Writers in the Storm

by Fae Rowen

I am a plot-driven writer. The plot arrives first in my head, then I look for  people who will survive and grow in that world.

My #1 concern? My characters MUST connect with my readers. To have the "best book ever" experience, your reader must believe in, root for, identify with, and, maybe even, cry or fall in love with your protagonist.

It's not easy to meet people like this in real life, so why would we think it should be easy as a writer?

When I began taking writing classes, I was given lists and forms to fill out about my characters. Hair and eye color, education, ethnicity, birthplace, hobbies--you've seen those lists. They work for some people, but they didn't work for me. My characters seemed flat, even though I "interviewed" them to find out their likes and dislikes.

I moved on to Debra Dixon's Goal, Motivation, Conflict. That really helped flesh out my characters.

• Why did they get angry?
• Why did a certain song make them sad?
• What "floated their boat" and why?

Not all that backstory should be revealed, but a single line to motivate inner conflict goes a long way in exposing your character's underbelly. And that's what our readers need to feel the humanity in our heroes and heroines.

But what do you do when your critique partner says a character is flat? Or a contest sheet comes back with, "I didn't connect with your heroine." Junk the story and start over? No!

The characters you remember from your favorite books are complex. You know their wants, needs and desires. You know their fears, trials, and failures. You feel their joy and success.

What if you're in the middle of a WIP and your character needs another layer or two? Chances are those layers are not going to materialize out of thin air.

When I purchased my Archetype Cards by Carolyn Myss, I never intended to use them for writing. But three years ago I took them to the Washington D.C. conference and with Laura, Jenny and Sharla, we realized they could be an excellent tool to assist with characterization.

Archetypes were first discussed in the time of Plato in Ancient Greece. Carl Jung firmed up and popularized the concept in the twentieth century.

Archetypes are part of everyone's psyche. They may sit passively and come forward to make you aware of danger or dangerous behaviors or they may drive your life.

All archetypes have positive and negative attributes. When you recognize the patterns of an archetype, instead of ignoring the archetype, you can make it your friend and ally. According to Carolyn Myss, as humans, we share four common archetypes and should be able to identify eight more that make us who we are.

 

For instance, it will come as no surprise to those who know me that one of my archetypes is the Queen.

In the best cases, I assert my power, take charge of situations, delegate authority and act with regal benevolence. Nice, right? But wait. The "shadow" or negative Queen attributes include barking out orders, making impossible demands and lopping off heads. Ouch! I've done that, too.

Oh, I hear the writer in you waking up. You're seeing the possibilities of starting with the shadow characteristics for a character and, through a variety of plot storms, showing the character arc to the positive attributes. For those of us who sometimes get stuck, this little tool can give us the traits we love to hate and show us how those patterns transmute into positive qualities.

Seventy-eight different archetype cards await you. They range from Actor to Wizard. There are also detailed explanations of the four archetypes we all share. Here's a summary of our common archetypes:

1. The Child, including Wounded Child, Abandoned/Orphan Child, Magical/Innocent Child, Nature Child, Eternal Child, and the Dependent Child. You probably know which one you are--and which one you wish you were.

2. The Victim. No, not me! But when in your life have you not felt powerless, blamed someone else for what happened, or been just a little green with envy? When your protagonist feels powerless, how uplifting is it to see her take effective action? A character learning to take responsibility for his own actions makes us root louder for him to succeed.

3. The Saboteur. This is a tough one in real life, because it deals with self-betrayal and fear. Just the stuff good characters are made of. (Read Laura's blog on your character's fear.) Does your heroine allow others to speak for her? By the end of the book, when she finds her voice, your reader will stand up and cheer at her words.

4. The Prostitute. Nope, I'm not talking about the heart-of-gold saloon girl. Have you ever "sold out" to someone or an organization you didn't believe in? Has your hero stayed in a position he disliked for financial reasons? What if your heroine felt herself pulled by circumstances into a situation where she'll have to ignore her integrity and ethics, but is strong enough to say no and suffer the consequences? We're going to root for her all the way through the book!

Here's an example of the information on one card:

Engineer.
Architect, Builder, Designer, Schemer

Light attributes:

• Grounded, orderly, strategic qualities give creative energy a practical expression
• Talent for engineering everyday situation or designing solutions to common dilemmas
• Look for a pattern of designing and building--structure, devices or solutions

Shadow attributes:

• Master manipulator
• Designs situations to one's own advantage, regardless of the needs of others

Could Jane Austen have used this card when she began to fashion Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice? Or when she fashioned a character she said no one would love--Emma Woodhouse in Emma?

Do you have to buy the Archetype Cards? No!

You can think of three characteristics that make you love your protagonist. Then think of the antithesis of each. Take your character through your story from those negative characteristics to the positive aspects.

You'll have a satisfying character arc, which means you've delivered a satisfying story to your reader. And isn't that what you set out to do every time you sit down to write?

Do you have other unexpected ways to add depth to your characters and help you with their character arcs? We'd love to hear about them!

We're so happy to welcome Margie Lawson today to share her writing wonderment with us. Margie will be speaking at the RWA National Conference in Anaheim next month, both at the Women's Fiction pre-conference event and a session at the conference. Generous as ever, Margie is donating a lecture packet or a free class to one lucky reader who comments today. As if her information about writing fresh character descriptions weren't enough!

by Margie Lawson

Lovey hugs to Fae for inviting me to be her guest blogger today!

Note: Part of this blog is recycled from one I wrote last year. New material was added!

Writers often miss opportunities to WOW their readers. One way to WOW them is to write character descriptions that are fresh. Not just a fresh word. A fresh style. A fresh delivery.

Most writers describe a character’s physical attributes. Hair color. Hair style, Eye color. Height. Physique. Some authors slip in a personality trait. Always good.

Some character descriptions read like the writer is checking that item off their list. Nothing special. Nothing fresh.

There are a gazillion ways writers can describe characters. They can share several traits or just a few. Some authors weave character descriptions into the scene. They slip in traits across several paragraphs. They may add a few more descriptive details as the scene unfolds. Others prefer a few salient points and they’re done.

Some writers follow Stephen King’s advice. They provide a couple of fresh descriptors and let the reader fill in the rest.

In Stephen King’s words, from ON WRITING:

"Thin description leaves the reader feeling bewildered and nearsighted. Over description buries him or her in details and images. The trick is to find a happy medium. It’s also important to know what to describe and what can be left alone while you get on with your main job, which is telling a story.

I’m not particularly keen on writing which exhaustively describes the physical characteristics of the people in the story and what they’re wearing (I find wardrobe inventory particularly irritating; if I want to read descriptions of clothes, I can always get a J. Crew catalogue). I can’t remember many cases where I felt I had to describe what the people in a story of mine looked like—I’d rather let the reader supply the faces, the builds, and the clothing as well. If I tell you that Carrie White is a high school outcast with a bad complexion and a fashion-victim wardrobe, I think you can do the rest, can’t you? I don’t need to give you a pimple-by-pimple, skirt-by-skirt rundown. We all remember one or more high school losers, after all; if I describe mine, it freezes out yours, and I lose a little of the bond of understanding I want to forge between us. Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s."

Stephen King is a master of writing craft. Consider his suggestions, and write your character descriptions the way that works best for you and your readers.

I’ll share some examples of character descriptions for your reading and analysis pleasure.

Lara Chapman is a 2012 RITA Nominee for her Y.A., Flawless. Lara is a Margie Grad and Immersion Master Class grad too.

"The once-buzzing classroom freezes. Standing in the doorway is the hottest guy I’ve ever laid eyes on. Golden brown hair cut just short enough to be stylish and a body I’ve only seen on television. Honest to God, the room has fallen dead silent while he looks at his schedule and compares it to the number on the door.

You can almost hear every girl’s thoughts.

Please be in this class.

Please take me to the prom.

Please marry me.

And every guy’s thoughts.

I hope he plays football.

I hope he plays baseball.

I hope he’s got a girlfriend and leaves mine alone.

When he looks up and finds everyone staring, he glances behind himself to see what they’re looking at. Realizing he’s the center of attention, he smiles, upping the charm of his rugged good looks when his slightly imperfect teeth are revealed."

Elizabeth Essex is a 2012 RITA Nominee for her historical, ALMOST A SCANDAL. Elizabeth is a Margie grad and Immersion Master Class grad too.

"He had been eighteen years old and on the verge of taking his lieutenant’s exam the last time she had seen him, the summer her brother Matthew had brought him home to Falmouth.  Col, they had called him.  Six years ago, he had been long and lean, but by God, clad in the endless fall of his gray sea cloak, he was a leviathan now.  A great oaken mast of a man looming up from the waist of the small boat.

A man grown.  A man whose jaw looked as sharp as an axe blade and whose piercing eyes, the color of green chalcedony stone, were just as hard and impenetrable.

“Well, Kent?”  Col’s voice was low and dangerously soft—disconcerting in such a hard-looking man.  “What’s it to be?”

Darynda Jones is a 2012 RITA Nominee for her paranormal, Third Grave Dead Ahead. Darynda is a Margie grad too.

Example 1:

"I turned as Dad walked in. He’d come up from the bar by way of the inside stairs, which was fine, since he owned it and all. His tall, thin frame seemed to sag just a bit. His blond hair looked barely combed, and his bloodshot eyes were lined with a purplish hue. And not a pretty purple either. It was that dark grayish purple that depressed people wear."

Example 2:

"Well built with shoulder- length brown hair intermingled with a streak or two of gray, a long mustache and goatee, and a strip of leather around his neck with a silver pendant, Farley proved to be one of those men in his late fifties who only looked in his late fifties up close."

Kristina McMorris, LETTERS FROM HOME, Margie grad

Here are two weave-in-description examples from LETTERS FROM HOME, released March, 2011, a debut novel by award-winning author Kristina McMorris. 

Reader's Digest Select Editions features a condensed, book club version of LETTERS FROM HOME.

"With Morgan’s charcoal black hair and olive complexion, she questioned if he and the fair-skinned knucklehead were actually brothers.

“Evening,” Morgan said, the word barely audible. A fitted service shirt outlined his broad build. His facial features were of the average sort, but he had an allure about him, an unnamable quality Liz couldn’t dismiss."

Shirley Jump, HOW TO LASSO A COWBOY – Bestseller Shirley Jump has 35 (or more) books published. Knowing Shirley, she probably has ten more novels  contracted.

Shirley Jump is a Margie Grad. 

"Mr. Jones," Sophie Watson called to him from two houses down, her blond hair back in a loose ponytail, swinging along her shoulders.

Skipped a few sentences.

In those early morning moments, Harlan hadn't done much more than say hello as he passed by. Sophie had seemed nice, friendly even, the first few times he'd encountered her. She was a beautiful woman, too, with delicate features and a penchant for skirts.

A few paragraphs later:

She'd kept coming as she'd talked and now she stood at the end of his walkway, that one hand on a hip that was cocked a little to the side, giving her a jaunty air. Coupled with the knee-length flouncy skirt she wore and the low-heels that gave her legs a sweet curve, it made a pretty picture, he had to admit.

Margaret Daley, TRAIL OF LIES. Last year, bestselling author Margaret Daley had 65 books published. She could have hit 70 by now. 

Margaret Daley is a Margie Grad.

"He’d seen Melora Hudson, the widow, at her husband’s funeral a couple of days before. A picture of a five-foot, six-inch, willowy woman materialized in his mind. While she’d stood at the gravesite, her red hair with golden highlights had caught the sun’s rays, accentuating the long curls about her beautiful face-a solemn face, appropriate for a funeral. Until he’d locked gazes with her for a few seconds and something akin to fear had flashed into her sea-green eyes."

Jaye Wells, GREEN-EYED DEMON. This is the third book in the Sabina Kane series. Silver-Eyed Devil will be released January 1^st, 2012.

Jaye Wells is a Margie Grad.

"A mop of kinky mahogany curls cleared the top of the door. And below, a foot clad in a low-heeled black pump stepped onto the blacktop, followed by its twin. Next, a slender, milky hand with bloodied cuticles grasped the doorframe.

When the face came into view, my stomach dipped with dread. Persophone’s classically beautiful face didn’t feature a roman nose, two beady black eyes, or a butt-cleft shin. No, only one Domina was cursed with such mannish features.

Tanith."

Tana French, THE LIKENESS.

The last example is from award-winning author and stage actress in Ireland, Tana French. THE LIKENESS is her second novel.

This is one of my top-of-the-list character descriptions

"I’d been expecting someone so nondescript he was practically invisible, maybe the Cancer Man from The X Files, but this guy had rough, blunt features and wide blue eyes, and the kind of presence that leaves heat streaks on the air where he’s been."

Here’s a Deep Editing Analysis of the example from Tana French in THE LIKENESS.

1. Fresh Writing:  “ . . . the kind of presence that leaves heat streaks on the air where he’s been.”

2. Contrasted what she expected with what presented

3. Rhetorical Device, Allusion, twice: Cancer Man and The X Files

4. Rhetorical Device, Parallelism: “. . . rough, blunt features and wide blue eyes . . .”

5. Cadence-driven:  Every word drives the reader into the next word. Read it out loud. You’ll train your Cadence Ear.

Six more words from Stephen King, from ON WRITING:

Good description is a learned skill . . .

FYI:  My writing craft courses are loaded with material that teaches writers how to write fresh.

Writing fresh description, for characters and setting, gives your readers color and style and interest. Writing fresh description immerses your reader in the sensory elements of your story. Writing fresh description contributes to making your novel a page turner.

BLOG GUESTS:  NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! 

POST A COMMENT AND YOU MAY WIN a Lecture Packet  or one of my online courses from Lawson Writer’s Academy!

I’ll post the name of the LUCKY WINNER on SUNDAY NIGHT, 9PM Mountain Time.

1. Post a comment – or just say “Hi Margie!”

Or

2. Post an example of a fresh character description from your WIP or a fresh character description from one of your favorite authors.

Or

3. Analyze one of the examples from the blog, all but the one I analyzed.  ;-)

Post anything -- and you could win a Lecture Packet or an online course from Lawson Writer’s Academy.

Lawson Writer's Academy now has 37 courses and 12 instructors. LWA courses are taught in a cyber classroom from my website, www.MargieLawson.com.

Margie Lawson —psychotherapist, editor, and international presenter—developed innovative editing systems and deep editing techniques used by writers, from newbies to NYT Bestsellers. She teaches writers how to edit for psychological power, how to hook the reader viscerally, how to create a page-turner.

Thousands of writers have learned Margie’s psychologically-based deep editing material. In the last seven years, she presented over sixty full day Master Classes for writers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

For more information on Lawson Writer’s Academy, lecture packets, full day master classes, and the 4-day Immersion Master Class sessions offered in Margie’s Colorado mountain-top home, visit:  www.MargieLawson.com.

by Jenny Hansen

So you think you know how to fight dirty?

Monday's post explained the nuance of "clean fighting" and how to use it to your best advantage in your stories.

Today, we're gonna leave Mr. or Ms. Nicey-Nice at the door and show you how wallow in the muck.

Every entry in the list below is guaranteed to make someone in your story see red.

If you’re writing fiction, that anger and tension is a REALLY good thing. There's actually twenty-three of these techniques but if I give them all at once, it's like taking a drink of water from a fire hydrant.

So...we’re going to start with the five that will work best in fiction.

p.s. If you dig Dirty Fighting, let us know in the comments. I’ll make this a multi-part series so you have time to really  roll around in the swamp.

As I said in Monday’s post, great books are filled with conflict. And great characters who learn important lessons. Plus, dialog is the number one way to do several fun things like move your story quickly and legally bring in backstory.

[For a rundown of the perils of Back Story, read this post by Kristen Lamb.]

OK, go rub some dirt on your face. Jump up and down. Take a few test jabs. I want to help get you into the Dirty Fighting spirit!

In case the dirt didn't do it, let’s take a peek at some great dialogue posts:

• How To Write Dialogue: 6 Ways To Use it Effectively
• Dialogue Tags: How To Kill Off Some Of The Little Buggers by Sharla Rae
• He Said, She Said: Dialogue by Roni Loren

I have just ONE big problem with reading about dialog:

Every character is unique. Even though the examples usually rock, I walk away thinking: "My characters would never say that."

How do you write creative conversation that applies only to YOUR character?

One answer is to make him or her fight.

 BRING.     IT.     ON!!

Below are my top five Dirty Fighting Techniques for adding plotting options to your story.

#1 – Triangulating: Don’t leave the issue between you and your conflict partner (could be a family member, friend or love interest), pull everybody in. Quote well-known authorities who agree with you and list every family member whom you know has taken your side (and lie about the ones you haven’t spoken to yet).

Uses: Triangulating is incredibly useful in fiction because you can expand the discussion to more characters and stir up some real drama. Let’s not keep this issue between just us, one character says to the other. Oh no, lets involve everybody.

If you have extreme Dirty Fighting Talent, you can stir the pot and then step back and play a new game called, “Let’s watch the other two people fight.” That’s good times.

#2 – Escalating: Quickly move from the main issue of the argument to questioning your partner’s basic personality, and then move on to wondering whether the relationship is even worth it. Blame your partner for having a flawed personality so that a happy relationship will be impossible.

Uses: Excellent tool for keeping two love interests apart. BUT, the fight better be about something that really, really matters or you risk falling into the Bog of Coincidence and most stories don’t have enough muscle to climb out of that place.

Escalating also allows for plausible use of Back Story. When you’re moving from the main
issue to what the REAL issue is (often happens at the black moment / end of Act 2), escalating the argument will make someone lose control enough that they blurt out something juicy. Way to go, Author!

#3 – Leaving: No problem is so big or important that it can’t be ignored or abandoned all together. Walk out of the room, leave the house, or just refuse to talk. Sometimes just threatening to leave can accomplish the same thing without all the inconvenience of following through.

Uses: My favorite use of this is employing it when the two characters really need each
other. It completely ups the betrayal factor: I can’t depend on you, I don’t trust you, You’ve let me down.

You noticed how dirty those last three statements were, right? Not a clean fight to be found anywhere with “leaving,” which is fantastic for your story! The farther your character falls, the harder the journey is on the way back up, right?

#4 – Timing: Look for a time when your partner is least able to respond or least expects an argument.

Uses: Think about this from a story point of view. A really great time to pick a fight is just before the main character embarks on a journey, has a new murder to solve, is called on to
save the world. Anything with high stakes works great. Be sure the character ambushing them is a likeable one so the reader REALLY gets drawn into the conflict.

#5 – Rejecting Compromise: Never back down. Stick with the philosophy that only one of you can win.

Uses: This is a kickass Dirty Fighting trick to use on the main character. If there is only one winner, there is automatic conflict involved for the person who “loses.” The
solutions are endless.

Note: We'd love to see you do a few lines of dialogue down in the comments to illustrate one or many of these techniques.

Does this make sense to you? Can you see places in your story where you can use a good fight to amp that tension sky-high? Which one is your favorite?

Jenny

***********

Jenny fills her nights with humor: writing memoir, women’s fiction, chick lit, short stories (and chasing after her toddler Baby Girl). By day, she provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. After 15 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s digging this sit down and write thing. In addition to being a founding member here at WITS, Jenny also hangs out on Twitter at jhansenwrites and at her other blog, More Cowbell.