Writers in the Storm

by Fae Rowen

It's been awhile since I've taken a trip that was more than three weeks long. But when you're paying for airfare halfway around the globe, it makes sense to stay a little longer. More than a year ago I arranged to travel to the Middle East for 24 days. When I woke up this morning I thought, "In three weeks at this time I'll be walking off a plane in Dubai!"

Even though I've been preparing a year for the trip--reading, exercising, getting as healthy as I can--the departure date has crept up with the stealth of a tiger. Two months ago I freaked out about Dubai when reading news articles about British women being thrown in jail for ninety days for bringing hormone therapy drugs into the country. Well, I wouldn't have been packing those, but what about all my other supplements? I can't go twenty-four days without my CoQ10 or Vitamin C. And my protein powders? What will I do for breakfast if I can't take my protein powders?

At least I made it through that terror. Although I have no definitive answers, I do have, courtesy of our US Department of State, the names of three lawyers in case I get thrown in jail. Nothing like preparedness. And I had a long interview with a Navy Captain who served six months in Dubai and gave me several invaluable suggestions about local customs and shopping. "What do you mean you're not planning on shopping in Dubai?" He convinced me it would be worth it. ("Not a normal woman"--see "Three Weeks Ago at Crit Group" blog!) Obviously I need all the help I can get, so if you have first-hand knowledge of Dubai, Egypt or Jordan and are willing to share travel tips with me, I'd love to hear from you!

If my friend and I get through three days on our own in Dubai and one day on our own in Cairo, we're home free. Then we'll join thirty-three other intrepid travelers for an extensive tour of Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula and Jordan. But I've already informed my friend that on the "land safari" trip I'm riding in the Land Rover. I already rode a camel years ago, across the steppes of Mongolia. I have no desire to be spat at and bitten again.

I'll send a blog during the trip. That's why I bought my new iPhone--the source of another blog in the Technology Fun file.

Oh, shoot me. It's been three weeks that I've licked my wounds enough to write this. My beloved friends hated, I mean really hated, Chapter Eight. They said my character would never have made the choice she did.

Now, normally, I don't argue with their opinions, because they are talented writers and adept readers. If they say something doesn't work, it doesn't work on some level and must be re-written. But this character came about as a form of catharsis after the death of my father. And I know her like the back of my hand. Apparently not, because not a one of my critique partners agreed with what she did. They said she would never have chosen to do what I "made" her do.

In the interim, I've thought about my husband's answer years ago to "Why did you fall in love with me?" My alpha-male-to-the max husband said, "Because you're not a normal woman." Well, after I almost cold-cocked him, he explained that I didn't behave like most women. He reeled off his list of "typical" female behaviors. His comment still makes sense because I was "socialized" by a pack of wolves taking the same physics and math classes. My geeky guy friends had no more social skills than I had. With no close female friends during those formative years--thank goodness that's very different now!--I still, obviously, at times think as I did years ago.

So I've examined my heroine's actions and revised them for her true character, instead of forcing her to do what I would have done. Interesting how we conceive a character, but that character grows beyond us into her own person. I guess that's one reason I write.

By Charlotte Carter

Both Linda Seger (Creating Unforgettable Characters) and Robert McKee (Story) talk about using Image Clusters and Image Systems. Here’s my take on using images.

1. Use images that represent the individual’s character or his values. A wealthy heroine may well wear designer jeans, drive a BMW and have beautifully manicured nails. In contrast, a firefighter is likely to think and talk using words like flash over, combustion and nozzle man.

The images and details you choose help to define the character.

2. Use images from the physical world to support the overall theme of your story. For instance, in a story set in the bayou, any number of water images might be used: creek running into the bayou, tap water, water fall, shower. In the movie Witness images of wheat were repeated as grain, bullets hidden in a flour canister, and finally the villain killed in a grain silo.

These images are subliminal and your reader’s experience will be richer for them.

3. Use images to represent the relationship between the hero and heroine. In one of my books, the h/h were metaphorically unable to see each other clearly until the end of the story. They saw the other’s reflection in a mirror and the chrome fender of a car. They stood in half moonlight and half darkness, and saw each other in through flickering candlelight. Finally, when they acknowledged their love, they stood together in the sunlight.

No need to be heavy handed using images but the added layer will make your story shine. Besides, it’s fun to do stuff like this.

Charlotte Carter
Books that leave you smiling
from Love Inspired
Montana Hearts, 12/10
Big Sky Reunion, 5/11
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www.CharlotteCarter.com