Developing Characters

One of the best things about writing fiction is creating and developing new characters. Usually it’s not enough just to have a character talk and do things, as though totally scripted and predictable. It’s much more satisfying as a writer and for the reader, if the characters come alive on the page.

Everybody has their own foibles, small idiosyncrasies that most people never get to see. When developing a character, I like to create these wee things as well. Every minor thing a character does, be it the way they lift a glass or react when someone mentions travelling on a plane; every decision as to a character’s personality is a conscious one.

Well, most of the time it is. Some characters take over the reigns of deciding what is best for them and sometimes it’s just best to sit back and enjoy the ride. I like to let them do the talking and make the decisions; it’s good as a writer and usually it works out fine for the story.

But thinking up new characters isn’t always easy. I have two main sources of inspiration: magazines and the public.

In magazines or newspapers I look for pictures of people who look like they have a story to tell. It may be an elderly lady lying in hospital or a young thug arrested for breach of the peace, but they all have something to say, something written on their face that gives them depth, something that belies their behaviour, perhaps.

Very often these characters come to life in extraordinary ways, such as a simple news story or an advert for hair gel. Their name pops straight into my head and their background starts to unravel naturally. I write all this down and cut out their picture, then stick it away inside a folder for a day when I need that character. Sometimes they go straight into a story, but either way if they are interesting enough then when they are included in a story they will add something extra, something special to a work of fiction.

The second method is people watching. Simply sitting on a bus or in a crowded place can very often throw the most interesting people and conversations into your path. With a notebook and pencil handy, these people very often make it into my stories without ever knowing they were involved.

Guessing what they do for al living, how and where they live, who the people they are with (if any) are all interesting aspects that help build up a characters personality. As are how they wear their hair, their clothes and make-up or just the shape and colour of their eyes. Very often the rest just falls into place.

But there is an art to this. One can’t just sit staring at people in bars or trains. It would cause a stir and most likely the attention of the local constabulary. Some people don’t like to be stared at, so it is useful to pretend to be doing something else.

People watching can have its upside though. While in a bar in Edinburgh I was people watching with a friend. There was a group of people at a table, a mixture of young males and females and they all made interesting characters, especially one girl. She was full of energy and seemed to be the soul of the group. She spotted me listening in and approached me. To cut a long story short I ended up having a relationship with her. It also turned out she was high up in the Scottish Parliamentary system, so I got a lot of research done for an as yet unwritten best-selling political thriller.

Our Writing Minds

A recent article by Steven Hendlin, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist from Newport Beach, California is a must read, covering the overall bases behind the creative elements attached to plotting a story that captures the minds of all who read it, as well as the emotional “highs and lows” we sometimes face throughout our journeys in the writing craft. Dr. Hendlin has been in private practice for 30 years and is formerly a columnist for TheStreet.com. He currently writes the Shrink Rap column for Coast Magazine, and is the author of four books and hundreds of professional and popular articles, reviews, and columns.

This recent article is being offered this month at Backspace The Writer’s Place, and is very aptly titled Your Write Mind

Do check this one out if you can.

What’s your Genre?

This can be a tricky question. There are SO many genres out there these days. Gone are the days when the main genres were Literary Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Nonfiction, etc.

So, if I’m writing a novel (fiction) with elements of romance, suspense, mystery and history, would it be considered a mysterious romantic historical thriller? Or would I take the heavier element and call it that?

I’d say the latter. If you find romance is the dominant theme, start with Romance. There are so many to choose from–Romantic thrillers, paranormal romances, gay romances, historical romances, etc. The lesser elements would define which category within Romance you fall into.

Does this make sense? Literary Agent Kristin Nelson said it perfectly in today’s blog entry: (you can read it here)

“I’ll get a cover letter that will say something like this: “my story is a blend of science fiction and romantic comedy with elements of suspense. It can be called Chick Lit.” Huh? It is only the extraordinary writer who can outrageously defy genre boundaries and become a phenomenal success. It just doesn’t happen often. You need to know where your novel fits in the market.”

This is directly from the Horse’s mouth, folks. You need to nail down your genre–it will be hard, but you can do it!

I write YA historicals with fantasy/paranormal elements, and of course I throw in a little romance and suspense and mystery and thrills and chills.

But if you ask me what I write, I’ll tell you I write YA.

If I can do it, you can do it!

Jealousy and Envy

“God. You must really hate it when someone in your writing group gets a contract.”

I get tired of hearing that line. Because, actually, when someone I know gets a contract for a piece of writing, I’m thrilled. I’m delighted. I do a little dance of joy.

Getting published is not a competition, as much as industry professionals try to turn it into blood sport. Yes, each publisher can only afford to contract a finite number of books. Yes, it’s difficult to become one of those.

However, human beings have an insatiable need for stories. And there are as many different points of view as there are individuals. You find the right match, agent and publisher wise, and your book comes out. Then, you hunt down your readers. And, maybe, you might get ten or fifteen minutes to actually do what it is you want to do, which is write your next book, and thereby build a career.

“Jealousy” means you’re worried about losing something or overly possessive. One actually has to have a career in the field in order to be jealous of someone else in the field. It is motivated by fear that if someone else does well, it means you will suffer. That’s simply not true.

Most people buy books. Not “book”, but “books”. When I stand in line for checkout at a bookstore, I snoop. I take a look at what the other buyers are buying. It’s terribly selfish – I want to know which of these are my potential readers. Or, in some cases, if they’re carrying a volume including my work, they are an actual reader, and I’m quite pleased. One thing I’ve noticed, standing in line in bookstores, is the variety of books people tend to bring to the counter. They are far more likely to simply add another book to the pile than put one back.

I think that’s a good sign. And it’s one of many reasons that jealousy is a waste of time.

“Envy” is seeing someone else have something you want and resenting it. Unpublished writers often envy published writers. A midlist writer might envy someone who topped the best seller list. It’s natural.

It’s also unnecessary. If you feel that momentary pang of envy, ask yourself why you don’t have what the other person has (i.e, a career in the field you love). And then take steps to get it. After all, you don’t want someone else’s actual career. You want your own career that is on an equal level to the person who sparked the envy.

Envy can be a positive emotion. You can use it as a catalyst to re-evaluate what’s missing in your own life and take positive steps to achieve it.

If you sit there and stew in these emotions, you’ll poison yourself. Wouldn’t your time and energy be better spent . . .writing?

Scotland – Not Scottish Enough

Irvine Welsh’s novel, Ecstasy, was controversial enough back in 1997 for accurately portraying (glorfying?) what it’s like to be under the influence of an ecstasy tablet. Nine years on, and Welsh seems to be unable to remove himself from these close-encounters, but this time it’s the movie-makers who are in a strop over the drug-addled story.

Irvine’s seventh book is currently filming in Scotland with stars such as Trevor Eve, John Hannah and Kathleen McDermott, but in a few weeks the entire production is scheduled to be moved down south to England to complete production.

Why the shift? Producers were told by the backers, Scottish Screen, that the project did not qualify for lottery funding as the locations “weren’t Scottish enough” to be shot in Scotland.

Scottish Screen have been arguing with the producers over a true Scottish location for some time now and as a result, the £6 million movie about Edinburgh’s drug scene will now be filmed on the streets of Liverpool.

Is it that Liverpool has a suitable backdrop equivalent to that of Edinburgh? Or is it that the world’s perception of Scotland, and in particular it’s cancerous drug-addicted section of society, is worse than it is in reality?

This may of course be down to the success of such films like Trainspotting, which exposed the world to the effects of heroin from an Edinburgh council estate (shot in Glasgow!) A victim of his own success, Welsh may be, but does Scotland deserve to be treated this way when it is trying to remove itself from the drug and alcohol stereotypes we read about almost daily?

I’m sure moving the location of the story to Liverpool will give the film a harder, more deprecating feel, after all, everyone knows the streets of Liverpool are riddled with needles, discarded tin-foil and single mothers with nothing better to do than neglect their kids for the chance of a quick hit.

When the Liverpudlians find out their city is perceived as being relative to the lowest of the Scottish low, maybe they will unite with the people of Edinburgh and voice it to the world that Scotland, England and Britain may have a drug problem, but why should we tell the world it is worse than it is just to make the fat-cat movie producers a bit of holiday cash.

A Poet Named Stevie

The name Stevie Smith was actually a pseudonym for Florence Margaret Smith (1902-1971), the British writer who is best remembered for her short, simple, yet sometimes very hard-hitting poetry.

Smith was born in Hull, England, but when she was three years old her family moved to the northern London suburb of Palmers Green, where she lived for the rest of her life. Her first and only job was with Newnes-Pearson, British magazine publishers, where she became private secretary to Sir George Newnes and Sir Neville Pearson. She submitted her first volume of poems to British publisher Jonathan Cape when she was 32 years old, but was asked to write a novel instead. Her first book, Novel on Yellow Paper (1936), was an amusing, largely autobiographical monologue. Two other novels in a similar style followed—Over the Frontier (1938) and The Holiday (1949), the story of a failed love affair.

Smith’s poetic reputation for amusing, barbed, but often mournful short verses, was established by A Good Time Was Had By All (1937). She achieved fame with Not Waving But Drowning (1957), which has a central concept of loneliness but still retains an underlying comic manner. Four years after her death, The Collected Poems of Stevie Smith (1975), illustrated with Smith’s own sketches, was published.

In 1977 Stevie, a stageplay based on her life by British playwright Hugh Whitemore, was produced, with British actress Glenda Jackson in the lead role. The play was made into a successful motion picture in 1978. Me Again: Uncollected Writings of Stevie Smith, Illustrated by Herself, a collection of Smith’s reviews, articles, letters, and previously uncollected poetry, was published in 1981.

For me, she was another one of those immensely talented wordsmiths, who sometimes made us laugh — yet always made us think.

Keeping it Fresh…

So you’ve been working on The Novel of the Century and cruising forward full-steam–and you’re pausing every five minutes to review and rub your hands together in fiendish glee, because you know this is going to be great–and then…PLUNK.

You hit a wall. Or you get in a funk. Or you have “life” happen and lose your stride.

This happens to every writer. Books don’t “write themselves.” They get written by humans who are flawed, impatient, imperfect, and well…human.

So, once you’ve hit the wall or “sunk into a funk” (heh heh, say that five times real fast) how can you get out of it, or get over it, and get back into Fabulous Writer Mode?

The answer is simple: Time.

Take some time from the manuscript. Do things that inspire you–listen to music, watch films, take in a Broadway show, read the works of others, and THEN, go back, and see it with fresh eyes.

The difference will be amazing. You will fall in love with it all over again (nine times out of ten) or you’ll be able to push through that wall and go for it. Fresh eyes really make all the difference.

Try it next time you find your writing stuck or stifled, or worse, completely stopped.

Time works. Give it a try.

Fun Writing

With all the worry about specific writing and detailed writing and sensory writing, too often we forget one thing. To have fun.

Remember the days when you scribbled in a spiral bound notebook while sitting in a park or on a beach?

Recapture those days. Leave the fancy book and pen at home. Get something inexpensive and stain-resistant, shove it in your pocket and GO. Anywhere. You can write as you walk down the street. You can write in any waiting room. You can write in line for the checkout counter.

Sit down, stand up, but just write somewhere that you wouldn’t ordinarily do so. Let the change of scenery change and challenge your imagination.

Top 10 Most Borrowed Authors in UK Libraries

Catherine Cookson, the author who was the librarians favourite for decades with her highly successful romance novels, last week lost her crown of being the most borrowed author from British libraries, when she fell out of the top ten listings for the first time since records began.

Cookson, who died in 1998 aged 91 years old, fell from the top ten of most borrowed authors, to the popular children’s author Jacqueline Wilson three years ago. Latest figured placed Cookson at 11th place after Wilson held onto the coveted number one spot for the third year running.

Figures published by the Public Lending Right (PLR) since 1984, indicate that the Tracy Beaker author notched up more than two million loans during 2004/5. Wilson, who is also the current Children’s Laureate, said she was “thrilled” to be number one for the third year running.

Chick-lit author Josephine Cox came second followed by Danielle Steel. Crime and thriller writers James Patterson, John Grisham, Ian Rankin and Bernard Cornwell were in the top 10, alongside children’s writers Mick Inkpen, Janet and Allan Ahlberg and Roald Dahl. Commentators have suggested a change in borrower’s tastes after such notable borrowing figures for writers like Ian Rankin. The Scot has seen his Rebus novels move him into eighth position, a higher slot than was ever expected for writers of his genre.

Five years ago Cookson occupied nine out of the top 10 places in the fiction list. Today the author, with over one hundred published books to her name, has fallen to eleventh and some people are hinting this may not just be down to changing tastes of the country’s readers, but of her ageing fan base.

Simon Brett, chairman of the PLR Advisory Committee, said: “The data helps to build up a revealing picture of the nation’s reading habits. This year sees crime fiction and thrillers stealing a march on romance. Maybe this is an indication that national tastes are becoming increasingly macabre.”

The Top 10

1. Jacqueline Wilson
2. Josephine Cox
3. Danielle Steel
4. James Patterson
5. Mick Inkpen
6. Janet and Allan Ahlberg
7. John Grisham
8. Ian Rankin
9. Roald Dahl
10. Bernard Cornwell

Source: PLR

Eyestrain

Headaches, blurred vision and sore eyes are symptoms of eyestrain. Your workspace setup could be contributing to the problem if you suffer from eyestrain. Here are some tips to follow:

~To reduce glare, position the computer so that neither you nor the screen faces a window.

~Dust the screen often.

~Relax your eyes every 15 -20 minutes by closing them or looking away from the screen for a couple minutes.

~Adjust lighting in the room to reduce glare. Ideally, the lighting in a room should be slightly dimmer than your computer monitor.

~Increase the size of the font onscreen.

~Don’t forget to blink! When we concentrate, we don’t blink as often which leads to painful, dry eyes.

~Have your eyes checked and make sure the doctor is aware you use the computer frequently. Glasses and contacts worn for other activities may not be good for computer work.

Resources:
http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/KOPYKIT/eyestrain.htm
http://www.saintsok.com/pages/medicallibrary/EYESTRAI.HTM
http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_16099.html