Amie Stuart ~ On the Back Porch

First class is here: Hey Fatty

I’ve written all kinds of heroes and heroines with all kinds of…quirks. I’ve written about cheating spouses, runaways, fat heroines, drunks, abused men, slaves, revolutionaries, cops, fathers, sons, mothers and daughters, mercenaries, whores, control freaks, and *deep breath* cowgirls just to name a few. And I wish I could take full credit for the following pieces of advice but I can’t. I’m sure you’ve heard them before but I think they bear repeating.

1. Don’t be afraid to hurt your characters. Even in real life pain spawns growth. It should be that way in your book.

2. Every character is the hero of their own story—even the villain (I got that from Deb Dixon).

I don’t know how true this is, but someone once told me that in astrology, your sun sign is the face you show the world, but your moon sign is the real you. We all have a face we show the world–that includes your characters. And as your characters go through the story, they have to show more and more of their true self to the reader. Much like peeling away the layers of an onion, your character has to let the reader in. Let the reader see their hurts, their anger, their scars, so that the reader can cheer for them as they move toward their happy ending.

One of my most favorite ever books — ever — is WISHES by Jude Deveraux which was actually mentioned by someone in the SB blog comments. Firstly, this was the first book I ever read with a fat heroine (and I’m fat). Secondly, nothing that the “guardian angel” did automatically solved the heroine’s problem. Jennifer Armintrout left a comment at SB about people not just being overweight but being overweight IN THEIR MIND (forgive me Jennifer, I’m paraphrasing).

That, my friend, is characterization. The heroine in Wishes IS fat IN her mind as well as in body.

And being overweight is a part of her characterization. Characterization spawns motivation, and dare I say, conflict. Let me give you an example. (more…)