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mary rosenblum
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Hello, all!
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mary rosenblum
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Welcome to our Tuesday Forum!
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. 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.
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mary rosenblum
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I'ts hot here. I'll be heading
to Texas to a writers conference later in the week, and it's a nice cool 80
there, I hear!
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mary rosenblum
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Nothing like leaving Oregon
for Texas to find cooler weather, LOL.
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ducky
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Do I have to wear 3-D glasses to
write 3-D characters? :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'm laughing, ducky, but yes
you actually do.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a very necessary part
of creating 3D characters...the 3D glasses.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm not entirely kidding about
that, actually.
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mary rosenblum
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What I mean is that you really
do have to know characters in order to write characters
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mary rosenblum
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And where a lot of novice
writers get into trouble with characters is they simply represent the
obvious characteristics that they need in order for this character...
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mary rosenblum
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to work in this scene right
now...and they don't really think about the person.
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mary rosenblum
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In other words, they create a
'plot puppet' who dances to the tune of the plot.
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mary rosenblum
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And since we are all experts
in characterization, we KNOW that these are just puppets.
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mary rosenblum
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We have spent our lives paying
attention to how people really work in real life.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. 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.
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mary rosenblum
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All too often, novice writers
pay attention to the superficial traits that make a character unique...
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mary rosenblum
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and some of the books on
writing even encourage that.
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mary rosenblum
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Give your character a personal
trait, they say. Maybe she tugs on her hair when she's thinking...
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mary rosenblum
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or he spits between sentences
when he's under pressure.
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ducky
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but in a credible story don't
you want the reader to agree that yes, this is how a person might act in
that situation?
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mary rosenblum
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Of course, ducky, but you do
that by creating a character who obviously WOULD react in that situation.
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mary rosenblum
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Just saying 'you must believe
me because I'm the author' isn't enough.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm sure you've all watched
the B horror flicks where the timid, fainting-violet heroine is up in the
drafty castle room...
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mary rosenblum
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in the middle of a
thunderstorm and the lights go out. She lights a candle...
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mary rosenblum
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and suddenly hears growling in
the cellar. What does she do? Climb out the window and run? Barricade
herself in her room?
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mary rosenblum
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Nah, unarmed, in her negligee,
with her guttering candle, she heads for the basement.
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mary rosenblum
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Of course we need her to do
that so that the monster can chase her...
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mary rosenblum
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but would she REALLY do it?
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mary rosenblum
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C'mon!
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mary rosenblum
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She's a rather extreme example
of a plot puppet, but that's the idea.
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mary rosenblum
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If your wussy kid in the
schoolyard who is always getting pushed around suddenly stands up to the
bully and decks him.
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mary rosenblum
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We think...oh, sure. Uh huh.
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mary rosenblum
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Now YOU might know why that
kid was able to do that.
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mary rosenblum
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He has been getting pushed
around by his stepfather and the anger has been building up in him for
years...
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mary rosenblum
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and suddenly right now, this
bully becomes the metaphor for his step father and he REALLY lets the guy
have it.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...the reader can't see
that unless YOU show that side of the kid to us.
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mary rosenblum
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Until we develope the
telepathic hyperlink, what is in your head is in your head. We don't know
it.
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bravo6
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It's kind of like a lot of
recent movies (On TV) where a character goes downstairs to accost an
intruder in just their night clothes. No bat, 9 iron or anything. I have
SEVERAL years martial arts training,but *I* won't investigate a noise with
just my hands a feet!
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mary rosenblum
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No kidding. Me, I take three
rotts AND a .357, LOL
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mary rosenblum
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And that's another example.
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mary rosenblum
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It's VERY common in Hollywood,
but that doesn't mean you can get away with it in fiction!
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roe
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so how do we change the wussy
little kid enough to stand up to the bully
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mary rosenblum
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You don't change him, roe. YOu
simply show the reader enough about him so that we guess why this happened.
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bravo6
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So we show our character leading
UP to that, and their trials that will cause them to do whatever thing it
is they "shouldn't" do, right?
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mary rosenblum
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Right.
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mary rosenblum
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It's much easier than you
think to give your reader plenty of insights into why your character does
what he/she does.
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mary rosenblum
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It can be through bits of
thoughts, say as our kid stares at the ground, yes-sirring that abusive
stepfather.
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mary rosenblum
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It can be through other
actions that point to building pressure in the kid. On his way home, for no
reason, he throws a rock through someone's window or stomps on a toad, or
something that indicates a building anger.
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tkat_2
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Me, I'll take my stick if I hear
a noise. As for the bully,.t he wussy kid has to reach a breaking point. We
all do.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, but our job as writers is
to create the groundwork for that breaking point so that it seems real to
the reader.
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ducky
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How about this: When I am unsure
if a character is "coming across", I usually get someone (friend,
relative, whatever victim) to read it and tell me what they think of that
character.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good way to do it,
ducky. I always pay attention to what readers have to say about my
characters, especially since I like to do characters who are not always
really loveable.
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bravo6
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We could show his father beating
him. SHow his anger building up as he tears his room apart, cursing his dad
out. Waiting for a chance to get our revenge. Then, after a really bad
beating our character goes to school. He's at the brink of his sanity. The
volcanoe ready to erupt. And the bully comes and pushes him, at the right
moment. Like that?
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mary rosenblum
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Or you could do it more subtly
than that. If that kid is tearing his room apart and cursing dad, we're
sure not gonna be surprised by that outburst.
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mary rosenblum
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Now if you WANT that outburst
to be a surprise, you can fool the reader a bit, the same way you do in a
mystery novel, where the end needs to surprise the reader...
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mary rosenblum
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but have enough clues that the
reader feels he/she COULD have solved it.
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mary rosenblum
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So our quiet kid might not
tear his room apart, but those little clues...needlessly stomping on
insects, breaking something for no reason, his hands shaking when he hears
his stepfather on the stairs...
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mary rosenblum
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these can be slipped into
action scenes so that they don't draw attention to themselves, yet when he
blows up and has to be dragged off the bully...
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mary rosenblum
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was can slap ourselves on the
forehead and say, 'Ah, I should have seen that coming!"
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roe
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and we can also show it with his
thoughts
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, although I've found that
the less you show with thought the better, actually.
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mary rosenblum
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Thoughts are VERY useful
because they let the character give the reader a LOT of information. But if
you can let the readers gain information from their own observations...
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mary rosenblum
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it's even stronger. I have
found that letting the reader infer thought and emotion from action
whenever possible is more realistic than revealing thought. After all, we
aren't telepathic...
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mary rosenblum
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and the more you mimic reality
the better. That said, I use thought, I just try to make actions do it
first.
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roe
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okay, I meant while he threw the
rock, he might be talking to himself, something he's sick of that kid etc
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mary rosenblum
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That would work. It's a good
idea to have established the 'why' of the character's action before it
happens...
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mary rosenblum
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so that you're not stuck
trying to 'explain' to the reader as the action happens.
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mary rosenblum
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Now this also depends on what
is going on.
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mary rosenblum
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In a scene like our schoolyard
fight...
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mary rosenblum
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Once that kid starts swinging,
we're going to want to focus on the action. He's probably not thinking and
all he's seeing is where his fist will land next.
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mary rosenblum
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But in a scene, say, where the
wife stands up and tells her husband she's leaving him...
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mary rosenblum
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there is no action to speak of
here, so we can spend a lot more time in her head. Her thoughts would play
a greater role here...
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mary rosenblum
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although as with our kid and
the bully...we still need to see how this happened.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. 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.
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bravo6
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could we show a contradiction to
his character? Like we show him cuddling a hurt puppy, and crying over the
fact that it was hurt. But later, after that bveating, kicking a dog?
Something like thoat, or would that be too big of a hint?
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mary rosenblum
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THat's exactly the sort of
thing you do.
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mary rosenblum
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Character building ...at least
for me, and I am a serious character writer...is the largest share of the
creative work in any story or novel.
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mary rosenblum
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It's not enough to visualize
your characters and then turn them loose in a scene.
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mary rosenblum
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Until you know who they are
you don't know how they will react to any given situation and so they'll
simply do what the plot requires.
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mary rosenblum
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Spend some time with your
character.
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mary rosenblum
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Think about who that person
is, how she thinks about the world, and most importantly...
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mary rosenblum
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how she reacts to various
situations.
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mary rosenblum
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Our kid will be a gentle
animal lover from the beginning.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, we can see him nudging a
basking turtle off the pavement so it doesn't get run over, or carrying a
spider outside instead of squishing it.
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mary rosenblum
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We can see him doing nice
things for school mates.
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mary rosenblum
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He is a sensitive kid who is
aware of others and not agressive.
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mary rosenblum
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Every action he takes reflects
that.
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mary rosenblum
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And YOU pick actions so that
the reader will see this clearly...
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jackie7777
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So I need to give my readers
background on my characters?
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mary rosenblum
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But not by telling them,
Jackie.
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mary rosenblum
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This is something I see a LOT
in novice ms.
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mary rosenblum
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The author breaks in and tells
us all about the character, how she grew up, what she thinks and feels...
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mary rosenblum
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and that author's voice
reminds us that this is just a story and this person really isn't right
here in front of us, we're not really in this scene.
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mary rosenblum
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It's much better to let us
assume that character's personality by watching and listening to him/her.
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mary rosenblum
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That...after all...is how we
make judgements about new acquaintances in real life!
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mary rosenblum
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Mimic real life!
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ducky
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No, I want what the reader has
seen of the character to convince them that yes, this could happen. ??
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mary rosenblum
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That's exactly it, ducky.
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mary rosenblum
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Because we have seen that
character doing certain things, we have made assumptions about what is
going on inside that character and therefore we are not surprised when that
character does something 'unexpected'...
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roe
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so it's a good idea to outline
the character, give them certain traits, learn as much as we can about them
before we start wriitng
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mary rosenblum
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Absolutely.
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mary rosenblum
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If nothing else, evolving the
character on the page as you write the first draft will cost you a lot of
rewriting...
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mary rosenblum
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OR you'll end up with a
character who morphs into different people as the story progresses...or
you'll have a plot puppet and we don't identify with paper mache figures.
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senicynt
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Hi Mary, I just got in so you
may have answered this one already. What is the best way to portray depth
in a character when you're writing a short story? Say... 1000 words?
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good question,
senicynt, and yes it IS hard to show deep characaterization in a short
short.
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mary rosenblum
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You don't really have time to
do much, so what you do is pick one attribute, action, behavior, encounter
that portrays the central attribute that you want the reader to get.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't try to get an entire
complex human personality across in detail. Won't work.
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mary rosenblum
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But what is the most
representative characteristic of this character? What does the reader need
to know about him to make this story work?
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mary rosenblum
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Then focus on getting THAT
attribute across.
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mary rosenblum
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if you look at the short short
that I posted as an example in my piece on writing the short short...
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mary rosenblum
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the central attribute of the
young boy MC is innocence. It is is loss of that innocence that is the
driving force behind the story.
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mary rosenblum
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So I concentrated on making
him reveal his innocence throughout his brief exchange with the older man
in the story.
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mary rosenblum
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Most readers will fill in a
host of other characeristics to suit that central attribute.
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mary rosenblum
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One thing that works in your
favor is...stereotype.
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mary rosenblum
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Readers leap to certain
conclusions and if that is the right leap, use it!
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mary rosenblum
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But if your character flies in
the face of this type of assumption, make sure you make the difference VERY
clear.
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tkat_2
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Could we also show him
channeling that negative energy into some kind of sport, like football or
an after school job?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, tkat. Maybe he is taking
a martial art and his instructor remarks on his agressive attitude...
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mary rosenblum
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or he splits wood for a
neighbor and chops fast and hard.
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mary rosenblum
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We betray our state of mind
with every move we make.
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bravo6
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My MC in my novel is not mild
mannered, but is at peace with the world... Until his family is brutally
murdered. And as he tries to get his revenge through the legal system, he
keeps building up inside. When the legal system totally fails him and he
is, quite literally, pushed by one of the antognists, inside he finally
snaps and "knows what he must do".
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mary rosenblum
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And that's a novel length
character change, bravo.
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mary rosenblum
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Here we have time and space to
watch this man try the system, frustration building on frustration until he
snaps.
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mary rosenblum
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We get to watch the law
abiding citizen who plays by the rules erode...
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mary rosenblum
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Would be WAY too much for a
short story, where you would show the moment of change and imply all the
build up, much as we'll imply...
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mary rosenblum
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our kid's build up to the
bully-smashing moment.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. 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.
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marty
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if you use a famous name in a
story do you need permission
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mary rosenblum
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Marty, public figures, such as
presidents and the like, are considered to be 'public property'.
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mary rosenblum
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You can use their names..but
of course libel laws still apply.
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marty
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Its a case of mistaken identity
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mary rosenblum
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If you have any questions,
marty, go read the transcript of my interview with Daniel Stevens,
publishing attorney. We went into that quite a bit.
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mary rosenblum
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it's in Surviving and
Thriving: Interview Transcripts
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ducky
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same here - I'm writing about a
serial killer - nothing like a challenge for a beginner Heh!
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mary rosenblum
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Ducky, I saved your comment
because I wanted to talk specifically about extreme characters...
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mary rosenblum
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such as serial killers,
rapists, terrorists, and the like.
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mary rosenblum
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One of the things that we can
really make work for us...always...is our readers willingness to do a lot
of the work.
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mary rosenblum
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Fiction is interactive. I give
you the basics of my world and you fill in the blanks with lots of details
that I won't have to.
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mary rosenblum
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Thus YOUR world is slightly
different than MY world, and you own a stake in that universe. We have
cooperated to create it.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...you won't realize just
how varied your readers are.
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mary rosenblum
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They are not your clones, they
don't think like you, and they have different standards.
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mary rosenblum
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What frightens you might make
me laugh.
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mary rosenblum
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So when you are dealing with
something that has a pretty universal definition...my nice kid will
probably seem like a nice kid to you, and the rest of my readers...
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mary rosenblum
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you're fine. Get into that
character's head, let us get to know him.
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mary rosenblum
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But I'll be more scared of the
thing under the bed if it growls, breathes heavily, and makes scratchy
noises...
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mary rosenblum
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I'll see this huge spider
thing and be sweating. But when you describe this big snake...oh, wow,
I"m gonna catch it! Cool!
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mary rosenblum
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So if you leave it at 'noises,
panting, scary thing'...each reader fills in his or her own specifically
scary monster.
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mary rosenblum
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Same thing with characters
like serial killers.
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mary rosenblum
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What is a serial killer like?
Do you KNOW? You might guess, but I bet you've never had one as an intimate
friend. I sure hope not. So you know from media accounts, autobiographies,
that sort of thing.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, that's what I know, too,
and I may have formed VERY different opinons of what goes on in someone's
head who does that.
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mary rosenblum
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So when a writer tries to put
us INTO the POV of an extreme character, you tend to lose a lot of readers
who say...'that's not what a serial killer is like'. They also think they
know...
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mary rosenblum
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but they are rare enough that
our opinions may differ vastly.
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mary rosenblum
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There are tons of nice people
out there, so your nice person is pretty recognizable to me.
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mary rosenblum
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You are usually better off to
show your extreme character THROUGH another character's POV
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mary rosenblum
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Now you CAN make us see that
serial killer as a real person and give us the squirmy sense that he is
just as human as you or I...and that is a powerful device.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...it is not easy to do.
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mary rosenblum
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Just doing it doesn't mean
you'll do it well enough to impact your readers and break through that
'they're not like that' response.
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mary rosenblum
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It's not something to tackle
casually.
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paja
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using another's POV to show
extreme chr let's the writer off the hook of having to experience all those
nasty thoughts.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, no it doesn't Paja.
Sorry. You're still on the hook, because you have to make that extreme
character behave like a real killer/rapist/what have you...
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mary rosenblum
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so you still need to decide
what he is like, how he thinks, how he reacts.
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mary rosenblum
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So yes, if you want him to be
a real villain, you will have to spend some time in his head. Take a shower
afterward!
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mary rosenblum
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Taht is why most villains are
cardboard.
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mary rosenblum
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The author really doesn't want
to go there, so the character is 2 dimensional.
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paja
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What do you use for sleeping
pills after writing extreme chrs?
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mary rosenblum
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I'm chuckling. Well, you tell
yourself, gee, I'm glad I made this one up and he's not real!
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senicynt
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Hi Mary, When bring 'public
figures' into your story, where does the liability for libel end and the
freedom of satire begin?
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mary rosenblum
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Sen, the person who brings the
libel suit must prove that he/she received damage to his/her life and
career from the published work. It's a VERY gray area.
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lilithangel
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I like the idea of not letting
the reader know til the end that the person they empathized with is a
killer (requires super subtle foreshadowing I think), to give that little
dig of disgust, that UGH, I felt sorry for him, I *related* with him...
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly, lilith. It's a real
feat if you can pull it off, but a word of caution here...
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mary rosenblum
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it's a whole lot better to do
that in first person.
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mary rosenblum
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In third person, the reader
assumes that we'll let readers glimpse all sides of the character.
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mary rosenblum
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The writer is
saying...'I"m putting this person on stage for you, and I"m not
holding anything back'.
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mary rosenblum
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So if you hold back the
details that would reveal this character's true nature, the readers feel
you have cheated and they are NOT happy.
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mary rosenblum
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Readers don't mind being
fooled...why read mystery otherwise?...but they want it to be 'fair'. IN
other words, they expect to have a chance to figure it out, even if they
really want you to keep 'em guessing.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT if your first person POV
lies to them...well it's that character's fault not yours!
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lilithangel
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I think it makes for a nice
horrific moment when we see parts of ourselves in a killer, or parts of
them in us... I agree, first person, I'd wager some don't necessarily think
of themselves as monsters,
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mary rosenblum
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I doubt ANY of them think of
themselves as monsters, lilith.
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mary rosenblum
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I bet you could ask any of the
worst butchers in history why he/she did what was done and that person...
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mary rosenblum
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could give you a rational
arguement for why it was 'necessary'.
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mary rosenblum
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A ruler can start out with the
highest standards, but hey, it's a war. The enemy is killing our farmers
and villagers so that our army starves...
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mary rosenblum
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and the only way to even the
score is to burn THEIR crops. Oh, dear, the farmers defended em, we had to
kill 'em.
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mary rosenblum
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And that can keep on
progressing until the ruler justifies torture, genocide, what have you..
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mary rosenblum
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but there are good reasons for
it. He is saving his people. The other side is doing worse...
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mary rosenblum
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He is the GOOD guy.
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mary rosenblum
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I suspect that the number of
people who DO think of themselves as monsters and predators is pretty
small.
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mary rosenblum
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A killer may blame the blind
rages that allow him to do what he does. Not HIS fault.
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mary rosenblum
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He's a victim.
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lilithangel
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Exactly! I just imagine there
are a few who revel in the thought of 'being bad' or 'being a monster',
probably due to their emotional illnesses as well, but have different
reactions to their realities.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm sure you have a few who
are pathological, but they are not 'normal' human beings.
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senicynt
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Off topic- How's the novel class
coming along?
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mary rosenblum
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It's going to be an excellent
course, sen. I'm very pleased with my teamwork with Pam, who has worked on
a number of courses.
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mary rosenblum
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It's on schedule...we should
be done with it, I think, by the end of the year.
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mary rosenblum
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I don't know when they will
officially offer it.
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catydorr
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do you have a sign up time yet?
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mary rosenblum
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Not that I know of. I heard
Jan of 05, but that is nothing official.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't worry, I'll hear when
the release date is official.
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mary rosenblum
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Basically, you can't know too
much about your character.
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mary rosenblum
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Once you have decided who this
person is, spend some time really creating a history for that person.
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mary rosenblum
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This is where 'tip of the
iceberg' is really important.
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paja
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There's a sense of
"feelings" too, isn't there? Like it feels right or it doesn't.
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mary rosenblum
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Feels right to you, the author
you mean?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, yes and no.
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mary rosenblum
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Be cautious with those
'feelings' until you know just how subjective and trustworthy they are.
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mary rosenblum
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It's very easy to 'feel' that
something is bad, and that feeling comes from other issues, not from an
objective evaluation of your work!
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mary rosenblum
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It is also easy to 'feel' that
the character is perfect...because YOU know everything!
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mary rosenblum
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That character IS perfect.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...to those of us who have
to depend on what is on the page, that character may seem very unrealistic.
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mary rosenblum
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Readers are your best help
here.
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mary rosenblum
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When someone reads your work,
hand that person a checklist of questions. Did Jack's reaction to his
father's order seem reasonable? WAs he too explosive?
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mary rosenblum
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Did you understand why he
threw the rock through the neighbor's windshield?
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mary rosenblum
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Things like that.
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paja
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Like feeling this action is
right for chr even though it's not just what you'd planned/
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mary rosenblum
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Sure. But again, check that
with readers to make sure that they see the same situation you do.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember, you know TOO much.
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mary rosenblum
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You can see things readers may
not.
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mary rosenblum
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I live with my characters for
days or weeks before I begin a story.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, I might start the first
scene if I'm really hot to get started...but the first time I hit a
character decision that will reveal...
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mary rosenblum
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personality, I stop until I
know that character well enough to continue.
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paja
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One of my first readers
consistently tells me what she sees as she reads. Is that ok.
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mary rosenblum
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That's very good! hang on to
that reader!
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mary rosenblum
|
Remember that every action
your character takes, from choosing salad over burger at the fast food
joint...
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mary rosenblum
|
to saying yes or no to a
proposition, reflects that person's belief system, their childhood
upbringing, their self image.
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mary rosenblum
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And you can tell the reader a
LOT about your character through small inconsequential actions.
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mary rosenblum
|
A good exercise is to pick a
personality trait...
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mary rosenblum
|
say responsibility.
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mary rosenblum
|
Then make a list of ten or
fifteen behaviors that mean 'responsible' to you.
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mary rosenblum
|
It might include picking up
someone else's discarded drink cup on the street, bringing the library
books back on time, returning extra money when the clerk made a mistake...
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mary rosenblum
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and then, in your scenes, you
use those actions to make the reader think 'responsible person'.
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marty
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mary do you write about people
you know and build on th char
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mary rosenblum
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I never use real people as
such, marty, but every person in my writing is built from attributes I've
extracted from myself, from friends, from people I watch in public (and I
watch everybody in public, lol).
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paja
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Uncertain about "character
traits". Is there a possible list somewhere?
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mary rosenblum
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Character traits are the the
behaviors you exhibit, paja.
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mary rosenblum
|
It might be recklessness, a
distracted demeanor, agressiveness...
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mary rosenblum
|
shyness, outgoing and relaxed
behavior, timidity...
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mary rosenblum
|
those kinds of things.
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sailor
|
Choice of food can tell a
character's mood, too. After a rough morning, one of my co-workers used to
say, "It's definitely a red meat day for lunch."
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mary rosenblum
|
yep and here we have lots of
stereotypes to use. For example, if you have a tough guy detective and he's
a vegan...this is going to create a real note of dissonance...
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mary rosenblum
|
since many readers will equate
vegetarian = wimp. So it can add a lot to your story without you doing
much.
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janp
|
Any tips on showing empathy but
not sympathy or pity for a character?
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mary rosenblum
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Empathy is...'oh, honey, I've
been there'.
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mary rosenblum
|
Sympathy is 'oh, you poor
dear', glad it's not me....
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mary rosenblum
|
Pity is 'oh, you poor thing'
(you loser)
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mary rosenblum
|
Empathy is what we want
because we want the reader to identify with the character.
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mary rosenblum
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That bond is what makes us
CARE about that character.
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bengalrose
|
What about unusual behaviors
like a facial tict when speaking, stuttering, or a habit of staring off
into oblivion when conversing with someone? Would these be considered
character traits?
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mary rosenblum
|
Nah, they're just behaviors. They
might add a bit of personal verisimilitude to a character, but they don't
tell us much about that person.
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mary rosenblum
|
Beware of using them instead
of character traits.
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mary rosenblum
|
Well, this has been a fun
hour.
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mary rosenblum
|
I don't think we can say
enough about characterization. It is the core of strong fiction.
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mary rosenblum
|
The soul, if you will.
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mary rosenblum
|
I'll post the transcript of
this at the usual place...
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mary rosenblum
|
Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
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mary rosenblum
|
You can copy the transcripts
if you wish or even print them out.
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mary rosenblum
|
I'll hopefully be at our open
chat in the morning...
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mary rosenblum
|
I've been rushing around
getting ready to leave for a conference in Texas and life has gotten
complicated!
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roe
|
you will be doing forum from con
Friday correct?
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mary rosenblum
|
Yes, I will, roe.
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mary rosenblum
|
I got a request from a
regular...
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mary rosenblum
|
and will be talking about
writing in your head, or how to have a life and write, too. :-)
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mary rosenblum
|
See you tomorrow, hopefully,
and if not, Friday at the Forum.
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mary rosenblum
|
I'll be doing an all day
writers workshop on Friday, so I won't be at the morning open chat...
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mary rosenblum
|
but next week I'll be back on
schedule!
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mary rosenblum
|
bye all!
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bud
|
Have a safe trip, Mary
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mary rosenblum
|
Thanks, bud. Bye, all!
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