Character Posts

Happy Friday, everyone! Because I'm running around like a crazy person, trying to get caught up on things today, I'm giving you an awesome list of all the character posts I've written since starting this blog. Yeah, there are a lot! Get your clicking fingers ready, and let's get going!!

From the archives:
Characters, You Say? - A breakdown of characterization
Writing as the Opposite Sex - Getting into the mind of your character
Character Flaws - Why perfect characters, aren't
What's in a Character? - Character bios and what they should include
Flipping the Switch - Good guys, bad guys, and where the lines blur
Knights in Shining Armor - Causing your hero to have a fatal flaw
Is Your Character Sexy or Beautiful? - Know the difference, use it to your advantage
Character Arcs - More on creating great characters that feel real
Bringing Truth to Fiction - All about being true to your character even when writing BS
Your Supporting Cast of Characters - Talking about minor characters and how to keep them from taking over
Complex Villains - How to keep reader empathy in check when crafting a super villain
What's in a Name - Why the names you choose matter
3D Characters - More on making rounded characters
Coffee and Writing - How to use coffee to add dimension to your characters
Female Protagonists - Why Women Love Them - How to connect with women
EnneaApp - One way you can give your characters depth by clicking a couple of buttons
Being Emo - Emotional Triggers for Creating Rich Characters - Exactly what is says
Stealing Characters - How to use a character from life and other places
Character Bios - Visually - How to keep up with all the stuff about your characters with ease

I hope you enjoy the heck out of these :)

Which one is your favorite?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Character Bios - Visually

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today, I'm going to give you a tip to help you keep those characters you're writing about straight (and maybe even the places they live). This is gonna change the way you write forever
—I hope. It's a way to keep your characters (and their details) visible so you never have to stop writing and look something up. Ready? Grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

If you've been here before, I'm going to assume you've downloaded my free PDF on Novel creation. If you haven't, get it here. There's a wonderful section in the back that'll help you create a character bio. This is what you need right now. My PDF is free to download, print, and redistribute as you see fit, but please, do not sell it. It's meant to be a free tool for authors.

I tend to write character-driven fiction, so my buddies in the story are key to making things feel real to my readers. There's a requirement that I know those folks inside and out.

So, once I've decided on some details, how do I keep them straight without going back to that document every single time I want to give some goodies to the reader?

Well, this is where Google and a color printer are your friend! Do a search for your character (brown haired male with blue eyes, for example), and put it in a Word document. Size the image so it takes up most of the top. Beneath it, type out the character's height, weight, birthday, location, parents' names, and any other nuggets of fun you think you'll want to reference. Make those details BIG and BOLD.

Click print.

Create one for each character, and print those reference sheets out.

Tack them on the wall behind your desk so you can see them!

Now, go do the same for locations (these can be general or scene-specific).

Boom! All that pretty info is right there for you. All you have to do is look up!

Here's an example of one of mine (for the upcoming novel I'm writing with the Fractured Glass ladies):

Doesn't that make it so freaking easy?

Because you aren't redistributing the images, you don't have to purchase them. These are for YOU, not the world. Even if they have a watermark on them, you can see the details well enough. If you decide to use the photo for something else, please, PLEASE be sure and purchase the full sized image and correct rights.

Same goes for location scenes.

If you take the time to do this, you'll never have an inconsistency issue, and your work will gain a ton of momentum!

Have you ever done anything like this? What do you use? Discuss!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Being Emo - Emotional Triggers for Creating Rich Characters

Happy Tuesday! As the title of the post implies, today I'll be talking about emotional triggers you can (and should) use for your characters. As a writer, you're a student of human nature. Let's put those studies to use in your writing so people can identify with your MC. Ready? Grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

I often wonder why writers of an older generation have books that scream at readers with such truthiness. Now, I'm not saying younger folks can't write deep novels (because they can, and do), but those little sparks of talent are rare and have likely been cultivated. Many people tend to take up writing when they're in their late twenties or early thirties.

Why?

Because they've lived it. They have a greater well of life stuff to draw precious words and experiences from. Don't you love sitting and talking with older people? Listening to their stories is like reading a really great book that answers questions you want to ask. A teenager who's lived a normal life (no abuse or bullying or anything like that--you get my point) will find this more difficult.

So why am I bringing all this up?

Today is about emotional triggers. Older folk have more of these to draw on simply because they've been in the world longer and experienced more. Reading about something and feeling/living it are two different things. No matter how engrossed in a book you are, you never really know everything that was going on around the character or in their past. That novel would be like War and Peace. When you live it, you can draw on it more readily.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying only older people can do this exercise; I'm saying their lists will be longer--and probably easier--and that's okay. I just don't want you to be daunted or frustrated if you have nothing for a particular item. This could open up an opportunity for you to talk to someone else and listen to what they have to say about the emotion.

Exploring your character in depth like this can lead to a more rounded individual on the page. Heck, this may help a younger generation of writers hit that ever-elusive personified character we all strive for. Either way, it'll help you get to know your MC.

There will probably be more than one answer for each of these, but try to think of just one the first time through.

Here's the list:

• Shame - When did the character feel shame? Why? How has it shaped them?
• Joy - Yup, that moment when they felt they could fly without wings. What happened afterward?
• Fear - This is a big one because it fuels a lot of the ways we perceive ourselves. Insecurities can arise from fear. What change did it cause in your character?
• Guilt - Another big one. Carrying around guilt can cause your character to react a certain way in a specific situation. How heavy is the burden? Will they ever admit it?
• Love - When did they feel it the first time? How did it shape their perception?
• Failure - Will your character give up after a huge let down? What was it and how did they push through?
• Courage - What were they facing when they showed courage? Did they succeed or fail? How did that shape them?
• Forgiveness - There's always that one screwup. Who was the forgiver? Did it make the character stop and think about holding a grudge with someone else later on?
• Rage - How did they internalize it? Did they? What were the repercussions if they acted out?
• Indignation - Someone pushing the character to do something they refuse to do? What prompted it? Why didn't the character take part? Moral code?
• Sorrow - Profoundly. Stemming from death of a loved one. How did they deal with it?

I know that's a long list, but it'll give you some fodder to draw on as you write your story. You don't have to reveal all of them (remember that comment above about a book being different from a life?), but you'll have a better grasp of who your character truly is if you give them all the emotional baggage.

Have you ever done an exercise like this? How did you fare with this one?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Stealing Characters

Happy, happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Wow. I'm totally late again. But at least I got something written and posted today, right? So, we're gonna talk about this lovely thing I like to call imagination. Basically, I'm going to tell you where you can steal characters and it be on the up and up, and how anyone that tells you otherwise is full of mahoney. Grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

Where do characters come from, anyway? You can say they're all figments of the author's imagination. You can say they're everyone and no one at all. Heck, you can even say they're people the author knew/know.

And you know what? You'd be right on every count.

There's no such thing as an original character.

Are you ready to rip my face off yet? Good. Now, let me explain.

Your characters will all have an inherent piece of you. Yes, all of them. When you have to write anger, you draw on your own experiences with anger. In this way, it's impossible to write what you don't know. If you happen to come upon a feeling you've never had, chances are you'd have to ask someone else what it's like. Therefore, your character takes on a few basic traits of that person.

Writing that woman you watched in the airport who was oozing emotion through the phone at what you could only guess was a man? She's totally unique and not you, right?

Sorry. No.

Because what you've seen of her brings you to certain conclusions of your own about who she is. You draw upon experiences you've had in the past to fill in the rest of the proverbial sketch of her life.

But what about that character that came from nowhere? You just sat down, chose a name, created an identity, and drew them from thin air, right?

Let's think about that for a moment.

While that character in the book may have purple hair, pointy ears, and a forked tongue, you have to create a personality from somewhere. If you don't use your resources: yourself, a friend, a stranger you spoke to, a family member, a character you once read about that stuck with you in personality, an old classmate you hated/loved, etc..., you're setting yourself up for failure and flat characters.

There's no such thing as an original character. Even if the man or woman in your book has one small piece of you, it's not 100% unique. They must have some part of someone to be real.

But characters aren't real, Jo!

Aren't they? Don't they talk to you when you're writing them, telling you how to write their story so the world sings along? Don't they force your hand sometimes?

I don't know a writer anywhere who says, "My characters do exactly what I tell them, and my story doesn't suffer for it." Yeah, that's not the way it works.

We create these people, and they go with us everywhere. I'm almost convinced those crazy people who walk around mumbling things to themselves aren't crazy at all; they're retired authors talking to the characters that refuse to leave.

They're in your head. You formed them. You breathed life into them. They're all going to have a piece of you, no matter how miniscule.

Guess what that means? If you're a lot like author ABC over there, and the two of you have had similar experiences/pasts, your characters might just act and sound alike.

Nothing wrong with that.

So, the next time friend A asks you if they're in your book, smile at them and nod your head. Chances are, there are enough pieces there to make it the truth.

But never, ever be afraid to steal bits and pieces of those folks you meet on the street or watch on the sly. They'll inject your characters with new traits.

What do you think? Have you written a character who acts/sounds like someone you know (accidentally)?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Stereotypical Stuffed Shirts - Changing Cliché Characters

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Excuse me. I seem to have alliterated. *grin* Okay, all grammar nerd jokes aside, I bet you're all knee deep in the work week and looking forward to a little break, eh? Well, today I'm bringing you a post all about using stereotypes to your advantage. People tell you never to use a typical character, but I think using common folk as a base is a fantastic place to start. This is gonna be another work with me post, so grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

First, let's list some stereotypes:

• Crazy aunt who pinches cheeks and laughs too much.
• Shy, smart, eager to please teen who's bullied in high school.
• Bad boy who smokes, drinks, and gets in fights all the time who turns good with love.
• Good girl who has no one and nothing, but does everything right (perhaps even playing nursemaid to a sick parent or other relative).
• Southern idiot with a drawl, a gun, and a coon hound.

Okay, that should be enough to get us through this exercise. Now, stories with these characters are abundant. You can find at least one in every three books you read.

They make great secondary/forgettable characters, because there's nothing about them that stands out from the fray. People forget them easily (especially if you don't name them).

That being said, you don't want to slap this kind of person into a tale and put the spotlight on them.

Unless...

You add a little something to make them twisty to the reader. Take the stereotype and flip him/her on their heads. Throw in a surprise for your reader that's like a nugget of gold hidden in the pages. After all, riches kept miners going to the deadly land of Alaska looking, right?

Reward your reader; they'll come back for more.

How can you do that? Well, let's use the characters from above (yeah, you knew that was coming) and work out how we can make them more than they seem. I'll give typical traits, then how you might be able to give that character a twist.

Crazy Aunt - Now, this cliché lady crochets, makes jam, and probably has a fruit pattern on her plastic dining room tablecloth. But the twisty lady might keep kids in cages in the basement, men tied up in the barn to torture (perhaps she was a victim of abuse and this is her revenge on the male species), or she's a spy for a foreign government.
Bullied Teen - Typically quiet, excellent students (because no social life), and usually dress down so as not to draw attention to themselves. If you gave them a twist they could bully others anonymously, enter beauty pageants in other states, or run for class president (now that would be a shocker).
Bad Boy - Women are drawn to him, he's crazy sexy, and he has some sort of tortured past. Flip him and make him rich with great parents and un-saveable, someone who's doing a social experiment by acting like a bad boy (your reader will gasp), or have him be really bad and kidnap girls who fawn over him because he was always fascinated by the way women look.
Good Girl - She goes to her job every day like clockwork, never gets in fights, and makes perfect grades. Change her by giving her a twisted fetish she has to hide, visions of dead people she shakes when she sees but hides because she's actually crazy, or let her go on a murder rampage and kill everyone who ever expected her to be perfect.
Southern Imbecile - Hunts, fishes, not playing with a full deck of cards, drives a dirty pickup truck. Make him different by giving him a secret lab and off the charts IQ he hides, making him an alien, or let him be an over the top wealthy guy who's a brilliant artist in hiding.

Now you try. List each one on a piece of paper and try to come up with three things you could do to make them different. After that, come up with your own cliché characters, and change them, too!

No matter how you accomplish the twist, keep it fresh, keep your reader guessing, and do something folks don't see all the time.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to change characters up and make them more.

What do you think? Ever used a stereotype in a different setting? Tell me about it!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo