Engaging Readers

Dan Blank at Writer Unboxed posted about a subject that I've just begun to seriously think about: Am I building an audience of writers instead of readers? Yep. Sure am. I love to teach, especially those subjects that I'm passionate about. Writing happens to be one of them. I taught English Composition and Creative Writing in a Home School Co-op, and thought I'd found one of the most rewarding things in my life. I love passing on writing tools and tips. My blog is definitely geared to writers, not readers.

 (photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

But it brings up a valid point: WHEN I get a book published, I will need a blog geared to readers. I have ideas for a Pinterest board that will appeal to my readers. My website will appeal to my readers. But I'll have to begin a new blog dedicated to fans and soon-to-be fans of my book/books. So how do I find those readers and direct them to my blog (which doesn't yet exist, so I don't have to worry about it quite yet...)? Dan Blank had some suggestions. Pop on over using that link to look at all his nifty ideas. In this post, I'm only going to talk about three of them.

Dan's second point is, "Understand what other books are like yours, especially those published in the past 5 years. Where are they shelved in bookstores, how are they displayed, what comes up in "People who bought this also bought" in Amazon?" These are called comparable titles, and every writer needs to know this information, if for nothing else than your proposal package. The comforting thing about this point is that I already know the answers. The challenge comes in the form of "how do I direct those readers to my blog?" Dan doesn't answer that question. I'm on my own to figure that out. Any suggestions out there?

Point number four is, "Talk to readers. On social channels, follow them, comment on their updates, learn about them. Engage as a fan of similar work, not an author trying to promote your own books." This one is much easier to see how I'll direct readers to my blog. I've never read the rules, but I've noticed on Twitter and Pinterest that, when I "follow" someone, they tend to "follow" me right back. Even if they've never heard of me. They liked something they saw on my boards or in my tweets and took a chance. It's a small chance, of course, because there's nothing at stake except some wasted minutes if they feel the need to read what I wrote and it's not pertinent, but suddenly I'm way off my point. The point is, if I actively invest myself in searching out readers and PAY ATTENTION (that's the key) to what they're doing, I may attract them to the blog that I've established just for them. 

The last point of Dan's I want to discuss is the best one, in my opinion. "Craft messaging that gets readers interested in your writing." I think I've heard that before... anyway, Content is King. My readers blog needs to contain information regarding my books that the readers will find interesting. That could include photos of actors I envisioned when creating a beloved character; backstory on an interesting character (I'm thinking this should be in a creative format, like a short story or a journal entry, as opposed to a character sketch); on-line contests where my book will be given away for free as a prize; places I'll be signing books and discussing upcoming works; and other stuff like that. How do I figure out what readers will want? Well, I'm a reader, too. When I go to my favorite author's site, what type of stuff do I want to see/read? Those are the things I'll need on my own blog.

Can you think of anything else readers would want to see on an author's blog? Share your ideas in the comments area please. These types of brainstorming sessions can be invaluable, not only to me but to others who are reading this post. 

-Sonja

If you can't say anything nice...

This week was devoted to Vacation Bible School, and I was in charge of the 3rd - 5th grade kids. Two of the boys (one of whom lives in my house) had a hard time getting along. No surprise there. Aggression is part of being a boy, and tension is a sure thing when you get two or more boys together in the same place. Since one of the feuders belonged to me, I took it upon myself to have a private chat with both of them early this morning. My words of wisdom: "Work on being kind to one another. It will take effort, but you must do it." It was received, because they didn't fight today, but it made me think about my newest work-in-progress (WIP).

(This grumpy girl courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

In any work of fiction, you're going to have some characters who are usually kind and some who are not so kind. The kind ones are going to be realistic (because kind people do exist in the real world)--no worries there. Unfortunately, there's the potential they'll be boring. In fiction, being "nice" or "kind" doesn't usually lead to tension. It could, if you've got someone who's terminally nice being kind to someone who's really grumpy, but for the most part, you don't want a bunch of niceness in your story. You want arguments, disagreements, tactlessness, not-nice words flung about, that sort of thing. 

The hard part is that you want the reader to LIKE your protagonist, and readers want kind, nice characters to cheer for. So how do you keep the kind/nice in your WIP and still plug in the tension?

First, remember that even the kindest people on the planet (think Mother Teresa) are human and therefore prone to moments of impatience or anger or tactlessness. They are perfectly capable of saying something cruel, or lashing out verbally, or picking up a blunt object for unkind purposes. But think about the guilt they'll feel afterward! Think of the mental angst your hero will feel after he's smashed his grandma's vase in a fit of anger, or the gut-wrenching turmoil when momma sees the look of hurt on her child's face after she's screamed at him (or spanked him, or sent him outside to play in the rain because she needs some quiet time), or the prospect of mending a friendship after harsh words are spoken in jealousy. Your nice character can still have plenty of physical and emotional conflict.

Second, even if your protagonist never loses her temper (not very believable, but you could try it....), she will undoubtedly run into other people who are not as saint-like. She's standing in the express check-out lane at Safeway and someone with 35 things starts unloading. If your hero is dedicated to "being nice," she won't say anything to the perpetrator, but she'll most definitely THINK of a few choice words she'd like to say, were she not such a nice person. Or your hero has kids. That introduces tension immediately, because there is no child on the planet at this time who behaves perfectly and always pleases the parental units. (Jesus doesn't count in this example.) Or maybe your hero is married. Again, there's instant tension, because you've put two imperfect people in close proximity. Once the honeymoon stage wears off, and they are no longer actively seeking ways to please the other, stuff starts to stand out. What the wife once thought was adorable ("He misses the laundry basket with his socks every night, isn't that cute?") is now an irritant ("How can he possibly miss the basket EVERY SINGLE NIGHT? And why can't he pick them up afterward?"). 

The possibilities for tension are nearly endless. Even if your nice, kind hero is living like a monk in solitude on top the mountain, he'll still have to live with himself. It's okay to have characters who behave nicely. Just don't forget to introduce conflict in every scene. Any comments about niceness? Any examples you'd like to share with the rest of the class? Don't be shy. We all like reading the comments section.

-Sonja

Build a Perfect Elevator Pitch

Susan Spann posted an awesome article on June 19 that I just discovered today. It's about creating the perfect elevator pitch. (For those who don't know, an elevator pitch is the speech you have prepared regarding your novel so that, if you find yourself on an elevator with an editor or agent, you can spit out this speech in 30 seconds, wow them with your concept, and win them over before they get off.) Head on over to her site and read what she wrote. Or stick around, because I'm going to hit the highlights here and add some of my own thoughts.

She starts off by addressing the four critical elements of an elevator pitch: protagonist, active antagonist, stakes, and high concept. That last one might get skipped if your target intended listener is only going up two floors. But yes, it's really that simple. 

I'm in the midst of Vacation Bible School right now, and we're teaching about David and Goliath. Here's an elevator pitch for that classic tale: A Philistine hoard and their giant leader is terrorizing the Hebrew nation. The Hebrew army cannot stand. Can a young shepherd boy with Godly courage defeat the giant, or is the Hebrew nation doomed to slavery and destruction?

Here are the four elements:

1. Protagonist: The young shepherd boy. It's better to not offer names, as "archetypes are more descriptive and harder to forget," says Spann. I agree with her. In the David and Goliath story, most people are familiar with David, but your novel won't be famous when you're pitching it, so label your main character with an archetype and skip the name.

2. Antagonist: A Philistine hoard and their giant leader. Again, no names are necessary. Look at your story and figure out who is standing in your hero's way of achieving his goal. That's your antagonist.

3. The stakes: the enslavement and destruction of an entire nation. That's pretty big stakes. The bigger, the better. If David's antagonist was a wolf trying to get at his sheep, the stakes aren't high enough to sustain an entire story. Spann says the stakes are the most important part of the pitch, so don't skip it. Without the stakes, the reader won't care what's going on with the protagonist and the antagonist.

4. High concept: shepherd boy with Godly courage. Load your pitch with unique details that make your story stand out. 

You don't need any more that this. Shorter is better because it's easier to remember. Also, if your pitch is short enough, there might be time at the end for questions before the doors open and the agent/editor steps off. Hone your pitch so that it says exactly what needs to be said in as few words as possible. Then memorize it. You'll need it someday. It's also handy for queries.

-Sonja

What Every Scene Needs [tags Scenes]

The book Writing a Killer Thriller by Jodie Renner has a ton of useful information for writers. I'm in chapter 5 today, entitled Every Scene Needs Conflict and a Change. If there's nothing happening in your scene, if everything is nice and happy, your reader will be bored and reach for the TV remote. That can't happen. So spice up every scene with tension and intrigue.

 (This character in conflict is brought to you by freedigitalphotos.net)

James Scott Bell, in his book Revision and Self-Editing, says, "Every scene in your novel should have tension, whether that comes from outright conflict or the inner turmoil of character emotions... You create outer tension by giving the POV character a scene objective. What does he want, and why? It has to matter to him, or it won't to us [the reader]."

Simple enough: toss obstacles in the path of the hero and watch him try to get through it. Those obstacles could be other people (like the villain, or the hero's mom, or the hero's best friend...), difficult circumstances, the weather, even his own inner conflicts. Renner says, "Even in quieter scenes, it's important to show the inner tension of your viewpoint character--worry, concern, irritability, anxiety, doubt, indecision. Also show the tension of other characters by their words, actions, tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language."

Hallie Ephron, in her book The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel, says, "In every scene, something has to change. This means that something has to happen that changes the situation, or a character's perception of it, and that change propels the story forward." Maybe your character emerges from the scene with a different perspective on their situation. Maybe his emotional state is changed. Maybe his relationship to his wife has altered. Usually, this change is for the worse. This change should also help the character grow, usually by learning from his failure. 

Remember to show, not tell, within scenes, and hold something back for the reader to wonder about. If you need to use a flashback or show backstory, leave enough mystery that the reader is anxious to know more, but don't give it yet. Hold something back. This also creates tension. 

Lastly, end scenes early. Don't let them linger, or peter out. End on a hook, something that prompts the reader to turn the page because they're dying to know what happens next. Many times, you'll chop a scene with a chapter break and continue in the next chapter (or the third one after that).

Go back to your work-in-progress and choose a scene near the beginning. Ask yourself: Is there conflict? Is there turmoil, either outer or inner? Does the hero want something and can't quite get it? If you answered NO to any of these, brainstorm ways to add conflict. Think of ten different things that could go wrong. Then discard the easy ones, the cliches, the expected ones. With what's left, choose one and insert it. See if that doesn't improve your scene and get rid of the yawns.

-Sonja

Creating an Inciting Incident Worthy of Praise

I'm working through some of the awesome information provided in the book Writing a Killer Thriller by Jodie Renner. In chapter 4, she discusses how to create fabulous opening scenes. Today's discussion is the all-important Inciting Incident.

(Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.com)

First off, you need one. An inciting incident, that is. Preferably within the first chapter or two. Wiki Answers says the inciting incident is "the conflict that begins the action of the story and causes the protagonist to act." Renner advises not beginning the story with the inciting incident, though. She says let the reader get to know the hero and get emotionally invested in him so they care what happens to him. Whatever he's doing in that first scene, make it applicable to the rest of the book, but also use it to lead up to the inciting incident. "Think of a gripping, stressful opening situation for your protagonist that creates empathy and identification for him and raises intriguing story questions." 

This inciting incident is not the Doorway to Act II or the First Plot Point, that moment when the hero cannot possibly turn back from his mission. The inciting incident leads toward that point, though. It propels the hero to action, but he's still got a chance of getting out of the mess. In Star Wars IV: A New Hope, Luke is offered the opportunity to fight in the resistance. That's the inciting incident. He can follow his dream to become a fighter pilot, or he can return to the farm and help his Aunt and Uncle. We know his choice. Later, when the storm troopers barbecue his relatives, THAT'S the point of no return, the walk through the doorway into Act II, the First Plot Point, or Crossing the First Threshold. (By the way, I found "Doorway to Act II" in James Scott Bell's book Plot & Structure. I don't know if it's his terminology or if he got it from somewhere else. The First Plot Point is from Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. Crossing the First Threshold is from The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. They're all awesome books, but they all have different terms for the same basic idea: a point where the hero has made his decision and can't go back to the way things were before.)

Here are some things to avoid in your inciting incident:

• boring paragraphs of scenery and weather
• opening with a POV other than the hero
• any backstory longer than a single sentence
• information dumps (where you're explaining stuff to the reader) - if it's interesting to them, they'll stick around to get the explanation later
• omniscient POV, where the author is narrating directly to the reader
• head-hopping: jumping from one POV to another within the scene
• lack of tension=boring

My next post will deal with conflict in scenes. Stay tuned.

-Sonja

Writing a Gripping Opening Scene [tags WritingCraft]

Yesterday I purchased a book called Writing a Killer Thriller by Jodie Renner and read it in one sitting. Yes, it's a short book, but it's also riveting. I bought a digital copy and spent several minutes figuring out how to highlight all the good stuff. Unfortunately, there are several pages that are mostly all highlights. I want to share some of those highlights with you. It's worth the $2.99 to purchase it for your resource library, so go pick it up. I'll wait.

(image courtesy of Amazon.com)

Now that you're back, let's dig in. The first couple of chapters dealt with creating an awesome hero and an equally awesome opponent (sometimes referred to as an antagonist). I'm starting in chapter 4 because that's where I found the most excellent and pertinent information. It's about crafting a killer opening. Jodie begins by saying that a killer opening, the first couple of paragraphs, need to suck the reader in and make sure they can't put the book down. They need to be so engaged emotionally that they not only want to continue, but the need to continue. 

It starts with who the reader is supposed to cheer for. Who is the protagonist, where and when the story takes place, and what's going on at the moment. All this should be SHOWN (as opposed to telling) with "tension, dialogue, actions, and reactions." By starting in the hero's head (POV), the reader gets pulled in.

The opening paragraphs also need to set the tone and mood so there are no surprises later on. It's not fair to begin a comedic romance story with a gory murder; nor is it right to begin a horror story with a light sunny day at the carnival--unless that's followed by a gory murder. Play fair with the reader and set them up for the story to come.

Don't waste your opening with "long, meandering descriptive passages about the scenery or weather, or with a character waking up in the morning thinking about his life." And whatever else you do, DON'T tell. This is not the time for backstory, either.

Finally, upset your hero's world within that first chapter. "Show something or someone threatening either him or others close to them, or other, innocent people. Force your hero to make some difficult, even agonizing decisions. And keep us in his head so we feel his worries or fear or anger or confusion, followed hopefully by strategizing, courage and determination."

Did you find something useful in here? Open one of your stories and see if your opening pages follow these rules. If not, see if you can figure out how to alter your opening scenes so the reader needs to turn the page. Then come back next time when I'll discuss inciting incidents.

-Sonja

Check out this new book!

 Kristen Lamb's blog post yesterday featured her new book Rise of the Machines (I couldn't find an amazon link for it, but it comes out July 4, 2013.) She talks about change being a scary but exciting thing. She got to be a cyborg took some risks with her cover art, and it turned out awesome (yes, that's really her as a cyborg). 

Is this fabulous, or what? It looks like a fiction cover, but the book is non-fiction. It beautifully displays her personality, it appeals to her audience (creative people who like sci-fi, vampires, Dr. Who, and Renaissance fairs), and it'll definitely stand out on non-fiction shelves. Who will be able to resist picking it up? 

Check out her blog post to read about the rise of the book, the decisions she made, and see a massive close-up of this cover. 

Changing Grooves for Fun and Profit!

I am delighted to present a guest blogger today, my critique partner and friend Cyndi Bishop. First I'll introduce her. Here she is:

Here's what makes her tick:  Cyndi Bishop lives in the Seattle, WA, area with her husband and dogs. She writes and maintains house full time, as well as crocheting, knitting, and watching enough movies to make her a walking IMDb. She has had several articles published by Focus on the Family, but her real focus is novels, especially in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and adventure. 

Here are Cyndi's thoughts on Outlining for Changing Grooves for Fun and Profit: 

I'm a third person limited (one POV character per scene), past tense kind of writer. I've dipped into first person from time to time, and even told a second-person short story once or twice, but for the most part, my novels are in the third person with one or two POV characters. 

Everyone tends to find their own style they prefer. I have a critique partner who prefers present tense. I prefer past. That same critique partner leans toward first person, while I lean toward third. This person once suggested to me that I change one of my novels to present tense, even adapting a few paragraphs for me to illustrate. Those paragraphs felt so awkward and clunky to me that I could barely read them. We each have our own comfortable groove, and we can't expect our groove to work perfectly for a different writer. 

But that doesn't mean we can't toy with another groove from time to time. 

The other day, I began a new exercise. I started writing a short story in the third person with no POV character. I believe there's a specific term for this, but I can't seem to recall or locate that name at the moment. The main idea is to think of the writing like a movie camera's lens: I can only write the things which a camera could see. Now, this particular style is generally frowned on. By showing the protagonist's thoughts and feelings, the writer can create a stronger emotional bond between that character and the reader. But it's been a fascinating exercise. 

With a POV character, it becomes remarkably easy to cheat. It's so much easier to tell the reader what your protagonist thinks and feels than it is to show it. Writing 'movie camera' style, then, is forcing me to let go of those cheap and easy tricks. If I want to convey that a character is uncertain, I can't show her contemplating out her options - that all occurs in her head, and I can't use that. I have to find a different way to convey clearly what her choices are and why she's torn between them. 

I'm still addicted to my third person limited, past tense style. I doubt that will change anytime soon. But this exercise is stretching me and teaching me all sorts of marvelous tricks that I can use to create a deeper, stronger novel, to avoid using the 'cheater' moves when I revert to my more comfortable style. Taking a brief foray into a different groove is helping me improve my skills for when I return to my own groove. 

What's your preferred style? What have you avoided dabbling in? Consider taking some time to test-drive a different groove. Even if it feels strange, even if you don't think that groove is the right one for you, odds are that you'll find that this stretch of your skills will add a few more tricks to your magic bag of writing. 

(For those wondering about the 'profit' part of the title, that's called 'false advertising.' Depending on your personality, the 'fun' part may fall under the same heading.)

-Cyndi

I Will Now Reveal My Secret Identity

The Kill Zone posted a fabulous question today: "If you were to invent the ultimate pen name for your hidden self, what would it be?" I immediately went to the comments section to see all the fabulous answers. Most of them were humorous--obviously, not all commenters were taking the question seriously. Some chose the names of still-living authors. James Scott Bell listed all the pen names for W. C. Fields (there was some doozies in there). Some gave honest answers, including their reason for choosing that name.

 (This fountain pen courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

I've seriously thought about a pen name, since I have SO many books ready to go, and they span three different genres. One wise teacher (can't remember who) said that pen names are terrific when you want to jump genres, so that fans of your mystery series don't find your name on another book, purchase it, open it up at home, and find it's a fantasy--and they hate fantasy. One good way to solve that dilemma is to use a pen name for the other genre.

Nora Roberts uses a pen name for her sci-fi/mystery IN DEATH series. If a writer as popular as Nora Roberts needs one, maybe it's not such a bad idea. Stephen King used one in the '80s to see if he could sell books without his famous name on the cover. Margaret Ogden writes as Robin Hobb for her epic fantasy series, as Meghan Lindholm for her contemporary fantasy works, and uses her real name for short stories.

With today's boom of e-books, however, many of the experts now say pen names aren't necessary. Writers are putting out more than one book a year, and they might span genre lines, and readers are savvy enough to read the back copy (or the Amazon blurb) before purchasing and therefore figure out if the book fits into their personal tastes. 

There are too many flip sides of this argument for me. I don't know if I'll use a pen name or not if (or when) I ever get published. But if I need a pen name, I want to be ready. So here are my choices:

For my fantasy books, I'd choose Sophie Conifer. Quit giggling. I meant it to be kind of silly. "Sophie" is the Greek version of "Sonja." They both mean "wisdom." Conifer is a blending of my children's names (Connor and Christopher). Nora Roberts did the same thing with her pen name, JD Robb. J and D are the initials of her kids, and Robb is an abbreviation for her real last name.

For my mystery and suspense books, I'm going with my real name. They're my best books, so far, and my favorite genres to write, so these are the genres I want associated with my real name.

Other names I've toyed with are S. Hutchinson (kinda obvious) or my maiden name (not going to share it here, for privacy issues, lest my hubby get angry with me for sharing too much). I've also considered going with my first and middle names and leave off the last name. Not very original, I know. I've seen those Facebook things where you take the name of your cat and the name of the street you live on and that gives you your alter ego/super hero name. In that case, my name should be Dori Timber. I kind of like it.

What about you, awesome reader? Have you considered a pen name? Please share it with me in the comments section. At the least, share your super hero name.

-Sonja

We Do What We Love

I have lots of blogs I subscribe to. Sometimes I get to read them all. Sometimes I skim everything and vow to come back later and study them harder (note: never manage to actually DO it, but I keeping thinking that one day I might). Then there are those sites that I must read every day that they post.  Kill Zone and Flogging the Quill are two of those. My newest favorite, though, is Kristen Lamb. Maybe you've noticed that I've quoted her a lot lately. There's a reason. She's speaking to me on exactly those things I need to hear. It's like she's living my life in her own house (except she's got a toddler whereas mine are a bit older, and she's got a published book whereas I… let's not go there).

Today's post is no exception (follow the link above to read it yourself). She talks about prioritizing, since we can't possibly do EVERYTHING we want/need to do. Randy Ingermanson said the same thing in his newsletter today, so I got it twice in a row. If you're alive and breathing, you simply can NOT do it all. You have to prioritize your wants and needs, then focus on those that are most important.

 (Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

Take one look at my house and you'll discover that housekeeping is not one of my priorities. The kids vacuum once a week. Sometimes the younger one dusts the piano, but that's usually after someone else has graffitied every surface with an index finger. I manage to get enough laundry done to so no one wears the same pair of underwear three days in a row, but as all of you with boys know, wearing a T-shirt or a pair of shorts for two weeks straight without bothering to change into sleep clothing at night is a fairly common occurrence.

Beyond housework, there's homeschooling the minions, cooking meals (and cleaning up afterwards--dishes rarely get left more than three days in a row, as we run out of cereal bowls), running errands (groceries are important to us all), writing, stitching, reading, playing computer games, and thousands of other things that randomly pop up (like mouse poop on the basement floor - that's this week's crisis). These things are all important to me. Most of them must get done. Yeah, the computer games can wait, but the mouse poop can't. Neither can the grocery trip.

So where does writing fit into this hectic schedule? I have to shoe-horn it in. I have to plan my day so that "I ran out of time" can't be my convenient excuse every day. My favorite excuse is "I'm not in the mood" but that excuse is slowly leaving as I put on my "professional big girl writing underpants" and no longer accept that reason for not doing any writing. I've tried to rigidly structure my day, as I really like organizing and scheduling, but I've found that having two boys pretty much negates all that hard work. So I've had to improvise.

Homeschooling cannot be skipped, so we do it right after breakfast. Getting it out of the way leaves the rest of the day open for other fun and necessary things. Once school is finished, the boys want to let their brains rest, so they play video games while I fill the rest of the morning with other housework: laundry, groceries, dishes, etc. Then the afternoons are mine for writing (usually). I get a solid three hours in before hubby comes home and I must be polite and talk to him. After that, it's dinner prep, dinner clean-up, then TV time to rest with the family. (I usually use family TV time to stitch or read a book or play games on my iPad, but that drives hubby nuts, so I try to look up once in a while and make a comment about what's on the TV screen).

While I know that's riveting information that you couldn't have lived without, I'm actually getting around to making a point. If you don't pencil in an hour or two or six to do your writing, you might not be able to squeeze it in. I'm going to go out on a dangerous limb here and suggest that, if you aren't making time to write at least twice a week, maybe writing isn't your greatest love. We make time for those things we love the most. Just ask my hubby: if left alone, I'd spend all day, every day, either in front of my computer or in my comfy chair with a book in hand. I'd never interact with anyone (hubby included) and I'd waste away in fantasy-land, imagining new characters, new plot lines, new twists for new stories. I doubt I'm the only one on the planet with this problem, so I pose this question to you:

What is the thing you love to do the most, the thing you'd spend hours a day doing if you were allowed to (I'm assuming you had enough cash to pay for this thing you love, PLUS enough cash to pay a housecleaner, a sitter, a butler, and everyone else you'd need to do those tasks you'd otherwise be ignoring)? 

-Sonja

 

Big Boss Troublemaker

I was supposed to finish up the series on the book The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, but I finished reading it and didn't find a whole lot more to share. The ending of the book is fun for personal reading, but doesn't lend itself to a blogpost: it's case studies where the authors lay out a case and have the reader try to profile the UNSUB before the answers are revealed. Lots of fun, but not worth writing about here. So consider that series finished.

On the same note, though, I've been surfing Kristen Lamb's blog and found some great stuff about antagonists. She calls them the Big Boss Troublemaker, or BBT. Head over to her site to get the full scoop. I want to share the highlights I found useful.

She quotes David Corbett's The Art of Character: "Characters want something, and the deeper the want, the more compelling the drama. Desire is the crucible that forges character because it intrinsically creates conflict."

Awesome protagonists have something they want. The antagonist is that force which keeps the protagonist from getting what he wants. Antagonist doesn't necessary mean "bad guy." It depends on your story structure. Sometimes the antagonist can be within the protagonist. Sometimes it's nature. Sometimes it's another person.

Technically, each scene in your book should have an antagonistic force, something that keeps your protagonist from getting what she wants. It doesn't have to be huge or even personal. It could be the guy who sideswipes the hero on the way to a crucial meeting. It could be a temper-tantrum thrown by a beloved child that ruins the protagonist's goal. It could be a windstorm that knocks out power when the main character is working on a computer project. 

The primary antagonistic force of the story, though, is the BBT. He must appear early in the book, by page 50 (according to Kristen) so the reader has a face to put against the protagonist. You don't have to name him, like if you're writing a murder mystery, but the reader needs to know he's there. The other key element is that the BBT MUST BE defeated by the protagonist at the end of the book (unless you're writing a tragedy or a horror--then it'd be okay for the BBT to win). No fair making it a tie, either. The protagonist must be strong enough, in the end, to overcome and achieve his goal (or maybe realize the goal he'd been going after was unworthy of his attention and he changes his goal, which seems to be the formula for romance books, but I digress…). That reminds me, the love interest CANNOT be the BBT. Since the BBT must be defeated by the hero, it wouldn't work out for them to then get married after the final battle. 

If you're writing a series, it's no fair leaving the BBT's defeat to the end of book eight. Each book should have it's own BBT (who works for the Main BBT), with each book's BBT getting bigger, badder, meaner, etc. Think of Harry Potter. Voldemort was the BBT. But in book 1, Harry didn't face off with Voldemort. Each book had a slightly stronger BBT for Harry to face and defeat.

In summary, here are the rules Kristen came up with for BBT's. You can break them, but you should understand them before you do that.

1. BBT (or his proxy) must be introduced in Act 1. He should be responsible for the inciting incident.

2. The love interest CANNOT be the BBT. 

3. BBT MUST be defeated at the end.

Kristen has a lot to say about BBT's, and I love her teaching style. Please check her out (follow the above link) and type "BBT" into the search engine. You'll come up with all sorts of good stuff and lots of examples.

-Sonja

 

Make Your Antagonist More

I've been doing a series on profiling antagonists, which I hope is useful for my three loyal readers, and I found a companion piece that goes along nicely. I found it in the July/August issue of Writer's Digest. Laura Disilverio wrote a wonderful article, and I'd like to share parts of it here. If you want the entire thing, check out the magazine from your local library. I'm pulling out the parts I thought went particularly well with the series I've been working on.

(This stereotypical bad guy is brought to you courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

The last thing you want is your story to stink because you've got a stereotypical antagonist. Bad guys need to be fully realized. They are as important as your hero--after all, if your hero has no one to oppose him, there's no conflict and no story. Don't let that happen to you! Your hero needs to have an opportunity to grow, to change, to realize his goals. He needs his antagonist. Disilverio offers six ways to make the bad guy even better. Here are the four I found the most helpful:

1. Antagonists are people, too. He's not a device to make the novel scarier. He's not a cardboard cut-out for the hero to shoot at. The antagonist has a backstory. He has wants and needs and a life. He does NOT believe that he's evil (unless your antagonist is Satan. If that's the case, you can probably skip this entire article). Show your antagonist being human. He does nice things once in a while. He loves someone: his mom, his girlfriend, his cat. Give him believable motives, a reason for trying to keep the hero from achieving whatever he's trying to do. When you make your antagonist a person (as opposed to a stereotype or a caricature), you involve your reader more and the story is better.

2. Eschew the totally evil antagonist. "Pure evil is dull, unbelievable, and predictable," Disilverio says. Readers won't relate. Worse, they'll be offended because you tried something like that. Try to make your antagonist a viewpoint character in at least one scene. Let the reader see what the antagonist is trying to do and why. Like I said above, the antagonist does not believe he's evil. He has a reason for doing what he's doing. 

3. Make your antagonist at least as smart, strong, and capable as the protagonist. You lose all the tension when the bad guy's a Navy Seal with a genius IQ and your hero has the mental capacity of a cabbage. Same for the reverse. They need to be fairly evenly matched in intelligence, stamina, and strength, but the antagonist is slightly stronger in one area and the protagonist has the superior strength in another area. Think of giving them complementary traits: one's calm and detail oriented while the other is impulsive, or one is charismatic while the other is a loner. Think of Superman: he's got strength, Lex Luthor has intellect.

4. Keep the tension strong when the antagonist is a friend, lay, or loved one. If your hero's goal is to finish college by the age of 40, and his wife says it can't be done, the wife is the antagonist. She's also a loved one. This kind of opposition can be extremely powerful. "When writing this kind of antagonist, capitalize on the conflict inherent in the relationship and on the drama that arises when someone with our best interests at heart--someone we care about--stands between us and our goal. Our protagonists don't want to destroy beloved antagonists or see them jailed or rendered impotent. They want to chane their minds and maneuver around them." Don't be afraid to inflict pain here--that's the only way someone will win this one.

I'll continue with the profiling in my next blog post. For what it's worth.

-Sonja

Creating Assassins

I'm back in the book The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker about profiling in an effort to create believable antagonists. Today that antagonist is an assassin--not the kind who kill for money, but they kind who grab a gun and go on a killing spree. The chapter begins with the story of Charles Whitman, the man who climbed the clock tower in Austin, TX, and shot a bunch of people before police killed him. Here's what Whitman, and other assassins like him, are made of:

"Assassin personalities tend to be white male loners with self-esteem problems--no surprise there, since that describes a huge chunk of the violent predator population. More specifically, they tend to be functional paranoiacs. They's wouldn't be confused with paranoid schizophrenics, who have a serious psychosis often described as a shattered personality. The people we're dealing with may be delusional, but they're not hallucinatory. Rather, their paranoia may be described as a highly organized or methodical delusional system that may be convincing if you accept the basic premise. In other words, if you accept the basic (but delusional) premise that everyone is out to get a particular individual and is ready and able to do him harm, then it becomes a convincing argument that this individual should strike out and neutralize these enemies before they can act against him."

Assassins aren't leaders, and usually come from troubled childhoods. They see major weaknesses in their lives and try to compensate for that. Sometimes they'll follow a charismatic leader who will use those violent tendencies for a cause (think of the Manson followers). Another way to compensate is with a fetish, like with guns and hunting. They'll stockpile guns, bladed weapons, and ammunition. "The gun is a means of empowering this inadequate personality, ensuring them that when they want to, they can attain our three old standbys of manipulation, domination, and control."

Another tell is that assassins like to express themselves in a diary, journal, or notes that detail what they're feeling and why they do the things they do: more justification and compensation. "Since they don't have close friends or trusted confidants, these social isolates express themselves to themselves in these detailed secret communications." Sometimes these writings are just a way to talk themselves into committing the murders they feel they must commit.

Whitman planned his killing spree meticulously. He killed his wife and mother, leaving notes at both scenes, before heading to the clock tower. He even left a note regarding what he was going to do at the tower. He scouted the location beforehand, he brought enough food, water, and ammo to last for days, and he called his wife's boss to let him know she wouldn't be in that day. While Whitman had planned a day-long or even week-long spree, he lasted only one and a half hours.

While studying men like Whitman is interesting, it's hard to base an entire novel around this type of antagonist. However, this can be an exciting parallel plot or subplot for your detective hero, to side-track him/her from the main antagonist. This assassin could also be used for a grand opening scene, providing it actually has something to do with the rest of the plot and characters. 

-Sonja