|
mary rosenblum
|
Hello all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
:-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I hope you all had a great
weekend.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'll be sending out an update
to the website serve list tomorrow...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but as a preview, I did post a
new short mystery market in New Market Updates.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Crimson Dagger is a new
market...and if you haven't sold your short mystery elsewhere, it might be
a good place to gain a clip.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about backtracking from the plot to the character. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There are two ways to begin a
story...with the character or with the plot.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some writers mostly do one or
the other...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but as you gain experience as
a fiction writer, you'll find that you begin to use both methods...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and if you do, it's a good
idea to realize that character/plot relationships change depending on where
you start.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Do be aware that very few
writers, even pros, can CHANGE a character once that character has taken on
a three dimensional form in the writer's mind.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is usually better to simply
start over if a character won't work in your story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
OR change the plot!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So if you begin with a solid
character and you want to use this person, then you need to construct a
plot that won't force your character...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
to behave in a way that is not
part of that character's personality.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you DO make that character
do what the plot demands, even if he/she would not in real life...then you
have a plot puppet and we readers all know it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We see the strings, the wooden
joints, and we don't for a second think this is a real person.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ho hum.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUT...what if you think up a
really cool plot? What then?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, alas, what happens with
most novice writers is that they happily start writing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And all of a sudden they hit a
point in the plot where the character says...'
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
NO, I won't do that!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And again...you have a choice.
Turn the character into a puppet or change the plot..
|
|
seabeewife
|
A little lost . .. describe a
flat character please
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A three dimensional character,
seabeewife, is one that seems real to you..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
someone you believe you could
meet in the grocery story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
store!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The person behaves like your
neighbor, your aunt, your school teacher.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
He or she does not act in ways
that real people don't act.
|
|
seabeewife
|
What if they seem real to you,
but not your reader?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They always seem real to YOU,
seabee...but it's YOUR job as writer to make them real to the reader, too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is where craft comes in.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We know our characters as
people, but how we present them to the reader makes them seem like real
people to the reader rather than cartoon characters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And one of the big mistakes
that novice writers make is to simply make the character do what the plot
demands without thinking about it!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Let's look at an example.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Say we want to write this
great, heartwarming story about a bunch of kids who play softball together
after school...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and our Main Character is
Santos, a recent immigrant who feels shy and out of place and doesn't
really fit in.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you want to make it end
with him triumphing by besting the local bully who often breaks up the
game...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and becoming a hero to his
playmates. So...you just have him do it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The bully shows up to break up
the game and Santos punches him. The bully runs away and everybody is
happy.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But we don't believe it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Why did he change?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
He was afraid of his shadow
yesterday...how could he stand up to the guy today and why dind't the bully
pound him flat?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So the story doesn't REALLY
move us because we know it couldn't happen that way.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But YOU know that in his home
town, Santos was very brave and a leader and is only...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
acting shy because of the
language and cultural differences...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and when the bully pushes a
little kid around who reminds him of the little brother who maybe died...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Santos loses his fear of
making mistakes and steps in to stop him...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and now we understand how it
could happen and yes, it does seem as if it could happen in real life, so
it moves us.
|
|
seabeewife
|
how do we do that? i think i am
and maybe i am not
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The only way to know if you
are doing it, seebea, is to give your work to good readers and ask them
questions about your character.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Did it seem real that Santos
could stand up to the bully? Did you believe it?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Did you understand why he
could do that?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your reader tells you that
Santos stood up to the bully because he felt bad for the little kid and
lost his temper, okay, you're doing it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If the reader says, well, no,
she didn't really know why he stood up to the bully but it was nice that he
did...you didn't make Santos's motivations clear.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about backtracking from the plot to the character. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
|
|
margieh
|
If you think you design a plot
that you think would draw the main character out (his/her strengths and
weaknesses) would the character still be a plot puppet?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not at all, margieh. If you
begin with a character and you know that character, then by all means
design the plot so that it suits the character!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is turning the plot into
a puppet for the character...and that is fine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Plot is simply a combination
of events.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Any event can happen.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But people DO behave in
certain ways.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If they don't behave like real
people, we don't believe in them. You can make your reader...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
believe that plot events
happen very easily. Need to trap your MC in a car? A tree falls on that
person's car in a storm.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'll believe that.
|
|
ducky
|
This sounds all too familiar to
me. I've got this character who is a retired doctor, has done high-level
research, is very logical, practical, and works from empirical evidence. He
encounters the supernatural. I'm having to work hard to present his inner conflict
and make it credible.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And here we have a perfect
example of building the plot to suit the character.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But what if you start with the
plot?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We have a supernatural
encounter.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And we need our MC to deal
with the situation.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So how do we create a
character who can do that? And actually...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
if your logical and practical
doctor isn't fully formed...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you might be able to give him
a back story that will enable him to believe in that supernatural event and
do what you want.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Let's say we have a great idea
where a disembodied spirit has haunted an old house waiting to revenge his
murder...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
only the real murderer has of
course died long ago...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
so our ghost will take
vengence on the man's granddaughter...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
when she happens to rent the
house for some plausible reason.
|
|
ducky
|
Now, the back story is that he
grew up with X-files evidence all around him. He rejected it totally - so
now being confronted with it so directly, he is angry and resistant.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, you can work back from
the plot to find a reason for him to ultimately believe in it, ducky. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'm assuming you WANT him to
eventually deal with it, right?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So here we have a man who on
the surface totally rejects evidence of the supernatural.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUT your plot requires him to
accept it. What to do?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, here's the key...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
ON THE SURFACE he rejects that
evident.
|
|
ducky
|
Glad you said that because that
is the way I'm headed. He can't continue to ignore his family heritage and
eventually, he won't.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you have actually set up a
character who CAN believe, ducky...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
what you can do is ask
youself...WHY is he so resistant when he grew up with it?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, one reason that occurs
to me is that something very traumatic and real happened to him as a child
and his way...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
of burying that event and
defending himself against it ever happening again was to say 'none of this
is real'...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and he did that because it WAS
real and it really scarred him. So his resistance is self protection.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If he says 'there's no such
thing as ghosts' loudly and realistically enough...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
then there AREN'T...and he's
safe. So how do you let him reach back to that kid who knew ghosts WERE
real?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Clearly he is not going to do
it if he has the choice to keep on disbelieving!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So YOUR job is to find a lever
that realistically forces him to believe again.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Perhaps someone he loves is in
danger and he can't protect or save that person unless he can accept that
ghosts are real.
|
|
ducky
|
In this case the answer is going
to be a compelling case of undying love. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There you go.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Your plot demanded that he
finally accept that supernatural, and your undying love is the lever to
FORCE him to do it even if he doesn't want to.
|
|
ducky
|
Thanks Mary!!! Quaaaaacckkkk!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You're welcome!
|
|
margieh
|
In Ducky's story you'd have to
show the outer resistance and the inner wrestling at the same time so you
don't surprise the reader with something "out of the blue"?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep, margieh, exactly. And you
could do it as a couple of brief 'plants' that would hint at the earlier
event...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and let readers guess that he
wasn't as certain about no ghosts as he lets on.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But you want to be subtle so
that the climax of his acceptance of the ghosts is an enjoyable surprise to
the reader...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
who then realizes, oh yeah, we
sort of got that hint earlier...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about backtracking from the plot to the character. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Even if you're not writing
mystery, you want to plant subtle clues that don't give away your climax
but allow the reader to see how you reached your climax and resolution.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about backtracking from the plot to the character. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
|
|
margieh
|
So I start with plot: an event
or chain of events. Will it help me, the writer, to ask who would be most
affected by this chain of events and why? Or who would have the most
interesting story to tell?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It would indeed, margieh.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If I have a plot idea first, I
often vacillate between two characters for 'Main' position before I decide
who really has the most at stake.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that is what you look at:
Who has the most to gain or lose here?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Who has the biggest stake in
the outcome?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And then you decide what the
requirements for character.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What must they be able to do?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In our doctor's case, he needs
to be able to accept the supernatural event.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if we had begun with the
plot there...we could have come up with exactly the situation Ducky came up
with by starting with the character.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We don't want a character to
simply say' oh it's ghosts' and solve the problem too easily
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We want a struggle. That's
what makes fiction engaging.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So we ask ourselves..what will
make it hard for this character to solve the problem.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Hmmm....what if he refuses to
believe in ghosts at all?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, why should he? If I see
disembodied forms floating around, I may not have believed in ghosts ten
minutes ago, but I believe NOW!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So how come he won't?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, he doesn't want to.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Why doesn't he want to?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Because if he believes in
them, then he has to admit that a childhood event that he has pretended
didn't happen..really DID happen...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and it is something he really
doesn't want to face.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Aha....now he has a reason not
to believe and it will be a struggle to MAKE him believe...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
so we have intensified the
conflict. We have added an internal conflict to the external conflict of
the ghosts.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Essentially, you are stepping
backward from your climax, and finding ways to make it difficult for your
character to resolve that climax, but realistically possible...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
with considerable effort!
|
|
rissa
|
I had a character who was acting
very strange but I used a back story of how she was raised to make it seem
like she could have mental problems, does that work?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure. Back story can suggest a
lot of reasons for character behavior.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Just beware of spending too
much time on back story. Most of the time a few hints are enough.
|
|
rissa
|
In my story, the main character
has to deal with the character who has some mental problems, and she tries
to be very understanding, that's her personality. After the character does
some bad things to her, she still tries to be understanding in the end. Is
that too unbelievable?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not at all. If she is the kind
of person who can see beyond the moment, she may be quite capable of
understanding that...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
the mentally ill woman is not
intentionally harming her, that it is an effect of her illness.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There are plenty of real
people with that level of understanding, you simply need to make her seem
believably so.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now if she can't see beyond
her own needs with everybody else in the story, then we won't believe that
understanding when she deals with the ill woman.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But if she seems like that
sort of person all the time, we'll believe in her.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's what you do...what must
my character be in order to be believable in this plot?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In rissa's case, the woman has
to be the sort of person who can see past actions to a person's real
motivations and problems.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So she is not going to be rude
and thoughtless to the harried store clerk.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
She is going to put up with
the woman's poor service, understanding that she is overworked, probably
had a bad evening, and isnt't to blame for her behavior.
|
|
margieh
|
Mary, does the reader need a
"why" in rissa's case? Why is the woman so capable of that kind
of understanding?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not really...not if her
behavior is consistent. We'll assume that she had a good childhood, that
she was raised by caring parents...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and is simply an empathetic
and caring woman.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is when you create a
character who is acting in some extreme or unusual way that you really need
to give us enough back story to make it seem plausible.
|
|
margieh
|
If she's capable of this level
of understanding do we need a conflict that's deeper than someone who's
hard to get along with?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, it may be hard to create
a conflict for our caring woman. You'll have to think what might 'back her
into a corner' so to speak...give her a problem that will be very hard for
her to solve.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What might cause that sort of
person personal conflict?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A hard choice...between doing
what she knows is right and doing what someone needs, perhaps?
|
|
rissa
|
In the story, the mental ill
woman attempts to kill the main character's sister
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And here you can give her a
realistic conflict. If she stops helping the woman, maybe she will end up
forgotten on the back ward of the local...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
mental hospital. But if she
DOES continue to help, she is potentially putting her sister at risk.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can cause her quite a bit
of mental pain and suffering that way...and what is her decision?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And why? And how does Sis
react?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
YOu might have to backtrack
here and figure out what really drives her behavior..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
what is it that helping this
woman really means to her?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It may be that she didn't have
a caring home as a child...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it may be that she was
neglected and her caring behavior is over compensation for that bereft
childhood...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and this woman has become a
symbol to her and even though she knows she is risking her sister...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
she HAS to help her, she
cannot let her go into that institution...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We have worked back to a
character who ...even though she seems to be a rational and caring
person...is not really rational about this situation...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and thus will do something
that will precipiate the climax, even though she might not have done that
if she was just a nice person and nothing more.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The plot demands here that
this woman weigh her sister's life against care for this woman...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and a rational person might
not be willing to risk her sister's life...I rather hope not anyhow!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But by creating a bit more
back story for this character, we see that this mentally ill woman..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is important in a way that our
caring woman really doesn't comprehend and thus she is being propelled by
her own need to fix what was wrong in her childhood...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and can therefore put her
sister at risk.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The reader will believe this,
were they might doubt that a rational real person would let someone stay
with her after that attempt on her sister's life!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about backtracking from the plot to the character. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
|
|
margieh
|
What if the mother of the MC and
sister was patient to the point of not protecting the sister when she
needed to but the MC doesn't know that and risks making the same mistake.
Would the sister have to be the MC or can the writer communicate to the
reader something the MC doesn't know?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
(sorry..puppy potty break)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, you don't want to
communicate that information as WRITER...breaking in with your own voice
shatters the 'reality' of the story for us.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUT...why can't the older
sister tell her?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If she confronts the sister
with what really went on as a child...sis can deny it utterly.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So we now know what happened
and why, but the sister is refusing to believe it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There are many ways to get
information to the reader wihtout your POV getting it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Another character can make a
cryptic comment and the MC can pay little attention...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but we'll know what is going
on.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The main thing to think
about...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is what is required to make
this MC's behavior plausible.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And most of the time, you can
create a back story for that character than can make even seemingly
unlikely behavior make sense.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What I see in a lot of novice
stories is a character who behaves in a way that most normal people would
not..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and we have no reason for it.
Now the author knows why that person could do that...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
like our immigant kid who
punches the bully.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But where craft comes in is
how you make that also something the reader knows...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
without breaking in to explain
the situation as author.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that is where you can
spend some time thinking about things.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Just how CAN we let the reader
know about Santos' kid brother and his death?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We don't want to simply tell
the reader.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So who else knows? Who can
share that critical information with us?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Let's see. His mother knows,
right? And Santos knows.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Maybe nobody else.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So one of them has to tell us.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Maybe we have a scene where
Mom comes in at bedtime to sit on Santos' bed and talk to him about his
friends...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
she has seen how much he
stands apart from kids...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and maybe she brings up his
brother. Maybe Santos has been quiet and withdrawn ever since he died...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and mother tells him that it
wasn't his fault, that even though they were both in the yard, it was
not...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Santos fault that the child
ran into the road...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And Santos doesn't have to say
anything, or he could, or he could vividly remember that moment and we'll
see that he could have gone to fetch his brother as the kid ran away from
him...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but he was so sick of chasing
him that he didn't...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But at the end of the scene,
we will understand that the boy is a festering wound in Santos' mind...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and then, later, when the
bully is pushing around that kid, all we need is for Santos to think how
much he looks like the dead brother...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and when he socks the bully
we'll figure out why, don't worry.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We have back tracked from that
punch in the nose to find a reason that Santos HAS to punch the bully in
the nose when he has been a total doormat.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
With ducky's story, we back
tracked from that need to suddenly accept ghosts...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
to find a reason why the
doctor refused to do it until that moment.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And in rissa's story...why the
woman would still care for a woman who had already tried to kill her
sister.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Notice that in all three
cases, the reasons like in the character's past? Does this seem like a
pattern?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it is.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But what happens all too often
is that the writer simply says, 'because I made him do that.'
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that leaves the character
as a cartoon figure, flat as a page of paper!
|
|
rissa
|
How do you know when you need a
"why" in that case?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One sure way to know if you
have given the character adequate motivation is to let someone read the
story...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and then ask them. Why did my
character do that?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If they come close to your
reason for that action, then you're fine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If they're way off base, maybe
you'd better add some more back story clues!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If they say, 'I don't know, I
never did figure that out,' you definitely need to add more!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And do ask specifically.
Unless you are dealing with an experienced pro critquer, character
motivation is not something that gets mentioned often.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I give readers a list of
questions I want them to answer AFTER they read the story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And character motivation is
always one of them unless I am absolutely sure I've made it clear.
|
|
smilingsunflower
|
What are your list of questions
that you ask readers?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It changes with every story,
sunflower. I don't always have questions for every reader...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but then I've been doing this
a long time and I'm a bit more objective about what works and where
I"m not sure of my effect.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I asked a LOT more questions
when I was first writing stories.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's one of the benefits of
a writers group...after your work is critiqued you can ask specific
questions of your critiquers...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but you can also give readers
a written list, too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The main thing to remember
with character is that we do not yet have that telepathic hyperlink.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If we don't put it on the
page, the reader cannot know or guess or infer it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And even if your plot is a bit
thin, strong, realistic, and compelling characters can sell your story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They're worth the work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Even if your character seems
unlikely to do what your plot requires...as with ducky's doctor...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
if you think about it for a
bit, you can find some reason in that person's past to justify the behavior
you need.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And again...this is what craft
is all about.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is making what YOU know,
available to the reader, too, but without TELLING.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sort of telepathy through
print, LOL.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour. :-) Do drop into our casual chat here tomorrow, same time same
station...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
we talk about anything at the
casual chats. If you have a stuck story, it's a great place to get some
suggestions...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and it's just a nice chance to
talk with other writers.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Have a good week, all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
See you on the website.
|