I have had some people tell me before that they like spring cleaning. I never allow myself to turn my back on those individuals. They scare me. However, there is some spring cleaning that you, as a writer, might want to consider that could actually benefit you in ways that you never considered. Check it out![youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQeMuv2aM_Q]
A good place to start
I remember trying to start my first novel when I was younger. It was unbelievably overwhelming. Coming up with a story idea was easy. Trying to come up with all of the characters, setting up the universe in which the story takes place, giving background, and all of the other details just seemed like more than I could handle at the time. If this seems to be your situation, I have an idea for something that can get you started on your road to developing your skills as a writer. That's this week's vlog topic. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Twi0SsDVU]
Say no to photoshopping your story!
I hope that everyone is doing well despite the weather. Also, if anyone is interested in follow-up stories to the one I posted last week, I can post them a little bit later. The other day I was reading a story about how often pictures get photoshopped. It occurred to me that we often do the same thing with our writing. I promise, it will make sense when you watch the vlog.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQWnF6MJzg]
An old story
I thought that I might do a little something different today. I found an old story that I wrote, and I figured that I would put it up here for your entertainment and opinion. Of course, this story was written over a decade ago, so my style has (I feel) improved greatly since, but if you have a few minutes and want to feel better about yourself (because you aren't the main character), then here is an old story of mine that was the beginning of a series I wrote for my friends centered around the character Norman Blackberry:
No Luck, No Chance, No Problem By: Christopher Slater
Copyright 2000 Norman Blackberry was always excited about new opportunities. He was especially excited about new opportunities in places where people didn’t know him. Norman was always trying to escape his reputation. He wasn’t mean. In fact, he was one of the most polite people you could meet. He wasn’t stupid. He was salutatorian at his graduation. If there was one word for Norman’s reputation, it would be unlucky. Norman never tried to find problems. They always seemed to find him. He stopped going to watch his high school’s football team after lightning struck the bleachers he was sitting on. He was not hurt, but the city banned him from the stadium as a health hazard. He was the first patient in recorded history to get food poisoning from a cracker. He also set the record for most number of broken bones suffered in one year of gym class. Events like this had been occurring all of his life. Because of this, no one wanted to be around Norman. Looking around at the small community college campus, Norman was hoping that would soon change. There were lots of people here that didn’t know about his perpetual bad luck, so there was a chance that he might be able to turn his reputation around. As he walked towards one of the buildings, he dreamed of what life might be like if it were just a little different. He pictured a large group of friends hanging on his every word as he told stories about his many adventures. He imagined a lovely girlfriend who thought the world of him. He imagined his confident walk as he went into classes where everyone hoped he would be there. He imagined that the door was open when it really wasn’t. Norman smacked into the closed door, bounced off of it, and rolled back down the steps. As luck would have it, most of the students were standing outside of the building, socializing before their first class. The roar of laughter was deafening. Norman tried to laugh it off, but he knew no one was fooled. He gathered up his books, gave a shy wave to the applauding crowd, and walk back up the stairs. He stood at the door for a moment, trying to figure out how to open it when his hands were full of books. The people coming out of the building were not so patient. One flung the door open, hitting Norman, causing him to roll down the steps again, this time with a bloody nose. Norman missed his first college class because of his trip to the clinic. Much to his surprise, his nose wasn’t broken. The nurse’s hand was broken, though. It happened when Norman set his books down. He hadn’t even known she was sitting there. He was already banned from the clinic. His next class wasn’t until after lunch, so he decided to take a trip to the cafeteria and try to get through it without injury. Norman was almost successful in his attempt to eat lunch without incident. He went to the Subway in the food court and bought a meatball sub. It had always been one of his favorites. He very carefully carried his meal to the table, managing not to trip or spill any of his drink. He sat down, rather proud of himself. He ate his meal with a ravenous hunger. It had been a long morning and he was very hungry. When he had finished the foot long sub he was surprised to realize that he was still hungry. He had never eaten two subs at one meal, but he decided that he might as well eat rather than have a rumbling stomach in class. He stood up to go purchase another sandwich and heard an odd thumping noise. He chose to ignore it and headed towards the counter. The first sign that something was wrong came when people started giving him strange looks. Norman knew from long experience what would come next. Sure enough, there started to be a few giggles, then outright laughter. Norman looked down to see that his shirt and pants were covered in red marinara sauce. He looked back over at the table and saw several meatballs on the floor. The reason that the sandwich had not filled him up was because half of the meatballs had fallen out of the sandwich and into his lap. Embarrassed, but refusing to show it, Norman continued to walk towards the counter. People were looking at him and laughing as he walked by. Norman just kept walking until something unusual caught his eye. There was one young lady sitting at a table nearby. She was tall and slender, with long, dark hair. She had striking brown eyes that seemed to sparkle when she looked at him. She was one of the prettiest ladies Norman had ever seen. On top of it all, she wasn’t laughing at him. She was looking right at him and smiling. Something in her face didn’t make him think she was amused. It seemed more like she was smiling to encourage him. Norman could do nothing but stare. Something about the young lady had truly captured him. It would have been better if he had stopped walking while he stared at her. Instead, he ended up walking into the counter at the Subway. This brought a new round of laughter and a groan of pain from Norman. He looked back at the lady that had entranced him, but she and her friends were on their way out the door. “What can I do for you?” asked the worker at the register. “One meatball sub please,” Norman replied. The worker grinned mischievously. “You want a fresh one or do you want us to just scrape that one off of your shirt?”
Norman went back to his car before his next class. He grabbed a jacket and buttoned it up to hide some of the stain. It worked for the most part, but the temperature was in the upper nineties and the jacket was a warm one. Norman had probably sweat off five pounds by the time he entered a classroom. His face was read and his shirt was soaked. Now he couldn’t take off the jacket because of his sweat-stained shirt. It was like a never ending cycle for him. Norman found a desk, sat down, and looked around. He continued to look around several more times. Something there didn’t seem quite right. Suddenly, it hit him. “I’m surrounded by nerds!” he exclaimed, not quite realizing he had said it out loud. Everyone with taped glasses and a pocket protector turned towards him with a scowl. He shrank down in his seat until he hoped he was invisible. Eventually the other students turned back around and continued their debate on who the best captain was on Star Trek. The professor finally arrived. He looked like he fit right in with his students. Tall, thin, and with glasses so thick that NASA had offered to buy them from him, he stepped up to the front of the room and growled “Q’aplah!” Everyone in the room answered in kind, except Norman. He just sat there, wondering what in the world was going on. For once, he didn’t feel like the biggest geek in the room.
It had taken twenty minutes for Norman to realize that he was not in his psychology class. In fact, he was sitting in on one of the stranger courses offered at the school: Speaking Klingon for Beginners. He had to have one of the other students explain to him that it was a made up language for the Star Trek shows and movies. He had gotten up to leave and was ridiculed with names like qu’ahom and patakh. He couldn’t decide whether to be insulted or not. After checking his schedule, Norman realized that he had gone into the correct room number, but in the incorrect building. He finally found the correct building and classroom. He was already half an hour late, so when he opened the door, all eyes turned towards him, including a pair of sparkling brown eyes. Norman stopped in his tracks. The young lady from the food court was sitting in class with the same smile, looking at him. He could swear that her smile was speaking to him. You’ll be fine, it said. Just give it time. As he stood in the doorway, staring, he heard a new round of laughter. It took him a moment to tear his attention away from those eyes. Then he became a little more aware of the world around him. He had the distinct feeling that someone was behind him. He could hear them breathing. He could feel them staring at the back of his head. Worst of all, he could smell them. It wasn’t a horrible smell. In fact, it was very familiar. The scent of ivory soap mixed with corn oil from cooking. Never in his life had he wanted that smell to be anywhere other than here. He slowly turned around. It was like waking up to a nightmare come true. Behind him stood none other than his mother. Normally when he had this nightmare, Norman was standing in front of the class in his underwear. He couldn’t help but check to make sure he still had all of his clothes on. Thankfully, he did. But then the nightmare returned when his mother reached up and hugged him, loudly proclaiming “Oh, my little boy is in college! I can’t believe it! You are just growing up so fast!” Norman managed to squirm out of his mother’s grasp. No one in the class was making a sound. It was as if they were all too shocked to believe that this level of embarrassment could really happen to an eighteen year old. “Honey, I just stopped by to remind you that you promised to run by the grocery store and pick up some milk. All right, I will admit it. It was just an excuse so that I could come by and see my sweet boy on his first day of college.” Then, in the final act of social death, she reached up and pinched his cheeks. “Now you just go on in there with all your little friends and have a good time.” Norman’s mother walked away, still emitting that high pitched squeal of delight that mother’s are known for. Norman made his way to an unoccupied seat, not daring to look towards the girl with the brown eyes. He was certain that even she would not be able to encourage him after something like that. The class was still in shocked silence as he got out a paper and pen to take notes. Even the professor seemed surprised. Finally, after a full minute of the loudest silence Norman had ever heard, the professor continued his lecture. “So, as I was saying, class…the classic case of an overprotective parent is usually characterized by behavior like…well…like that!”
Even Norman had to admit that he was glad when the first day of college was over. It had been rough even by his standards. He didn’t look forward to going home and seeing his mom. He could never quite bring himself to tell her how much she had embarrassed him. He knew that it would devastate her. Still, if she showed up again, he thought he might exit through the nearest window, no matter what floor he was on. If there was a silver lining to the very dark cloud that was his college reputation, it was the lady with the brown eyes. Norman could not stop thinking about her. It wasn’t just because she was beautiful. Norman wasn’t that shallow. It was because of the look that she had given him several times that day. She wasn’t looking down at him. She wasn’t laughing at him. She wasn’t trying to pretend he didn’t exist. She wasn’t even trying pretend that she didn’t see him fall over in his chair (that happened shortly before the psychology class was dismissed.) She knew that he had messed up, but she smiled anyways. Whenever he saw that, Norman was almost able to forget how clumsy and unlucky he was. Almost. Before he made it home, Norman made a decision. He was going to try and meet that young lady. In fact, he almost felt confident enough to ask her out. That was a major leap for Norman. He had not been out on any dates. Most people were scared to be in the same zip code as him, much less have any sort of social contact with him. It was amazing how long rumors of him spreading chicken pox to his entire fourth grade class had stuck with him. Most girls were afraid to get into the same vehicle as Norman for fear that something might explode or some illness will be spread, and they will be part of it because they were near Norman Blackberry. Despite these problems, Norman thought that it might be worth trying to ask this young lady out. She looked like she might understand. She might be forgiving. She might give him the time of day. Norman said all of these thoughts out loud. He was in the habit of talking to himself, especially when driving around. He came to a stop sign and hit the breaks. They squealed a little, but Norman didn’t notice. He was still carrying on his one man conversation. People crossing the street in front of his car kept looking at him, wondering if he had a small headset or if he really was just talking to himself. Norman paid them no mind. If he had, he would have seen the brown-eyed lady walk in front of his car and smile warmly at him. He also would have known that she wasn’t all the way across when he hit the gas and started driving again. He ran over her foot, breaking three toes. He never knew it and didn’t even stop.
College can pass by pretty quickly. Before he even knew it, a month had passed by and Norman had still not spoken to the brown-eyed lady. He had discovered her name. Vanessa. Vanessa Humphries. He only had one class with her, so he only saw her on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. In fact, the next time that he saw her, she was on crutches. He didn’t know why but he hoped she was all right. When he saw her talking with a group of friends outside of the Humanities Building, he tried to walk up and talk to her. When he approached, one of Vanessa’s friends saw him coming and shrieked. The others picked up Vanessa’s books and hustled her away. He wasn’t certain, but he thought he heard Vanessa yelling something about it not being his fault. This scenario continued until almost October. Still, things were looking up for Norman. He had convinced his mother to never visit the school again. He had learned to pack extra napkins to prevent ruining his clothes. He had even learned a little Klingon to be able to converse with the nerds. His psychology class was going especially well. No matter what disorder they were learning about, Norman seemed to be aware of a good example. It was often things that he saw in people around him. Many of the students whispered that it proved how he could drive people nuts. The professor had taken a liking to him until he asked Norman to come to the front of the class one day to demonstrate multiple personality disorder. Norman was only too happy to oblige. Norman leaned casually on the chalkboard, not realizing it was reversible. The chalkboard spun around suddenly, knocking Norman off balance and smashing into the professor’s head. The professor still showed a wonderful demonstration of multiple personality disorder: first was Confused Man, followed by Speechless Man, followed by Angry Man. He was about to introduce Norman to Violent Man when the bell rang. Norman beat a hasty retreat out of the classroom. He was down six flights of stairs before he knew it, and, realizing he was out of breath, he sat down in the lobby to rest. When he heard the elevator ding, he looked up without thinking. Still hobbling, but at least without crutches, Vanessa stepped out and headed for the door. She didn’t see Norman in the lobby. Norman watched as she left, still unable to understand why he couldn’t get her out of his mind. Did she really understand him? How could she? They’d never met. Surely she couldn’t understand what it was like to be the first person sent to the hospital after being attacked by a large-mouth bass. Who could, except Norman? Norman slowly got up and walked towards the outside door. He stepped out and looked around. The leaves were turning. The colors were beautiful. Someone was sitting on the campus lawn playing a guitar softly. There were workers going around the campus gathering leaves to put into large, wheeled trash cans. They all seemed to be so happy. And then there was Vanessa. She had hobbled a pretty good distance, but Norman could still see her. Then, to his surprise, Vanessa turned around. She looked right at him and smiled. It was that same encouraging smile that he had seen before that seemed to make her eyes shine. At first, Norman couldn’t believe that she was looking at him. He turned around to see if anyone was behind him that she was trying to smile at, but there wasn’t. When he turned back around, Vanessa was still looking at him. She gave him a little wave, and then continued to walk across campus. Norman was in a state of complete and utter bliss. She had waved at him. He was happy to the point of being manic. He was suddenly on top of the world. All of the accidents, broken bones, lightening strikes, animal attacks, and poor clothing choices that had ever affected him didn’t matter any more. In a fit of recklessness, Norman hopped up on the rail of the steps and started to slide down. He was grinning from ear to ear. That feeling of complete joy is probably what kept him from really thinking his actions through. The stairs leading out of the Humanities Building were steep. So was the railing. Norman was giddy when he first started sliding down the rails, but that giddiness quickly changed to terror as he picked up speed uncontrollably. Norman let out a little squeal before he reached the bottom of the rail, because he saw where he was heading. At the bottom of the rail was one of the large wheeled trash cans the workers were using to collect leaves. With no way to stop, Norman closed his eyes as he flew off the rail and landed in the trash can, neatly folded in half with both his arms and legs sticking out of the top of the can. The trash can began rolling with the momentum that Norman had picked up. Norman had absolutely no control over where it was going. It proceeded along the sidewalk and down a hill. Picking up speed, Norman began to realize not only the danger he was in, but the danger to others. He started to hear people yelling at each other to get out of the way. He felt a bump and then heard what sounded like a squirrel moaning. A few students even threw trash into the can as it sped by. Norman was pretty sure that whatever good fortune he had built up was being flushed right down the drain. This became even more clear when he head someone yell “Vanessa! Get out of the way!” Vanessa turned around just in time for the trashcan to crash into her. Vanessa, the trash can, and Norman fell over in a tangle of arms, legs, books, leaves, paper wads, and two empty Coke cans. It took Norman a few seconds to gather himself. He was dizzy and in pain. When he looked beside him and saw Vanessa lying on the sidewalk, that pain tripled. He immediately stood up and started muttering apologies. “I’m so sorry! I couldn’t stop! Are you all right? Are you hurt? Are you single? I mean…are you all right?” It took a moment, but Vanessa slowly sat up. She looked up and saw a very nervous Norman stretching out his hand to help her up. Despite the throbbing in her foot and the scratch on her head, this made her smile. She accepted Normans outstretched hand and pulled herself up. It was the first time that Norman had really gotten to look at he up close. She was taller than he was, with dark black hair that cascaded halfway down her back. She was wearing a pair of wrangler jeans and boots. Norman stared at her for a moment, then realized he was staring. He mumbled something about helping her and bent over to pick up her things. He started reaching for her books and noticed where she had dropped a hat. A cowgirl hat. He picked it up, more out of curiosity than anything. Vanessa reached over to take it from him, lightly brushing his fingers when she did. Norman had to fight against passing out he became so light-headed. Vanessa put the hat on and Norman almost passed out again. He had never been bug on the whole country look, but it worked perfectly with Vanessa. Realizing that he was staring again, Norman started to stammer. “I’m….uh…my name is…uh…what’s my name again?” Vanessa laughed lightly. “Hello, Norman. My name is Vanessa.” She held out her hand for him to shake. Before he even knew what he was doing, Norman took Vanessa’s hand and kissed it. As soon as he realized what he had done, Norman dropped Vanessa’s hand and lifted his head up, prepared to be slapped. When no slap was forthcoming, he opened his eyes and looked at Vanessa. She was blushing. Norman knew that he needed to say something, but he wasn’t sure what. “I…uh….well…what was my name again?” Vanessa smiled that smile once again. “I have been wanting to talk to you for so long, but I never seemed to find the opportunity. I was wondering if you might be available on Friday night for a date?” Norman heard the words, but it took him a minute to realize that he wasn’t the one saying them. In fact, Vanessa was asking him out. Vanessa seemed to know that there was no way that Norman would be able to answer. The chances that he could put together a syllable, much less an entire sentence, were pretty much nil. She wrote her address and phone number on a small piece of paper. She placed it in his hand and whispered as she walked past. “Pick me up at seven, please.” Norman never knew that she had left. The shock had been too much for him. A few second after she had walked by Norman finally passed out, falling back into the trash can and continuing to roll, much like Norman, to destinations unknown.
Autism in writing
This week I was thinking about...well, a lot more serious subjects than maybe I should during the holiday season. Regardless, I realized that there is a growing segment of the population that is often not included in writing as well as television and movies. We are doing that segment and ourselves a disservice by not including characters that truly represent them.. Of course I haven't really included these characters either (at least not on purpose), so I am going back in my work-in-progress and changing that. You may want to consider that as well.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMkSqT0eL9o]
The most forgotten character
I have had one unbelievable week. On top of meetings or appointments after work every day this week, neither my wife nor myself have been feeling great. However, most disruptive of all has been the fact that my dog has been ill. It has caused lots of problems, but lots of concern as well. It got me to thinking about a character that is oftentimes not included in stories, and it really should be. The most forgotten character can be the one that makes your main characters have more depth. That is the topic for this week's vlog.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR12YuzEN54]
Love is in the air...in every story!
This week I put together a vlog asking questions about romance in stories. Ever notice how most stories do have a romantic interest involved? It's like we can't escape it, regardless of what the topic is. So is it necessary? If you are adding a romantic interest into your story, how do you do it correctly? Well, take a look and let me know what you think![youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Tk2Dq_vmw]
Can a writer learn about life from their characters?
Sometimes the movies and books that we appreciate the most stick out in our minds because of the lessons that we learn from them. Probably the most obvious example comes from Winston Groom in the character of Forrest Gump. Although the character was markedly different between the book and the movie, we all learned lessons from Forrest Gump through his unique view of the world. Everyone can tell you the relationship between life and chocolates. And who doesn't know that stupid is as stupid does? I have to wonder if, while Groom was writing the book, he really thought through each of those lines as a writer, or if Forrest Gump had become a living, breathing person in his mind that saw the world that way. People who don't write probably think that writers are crazy. That's because we writers are a little crazy. When you start to truly write an in-depth story, the characters aren't just a name that you write down on paper. Their actions, reactions, and point of view should be consistent, as if they were truly there and doing what you are writing down on paper. They should become believable not only to your readers, but to you as the writer as well. Even though they are a creation of your imagination, you should be able to learn from your characters.
I got to experience this in the writing of my novel, Pup. The main character, who goes by the nickname Pup, has a very unique way of looking at the world around him. I started to exercise my creativity with this character by wondering what his reactions would be to various situations that I experienced throughout the day. As time went by, I started to do this without thinking much about it. What resulted (and continues to result) is a series of sayings that I call Pupisms. Some of them are found in the book. Others have shown up on my twitter or Facebook or even on this blog. The funny thing about these Pupisms is that I will sometimes look at them and ask myself "Why don't I see things that way?" For example, one Pupism states that working for someone else's approval is like living on Jello. You'll never feel satisfied. I have to remind myself of that on occasions.
Now, there are probably psychologists out there chomping at the bit to explain how those words are my subconscious trying to lead me in the right direction, etc., etc. I don't care. The lessons come from a character that I created, and I learned a little something from them. If you are writing a story, don't just gauge how those characters might react to the situations in your story. Started thinking of how they might react to situations in your life. Once they start to surprise you, or once you start to learn from them, then you know that you have a real character on your hands that's ready to teach others as well.
How binge watching might help your writing
I know that as a writer I should tell other writers that the only way to help your writing is to read, then write, then repeat the cycle to improve. There is a reason that formula is used so often: it works. However, we are in a changing time with new technologies and possibilities around every corner, so I would like to entertain new concepts that could open your mind to new possibilities. In today's vlog, I point out that the new public fad of binge watching can actually help you to develop your story and characters. It is all about opening your mind to new possibilities and stimuli.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev3opezTXLY]
How to make your villain believable
So you are writing your story and your antagonist does something cruel. Have you ever wondered if your audience believes that someone would do such a thing? It's amazing how many writers create a "bad guy" who is simply...bad. Sometimes it takes a great story and makes it mediocre. The way to prevent that is remarkably simple, and I tackle that not-so-secret in this week's vlog.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3FNABNbeUs]
A brief reading from PUP
With the release date coming up soon, I decided to read a brief section of PUP so that people can get a preview of what I am so excited about. The scene that I am reading is just an example of some of the early trials faced by the main character and gives an idea of the interesting, almost comical difficulties he has a habit of stumbling into. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ji_0OVj9w4]
Vlog 9: The origins of Pup
Pup: A Novel of Accidental Heroism comes out in just a few weeks on June 16th. This week I was thinking back on some of the things that influenced me in writing the story and I remembered the very first reenactment that I took part in. I tell the story here and you really start to see how Pup was influenced as well as how much of a bumbler I can be! [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjRAscgZssk]
Filler for your story: what you should and shouldn't do
I recently had someone ask me to do a vlog on filler for their writing. While considering it I also thought about how long it had been since I had the opportunity to sit down and do a written blog. Since it had been quite a while, I figured I would set aside a few minutes and answer his question in writing. Whenever you write, there is always a lot of concern with the length of the story. Sometimes you want to make certain that the story is novel length (which varies, depending on who you are speaking to) and sometimes you want to make certain that you aren't overdoing it. It is the first of these categories that are concerned with the phenomena in writing known as "filler." In essence, filler is something that takes up space and helps serve as a kind of written bridge between one important event in a story and another. Filler makes certain that what you hoped would be a novel isn't just an article. I once heard someone say that one of the hardest things to do is nothing. Filler essentially does nothing for the characters or story, so it makes it one of the most difficult things to write.
So, if you are asking this particular amateur writer how to create filler for your story, here is my answer: don't. I understand how much it might seem that you need to come up with something to fill up space, but if you do, then it is possible that you haven't fully developed your story or characters yet. Each thing that happens in your story should be a link in the chain. Anything that isn't doesn't belong there. Whatever is being written should be something that helps the characters grow or the story move forward or give background to the situation. If it doesn't do one of those things, then you are wasting your time and your reader's time. Your characters and your story should be alive. Everything that is alive, whether they realize it or not, do things for a reason. They may not understand the reason, but it is there nonetheless. Your living story and living characters should be no different.
I understand completely how tempting it is to add extra stuff in to lengthen out a story. However, when it is all said and done, I would much rather have a well written short story than a poorly written novel. There's my two cents worth.
Using foul language in writing
One of the people that reads just about everything that I write is my mother. Now, I'm 37 years old, married, and a father myself, but I still watch my language around my parents. It is simply the way that I was raised. I can't always extend that courtesy in my writing because sometimes, foul language suits the character or the moment. I have read many books and seen many movies where the language seems to be added in for no true reason. It is just there to be there, and I often feel that it takes away from the writer's talent. I'm not a prude, but I am practical. Is the foul language necessary? Well, that's the topic of this week's vlog. https://youtu.be/Mh7nYGyXIsk
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh7nYGyXIsk]
A method for motivation, character growth, and plot development in your writing
We all want to make certain that we have a memorable plot and good characters in our writing. I've known of no one that walks around thinking, "Why can't I just be mediocre? That's all I've ever wanted!" Of course, how to create a memorable plot, developed characters, and talk ourselves into putting the time and effort into it is one of the great difficulties of writing. I put together a new technique recently that just might work for you: the fantasy cast! Some people like to play fantasy sports. I'm not one of them. All it does is remind me how little I know about sports. However, putting together that fantasy team really becomes an obsession for some people, and it keeps them watching their favorite sport all season. If you are trying to visualize your story as you write, why not put together a fantasy cast for your novel? Sure, most books aren't really written to be movies, but they are written for people to visualize as they read. Why not choose the actors and actresses that you think would best portray your characters if your book were adapted for Hollywood?
I'm not cheapening books by this at all. Think about it. If you have real, live people that you can picture playing the parts of your characters, the characters themselves become more real. As you imagine the way that these actors would portray the characters, you create more depth to the characters. As you visualize this in your mind, you are essentially directing your movie. It is a new level of control over your story, and it can help take your ideas in new directions. You can't really picture those two actors in a scene together? Maybe that scene needs to be rewritten. That actor would say that line with a sneer on their face? Great! Put that in writing! Why can't writing a book be like mentally directing a movie? Give it a try next time you need a fresh approach to your work! It gives you new motivation and even a good conversation topic with your friends.
I had already finished with my book before I thought this all of the way through, but I still came up with a fantasy cast for Pup. What do you think of my choices (I know that you don't know the characters, but look at the choices and picture some interactions. Would be awfully fun!)
Nickel- John Boyega
Jethro- Colton Haynes
Rabbit- Jordan Hinson
Shaggy- Jim Parsons
Hannibal- Chris Hemsworth
Professor- Benedict Cumberbatch
Boom- Freema Agyeman
Mayumi Ogawa- Jamie Chung
Pup- Colin Morgan
So who would be in your fantasy cast? Swing by imdb.com and find the best fit for you!
feature image via genius.com
Where to find ideas for a side story for your novel
So you have come up with a wonderful idea for a novel. You have it all planned out. You know every detail of what is going to happen with your main characters. You know what plot twists are going to throw your reader for a loop. You're set! Then you start writing and find a huge problem. It isn't enough. Your plans for a novel have resulted in a short story with dreams of growing up into a novel. You add more details to your characters, embellish a little on the story, and even get creative with your spacing. Still not enough. You need a side story. Where are you going to come up with a side story? You fried out all of the creative circuits in your brain imagining the main plot. It's all over! The book is ruined! Time to go back to watching Star Wars way to much and living off of popcorn! (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Before you format your hard drive and burn your printed copies, you should realize that a side story isn't that difficult to create, and it can make a world of difference in your characters realism. Think about it. Do you do only one thing all of the time? Even people who are obsessed with something take a break from it now and again. Your characters should, too. That is where a good side story comes in. It transforms your characters from characters into people. So where do you find a good side story? My suggestion for that would be the same suggestion that I give for most things. Open your eyes! The perfect side stories are all around you or have already been a part of you and your life.
One of the favorite approaches I have seen some authors use is to make the setting of the book a side story. That is a tried and true technique. It's especially useful if you are very familiar with the setting yourself. When this happens, the setting becomes a character all its own. Could Batman take place anywhere other than Gotham City? I really enjoy the Dresden Files series. In it, Jim Butcher often uses the setting of Chicago as a source for side stories. He takes common sites in the city and twists them to fit into his paranormal world. You can certainly do the same.
Of course, everyone doesn't want to use the same formula for creating side stories. That would make for boring literature. So what else can you look to for side stories. Think of your own life. I don't mean that you should make every story a biography. I mean that everyone can look back on an event in their life and imagine how it could have been different. You can positively or negatively change how things are handled by your characters in the same situation and create a good side story that will be very believable. After all, the situation did occur in real life, right? You can also look to your own activities. Why not incorporate some of your own hobbies, your job, or some of your interpersonal interactions into side stories. Once again, reality creeps into fiction, and it makes for a better story.
So, if it is big cities or family reunions, career moves or airsoft games, you can find lots of ideas for side stories for almost any book. Just look around, remember, go through a photo album, or talk to a friend. Personally, I am using airsoft in the book I am working on now. It gives me a good side story and an excuse to go and play!
The ultimate character...
This is going to sound odd. Okay, it may sound more than odd. However, when you think about it for a while it will make a crazy sort of sense. I was speaking with my students today about story flow, characters, and sprinkling in a little storytelling when I realized after one of my stories that I had a wonderful challenge for them to undertake. This challenge would test whatever writing skills they have absorbed and push them to their limits. I told them that they had to write a story that covers the content of a single, normal day. It would be written in first person. The only problem was, it had to be written from the point of view of a cat. Think about it for a moment. If you ever want to challenge your ability to create a character, you have to delve outside of your comfort zone. Sure, its easy to create a main character that has a lot of yourself in it, but it can be so much more satisfying to write a story with a character that you have very little in common with and nail it. I think that cats are the ultimate "other" character to try to create. I love dogs. I've had a dog of one sort or another since I was young. However, their thought processes are usually pretty easy to figure out. Writing a story from a dog's perspective would center entirely around getting fed and being scratched behind the ear. Cats are a mystery. Humans have been trying to understand cats for thousands of years. We are no closer to it now than we were when we first took them as pets. They always know where you want to sit and take that spot. They randomly chase things that either do or do not exist. They have an unspoken way of ordering their humans around. If you ever wanted a challenge to creating a character that is sure to stretch your abilities, there it is. I'm not saying that it is necessarily a publishable story, but it could certainly be an entertaining exercise!
Can you teach someone how to write?
Everyone appreciates talent. The problem with talent is that those with a talent cannot understand why others can't do the same things that they can do. Why can't I walk on my hands? (Probably because I can barely walk on my feet!) Why aren't I a good basketball player? (Probably because I have a total lack of coordination) Why can't you draw? (See previous excuse) So if a talent is something that not everyone is capable of, can we teach people how to write?
Many schools have courses or clubs that center around creative writing. I myself have run a club of that nature before and I am currently working with students daily on the same subject. Does that mean that writing is a talent different from other talents? Can the talent of writing be taught? If so, then is there hope for me at basketball, drawing, and maybe even walking on my hands? (I could also use lessons in social skills, but that is a subject for an entirely different post.) To answer that, we need to look at what is taught in creative writing.
I am not certified to teach creative writing. I don't teach a credit course on the subject. What I do try to pass on to those in the club or in spare time at school are a few skills and ideas that can help improve writing. I try to get hopeful writers to spend more time working on their characters and less time working on plot lines and twists in their stories. I show them how to create deeper and more believable characters. I talk with them about how to critique someone's work and how to work with a critique of their own work. All of this is intended to help the perspective writers grow. I do believe that a lot of people reading this can learn how to write. It is a matter of skills, and skills can come from instruction and practice. There are lots of resources. Speak to the people around you. I would bet good money that you know someone who considers themselves an amateur writer. Look around on the internet. There are all kinds of sites that are made to assist writers. It is out there.
So, if I believe that lots of people can be writers, why aren't we inundated with amazing writers all day, every day. Please note my careful wording. I said that a lot of people can be writers. I didn't say that everyone can be an amazing writer. Most people who consider themselves writers do so because they enjoy writing and find pleasure in it. They would love to write a best-selling novel, but whether they do or not, they will continue writing for the joy of it. They have learned some skills and they make use of them. These are the writers I'm talking about. I count myself among them. The amazing writers do have a talent that probably cannot be taught.
OK, even with that distinction, why don't we have a lot more writers. For the same reason I'm not a good basketball player: drive and determination. A writer wants to write. They do it for joy. They do it as their outlet. They do it for their readers, however small the number. Without that drive, you never put pen to paper, just as I never put on tennis shoes and work on my lay-up (which is a moment of epic slapstick comedy). So, to answer the question of whether you can teach someone to write, I say: You can lead someone to the keyboard, but you can't make them type.
The "based-on" character conundrum...
Maybe you have done it yourself or had it done to you. You have based a character on someone you know or someone has based one on you. This habit of basing characters on people never occurs without a pronouncement to the person the character is based on. I'm not sure if I have ever heard of a person reading a story or book and then going to the author and asking "Was that character based on me?" The question becomes whether basing characters on people you know is a good idea or a problem. When discussing characters with students, I always tell them that you character needs to be a real person in your mind. Sometimes that can be a hard concept to truly grasp. That is where the habit of basing characters off of people that we know comes from. I would bet that many of the writers reading this blog have a lot of themselves in the main character of at least one of their stories. There is nothing wrong with that at all. It is certainly information that is easy for us to access and it makes the character very real to us because it is...well, us. Of course, you can't be every character in your story, and so you decide to look at the people in your lives and use your knowledge of them in order to create a new character. Just like putting some of yourself in your main character, there is nothing wrong with that. So what am I on about?
The problem occurs when the writer tells their friend that they are basing a character on them. This is done because we all want to make our friends feel good, and what more can a writer do for a person immortalize them on paper? Unfortunately, we hobble ourselves by doing this. If a writer tells someone that they are basing a character on them, they have just guaranteed that this same character will do all good things. If the person you are basing the character on knows who that character is, they certainly do not want to read about that character doing anything bad or being snarky or any of a million other things that might help move the story along but are considered negative. Those things could even be a true reflection of that friend, but that doesn't mean that they want to read it! So, in order to keep turmoil out of their real lives, writers will alter the actions in their written lives. That means that you just compromised your writing. I don't mean to make that sound like some kind of artistic and somewhat vague comment. It means that you just prevented your story from happening the way that you wanted it to for the sake of another. One compromise makes for a slippery slope to others. To top it off, your character is less believable than before because it is so perfect. Whoops.
So, if you do feel that you need to base your characters off of people you know, which is just fine, shut your mouth about it. If the people who you are basing characters off of don't know what you are doing, you can have those characters react and respond in a much more honest and realistic way. Sure, you might have to be a little more honest with yourself about some of your friends' negative tendencies, but that is ok. They aren't perfect, and that is why you like them. Your characters won't be perfect either, and that is why your readers will like them.
Does it matter where they come from?
I try to provide the most useful advice that I can to anyone that is interested in writing. I usually do that because I am hoping to get advice in return. I'm certainly no expert, so anyone asking me for help can no doubt help me as well. If there is one piece of advice I find myself giving out often it is that well-developed characters can make the difference between a bad story and an amazing story. The actual story can be a little lukewarm, but great, well-developed characters can make it something that people will remember.
One of my classes has to put up with me trying to teach them some creative writing skills, and the first thing that I do is stress the importance of characters. Part of the multi-day lesson is showing them a character profile that ask questions like the character's name, age, greatest strength, greatest weakness, etc. I tell them that when they write, they should be able to fill out a character profile for all of their major characters in order to make them more three-dimensional and believable. I make them fill out a character profile on themselves as practice. Once we have done that, I show them a few minutes of a movie that most of them are familiar with and have them all do a profile on the same character. We were doing this particular exercise and I noticed a problem- a significant number of my students did not answer (or did not seriously answer) the question in the profile about where the character was from. The movie never said it specifically, but there were hints dropped and characteristics that should have given it away. Those hints and characteristics were not caught by all, and in desperation to complete the assignment several students wrote next to the category "Birthplace" answers like "a hospital," "Planet Earth," and the every puzzling "IDK." I required students to give different answers to these questions. I could hear them mumbling to themselves a question that I asked myself after class was finished. Does it really matter where a character was born?
It is remarkably easy when writing to go overboard with the details. Some professional authors are masters at being detailed to such an amazing degree that you can see, hear, and taste everything going on in their books. These detail masters are rare. Most writers that begin going into great detail eventually bore their readers. Is it too much detail to mention the birthplace of all of the major characters? I'm sure that my students think so, and I don't blame them at all. I don't blame them because they are right. If a writer goes into great depth about all of the details of every major character's life, hopes, and dreams, their book would be the size of an encyclopedia set and no one would likely read past the introduction of the first character.
So why did I make these students redo their answers? Because it is still important. I would never expect a story to contain all of the details in the character profile within its writings. The character profile isn't for the reader. The character profile is for the writer. Whenever you are writing a story, your characters need to be as real to you as the people in your life. You don't need to know the details of their lives so that you can write about their lives. You need to know the details of their lives so that your character will have the same actions, reactions, logic, illogic, passion, and apathy of real people. If you don't know and love (or love to hate) your characters, how can you expect your readers to?
Does it matter where a character comes from? I suppose that depends. If you believe that the characters in a story can make the difference between mediocre and exceptional writing as I do, then yes you need to know where the characters are from, as well as a great many other details about them. If you think that the characters are just there as part of the story, then don't worry about where they are from. I'll probably still read your work, but I'll probably only do it once.