Characters Who Change Their Course

Okay, so I've been on the lecture circuit for a while now. I've taught many writing classes, and I've spoken to numerous book clubs and writer's groups. The thing I love most about doing these kinds of things is that I--me, myself--always learns something new.

Go figure!

So last week, I went to talk about query letters to a local writing group, Riveting Writers, and as we were talking, I said something like, "Isn't that what characters do? Change their course?"

And I had this little a-ha! moment. In all my beating out and revising and characterizing, I've never quite thought of my characters this way. But truly, every novel has a character who is choosing to change their course.

They're not coerced into changing their course. They're not dragged. It doesn't just mysteriously happen through plot devices, no matter how brilliant.

We love characters who choose to change their course.

So today, I'm renewing my effort to create and write characters who change their course.

Have you thought about your characters like that before? Are they changing their own course?

Characterization Moment: Embarrassment

Okay, so I've been thinking a lot about characterization these last few weeks. See, I'm currently writing a novel from two POV's, and I want each one to be different, unique, and true. I have writing exercises I do to find the narrative and speaking voice of my characters, but I added something this time around.

I wrote a scene in which each of my characters is embarrassed. Because everyone acts differently when put in this situation. I have a best friend who turns bright red. My daughter giggles nervously when embarrassed. (I laugh when I'm nervous too.) Another friend of mine gets teary-eyed, even though she's not upset or sad. She's just embarrassed.

This was a great exercise for me to add another layer of characterization to my narrators. You might try it, and use some of the following questions to guide you into shaping them into more complete people.

• Do they clear their throat?
• Do they shuffle their feet?
• Do they make eye contact?
• Do they turn red?
• Do they cop an attitude to try to cover up their embarrassment?
• Do they fidget? If so, with what? Their clothes? Twist their hands?
• Do they make a fast escape or face the music?
• Do they talk a lot or not at all?
• Do they laugh to hide their nerves?
• Do they stutter?

Anyway, the list could go on and on. Do you do an exercise like this? How does your MC act when they're embarrassed?

Layers, Critiques, and Winners!

Okay, people, this is a multi-faceted post. Get ready.

First, I wanted to expound a little more on my revision process. It has complete relevance, because it's also how I read critically, and at the end of this post is the Pay It Forward With Partials! winner. So if you don't like how I'm probably going to slash help you, then you can just pretend like you never saw this post...

Okay, so revision layers. When I revise, I do it in steps. Stages. Layers.

1. Little stuff/Senses. This is tweaking the writing, the word choice, the flow, the voice, the style. This is moving one sentence up a bit and taking one out for clarity. This is not rewriting scenes. I make sure I know the weather and how that affects my character. I spice up the writing with smell, taste, and sound, not just sight and touch.

I make notes of where new scenes might go or how the weather might affect emotion or setting for later. I star them, I don't actually write them. The first layer is a clean up layer, basically erasing all the comment bubbles I left for myself in the drafting stage.

2. Character. Okay, I don't know, like really know, my MC until I'm done with the first draft. And sometimes not even then. So I devote an entire layer to developing character. Fleshing them out. Making them consistent in action/choice (unless their arc dictates otherwise). Bringing them to life. This takes way longer than the first layer, but it's one of the best layers, IMO.

I make notes of where new scenes might go, mostly backstory or flashbacks in this layer. (Yes, I said flashbacks. Deal with it.) I star them, I don't actually write them.

3. Emotions. I'm ridiculously flat at emotions. Most of the time, my first draft is emotionless. Going back in to get them right, to insert reactions and feelings, is something I do after I've written the whole book. Then I know my character (and I've done the character layer, so that helps too), and I can accurately portray how they'd be feeling in certain key situations. I'll admit that sometimes while I'm doing my character layer, that I work on the emotional layer too.

I make notes of where new scenes might go, again mostly backstory to set the character's emotional reactions in key scenes. I star them, I don't actually write them.

4. Setting. I'm notoriously bad about describing the setting. My CP's are always like, "I'm so confused here. Is she in the culvert or not?" So I make an entire layer just for setting purposes. Anywhere that someone was confused about where things are/were, etc. I take a deep look at. This goes for blocking too. Where are the doors? Who's in the room? I go through my entire MS just to make sure the setting is well, set. (Ha!)

I make no stars here. I simply write what needs to be written. I mean, I'm almost done, so it would be lame to star and then go fill in the stars. You know?

5. Plot. This is where the bulk of my rewriting comes in. All those stars I've made? Yeah, now something has to be done about them. I have to actually write the new scenes that are needed to fill in the plot holes I've created (or have always had) in my main plot, subplots, character arc, emotional journey, etc.

This is the same way I critique. I'm looking for little things, well-rounded characters, authentic reactions/emotions, just enough setting, and a plot to keep me reading.

I pretty much mark everything I think feels off, or isn't quite as strong as I think it could be in each of the 5 areas above.

So if you don't want me to do that, maybe you'll leave your prize unclaimed...

Because the winner of the 25-page critique is: Josh Hoyt!

Email me your 25 pages at your convenience. (elanajohnson(at)gmail(dot)com)

Do you revise in layers? What are you looking for when you revise?

Oh! And don't forget about the live WriteOnCon event tonight! Literary agent Stephen Barbara and his client, Leila Sales will be discussing amazing things! 9 PM EST. Be there or be there.

How to Write Compelling Characters

Dude! It's Friday, September 24--which means The Great Blogging Experiment is underway. Today, over 150 people (holy. chocolate. cows. I will try to get to every post) will be talking about Writing Compelling Characters.

It's an experiment, because I believe wholeheartedly that every single post today will be unique. Because we're all unique. I hope I'm not wrong, but I suppose anything is possible. ;-)

So let's get to it. How to write compelling characters.

I only have one bit of advice: Exaggerate their humanness.

1. Humans have flaws.
2. Humans have secrets.
3. Humans have fears.
4. Humans have emotions.
5. Humans do stupid things and pay the price because of them.
6. Humans grow and change.

So to create a compelling character, they need to do/have these things too. Easy peasy, right? Uh...right.

I think that all characters in a novel should be made human. I'm sort of tired of the perfectly sculpted male in YA lit. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of cute boys (who isn't?), but if they're too beautiful, too fearless, too perfect, I just don't believe it. Even if my MC sees them that way, they can't actually be that way.

I think it's actually more interesting to allow your narrating character to have a glimpse of their boy/girlfriend's humanness. And love them anyway. That's real life.

That's human.

That's compelling.

What do you think? How do you make your characters more human? I actually make note of interesting things I see in the human life around me. That green hat. Those earrings. His personality trait. Her quirks.

And then I exaggerate them into (hopefully) endearing characteristics into (hopefully) compelling characters.

Want more opinions on this? Check out the (amazingly awesome) list below.

Loyalty

Those of you who saw into my notebook of secrets knew I was going to blog about this this week. The problem is, I can't remember what I was going to say, exactly. I'm going to blame it on my severe case of Outline Brain.. (BTW, I thank all of you who blogged about this or offered advice. Since that post, I have written a COMPLETE OUTLINE and half of another. Too bad that's only halfway through what I need to accomplish.)

But I wanted to talk about loyalty. I'm a very loyal person by nature. I get fiercely attached to people and if someone says something about them look out!! I want to go all ninja and start punching.

And I'm wondering: Is this good or bad?

I think my fierceness in defending people has burned me in the past, but I'm not sure if I should care enough to change that part of myself.

And since this isn't like, The Elana Show, how does this relate to writing? Well, I've been developing a character recently that realizes that something she fears is unfounded. She should probably change her belief. My question is: Does she have to?

Can I remain fiercely loyal, even to a fault?

Can my character hold on to her fear, even though she knows it's irrational?

So confess...what do you know about yourself that you should probably change, but don't? Why don't you? Is it hurting anybody? Is it hurting yourself?

Yeah, randomness today. But what do you think??

What I Forgot

Okay, I've been watching the general masses for character ideas. Yeah, I'm looking to start a new story, and I need a character to do that.

So I went camping last week (I swear today will be the last day I draw a parallel from that trip. Maybe.) And I had to pack up a lot of stuff to do that. I had lists on my lists. And of course, I forgot some things.

1. The red vines = the ultimate travelling food. I spent about 13 hours in a car to get to my destination and the lack of red vines was torture!

2. Grape bubble gum. I adore bubble gum, and chew it every day. Grape is my favorite flavor. No gum in the car makes Elana very crabby.

3. Toothpaste. Do I need to elaborate? (In my defense, we were out and I was going to buy more. I didn't.)

4. Ingredients for Rice Krispy treats. It was one of my food assignments and I failed. Le sigh. We ate cookies two days in a row instead. Lamesauce.

5. My crit group stuff. I forgot to email it out to my live group. I forgot to post it for my online group. Double fail.

So I forgot a lot of things. As we were loading the car, I told my kids that whatever we forgot, we could buy (yeah, see #3 above, that clearly didn't work) and that we didn't need it. As the drive progressed and I realized all the crap I forgot, my daughter (five years old) says, "Mom! Forget about it. We don't need any of that stuff."

So I decided that my new MC is going to be forgetful. Like, majorly, and it's going to cause some bigger problems than dirty teeth and the world's longest drive without treats.

What do you do to find a unique character trait for your MC? And what have you forgotten to do today??

Determining Character Motivation

Okay, so I asked you yesterday to give me some character motivation. I'm paralyzed with fear that my second book will have the exact same motivation as the first. And can you say YAWN?

So I've been soul searching the past couple of days (really, like five, cuz I write all these posts on the weekend), and I turned to a post-it stuck to the computer next to me.

It's a quote from GLEE, believe it or not. I scrawled it out in red Sharpie as soon as Jesse spoke it. Because it's exactly the question you have to answer to determine your character's motivation.

When you lie awake at night, what's missing?

I wish I could answer that for Gunner right now. Le sigh. Soon, maybe. Soon.

What about you? How do you figure out your character's motivation?

PS. I'm up on the League of Extraordinary Writers today. And I'm donning a cape here...

An Alluring Antag

Okay, so yesterday I said you needed to give your protag some kryptonite. They need weaknesses and shortcomings to go along with their perfectly toned bodies and killer girlfriend-smiles, right? Right.

But in the same little session on characters, Annette Lyon said something about antagonists too. Something I think I had needling around in the back of my mind, but not something I've done purposefully in my writing.

Again, lame-o that I am, I had no tape recorder, but here's what I remember.

The antag has to have redeeming qualities too. They must have something that is alluring about them as well. I suppose you could call it a weakness for them to have something they care about. And that makes us identify with them also.

The best books have both a main character who is flawed, yet fabulous. And an antagonist who is horrible, yet lovable. Or at least flawed to the point where we can see why they're making the choices they make.

For me, it all comes down to Voldemort. He is the ultimate antag for me.

Thoughts? Do you craft your antagonist as carefully as your protagonist? Do they have goals too? What makes them alluring? Does such a thing exist?

Kryptonize Me

I didn't take a bunch of character classes at the conference. Not really sure why, but I think I was focused more on marketing and stuff this time around. But I did lead a group of five aspiring authors in a critique group setting. During this intense time, we received a mini-lesson on characters.

And I heard something that stuck with me. The presenter, Annette Lyon, gave a lesson on protags.

She said, "Even Superman had his Kryptonite."

*insert a-ha moment*

I've heard it before. Your protag can't be perfect, they need flaws, blah blah blah. But you know how you just hear the right words in the right order and suddenly everything clicks into place? That's what happened here.

So when you're developing your protag, remember that they need their own brand of Kryptonite.

What do you think? Have you given your protag some Kryptonite? Has it made them stronger? More believable? More relatable? How so?

Choices, Choices

I've said before that I believe that your choices define who you are. I see it time and again with the students I work with, the people around me, and in my own life. I'm a pretty black and white person and I think that the word math is pretty easy:

Choose to act mean + Act mean = people will think you're a mean person.

It doesn't matter if you're really not a mean person. It doesn't matter if you acted out of anger, or frustration or whatever. The math remains true. Your choices define who you are.

So how does this apply to writing? I think it's ingrained in the characterization of the people we write about. We all want to create compelling characters that tug at the hearts of our readers. We want our characters to be unique, likeable, struggling, desperate, dispicable, evil, kind, or whatever.

So how do you do that? You can't just say, "He was kind." or "She was mean." That's the whole Show, Don't Tell rule.

I think you have to make your characters make choices. What they choose to do, will define what kind of person they are. Their choices will characterize them for you. You have to decide what kind of person your character is, not just what they do. Don't confuse who your character is with the hobbies they enjoy. This is a fine line that may be blurry for lots of us. I know it is for me. But I don't think it's enough to just give your character "stuff" that they "do" to make them different. I think it has to be done on a deeper level. You have to bring out who they are, and that will influence their choices--including the ones where they decide which hobbies they enjoy.

Ask yourself questions like these:
1. Does Kate just like to run? Or is she a runner?
2. Is cooking something Adam does? Or is he a chef? (Cuz I cook, but dude, I'm no chef.)
3. What's the real reason Vi breaks so many Rules? (Ha! Yes, that's from my book. And it's not because Rule-breaking is something she likes to do. It's because of who she is.) ((I like this question a lot. I think you should be asking yourself this as you write: "What's the real reason Super Awesome Character does This or That or The Other?" And I think the answer should always come down to them choosing why they do something because of who they are.))

I think it's okay to have "stuff your character does". Don't get me wrong about that. Everyone has hobbies that put them in certain social groups. But really, I don't care if someone can cook or set a new swimming record. I want to know them on a more personal level. When something uber-hard comes at them (which in fiction, is the basis of the book, right?) how do they act? What choices do they make? And are those in line with who they are?

If not, what you've given your characters as "personality traits" might just be hobbies. You'll have to decide.

And now I'm going to go all blasphemous on you. Well, maybe not. But I've heard people say that they are writers. It's who they are. Ready for the shocking part? *whispers* I don't feel that way.

I love writing. I enjoy how I feel when I write. I adore creating people and watching their journey. I really really love it. But writing is not who I am. It's something I really love to do. It's something that helps me find the person I really am. It allows me to help other people find out who they really are. By choosing to write, I discover who I am--and who I am not.

Because I know myself, I can make the choice to write, persist through rejection, drive myself to do better. And the point of hobbies, I think, is to develop those qualities that define us (like hard work, determination, perseverance, etc.). Now, can hobbies become deeper, become who we are?

Honestly, I think so, but it takes a long time. And by then, we've learned so many things about ourselves, that we can become anything we choose.

What do you guys think?

Background Check

Have you done a background check on your characters? Do you know what their life was like 5 years ago? What about their childhood? Their last girlfriend? Who their best friend in high school was? How they came to be living where they are?

As an author I think it's important to know the history of your characters. It's what gives them depth. I think most authors do a good job of showing the physical things about a character. You know, hair color, height, eye color, rock hard abs. Oops. How did that slip in there? *grins*

I think the emotional past is much much harder to create. Think about your own life. You have things in your past that not very many people know about. Things that make you who you are. Things that make you more sensitive to specific situations, or things that make you more empathetic, or things that help you "get" others. These "things" drive how you act, how you react, and how you live your life.

In order to create believable, three-dimensional characters, they must have this past too. And you must know it. Not only that, you must be able to convey it in the writing. Their decisions should be consistent with their past. Their reactions must be believable and authentic.

Without a background check, the characters may be hawt, but not much else. And since we've all been watching Dating In The Dark (you know you watched. Spill...spill...), we know that sometimes how someone looks isn't the deciding factor. Sometimes it's what they do. Don't do. Say. Don't say. Believe. Don't believe. It's WHO they are.

So in your writing, make sure you know who your characters are. Do that background check.

What do you think? Do you fingerprint your characters? How do you log their past? Me? I keep everything really nice and tidy in this huge filing cabinet called my brain. ROTFL. What about you?

Character Quirks - Let's Make a List

Since being at camp with ten teenage girls, I've been thinking about labels. As I thought about each girl, there wasn't one thing I could label them with. I know, I know, sometimes labels are damaging and stereotypical and all that.

But think about yourself. When you were a teen, could you label yourself? What was it you did? What were you passionate about? What defined you? Made you...not vanilla?

Me: Band geek extraordinairre. I am band. Really (like you need convincing of that). It's what I did.

And I actually think it's more dangerous to NOT have something to label yourself with. What do you do if you're just...nothing?

You're boring.

And in writing, we don't want to read or write about someone who's boring.

Enter character quirks. Through all the reading and writing I've done, I've come to the conclusion that all characters that make it into print have at least one thing that is unique about them.

Be it a perfume maker (The Hollow), a teen restaurant owner (Tantalize), or a boy who breaks everything he touches (Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians), the characters have things that make them unique, gives them something they own, something that defines them.

I have a short list of things I've given to my characters (the list is short, mostly because I realized that my characters were pretty vanilla), and I'd love to know what you've done for yours.

• Track star
• One who listens to police scanners
• Someone who doesn't talk much
• Can wait forever, at least it feels like forever
• Fixes cars
• Installs stereo systems
• Ballet dancer
• A cutter

As I was typing this, I really struggled to give even one label to some my characters. I realized with a panic-heart that I haven't really done that good of a job making my characters unique and definable.

What say you? Do characters need something unique about them to set them apart from the crowd out there? What have you labeled your characters with?