think?

(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

The next section of the book is called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS. I can't wait to dig into it with you! Stay tuned.

-Sonja

Personality Traits: Bad Habits/Vices part 2

I'm digging through Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters for the good stuff, and I'm in a section called BAD HABITS/VICES. It's basically a three-page list of bad habits and vices you could give your characters. I started this discussion in my last post, so if you want to know what I'm up to, revisit that one. I'll wait.

Welcome back. The next bad habit I want to discuss is FORGETS A LOT. I don't tend to think of forgetfulness as a bad habit or a vice (I'm horribly forgetful), but I can see where this could be a fantastic trait for a hero. My friend Aggeloi wrote a story with an absent-minded hero, and I thought it was fabulous. The key to this trait is to balance it with some strength so the character doesn't appear weak, pitiable, or unlovable. The forgetful genius has already been done (Absent-mindded professor). How about the forgetful woman who feeds the homeless four nights a week? Or the forgetful police officer who tries to get prostitutes off the streets? The forgetful school teacher who takes disadvantaged kids camping during the summer? I'm actually working on a version of this in one of my WIP's: a forgetful FBI consultant who knows there's a bit of information she gathered that's crucial to solving the crime if she could just remember it. Memory is a fun thing to play with in stories because they can be triggered by so many things: smells, sounds, textures. I could find a dozen ways to use this trait in a novel. How about you?

Here's a funny one: EATS SOUP STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAN WITHOUT HEATING. The first thing I thought of was a hobo under a bridge eating pork-n-beans with a fork. I must have seen that in a TV show or movie. Anyway, this could be a wonderful quirk for an otherwise normal character to give him a spark of humor and reality. Chef Boy-R-Dee out of the can? I could see a young single man doing that. How about green beans out of the can? Crushed tomatoes (use a spoon, please), kidney beans in that nasty pink syrup, Nalley's Chili with that crust of orange fat across the top... I could gross myself out doing this. Open your pantry and see what comes in a can, then picture your hero eating it. To jazz things up, make your hero something other than a young bachelor. 

(Sweetened condensed milk, anyone? Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

The last one for today's post is WEARS TOO MUCH PERFUME OR COLOGNE. I can relate to this, as I was born with no sense of smell. If I spritz myself with perfume, I have no way of knowing if it's too little or too much unless someone else is brave enough to tell me so (sons and husband seem oblivious, so I rely on total strangers or friends. Usually I just skip the perfume). While this could be an embarrassing trait for your hero, it could also impact others. There's a kind old gentleman in my church who's seriously allergic. Many times he comes to church, sits down, gets a whiff of someone walking by, and he's got to leave the building with his hacking and wheezing. This bad habit could be used for comedic relief, for increased tension, or for raising the stakes (life-threasening allergies). Can you come up with a way to use this one?

I'll continue with McCutcheon's list of bad habits in my next post. Share your thoughts with me and whoever else might be reading today. Thanks!

-Sonja

Personality Traits: Bad habits/Vices

The next section of Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters I'd like to discuss is called BAD HABITS/VICES. It's basically a three-page list of bad habits and vices. While some of them are silly (cracks knuckles or farts in public), others would be useful for building a well-rounded yet flawed character. I'd like to pick out some of these bad habits and offer suggestions on how to use them in novel-writing.

The first one on the list is OVERSLEEPS. At first, I thought it was funny/not serious, but then I thought of a great application. My hero oversleeps every day. The alarm goes off, he slaps the snooze button a few too many times, and suddenly he's late for work. Most bosses would not tolerate lateness, especially on a daily basis, but as I writer and creative person, I can do better than that. Maybe the boss is okay with a flex schedule, or the work involved doesn't revolve around a fixed schedule, so it doesn't matter what time the hero shows up for work, as long as he puts in his eight hours. And for the sake of storytelling, my hero is a hard, conscientious worker. He just not very punctual. Now I'll make it his flaw, that inner something that must be overcome before he can achieve The Goal. Suppose his goal has a time limit? Maybe not as dramatic as a ticking bomb that will blow up his entire city, including his puppy, his girlfriend, and his aging mama, but something that has high enough stakes that he's got to be on time for it--and that deadline is 5:30 am. I'm gong to stop there because I'm sure you've already finished the story, or you're miffed at me because I changed something midstream that you were already thinking about. Play with this bad habit and see if it can work for your hero.

I'm skipping down the list to "Shaves and leaves whiskers in the sink." Gross! Definitely a bad habit, but not something that would work as an inner flaw. However, this could generate some necessary tension in a relationship. I'm thinking the guy who leaves whiskers in the sink will also leave his socks on the floor, and when he makes himself a sandwich the mayo knife will be left on the counter, and his raincoat will be a permanent fixture on the banister by the front door. This guy's bad habits will make some woman's life misery--and maybe that's HER flaw that she must overcome: deal with this guy or move on, because all women know, deep down, that we can't change our man no matter how hard we try. (Insert joke here). Can you think of another way to use this bad habit in your story?

(This mess brought to you by freedigitalphotos.net.)

Further down the list, I'm intrigued by LAUGHS TOO LOUD WHEN NERVOUS, and it's cousin LAUGHS TOO MUCH WHEN NERVOUS. This is a glorious personality flaw to play with! We've all seen this on TV and in real life: female hero is in the emergency room waiting for news of a loved one who was in a horrific fill-in-the-blank, the nurse arrives to give the dire news, and the hero's giggling at every word the nurse says. I know someone like this in real life. Her daughter was having a broken arm reset, and my friend was giggling. Not a "it's funny" giggle, but a nervous chitter that she couldn't help. She's admitted that it's thoroughly embarrassing, and she wishes she could stop, but she can't. It's her body's way of dealing with the stress. Can you think of other inappropriate situations where this nervous laugh will create tension or hostility? (Other versions of this are whistles when nervous, hums when nervous, sings when nervous, etc.)

The next one on the list that caught my attention is TAILGATES (goes with IGNORES YEILD SIGNS and SCREAMS AT OTHER DRIVERS). While tailgating is a dangerous activity that can earn you a hefty fine if a police officer spots you doing it, how could this be used in a story? I'm thinking of a Type A hero who prides himself on never being late, who demands that everyone else on the road do the exact speed limit ("You're going five under the limit, you jackwad! Find your gas pedal!"), and who's now got ten minutes to make it to fill-in-the-blank and there's a traffic snarl up ahead. While this will create tension for both the hero and every other driver on the road, can you think of ways to make this a much bigger issue? Can this bad habit of tailgating and shouting at other drivers become an inciting incident, or even a major plot point? Think about it for a minute. I'll wait.

There are a ton of bad habits/vices on this list, and I want to talk about more of them, so I'll continue this discussion in my next post. Did anything I say in this one get your creative juices flowing? Care to share what you thought of? That's what the comments section is for. Please avail yourselves of it. Is that grammatically correct?

-Sonja

Something Funny

This is the Absolute Truth.

Personality Traits: Flirtatious, childish, and Strong/Brave

If you've been hanging around, you know I'm digging through Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters. It's a great tool for writers to create believable characters. I'm in the section of the book called the PERSONALITY TRAITS INVENTORY. The traits I want to discuss today are FLIRTATIOUS, CHILDISH, and STRONG/BRAVE.

SEXUAL/FLIRTATIOUS is pretty obvious. This character uses her body to convey a message of openness to romance. She uses eye contact, suggestive talk or behavior, and her mode of dress to attract sexual attention. She may play it shy, coy, and demure. Or she might be brazen and promiscuous, with plenty of physical contact and teasing behavior. She's a lot of fun to write, but stay away from stereotypes. Give her other traits that make her more believable. Maybe she acts this way because it's all she's been taught, and on the inside she's not ready or interested in a sexual relationship, it's all outward. Or maybe she's got a deep desire for "Mr. Right" and a house with a picket fence and three kids, but she's trying to achieve her goal in a way that's counter-productive. This flirtatious character would also make a great comic side-kick or an antagonist. Just avoid stereotypes. Also, try it with a male character to see how it goes.

The next trait is CHILDISH/ADOLESCENT. This character, despite an adult age, tends toward a sophomoric sense of humor (think of the bathroom humor of an eight-year-old boy). He is silly, giggly, immature, irresponsible, fun-loving, impulsive, fickle, and shallow. He doesn't make good decisions and his judgment is poor. He could be seen as naive or innocent, but also unrealistic, melodramatic, and reckless. He could be socially awkward. As with all these traits, avoid the stereotypes. Give him other traits to balance out his immaturity: he loves puppies, or he's ultra-responsible in his care of his elderly mother, or he's got such a golden heart and concern for others that everyone loves him. I'd also use this personality quirk as his flaw that must be conquered. He can grow up, if he's got the right stimulus.

Last is STRONG/BRAVE. This person is a risk-taker, adventurous, unflinching, thick-skinned, and macho. He's daring and brash, powerful, heroic, showing great leadership skills. He can also be disgusted by weakness, and his self-esteem is wrapped up in his outward show of strength. He could also be a she: brave women can be just as macho as her male counterpart in fiction, but please don't make another Lara Croft. She's been done. This character won't admit fear, jumps into a challenge with both feet, and can make an awesome hero for a story, especially if his bravery is the flaw he must overcome by story's end. 

(This strong guy courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

That concludes this portion of the personality traits inventory. The next several sections deal with darker issues, like bad vices, psychiatric problems, and manias. 

Have these personality traits been useful? Can you think of ways to use today's traits in your hero? Share other examples beyond what I've offered.

-Sonja

Personality Traits: Type A/Type B, Mentally Ill, and Substance Abuser

Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters is a great tool for writers to create believable characters. I'm in the section of the book called the PERSONALITY TRAITS INVENTORY. Today's traits are Type A/Type B, Mentally Ill, and Substance Abuser. Here's what McCutcheon has to say:

TYPE A/TYPE B are two separate traits, but I want to deal with them together. The Type A person is hard-driving, impatient, cynical, aggressive, hates being late, restless, and hyper. They can also be cynical, hot-headed, frustrated, irritable, aggravated, belligerent, and short-fused (but not always, and not all Type A's are like this). Type A's are fun to write because they're so driven and goal-oriented, which is perfect for a protagonist who must Get Something Done. Type A's can be obnoxious, especially to non-Type A's. I grew up with a Type A (my dad) and it was fun to watch him interact with other Type A's. Sometimes they admire each other. Sometimes they compete with each other. Sometimes they become bitter enemies. To a Type A personality, life is a race, a competition, an opportunity to get stuff done. The Type B, on  the other hand, is laid back, easygoing, long-fused, patient, cool-headed, mild, even-tempered, unaggressive, carefree, and calm. They're generally nice people. My mom is a Type B, and I think she's the perfect match for her Type A husband. You could have a lot of fun writing couples who are this opposite. Then again, putting two Type A people in a relationship could be fun, too! Play around with this one, as there's a lot of flexibility in both these personalities.

I was going to skip the MENTALLY ILL personality because it's entirely too broad to deal with, but McCutcheon mentioned it here, so I'll put it in. This personality could include some of these traits: delusional, hallucinatory, irrational, manic, hyper, depressed, neurotic, obsessive, compulsive, insanely jealous, phobic, unstable, homicidal, sociopathic, or suicidal. They could have unrealistic believes (he's the savior, he's being followed, he's being bugged by the CIA, he's receiving messages from fill-in-the-blank, he's an alien). This personality type is extremely hard to write because you've got to be close to an expert to not make the character seem unrealistic or comedic. A protagonist who's mentally ill could be highly unsympathetic, or worse, pitiable. Steven King pulls this off in his horror novels fabulously, so it can be done well. 

(This photo of Jack Nicholson from the movie The Shining courtesy of wikipedia)

The last personality I'll cover today is the ALCOHOLIC/SUBSTANCE ABUSER. They are usually (but not always) in denial about their abuse. Their thoughts center around their substance of choice, they try to hide it, and sometimes they're ashamed of their problem (other times they flaunt it). They appear sickly, dysfunctional, and irresponsible. They fight with those closest to them. They usually steal to fuel their habit. The alcoholic/substance abuser has been done and overdone, so if you want to create a protagonist with this problem, take care to make him unique and sympathetic. 

Any comments on these personality traits? Can you think of ways to make them work as a protagonist? Share your thoughts, please. I love hearing from you.

-Sonja

Personality Traits: Charming, Devious, Annoying, Puritanical, Happy

Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters is a great tool for writers to create believable characters. I'm in the section of the book called the PERSONALITY TRAITS INVENTORY. Today's traits are Charming, Devious, Puritanical, and Happy. Let's dig in.

CHARMING/WELL-BRED is another of those that could lead to stereotype if you're not careful. This character is gracious, polite, and smooth. They make others comfortable. They are the life of the party. Ladylike, tactful, warm, friendly, personable, they are the child every parent wishes they had, the wife every man wants as his own, the friend everyone wants to be with. They are sexually attractive. Clean and neat. Considerate. Darn-near perfect. And that's the problem--how often do you run across someone in your life that's this wonderful? Do you truly love them, or in the back of your mind do you envy them or wish they'd step into a mud puddle just once? All this awesomeness is good in a protagonist, but it must be coupled with a flaw or she'll seem cartoonish. Ruin her looks with a hairy wart on her chin. Or give her a bit of a temper and a unique way of displaying her temper--no shouting or door-slamming for this woman, she plots her revenge in secret and gets her revenge by publicly humiliating her enemy. Play with it and see what you come up with.

The next trait is DEVIOUS/CONNIVING/EVIL. This is fabulous for the antagonist, but can you use this trait for a protagonist? This guy is wily, plotting, false, manipulative, lying, backstabbing, two-faced, sneaky, power-hungry, and venomous. Think Scrooge times two. Actually, Scrooge is a great example of how to pull off this nasty protagonist. Use these traits as his flaw to overcome, make the stakes ultra-high (death, in Scrooge's case), and reel the reader into a fabulous ride of conflict after conflict.

ANNOYING is up next. This personal in a know-it-all, or tells offensive jokes in mixed company, or touches people too much, or whines. He's shallow, gossipy, smug, self-righteous, rude, and insincere. He's not exactly evil, although he is self-absorbed. He doesn't know how to behave politely with others. How did he get this way? Is he desperate for attention? Is his sense of self-worth grossly exaggerated (Mommy raised a prince)? Is he socially awkward because of a secluded upbringing? This one has lots of potential because it's so varied, but again, he must be sympathetic. 

PURITANICAL/PROPER could get you in a bit of trouble if you don't handle it well. This character is goody-goody, politically correct, morally superior, sees others as immoral heathens (but never himself--he sees himself as clean and righteous), quotes Bible verses at every opportunity (or Koran, or Torah, or whatever religion you make him). He's modest, law-abiding, honest, attends church regularly, doesn't drink or smoke, and is judgmental. He knows what's best for everyone and expects everyone around him to heed his words. Once again, be ultra-careful about stereotypes with this one. The old Bible-thumper from the South has been done one-too-many times, and quite frankly, he's not sympathetic. This would make a great comic-relief, though, or a good fanatical antagonist. 

The last trait I want to cover today is HAPPY/JOVIAL. This lady is a treasure. She's good-humored, easy going, funny, light-hearted, relaxed, friendly. She smiles a lot and sees the glass as half-full. She's always smiling, or humming, or doing good deeds. She's also too good to be realistic, too syrupy and sweet. She needs a flaw that brings her back into the realistic realm, because Pollyanna has been done several times and Disney princesses, while wonderful, belong to Disney. So give your happy character something to be sad about (an ailing parent, a dead-end job, a disrespectful/willful child) and make sure her inner flaw stands in her way of achieving Her Goal.

(This is Belle, the happiest of all the Disney princesses. This photo courtesy of wikipedia)

What negative traits would you pair with a charming or happy personality? How would you make an annoying character likable? What positive traits would you give a devious or puritanical character to make them believable? Share your thoughts in the comments section. I love hearing from ya'll. 

-Sonja