Amie Stuart ~ On the Back Porch

Apologies again for the gross delay in getting this last lesson out. Life intervened in a big way. Due in part to character problems. Which is why I wanted to chat about what to do when you get stuck.

Currently I’m writing two heroines in two novellas who are night and day. Somewhere along the way with the first heroine I lost track. Funny enough I know exactly what I did. With a hero who’s a hired killer, I spent a LOT of time making sure he was likeable, that you could see his growth etc…and the heroine fell by the wayside.

I got an email from my CP that basically said, “I’m not connecting with her anymore.” Of course, at the same time, I was emailing her with, “OMG I’m stuck. I took a wrong turn somewhere. I just can’t nail this ending. hEPL!” LOL

OTOH the second heroine is rich and spoiled and well, has no conflict. Obviously this is a problem. Now I have to go back and weed in some conflict, which luckily was easily found.

And often, as writers, we can’t see the forest for the trees so here are some helpful suggestions:

1) Trust your instinct. Nine times out of ten if something feels off with one of your characters, that’s because it is. At the same time, I’ll be the first to admit I’m my own worst critic, but I’ve learned over the years to trust my gut.

2) Go whine to your critique partners. They will probably see something you don’t. Even if you don’t quite know what’s off, another brain always helps. And even if they don’t see the problems that YOU see, their observations could help you figure out where you went wrong. And help talk you off the ledge.

3) Print your manuscript. There are things that you will see on paper that you’d never find on a computer screen. Don’t whine about the trees or the cost of printer cartridges. Go invest in a cheap HP Laser printer. It’s well worth the cost, and a tax deduction. Jackie Barbosa (who is not only my editor at Cobblestone but my CP) is the ONLY person I know who can get away with not printing a hardcopy and editing.

4) READ your manuscript. Maybe this one goes without saying. Not only does it remind you that, hey it really doesn’t suck, it’s another way to help pinpoint a problem.

5) Walk away. Sometimes the best thing you can do is just take a break from the work so that you can go back and look at it with fresh eyes. Go read a book or walk or *gulp* clean or something.

Now……..back to the WIP I hope ya’ll enjoyed this and got something out of it. Again, feel free to post questions and please feel free to post some of your own character-making misery so we can commiserate. I’ll pick five winners on…Monday…from all the commenters last week and from today’s post who can have their choice of Aphrodisia titles.

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…)

Or Does Your Character Need That Flaw?

I know PBW is doing her left-behind and loving it series this week. If you’re a writer, definitely check it out. I will be.

I’ve been thinking and thinking what I could contribute (ok in all honesty I spent the weekend sloughing off AND thinking) and I really wanted to do something on characterization (and it’s sibling…Motivation). Then I hopped on over to Smart Bitches where there’s this whole discussion on overweight heroines, which really got my juices rolling.

I am not a teacher and I tend to work best through anecdotal stories–and I encourage you to share your own as well. Without further ado, I’m going to spend the week talking about Characterization and Motivation because I believe the two are tied together. For today I’m just giving you an intro and trying to get some discussion going, but we’ll talk about flaws and motivation this week as well.

So welcome to Characterization 101

At it’s heart, characterization is everything that makes up your character even if it doesn’t come into play on the pages of your book: The way they look, their job, their first love, their first kiss, their marital status, their bank account, their placement in the sibling hierarchy, their hopes, dreams and fears, how they think, how they perceive themselves and the world around them, and dozens of other nuances that go into breathing life into them and making them a memorable character.

That said, I have to confess that I watch way too much TV….(I know, big surprise right?) but I realized this weekend that one of the reasons I watch is…you guessed it, characterization. And the shows and movies I enjoy the most are the ones with great characters–same holds true for books BTW. Think about that for a minute. Think about the stuff you watch, and why. There’s a pop quiz at the end of this post.

One of my current favorites is SAVING GRACE. SG is a show that revolves around a female Oklahoma City detective who drinks too much, smokes like a chimney, nails anything that moves, and has turned her back on God. In the series opener, she’s drunk and she hits a man with her car, and then begs for help. God sends her a guardian angel who is, if nothing else, memorable as hell (pardon the pun)! That’s Earl. Over there on the right. Does he look like a guardian angel? Heeh!

Let’s get back to Grace…she is de-liciously flawed. And I do mean flawed! All of her vices make her interesting, but more than that, I think it’s the tiny things that keep her from crossing the point of no return that really truly count. Hear me out!

(more…)