I SPY: Creating Great Characters (People)

Join the authors and friends of *Not Your Usual Suspects* for an occasional series of posts about their world of reading, writing and publishing. Short and sweet, hopefully both informative and entertaining - join us at I-Spy to find out the how's and why's of what we do. *TODAY'S POST:* Creating Great Characters (People) by Julie Moffett.

Today I get to talk about one of my favorite subjects, creating great characters. Characters are the most important part of your story. Everything revolves around them. In fact, they are so important, I'm going to give you a big secret right up front...creating memorable, unforgettable characters will make just about anyone's novel (or screenplay) publishable. But you can't just create characters, you must create people. Real, relatable, lovable, and yes, even despicable people.

Now, here's a little quiz to test your character knowledge. How many of the following fictional characters do you recognize? Can you name the book or movie they come from?

1.) Han Solo

2.) Neo

3.) Scarlett O'Hara

4.) Harry Potter

5.) Indiana Jones

6.) Marty McFly

7.) Voldemort

8.) Captain Jack Sparrow

9.) Sherlock Holmes

10.) Romeo and Juliet

I bet you knew most, if not all, of them. That's because these are a few examples of characters who came alive. They became people. All ten of them all had unique quirks, flaws, frustrations and joys. Some were good, some were evil, and the rest were somewhere in between. They were absolutely different and yet absolutely relatable to us. 

Characters are the centerpiece, the foundation, of your story. The action, the plot, the dialogue all begins and ends with your characters. They are the most important part of your story. Therefore, your #1 job as a writer is to establish early reader identification with the characters in your novel. You must make your readers care about your characters and become emotionally invested in their success or failure. In turn, your characters must care about something in order to drive the plot. Now, here's a tip: if you have two major characters who are passionate about opposing things, you have created instant conflict. That's a good thing!

Because I'm a Star Wars geek, I'm going to use Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo as character examples. Hopefully, you're familiar with the basic plot. Han Solo cared about money, while Princess Leia and Luke cared about freeing people from an evil empire. Opposing goals = character conflict, even among the good guys. Luke's and Leia's goal drives the plot, while Han remains as an obstacle of sorts. Han doesn't care about oppression, he's all about the cash. But Han is a critical figure, nonetheless, because by the end of the story HE becomes changed by the plot. He grows, develops, does the wrong thing, the right thing, and sometimes nothing. He makes mistakes, he tries to fix them. He lives. He is a person. Luke, the hero, represents us, the every man/woman. He cares about his family, about goodness, about doing the right thing. We can relate (or at least aspire) to that noble goal, so we can identify with his goal. That makes us feel as if we are part of the story. Luke has become more than just a character, he has become a person.

The best characters have flaws, quirks and are relatable in one way or the other. No person (or character) should be perfect. Characters that are portrayed as perfect are not considered relatable. So, as you sit down to pen your story (or edit one already written), ask yourself, what do my characters care the most about? What makes them real? Relatable? What makes them people? Once you are able to craft an answer, make sure their words and actions align to their uniqueness. Voila! You've created great characters.

FUTURE POSTS will cover:

Kindlegraph / the art of research / writing male/male romance / rejection and writer's block / building suspense / writing love scenes / anti-piracy strategies / audio books / interviews with editors and agents / using Calibre.

We welcome everyone's constructive comments and suggestions!

Five Mystery Novels Every Mystery Writer Should Read

One of first -- and best – pieces of advice an aspiring mystery writer receives is the instruction to read widely within the genre. Not only is this good advice, it’s enjoyable advice, so it’s a rare thing to find a mystery maven who isn’t on speaking terms with Dame Christie and couldn’t, at least, pick Mr. Chandler out of a lineup.

 

That said, it’s only natural that most mystery authors primarily read their contemporaries. After all, reading one’s contemporaries kills two birds with one stone: it’s a means of keeping one’s fingers on the pulse of prospective publishers, and it’s a means of keeping one’s eye on the competition.

 

Mystery fiction has changed a good deal since the Golden Age, and it’s true that many books which were bestsellers in the good old days wouldn’t make it over the publisher’s transom now. That still leaves hundreds, if not thousands, of crime classics in every conceivable sub-genre.

 

For example:

 

The Three Coffins (1935) by John Dickson Carr - Carr is the universally acknowledged master of the Locked Room mystery, and The Three Coffins is arguably his most famous contribution to the genre.

 

The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey - One of the first and all time best cold case files. The fact that the detection is performed through examining historical documents, deductive reasoning, and using intuition while the sleuth is flat on his back in a hospital bed makes this feat all the impressive.

 

Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier - A little bit thriller, a little bit gothic, a little bit murder mystery, and a lot romance: this one has it all. It’s the original bestseller crossover. If you haven't read Rebecca, I am shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you. And Mrs. Danvers is shocked too.

 

The Moon-Spinners (1962) by Mary Stewart - The gold standard for romantic suspense. An exotic location, a handsome and mysterious man in a world of trouble, a smart, witty, capable heroine thrust into dangerous and confusing circumstances.  Stewart perfected the formula.

 

No Good From A Corpse (1944) by Leigh Brackett - Classic PI novel in the Chandler tradition with one difference. Leigh Brackett was female. This is practically a step-by-step How To Write Hardboiled Detective Fiction.

So these are my recommendations. What are some of yours?

Cue the Music

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to music. I have a hard time remembering which bands sang which of my favorite songs. And except for a few months in college when I took piano lessons, I’ve never played an instrument. But I’m just as affected by music as the next human. I think it’s in our blood to feel a rhythm seep into our core and take hold, or shake our hips or tap our toes to a beat.

And it amazes me how some songs are so poignant in their pithy message. Musicians and songwriters are similar to novel writers in their desire to get a message across to their readers or listeners, but have so much less time to do so. How do they manage to tug on emotions and tell an entire story within a few minutes (unless it’s a symphony or musical theater piece)? Think of the crescendo that marks the climax of a piece of symphony, the chorus that repeatedly highlights the main theme of the song, or the drumbeat that lends a sense of culminating suspense. Don’t these elements echo what other storytellers and writers do? In addition, there are some bands whose music I would recognize within a few notes. Isn’t this like what writers call “voice?” They have a certain technique and way of telling a story, just as each author does.

I love Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. My favorite song by them is “I Won’t Back Down.” It has a message of persistence and strength that vibrates within this writer’s soul. Just as when I read a good book, listening to this song gets me pumped up and helps me refocus. How does he do this in just a few minutes time? With skill, and awesome storytelling ability.

Since we’re talking music today, do you have other examples of how music echoes other types of storytelling/writing? Do you have a song you consider your personal anthem? Do you use music while writing, and how does it echo your characters/theme?

"Edit" is not a four-letter word

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.”

~ Robert Cormier

I’d be willing to bet everyone who’s published a novel has been told once or a hundred or a thousand times, “I always wanted to write a book.”

My standard response? Go for it! You may enjoy telling stories, creating worlds, bringing characters to life.

I love crafting stories, even if it never turns into more than a fun short for my own pleasure. But if you’re writing for other people’s enjoyment, the expectation level should rise.

 

A lot.

 

Once that first draft is hammered out, the real work of writing begins. Some people groan about revisions and editing, but I enjoy it. Smoothing transitions, finding the rights words, building in layers of meaning, subtle foreshadowing, and (oh, so important!) killing our darlings – also known as cutting the boring parts, losing the overwritten, the purple prose.

To me, the most important question to ask as I revise is: Am I bored here? The wonderful teacher and writer Margot Livesey, put it like this: if you are bored, it’s not because you’ve read that section so many times. It’s because it’s boring.

My favorite editing technique is reading the manuscript aloud. Sometimes my fabulous hubby willingly listens while he’s driving. (We have a cabin in the mountains, a couple of hours away from our home). Speaking the dialogue tell me in a hurry if it’s flat or stilted. An awkward silence tells me he’s losing interest. Either one results in an immediate note in the margin – do I need this scene? Tighten? What’s the point? Is there a better way to convey what’s needed to move the story forward?

Authors, care to share an editing technique? Readers (which of course includes writers!), what’s your pet peeve for poor editing?

Help, I’ve Got A Sagging Middle!

It’s been four months since the beginning of the year, so how many of you are fulfilling your New Year’s resolution to do something about your sagging middle? No, I’m not talking about your waist or the extra pound or two on your behind you might have acquired at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m talking about the dreaded sagging middle of your story. How many times have you read a book that started off with a bang but came to a screeching halt right about the middle? Frankly, I’ve read more than my fair share of them. So, why does this happen, and how do we, as writers, prevent this from happening to our stories?

Actually, there are a few simple steps you can take to keep the pace of your story at an even clip. One of the most common reasons for a sagging middle is that the writer reveals too much, too early, about the characters. Lure your reader into an emotional investment with your characters; show WHO they are without explaining WHY they are. As the story progresses, reveal more and more tidbits about your protagonists, making sure they have at least a few likable characteristics so your readers can both identify and empathize with them.

Another way to avoid the trap of a bogged down middle is to heighten the tension. Put your characters in danger, add some action, or, if appropriate, turn up the sexual heat. You can always have your characters do something surprising, unexpected or even outrageous, and you can tone it down later, if necessary. A simple trick and one of my personal favorites -- try to end all your chapters (especially those in the middle) with a hook that will keep the reader turning the pages like mad.

There is a lot more that could be said on this subject, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll give you my top-five list of reasons for a sagging middle. Hopefully, you can give your own story a once over and see if there are spots you can firm up.

Top Five Reasons for a Sagging Middle

1.) You’ve already revealed too much about your characters.

2.) Secondary characters or a subplot has sidetracked you.

3.) There is little or no conflict – internal, external or sexual, and no action.

4.) You’re not certain what comes next plot-wise. Or you are missing critical information to your story, but instead of spending time looking it up – you are trying to write around it.

5.) You’re bored with your story or you’ve come to the regrettable realization that your plot is unrealistic.

Well, now I’m off to the treadmill to sweat off the extra pounds from my real sagging middle. Thoughts, anyone?