Jan. 24, 2013 Update

Garden flower (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Jan, 24, 2013: Update

 

Traci Kenworth

 

 

 

Editing is going well. I tend to pick at things writing-wise and it takes me longer than getting that first draft written which, I suppose, is as it should be. Editing takes times. It’s about looking at things and making sure you have everything where the camera-in-your-mind wants it. There is usually some pruning (whether it’s taking out a character/s, changing a situation, rewriting a scene) and some juggling (switching everything around to improve the flow), not to mention tweaking of material to get it just right.

 

In the past few weeks, I’ve concentrated on the people in my story more than the events happening around them. I’ve brought them front-and-center and shown how life around them bulldozes them or makes them stronger. You see, I’m learning the story is about the character with the problem not the problem itself. Now, there are writers out there who focus on the plot and not the protagonist and they’re skilled at the twists and turns, but for me, I “love” the story that brings me into the world of the hero/heroine and shows me who they are and how they react to the situation they’re put in.

 

I was having a particular problem with one heroine who I couldn’t get to “care” about the situation she was in. Turns out, I had the “wrong” character in mind for her and had to crush her and begin from scratch again. Her looks changed from a brunette to a blonde and I “cast” a different actress to play her. Instantly, the world opened up around her from my ability to see   how she’d face things, to who she was as a person. Sometimes it takes a bit of shaking up to get a character just right. Now, I know not everyone pictures particular actors for a part, but I feel it helps me if I can zoom in on their facial expressions, how they walk and talk, how they encounter a problem and persevere, or not.

 

Other unexpected things happened. My hero found out some things about the people in his life that he wish he hadn’t which took him to a darker place. Grief does that. As in reality, some people disappoint us, while others surprise us. It all works together as a whole, to enrich our story. Sometimes I think that’s why certain ones take us longer to write: we haven’t grasped the concept of what they’re all about yet. So, yeah, my work’s not done yet, I still have to continue on with the tweaking, doing all the things mentioned beforehand, and seam things back together but I’m happy and that’s what it’s all about: bringing your story to fruition. Good luck out there with yours.

 

 

 

 

 

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How I get Myself Unstuck from a Scene…

Image via Wikipedia

How I get Myself Unstuck from a Scene

Traci Kenworth

 

I’ve come up against walls more than a few times when it comes to scenes. There’s a recent one when I needed a character to have certain powers—I just couldn’t figure out what those would be, so I procrastinated about it for days until the answer worked itself out. This is not to say I avoided the scene all together for those days. I worked on this and that of it, chipping away at what I had, until finally a gem formed.

How did I figure it out? Well, I researched different powers. Well, not in the way I could say, “Hey, I’ll give her Supergirl’s powers.” No, I thought about the different elements, what related to her character, where I planned to go from here with her. And slowly, the answers came. And better than expected. Cryogencis. Lava. Avalanches. All these and more were investigated in the hope something would spark.

Another time, I had to introduce a character who has visions of certain events in my book. He was cursed with this by another character. I struggled with whether to write what he witnessed as first person or third. It didn’t quite work out with first as the story is told in first person to begin with and became too confusing for my cps, so I switched it to third and now it is sailing along. The reason behind this being, he has to “see” events through another character’s eyes. He can’t speak for them, he can only observe them.

So you see, there is a way to work through your difficulties. It just takes a new approach. Like I did with my latest book I’m editing. I totally changed the storyline for the female lead in the revisions from passive/sidelines to proactive, kickbutt heroine and it worked. She is now one of the most interesting characters I’ve written. All because I ran into a wall. Sometimes those blockages are good in terms of the story. They force you to work harder, to challenge yourself more.

Any tips you know on how to scale those walls? Doesn’t your story prove stronger/better for it? I think it’s really the Muse telling us to hold up, let’s look at thing from all angles, and then surprising us with its brilliance. So what has your Muse blocked for you lately?

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How to Breathe Life into Your Characters VI

How to Breathe Life into Your Characters

VI

Introductions

 

The way you bring your hero/heroine onto the page is important. Some say to start with a big bang, but that doesn’t allow your character enough time for the reader to come to identify with him/her. You want to begin with the inciting incident, for sure. This means what catastrophe is going to happen/the beginning of a romance/the window to the plot.

Don’t rush it. Take your time and bring the viewpoint character as close to the action as possible without dangling him over a cliff in the first few paragraphs. I’ve made some of the big no-no’s when it comes to beginning: beginning with dreams, describing the character via mirrors/pools, putting him/her into the thick of things before they’re developed enough.

That’s the key here. The reader wants to get to know your character before they decide to jump off a bridge/rush into the darkness with them. Because we all know there are consequences in those actions. However, for most of us, it’s like listening to the news. We’re aware of the situation but it doesn’t concern us because it’s not personal for us.

Let’s get a glimpse of their sock drawer where they’ve hidden a million dollars, watch the struggle over a comeback to the biggest bully in school, catch a peek of a shadowed figure before we’re swept into the action. This isn’t to say that you start with a dull opening. Far from it. You need a hook to catch an agent/editor’s attention. But a piece of advice: don’t go for the throat in the first sentence.

Think of your favorite books. Clary doesn’t start off in The City of Bones trying to rescue Jace as well as humankind. She doesn’t even know that’s on the horizon yet. She’s concerned with what her mother will think about her staying out late—again.

Katniss doesn’t fall onto the pages within The Hunger Games, a contestant bent on survival. No, we’re allowed to see both the good and the bad of her world. Introduced to those who care about her, and those she cares about. This shows us the window to the plot.

Mary doesn’t begin in the woods in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but begins by describing a typical day. The horror of what she knows: living with zombies at the fences, always with the threat of their breaking through. We know it’s going to happen, just not when.

These authors were adept at dropping the reader into the book at just the right place. It is important that we know where the hero/heroine’s from, who their family is, what life means to them, and what they consider their fate is going to be. Each glance we get into their perspective worlds bridges the gap between them and the reader. Then, when the rider gallops into the village with news of impending doom, our heroine’s lunch tray gets thrust aside by the it girl, or our lovebirds meet for the first time, it’ll set off sparks.

And those sparks can fan a flame. Keep your characters real to themselves and your readers: show us all that they are made of, then break them down. This is where your story begins. But remember, quietly not with a bang.

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Let Me Look in the Mirror Already!

How to Breathe Life into Your Characters

Part II: Let Me See in the Mirror Already!

 

 

A character’s looks. How important are they? Some say the less description the better,

but I’ve read in an agent’s recent blog(and I concur)that the readers wants to know what your character looks like, warts and all. I don’t say to browbeat him or her with endless descriptions of a character’s eyes or rosy cheeks etc. But there has to be a healthy balance between what your hero/heroine looks like and what the reader see’s in their minds.

Think of them as clues. Blond hair or dark brown? Green eyes or violet? All little details that drive home the character to us. I, for one, like to “cast” my characters. So on any given day before I start a book, I spend countless hours searching magazines, the internet, or television for that matter for the perfect match to what I see. Sometimes I don’t start with a clear image as to what I’m looking for but just scan until the right photo jumps out at me and claims the face of the character in question.

Sometimes I pick a popular actor/actress, oftentimes I go with an unknown. Because no matter whom they are to you, your reader is going to see someone different. We can only give visual tidbits to further the illusion. And the truth is, I’m going to describe an actor/actress in the way I see them. That means I might notice imperfections others don’t that bring the character alive. And I search for the flaws most of the time because who wants to read about a perfect person?

Really the picture is just a canvas that we need to enhance in our reader’s mind. Character traits play an important part of this. We can have a pretty heroine on the outside but inside she feels like a girl next door or plain Jane. A gorgeous guy can be the vilest person we know deep down. It’s all in how you want to layer them.

In my story, The Safe House, I take a well-known actress and give her body issues. To everyone else, she’s beautiful, to herself, she’s too thin, too little up top, too ordinary. I like to think this brings her down to our level. After all, who among us is comfortable in their own skin, especially at eighteen? The awkward, ugly duckling phase can be felt by all. And when we grow into that swan, it’s not because we suddenly became Julia Roberts, but we came to terms with ourselves inside. It lends a sort of confidence to who we are.

Likewise my hero finds a different sort of failing in himself. Outwardly, he is calm, resolute. Inside, he feels like a fake, an actor on a stage who someone is about to discover doesn’t belong as the lead. He is forced to take more and more responsibility onto his shoulders and yet, his doubts hinder his performance until at last, he breaks free of the insecurities and rises to the warrior he needs to be.

So, yes, as you see, there’s more to it than labeling someone with blond hair, blue eyes. And yet those looks help develop who a character is to our readers. Describing our characters too little can often leave them abstract, in need of an infusion of color, warmth. Balance is the key. Bring the emotions with the image. Reflect that back and you’ll create characters that are fully rounded and ready to spring from the page.

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