For actors to act their parts, they must come as close to being the person they are representing by their acting. They must put themselves into the mind and heart of the character. If an actor allows himself to show through, then he is not acting, but merely memorizing script and reciting words. Great actors become great by studying the character to a point that they seem to lose their identity and take on the character’s identity.
Same as with writing, if we keep coming in, injecting our thoughts and our personality into the plot, characters, and interaction between the characters, our characters will be flat and our plot will be boring. I am not saying that we are boring, but be realistic and honest with yourself. Would you want to read about you? Honesty? Unless you are a celebrity or great inventor of great things, most people get bored while reading ordinary life experiences.
We read the exceptional, the exotic, the strange, the bizarre, romance, and anything that will help us take our minds off ourselves for a few moments. If we write only how WE feel, how WE would react in a certain situation, then the character has no chance to break free from us. Get to know the characters – be daring. Inflict some pain on them, see how THEY react, not how YOU react.
Read a riddle to someone and watch their reaction to the hidden, but so obvious answer, and watch their face light up when they hear the answer. People thrive on the unexpected, the twist or uncommon reaction to a situation. If you are like most people, those quick on your feet responses normally come way passed the opportunity to say them. Heroes are born when they react in uncommon ways. Even your antagonist can grab the reader with his wit and charm.
Last week, I read about a man who got a job by his answer to a riddle. No one else interviewed for the job answered it quite as he did. There was no wrong answer, but his answer made him stand out.
If you were driving along in your Mercedes and saw three people were waiting at a bus stop, an old woman needing to get to the hospital, a friend who once saved your life, and the future love of your life. There is only room for one passenger in your car. Which one would you give a ride, the old woman to save her life, the friend to whom you are indebted with your life, or the mate meant for you?
His answer: I would give the keys to my friend, thus paying that debt, and while he takes the old woman to the hospital, I would stay with my future love of my life.
I couldn’t find the exact wording of that interview question again, but I think you know what I am getting at. He created his own options, a fourth choice outside the expected answers. People love characters that can do the unexpected, say the unexpected and react perfectly to situations that come their way. I feel it must be that we normally look in our own mirrors and say, “I should have said that.”
People don’t read books for the ordinary. They read them for the extraordinary, the sensation of victory over weakness, villains, and obstacles in ways we could never imagine. They want short and to the point dialogue without a lot of boring explanation or rambling. The most remembered lines are those that are very short with a punch of a thousand words. Make your characters a picture worth a thousand words.
Lucy
If you have a favorite link to writing memorable characters, please share.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Fine Tune Writing
So, you’ve written a novel.
What an accomplishment!
Now what? What’s next?
Publishing, right?
Rushing out “there,” novel in hand, visions of sugar plums and castles in the air make your feet float across the ground. Then it happens…
Static!
Think of writing a novel, short story, or other form of writing intended for an audience, (Diaries don’t require such intensity) as turning on an old transistor radio.
First, the premise is the radio wave blasting through the air unseen, unheard, and unnoticed; nonetheless, it is there, everywhere. When an idea for a novel first hits our thoughts, it seems our minds will explode if we don’t write the next best seller. However, if we tell someone about it before we write it, the air fills with too many “other” broadcasts. No one else can hear our radio signals quite as we do.
Second, the first writing is finished. It is the best ever written, a real classic. Turning the knobs of the old radio to find that perfect signal, we listen to our favorite tunes ignoring the static around the edges. (younger people today may not appreciate this analogy) While ignoring the static, we get lost in the words of our ingenious creations and cannot comprehend why others don’t hear them as well as we do. However, we can’t give up now; if we adjust the knob on that old radio a little more, it will be perfect. This is the realization of the need for a re-write.
Third, sometimes we fiddle with the knob too much and loose the signal. No problem. The radio is still on; we can find another station, maybe come back to the old station later. Turning that knob to refine the station is much like our efforts of re-writing, editing, and begging for input on our writing. Some advice causes us to turn the knob too far in one direction while other advice clouds our editing into thinking we have the next best seller already. No matter what, we can’t seem to turn the radio off once we turn it on.
Fourth, calming that inner hunger with reality, we focus on the fine-tuning with determination to remove all the static by reverting to grammar school basics. Reviewing basic writing rules, the do’s and the don’t’s of grade school through MFA degrees, is where we discover the way to remove most of the static. Where to place that comma (if at all), word choice, capitalization, passive voice, tense, and all the tiny details surrounding our wonderful creation becomes static until the station we are listening to becomes a full-blown job.
Grammar Guide
Fifth and final, one more adjustment. Just one more…until we have fine-tuned that old radio until there isn’t anymore static only to discover…HD Radio.
Good luck in all your endeavors in getting published – either traditional or self-publishing.
NOTE: The world has been buzzing lately about traditional publishing verses self-publishing. Blogs, Twitter, and news articles banter about which avenue is best. Peeling away all reasons discussed, boil the cabbage down (as the old saying goes), and one aspect rarely talked about emerges…perfecting the craft. Self-publishing on your first book removes the hoops, those fiery hoops required to jump through in traditional publishing, and gives a smooth, well-paved highway for putting your novel in print regardless of its imperfections. Without critique and editors, without hearing the static of imperfection, how can we grow? How can we perfect our talents if we don’t realize they are not perfect? For those who have beaten through the wilderness, carved the highways (built solid platforms) for fans to easily find them and love them, self-publishing is a good way to go for they have already fine-tuned the old radio. Seeking traditional publishing helps us improve our writing regardless of our base knowledge of the craft.
What an accomplishment!
Now what? What’s next?
Publishing, right?
Rushing out “there,” novel in hand, visions of sugar plums and castles in the air make your feet float across the ground. Then it happens…
Static!
Think of writing a novel, short story, or other form of writing intended for an audience, (Diaries don’t require such intensity) as turning on an old transistor radio.
First, the premise is the radio wave blasting through the air unseen, unheard, and unnoticed; nonetheless, it is there, everywhere. When an idea for a novel first hits our thoughts, it seems our minds will explode if we don’t write the next best seller. However, if we tell someone about it before we write it, the air fills with too many “other” broadcasts. No one else can hear our radio signals quite as we do.
Second, the first writing is finished. It is the best ever written, a real classic. Turning the knobs of the old radio to find that perfect signal, we listen to our favorite tunes ignoring the static around the edges. (younger people today may not appreciate this analogy) While ignoring the static, we get lost in the words of our ingenious creations and cannot comprehend why others don’t hear them as well as we do. However, we can’t give up now; if we adjust the knob on that old radio a little more, it will be perfect. This is the realization of the need for a re-write.
Third, sometimes we fiddle with the knob too much and loose the signal. No problem. The radio is still on; we can find another station, maybe come back to the old station later. Turning that knob to refine the station is much like our efforts of re-writing, editing, and begging for input on our writing. Some advice causes us to turn the knob too far in one direction while other advice clouds our editing into thinking we have the next best seller already. No matter what, we can’t seem to turn the radio off once we turn it on.
Fourth, calming that inner hunger with reality, we focus on the fine-tuning with determination to remove all the static by reverting to grammar school basics. Reviewing basic writing rules, the do’s and the don’t’s of grade school through MFA degrees, is where we discover the way to remove most of the static. Where to place that comma (if at all), word choice, capitalization, passive voice, tense, and all the tiny details surrounding our wonderful creation becomes static until the station we are listening to becomes a full-blown job.
Grammar Guide
Fifth and final, one more adjustment. Just one more…until we have fine-tuned that old radio until there isn’t anymore static only to discover…HD Radio.
Good luck in all your endeavors in getting published – either traditional or self-publishing.
NOTE: The world has been buzzing lately about traditional publishing verses self-publishing. Blogs, Twitter, and news articles banter about which avenue is best. Peeling away all reasons discussed, boil the cabbage down (as the old saying goes), and one aspect rarely talked about emerges…perfecting the craft. Self-publishing on your first book removes the hoops, those fiery hoops required to jump through in traditional publishing, and gives a smooth, well-paved highway for putting your novel in print regardless of its imperfections. Without critique and editors, without hearing the static of imperfection, how can we grow? How can we perfect our talents if we don’t realize they are not perfect? For those who have beaten through the wilderness, carved the highways (built solid platforms) for fans to easily find them and love them, self-publishing is a good way to go for they have already fine-tuned the old radio. Seeking traditional publishing helps us improve our writing regardless of our base knowledge of the craft.
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