Authors: Your Characters are Defined by the Actions they Take

I've never been big on plotting and planning. I know the major points of my story, and I know the main details about my characters, but beyond that, I just. can't. plot. any. further. I have to dive into the story and get going. It's like the story details "reveal" themselves to me as I get further and further (this is why I totally get what E.L. Doctorow said: “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”)

So. I recently picked up my copy of The Story Book by David Baboulene (a book I haven't looked at in a long time, and only read parts of the first time I went through it), and I found something that made TOTAL SENSE to me!

"... Writers are advised to make a list of their characters and what they are like. The literature tells you to 'know them' as if they are family. To define them from birth -- their childhood experiences, their schools, their house moves, their siblings -- everything. For each one we must think long and hard about what these people are like as 'characters', and list their traits and attributes, from their physical characteristics to their likes, dislikes, allergies, toughness, weaknesses, ancestors; how they feel about the other characters around them, what their pose is towards life events, what they eat, what sort of sex they like, and so on. Again, this is useful, and I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, but these activities should come with a health warning: characters that are fixed in advance can badly damage your plot!

You cannot possibly define your characters before you know what they are going to do.

Only the actions your protagonist takes -- specifically those actions taken under pressure and when facing dilemma -- will define his character ..."

Yay! So there ISN'T something wrong with me for being unable to write out every single detail there is to know about my characters BEFORE I start the story. It MAKES SENSE for me to "release" the characters into the story and to FIND OUT what kind of characters they are by the way they interact with the plot and each other.

Anyone else think this makes sense too? ;-)

PS - I totally recommend The Story Book. All the stuff about subtext and knowledge gaps and conflict triangulations is really helpful. (Oh, and it's all delivered with a dash of humour. I like that ;-) )

Spotlight on Ryn and Tora #CreepyHollow

Two spotlights today! You can find out more about Oryn at Worlds Away Book Blog, and Tora at Better Read than Dead.

I found stock images that I thought perfectly suited Violet, Nate and Ryn, but I eventually picked an actress for Tora - Abbie Cornish. She's meant to have green highlights in her blonde hair. Yip, green.




And that brings this short little blog tour to an end :-)

A big THANK YOU to everyone who hosted, everyone who visited and commented, and all the people who have never stopped being a great support on this exciting writing journey :-) I'm grateful to every one of you.

Character Interview with Seb from THE BIG SMOKE

Guess who's joining us today?! Seb from THE BIG SMOKE! This is a New Adult novel by Cally Jackson that follows the lives of Seb and Ceara as they navigate their first year of university in a big, new city. It's great. You should read it!
(My review is here)

~  ~  ~

Welcome Seb. Thanks for joining us today :-)

Thanks for inviting me. This is the first time I’ve actually been invited to be on a blog. Cally usually just quotes me without checking if I mind.

First things first: How would you describe yourself? 

Um, I’d try not to. But if I had to, I guess I’d say that I’m a country guy who’s attempting to get used to living in the city and going to uni. And not doing a very good job at it!

What do you think of the portrait of you on THE BIG SMOKE’s cover (lying there looking all laid back and sexy and stuff ;-) )? 

*looks at floor for a long period of time* Wow, okay. That’s embarrassing. You know how photos in magazines are always photo-shopped? Well, so is that one on the cover. I’m not nearly that ‘sexy’ in real life. I mean, it’s definitely me, but it’s the best version of me, not the way I look every moment of the day. Does that make sense?

I hear you haven’t read a book in years (*gasp* The horror!). If you were tied down and forced to read something, what book would you choose and why?

Probably The Big Smoke, so I’d know for sure all the humiliating things Cally has told everyone about me. Then again, I’d probably prefer not to know. 

Actually, there’s this book that Cally always says was one of her ‘inspirations’ for when she was writing the chapters from my perspective. It’s got some weird title. Catcher something. Maybe if I read that, I’d understand why Cally thought she could share so many of my private thoughts with everyone. Catcher in the Dry, that’s it… I think.

Do you have an embarrassing childhood memory you’ve never shared with anyone else (and now feel the sudden urge to share with ALL the readers of this blog?!)? 

Cally’s shared a fair few of them already so I guess I may as well add another to the list.
One time when I was about nine, my mate Brad convinced me that someone had been murdered in his house before they bought it. And, of course, the murder had happened in the room that I slept in. It got to about ten that night and I couldn’t hack it anymore. I was too scared, so Dad had to come pick me up and take me home. Soft, I know. Yet another thing that Brad will never let me live down.

When you moved to “the Big Smoke” you got a house mate. What was it like having to share your space with someone? 

Sharing a unit with Luke is… interesting. To be honest, we want to kill each other a lot of the time, cos he’s so friggen anal about the house being spotless all the time and I’m not the tidiest guy around. We’ve definitely had some big arguments over the past few months, and sometimes they’ve been over much more important stuff than me not wiping the gravy spots off the kettle. But underneath it all, Luke’s a pretty good guy. He just needs to take a chill pill every now and then.

Can you tell us exactly what you thought of Ceara during the very first conversation you had with her? 

It’s a bit hard to remember exactly what I thought of Ceara the first time I met her, cos my head was spinning like crazy. I pretty much saved her life. She was walking along the street reading a book and almost got herself run over, but I pulled her off the road just in time.
Okay, I guess I do remember a little bit of what I thought. Again, this is kind of embarassing to talk about, but what the hell - I thought she was intense but beautiful. I really wanted to spend some time with her and get to know her, but then my mate Heath came along and ruined the moment. If she had’ve asked me to skip my lecture and stay with her, I would have for sure. But she didn’t, so we went our separate ways.

Now here’s a deep one: What do you think about the concept of destiny?

Deep is one word for it. I’d probably choose ‘corny’, but anyway….
If you had’ve asked me that question a year ago, I would have laughed at you (still did, a little bit). But considering some of the crazy shit that’s happened since I moved to Brisbane, maybe there is such a thing as destiny, after all. Ugh, I can’t believe I just said that. Seriously, can you delete that last part? Please?

And lastly ... just between you and me (and everyone else reading this) ... are you sick of Cally yet? I mean, you’ve been stuck inside her head for a preeeeeeetty long time, right?! Must be good to finally get out!

Geez, you have no idea. That girl needs to get some professional help. I mean, she’d done a decent-enough job of telling my and Ceara’s stories five years ago, but then one critiquer told her that she hadn’t let the reader get to know the characters well enough, so she decided to re-write the whole bloody book.
I think she and Ceara have more in common than Cally will admit – they’re both total perfectionists. And book worms. And both a bit messed up in the head. Cally might deny it, but I’ve lived in her brain for 12 years now, so I reckon I’m in a good position to judge it. And just between you and me (and everyone else reading this), there’s definitely a loose screw up there somewhere. I’m just glad I’m escaping before the screw falls out completely. I feel sorry for her next bunch of characters…

~  ~  ~

HAHAHA! Now that was fun, right?! ;-)

If you'd like to hear more from Seb, you can purchase a copy of The Big Smoke:

• in paperback format from Cally's buy page (Australia and New Zealand) or Amazon (rest of the world)
• in e-book format from Smashwords(preferred digital supplier), Amazon, iBooks,Kobo, Diesel and other e-stores.

Character Spotlight: Sam Blaize from J.C. Martin's ORACLE

As part of her Oracle blog tour, J.C. Martin is spotlighting one of her characters here today :-)

Fact file: 

Name: Sam Siobhan Blaize

Age: 30

D.O.B.: August 31st

Likes: Kick-boxing, chocolate, rom-coms (shh … it’s a secret!)

Dislikes: Chauvinism, sexism, the name ‘Samantha’, describing redheads as ‘ginger’

Bio: Detective Sergeant Sam Blaize is more than your typical fiery Irish redhead. Sure, she’s a five-foot-four-inch pocket dynamite, a kick-butt amateur kickboxing champion, and she has a quick temper and doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but behind her fiercely independent front hides a vulnerable woman who still enjoys a cuddle now and again, and who gets soppy watching romantic comedies (but don’t let her know I told you that!). Though there is clear chemistry between Blaize and her partner, Detective Lancer, she is unwilling to start a relationship with a work colleague, especially one who has recently lost his wife. As they work frenetically to catch the murderer in Oracle before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, Blaize battles with a personal problem of her own, one she fears could rob her of her womanhood.

~ ~ ~

Oracle

With London gearing up to host the Olympics, the city doesn't need a serial killer stalking the streets, but they've got one anyway.

Leaving a trail of brutal and bizarre murders, the police force is no closer to finding the latest psychopath than Detective Inspector Kurt Lancer is in finding a solution for his daughter's disability.

Thrust into the pressure cooker of a high profile case, the struggling single parent is wound tight as he tries to balance care of his own family with the safety of a growing population of potential victims.

One of whom could be his own daughter.

Fingers point in every direction as the public relations nightmare grows, and Lancer's only answer comes in the form of a single oak leaf left at each crime scene.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble

About the Author

J.C. Martin is a butt-kicking bookworm: when she isn’t reading or writing, she teaches martial arts and self-defence to adults and children.

After working in pharmaceutical research, then in education as a schoolteacher, she decided to put the following to good use: one, her 2nd degree black belt in Wing Chun kung fu; and two, her overwhelming need to write dark mysteries and gripping thrillers with a psychological slant.

Her short stories have won various prizes and have been published in several anthologies. Oracle is her first novel.

Born and raised in Malaysia, J.C. now lives in south London with her husband and three dogs.

Contact: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Who Said This? Guess The Character!

I love this idea, but, sadly, I can't take credit for it. The idea came from from Krystal Wade, author of Wilde's Fire. So, the game goes like this: I post some quotes from memorable characters in memorable books, and you see if you can guess who said them!

So how's your knowledge of Harry Potter? The Lord of the Rings? Twilight? Technically, you could get some of these right if you just watched the movie ;-)

Alrighty, so in case you hadn't noticed, the game isn't happening here. It's happening over at Annalisa Crawford's blog, Wake up, eat, write, sleep (<--- just add in 'teach' and that's my day!) Please go and 'play'! There are even little voting widgets for you to click on!

V is for Vicious Villain

vicious adj wicked or cruel

villain noun a cruelly malicious personwho is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime

In real life I try not to be nasty. I mean, come on, who wants to be the mean girl? But I have to say, when it comes to writing a vicious character, it can be kind of fun ;-)

Do you have fun bringing out your vicious side when you create a villain?

U is for Unexpected

I've discovered it's quite easy to create cliched characters. You know, stereotypes.

stereotype noun a set of inaccurate, simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them and treat them accordingly.

Here are some examples (in my mind anyway!):
A librarian is strict, uptight, wears boring clothes and possibly glasses.
A Harley-Davidson rider is a big, muscular, mean man who wears leather and boots and has tattoos.

We don't want cliched characters in our writing. It's boring! Let's show our readers how creative we can be by giving our characters a few UNEXPECTED traits/hobbies/interests.

Taking the above examples:
The librarian, who appears to be all of the above, actually takes pole dancing classes in the evenings.
The Harley-Davidson rider, who appears to be all of the above, is actually a gentle soul and enjoys tending his bonsai plants in his spare time.

I think my most cliched character is the wise mentor (you know, the character who has most of the answers and helps the hero along on his/her quest) and I'm having trouble figuring out how to make her unique and unexpected. Any ideas?

Writing Compelling Characters

Welcome to stop 104 of Elana's Great Blogging Experiment!


(Eeeek! I am totally intimidated by the large number of people who are also blogging about this very same topic possibly at this very same moment...)

How many times can The Hero's Journey be original?

How many times can The Love Triangle be original?

How many times can The Forbidden Love Story be original?

Answer: not many.

So why do we keep going back for more?

Answer: because of the characters, the people.

They are different every time, and so the story is different every time.

Life is all about relationships. You can have things, you can have success, you can have status, but we all know that it means nothing without people. So when we read a book - or at least, when I read a book - one of the main things that makes it or breaks it for me is the characters.

So... Having not really thought about this much before the Great Experiment, here is my take on things...

1. Get Real
Very important. If I'm reading a book and keep thinking, "There's no way anyone in real life would ever say/do/be something like that," then I'm not interested. You need characters that readers can relate to.

2. Get Interesting
Everyone has a story, or, to use the correct terminology, backstory. This is what fleshes your characters out, gives them depth and possibly mystery and intrigue. What has happened in your characters' pasts to make them the way they are?

3. Get Talking
Dialogue rocks! One of the easiest ways to show what type of person a character is is to have them interact with other characters. In both my reading and writing I'm not so keen on the descriptive parts (don't hate me!), but dialogue makes me happy :-) I love seeing how characters interact. Plus it moves the story forward.

4. Get Motive
In both reading and writing I constantly (yes, it gets annoying sometimes) ask myself, "Why is this character doing this?" And there has to be a good enough reason, or else the character isn't believable anymore. Why is my character going on this dangerous, difficult, life-threatening journey? Because they just felt like it? Not likely!

5. Get Change
In real life, change is scary. In stories, no change is BORING! If your characters manage to get to the other side of their journey/tumultuous relationship/fight to the death with a fire-breathing dragon, it must have changed them somehow. For better or worse, there's got to be change.

Thanks for stopping by! Next on the list is Writing from the Wrogan...