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