|
mary rosenblum
|
Mostly that's the main reason...BUT...there
are some business reasons.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If the salesman pitches your
new book to Barnes and Noble and the buyer...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
checks the database and sees
that your last two books didn't sell well...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
he'll probably buy only a few
copies of the book or none.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your name shows up as new
with no bad sales figures, he might buy several times that number of
books...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
on the off chance that you'll
be a big hit.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And a pen name can also tell
readers what they're getting.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you buy a Mary Freeman book
you're going to read a mystery.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you buy Mary Rosenblum,
you're going to read SF or mainstream.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If I ever do Romance, I'll
probably use Freeman for that.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Mystery and romance readers
overlap a lot.
|
|
wingedwarrior24
|
different names for different
gener's a must?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not at all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's just that my first
mystery series was very different from my sf...much 'softer'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I was afraid that my sf
readers would be disappointed. I needn't have worried, but oh well.
|
|
wyrde
|
so it's best to use a penname as
you start out, while you are still honing your craft?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
No!!!!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BAD IDEA!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You are building name
recognition. Unless you have reason not to, use youre real name.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Readers are loyal even if
there aren't a whole lot of them.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I won't change my name for
sales reasons.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But some writers do.
|
|
lil-duv
|
I want to use penname to protect
my children, when do I introduce it or ask for it to be used?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Writing the kind of personal
narrative I know you're speaking about, lil, I wouldn't use your real name
at all if you don't want to.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Only place it has to be known
is on the contract.
|
|
geezer
|
Don't men's books do better than
women's. I noticed in my library that men don't touch titles with women
authors.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That, alas is still true. Why
DO you think J A Jance, who is a woman, uses her initials?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUT you will get flack from
women for doing that, you know.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Up to you.
|
|
wingedwarrior24
|
i tried to get some of your
books but where out of print, any ideas on getting around this?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can still get Synthesis
and Other Virtual Realities from Arkham House (and amazon.com)...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you'll find some links on the
website. Or wait for Eternity Shift, the next one out.
|
|
geezer
|
So, use a generic first name?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Up to you, geezer. Notice the
Mary on my books? Not M?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'm female. Not gonna pretend.
|
|
speckledorf
|
I found one of the mysteries at
Books a Million not long ago..and found a couple sf at a used book store...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, they're still around in
used bookstores.
|
|
ashton
|
How do you SHOW character
emotion in a "silent" scene, where the protagonist is trying to
sum up the antagonist and she fears what his intentions are?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You're going to need to use
thought and body language, ashton.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And ideally, you have already
let us find out so much about the antagonist that we only need a few
worries on her part...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and not all the backstory of
what he did when and why she's scared of him.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A lot of new writers try to
dump all their characterization into two or three expository paragraphs...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and you can't simply translate
that to showing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You let the character show
what he/she is like from the very first sentence onward...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
by that character's choice of
words, actions, and thoughts, if he/she is a POV character.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you have a character, say,
who will be the bad guy...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you can give him some traits
that will predispose readers to dislike him.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Give him several different
traits so they'll connect with a wide range of people...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
He's brusque and not polite.
Maybe he's a heavy smoker and tosses his butts on the ground or is rude to
the waitress.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Don't overdo it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
YOu don't want to turn him
into a walking stereotype.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And realize that you cannot
give the reader all the backstory you know.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Remember that iceberg...the
tip sticks into the story. The rest of it...that's 4/5 of it...is yours to
know, not ours.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
showing the character. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short
stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can
use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works
better for you..
|
|
wingedwarrior24
|
do long ridge membesr have to
take an aptitude test for the novel course?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As far as I know now, not,
winged.
|
|
ashton
|
what if the antagonist isn't a
bad person, but the POV character thinks he is...what traits would you give
the supposed "bad guy"?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good question, ashton.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is where you filter
heavily through the POV.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
LIke this....
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Geraldine glared at him. His
jeans had holes in them and you could see his underwear. Disgusting. He did
drugs. She saw him stagger sometimes and he always stared at her house when
he passed...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
she knew he was trying to
figure out how to break in.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now later on, we'll find out
that he has ms, which is why he staggers, and he loves her flowers, which
is why he stares...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and his jeans are ragged
because he's a runaway who sleeps in an abandoned gas station.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And he's really a nice guy.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But we'll see him first
through Geraldine's POV and she sees a ragged drug addict who means her
harm.
|
|
wingedwarrior24
|
what's ms?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sorry...writerspeak for
manuscript.
|
|
lordjaw
|
How often should dialogue vs
desc be used 2 desc characters?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In that above example the
description is through Geraldine's paraphrased thoughts.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Here's dialogue:
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
"I'm afraid of him,"
Geraldine murmured to Celeste. "Aren't you? Look how he's staring at
us."
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
"I know he's planning on
breaking in, stealing everything..."
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
"I don't know."
Celeste brushed white hair back from her lined face. "Maybe he's just
poor, dear. Holes in your jeans don't mean you take drugs."
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
"I've seen him staggering
like a drunk. At ten in the morning, too!" Geradine sniffed.
"Poverty doesn't do that to you."
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
WE have shown the reader the
same details and we're still getting Geraldine's filter, but Celeste is the
voice of reason.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And she will make the reader
doubt Geraldine's version.
|
|
info
|
if you're charater isn't a POV,
don't you show by what the MC observes?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's right, info.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And think about people you
meet or know slightly.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
How do you know Bill is a
baseball nut? He never told you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUT...he talks about players
as if they are his blood relatives, knows all the stats, and basically
bores the heck out of you...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
at social gatherings if you
don't love baseball.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You show the reader the same
way.
|
|
moremary
|
I think the above question about
ms meant multiple sclerosis
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh duh...sorry.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, in the above scene, I
meant multiple sclerosis, not manuscript!
|
|
wingedwarrior24
|
I've heard of paraphrasing, what
is that?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not sure what context you
heard it in, winged. I use the term a lot...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
'paraphrased thought'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It means presenting a
character's thoughts in a narrative form..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
because we don't think in
dialogue and if you write thoughts like dialogue they sound phony.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We think in fragments, images...incoherent
bits.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
LIke this:
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
He was going to be late again.
She was always late. They hadn't made it to a single function on time since
the day she said 'I do'. Bill flung himself down on the couch.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's she, not he in the
first sentence, and the quote marks are the software's fault..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
pretend they're not there.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now he is not thinking:
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
She is going to be late again.
She is always late. We haven't made it to a single function on time since
the day she said I do.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's the 'gist' of what he
is thinking, but how often to you think in those complete sentences?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And since thoughts ARE a great
way to get character across, beware of a lot of direct thought.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In fact, if you find that you
are mostly doing thoughts..think about trying first person instead of
third.
|
|
wingedwarrior24
|
does a character or charecter's
take on traits of the authour?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'm chuckling, winged.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The character IS the author
unless you very consciously avoid letting him do that.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's why it's so important
to work on characterization.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you don't...that character
is your clone.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
showing the character. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short
stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can
use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works
better for you..
|
|
budro
|
any thoughts on naming
characters
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good question, budro.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Character names are your very
first chance to do characterization.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I get so many stories with
totally forgettable and unimaginative names. Bob. Anne. Jean. Peter.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sheesh!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Get out the phone book...my
favorite...and start leafing through it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Vladimir Smith.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Carolina Peters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Like the state.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Butch is going to bring a
whole expectation to that character.
|
|
forest elf
|
I gave a character the last name
Kingman
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's going to carry
nuance...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and you can use the
expectation to make the character vivid.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Pity the poor wispy kid named
Butch.
|
|
tory
|
How important is it to give
characters last names?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Very, Tory.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You may never ever use that
last name in the story, but believe me, you need to know EVERYTHING about
that person. Last name is just the beginning.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Unless you're creating a
fantasy/sf world where last names aren't used, for example.
|
|
forest elf
|
Drove through Kingman, AZ and
loved the name
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a great way to get
names...write them down when you think of them.
|
|
tory
|
Oh, I see, miss an opportunity
to give further characterization!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh yes, and YOU need to
know...last name, parents histories, childhood, family pets...everything
|
|
budro
|
I've been saving all the names
from all the junk emails I get
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Hey, I get some doozies,
budro. You wouldn't believe the ways you can misspell Rosenblum.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Wyrde made a comment way
earlier about using the name Bauke Kamstra...your real name, wyrde?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Too bad, it's a GREAT
character name!
|
|
info
|
one favorite of mine is to start
spelling somethng that I know the spellcheck is going to ding and start
looking through it's choices.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Joan Vinge, a SF writer friend
of mine has gotten some good ones that way, info.
|
|
roe
|
If we give our characters
unusual first names should we keep the last names fairly simple? like vladimir
smith???
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a good rule of thumb,
roe.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not an absolute.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Look at 'Indiana Jones'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a vivid and easy to
remember name.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We have an unusual name:
Indiana, and a common name; Jones.
|
|
bud
|
Tennessee Williams
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Exactly. Nevada Barr, the
mystery writer.
|
|
ashton
|
And names can mean a lot if you
are doing a regional story, true? Like Bubba, the stereotypical bully in
the south.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
yep. And you can turn that
stereotype on its ear.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What if Bubba is the guy with
the most brains and conscience in the story?
|
|
ptomainebrain
|
but sometimes the irony in the
name can be fun. I wrote a short about a motel housekeeper with the name
Mercedes
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There you go.
|
|
info
|
where I live, there are about a
half a dozen men with the name Richard Simmons. If we were to use a common
famous name knowing there are so many of them, would we be liable when
using them in a novel or short?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
No. Not unless you made the
character recognizably one of the real people AND it harmed that person in
a material way.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not likely.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now I DID have to change a
name after I'd completed a novel...my second, Chimera.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
No...it was my first, that's
right.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Anyway, I found out that a SF
fan in Seattle had the same name.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Coincidence, but because he
was an SF fan AND he lived in the same area as I do...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it was likely some people
would think I was referring to him somehow.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Pain in the backside, believe
me!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
showing the character. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short
stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can
use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works
better for you..
|
|
glennwalker
|
Do you tell your characters what
to do or do they tell you?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Glenn, I create characters who
can carry on the action of the plot...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and if they can't, I take them
out of the story OR I change the story so that they CAN do what I need.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A real character has to act
like a real person.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If that character does
something totally out of character because the plot requires it, all your
readers know that she's not a real person...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
she's a plot puppet. And they
don't care about her.
|
|
lil-duv
|
isn't that what the disclaimer
in front of books is for?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep..if you think it's
you...you're wrong!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you realize your characater
wouldn't do something...change the plot or start over with a new
characater.
|
|
wingedwarrior24
|
are these characters of people
we know?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't use real people,
winged. I create characters, BUT...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
every character you create is
a blend of yourself and all the people you know well...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you extrapolate aspects of
those people, exagerate them, make them main character traits rather
than...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
trivial attributes.
|
|
info
|
Don't you have to help the
characters out sometimes? I mean, sometimes a character would miss
something unless another character makes him/her act or react, true?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Of course, info.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your character is Superman
and gets everything right, does everything perfectly...we get bored. He's
not like human, fallable US.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Let him make mistakes,
stumble, doubt, fail.
|
|
ashton
|
How would you SHOW what the POV
character is thinking when she's highly confused? Say she's been thinking
one thing but keeps getting mixed signals? ....example?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Depends, ashton. Do you mean
from within her POV or if she is not POV character?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you're in her POV, simple.
She thinks.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If she's not the POV...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
this is where you show the
reader and your POV guesses...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Jennifer turned white. "I
didn't mean it that way," Angela stammered.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
"Sure." Jennifer
turned away, her shoulders rigid. "I'm sure you didn't."
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What is Jennifer showing us?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That whatever Angela said
upset her, right?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And we'll have enough clues
from earlier in the story that WE know what is going on in Jennifer's head.
|
|
lil-duv
|
when you are describing a
character's appearance, should it always be at the beginning when you
introduce them?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You need to give us at least a
couple of visual attributes right away, lil...we'll see that character even
if you don't describe them...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and you don't want the reader
to find out that the sixty year old woman she's been seeing is a
twenty-four year old!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But you have to let the
character show herself to us...and it's REALLY hard in first person. How
often do you think about how you look?
|
|
wingedwarrior24
|
I quote you on saying that a
teacher said, "Writers are born, not made." How can you tell if
you were 'born'?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Winged, let me tell you a
little story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I wanted to be a writer when I
grew up. And my kindly eleventh grade English teacher said to me, Honey,
writers are born, not made, and if you want to write, you should think
about a career in something like journalism. You'll never be a fiction
writer.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I sure wish I had that teacher's
address. I'd LOVE to send her a rather LARGE box of books and magazines...I
have filled about five feet of bookshelf space with my publications so far.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So you know what I say to that
kind of [expletive deleted] comment?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Just hang onto that teacher's
address so YOU can send the box of books.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Steve Perry, another local
writer, one whose Star Wars book made the NYTimes bestseller list got the
SAME song and dance from HIS teacher.
|
|
info
|
CMaybe Jane was right, Megan
thought as she grabbed a pad of paper, pen and a candle. Taking them to the
table, she set them down and lit the candle.
|
|
info
|
can you tell me if that this
needs more of a showing?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
well, I'll tell you what you
have shown me here:
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Something has made Megan think
that whatever Jane said was right. She seems struck with urgency...she
grabs that pad...and determined to write.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'm sure I would have enough
clues from earlier paragraphs to know what was going on. That's fine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
showing the character. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short
stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can
use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works
better for you..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Your homework for the week...
:-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is to pay attention to body
language.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If someone is testy, notice
how they hold their shoulders, what their face looks like.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If someone is ready to
cry...what are the physical clues?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Then you can let the reader
know what is going on in your character's head.
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zany
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this is where I am having
trouble I tell a story and I describe what one character is thinking and
then I describe what another character is thinking and my instructor says
the story has to be told by one person and that person would not know what
the other is thinking.
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mary rosenblum
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You're using omniscient POV in
other words, zany.
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mary rosenblum
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That means we can look into
the head of any character, can enter that POV.
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mary rosenblum
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And thus the POV (point of
view) shifts around from person to person in the story.
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mary rosenblum
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Now you CAN do this, but most
writing teachers discourage it when you're starting out.
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mary rosenblum
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It's very difficult to make
readers care about several characaters in a short story.
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mary rosenblum
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In novel, you can have two or
three main characaters easily.
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mary rosenblum
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If you want the reader to care
about a character, it's better to stay in that character's POV.
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mary rosenblum
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If the story is very strongly
plot driven and we don't really have to care about any of the characters,
then omniscient works.
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zany
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Why it is the only way I know to
write
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mary rosenblum
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That's the only way everybody
knows how to write at first, zany. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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That's why you're taking the
course. :-) BUT...even if you want to write novels, mainly...
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mary rosenblum
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the techniques you learn in
the short fiction course will make your novel much stronger.
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mary rosenblum
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The only difference between
novel and short story is in plot complexity and size.
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mary rosenblum
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The craft is the same.
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mary rosenblum
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And my experience with short
story writing has made me a much stronger novelist. Pacing is never an
issue.
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mary rosenblum
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The novel course should be
available from LR this summer sometime, barring complications.
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ashton
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Is it possible to have a short
story where the pov character and the secondary character become just as
important to the reader? I mean, instead of just haivng the POV character
get top billing in the readers hearts.
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, Ashton. I've done that
many times. I often have more than one character that the reader identifies
with, even if I stick to a single pov...
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mary rosenblum
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but these are mostly
novelettes and novellas...10,000 - 20,000 words long.
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mary rosenblum
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That is a hard length to sell
as an unpublished writer.
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zany
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So I need to try to pick one
character and tell the story form their viewpoint and then I should be okay
is that correct?
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mary rosenblum
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That is the easiest way to
start out, zany. As your skill increases, you can start breaking those
'rules'...
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mary rosenblum
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but it will give you a deeper
story, most of the time, with more complexity since we'll get to know that
character, too.
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wingedwarrior24
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will members alreadt taking
break into print be notified?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh I'm sure you will! Don't
worry.
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info
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even if you stay in one POV,
couldn't you still make the reader care about other characters? Take Where
the Red Fern Grows for instance. The MC is a young teenager but someone
around his age dies. Granted that kid was a pain but as a reader, one had
to feel sorry for the pain in the backside dying.
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mary rosenblum
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Certainly, info.
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mary rosenblum
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In some of my most successful
stories, the character the readers cared about most was NOT the POV.
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zany
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Thank you very much Mary it was
not explained to me so I could understand and I was getting upset so I just
quite doing my assignments because I kept thinking what am I doing wrong!
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mary rosenblum
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I'm sorry that happened, zany.
Never be afraid to write to your instructor and tell that person you don't
understand and ask for more details.
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mary rosenblum
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We all THINK we're being
clear, but sometimes we are not. I'm as guilty of that as anyone!
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mary rosenblum
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If you watch TV or Hollywood
movies, you'll notice how the camera zooms in for a closeup...
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mary rosenblum
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when a character has just
learned something or seen something or is thinking something important?
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mary rosenblum
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You can do the same thing with
your description to tell the reader...
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mary rosenblum
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this is important!
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mary rosenblum
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If you remember my example
with Jennifer and Angela...
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mary rosenblum
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I had Jennifer turning white
and then turning away.
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mary rosenblum
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Maybe this is a mystery, and
Jennifer has murdered her husband and so far, gotten away with it.
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mary rosenblum
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And Angela's chance comment
makes Jennifer think that Angela knows the truth.
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mary rosenblum
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So her reaction shows us that
she has interpreted Angela's comment to mean she is in danger of exposure.
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zany
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I read mostly novels hardly any
short stories so I was writing in the form I am use to reading and didn't
understand the difference. My instuctor is a nice person I just was really
upset and thought I was really stupid....which is easy for me sometimes
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mary rosenblum
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That's why it's important to
ask for clarification, zany.
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mary rosenblum
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For all of you who are
students..
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mary rosenblum
|
if you don't tell us that you
aren't sure why this isn't working, we assume you 'get it'...
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mary rosenblum
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Never be afraid to say...'Tell
me why it has to be this way'.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and tonight we're talking about
showing the character. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short
stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can
use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works
better for you..
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wingedwarrior24
|
how much can be made from a 1000
word short story?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, winged, clearly a short
short like that is nothing more than a brief glimpse of a larger story.
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mary rosenblum
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It's like walking down a
street at night and looking in through uncurtained front windows...(my
favorite thing to do).
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mary rosenblum
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You catch a brief glimpse...a
scene...that suggests a larger story.
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mary rosenblum
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A short short is like that. We
have probably one interaction or at the most two that give us our VERY
small and intimate problem, climax, resolution.
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wingedwarrior24
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can you sell story ideas?
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mary rosenblum
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Nah. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Ideas are useless...it's what
you do with them that will sell or not.
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geezer
|
Can we contact our teachers
between lessons for claification?
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mary rosenblum
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Certainly. Submit a letter the
same way you submit your assignments.
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mary rosenblum
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I get at least a couple every
week.
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mary rosenblum
|
Don't forget...it's not a test
every time. The idea is for us to help you get better...
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mary rosenblum
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if you have questions, we need
to answer them.
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lil-duv
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some mailing labels are just for
mailing letters,they say letter enclosed
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mary rosenblum
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There you go. Thanks, lil.
(I'm not on that end of the operation!)
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wingedwarrior24
|
any markets for begginer
writers?
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mary rosenblum
|
All markets are for beginning
writers.
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mary rosenblum
|
All you have to do is to write
a good story or propose an article an editor needs.
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mary rosenblum
|
Some are harder to break into
than others...you'll compete with more seasoned pros...and others are
smaller or pay less...
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mary rosenblum
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and get fewer submissions from
pros.
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ashton
|
There's no set word count in #7
and I'm given up to 15 scenes. Even if the word count is right for a
certain market...should I focus more on shorter, less complex storied right
now? Because you'd mentioned novellas and how most first time writers don't
get picked up with such high word counts. Never mind...(ha!) I see that
I've gone beyond the "short story" now. I have many problems
going on. I think I'd better save this one for later and switch to a
different short story that's real considered a short.
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mary rosenblum
|
While a really strong, good
story will sell...it IS more likely to sell if it is under 5000 words...
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mary rosenblum
|
and some markets limit subs to
3000 or 4000 words.
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wingedwarrior24
|
any suggestion for a begginer
short story?
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mary rosenblum
|
Whatever works for you,
winged. Read the paper, look around you, think of problems. Then think of a
character who might get involved...
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zany
|
Aston had a story accepted today
by the editor of their newspaper. Congradulations ashton!
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mary rosenblum
|
Cool, Ashton! Which paper?
What kind of piece!
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ashton
|
Thanks! Local paper....a story I
wrote on the dumping and killing of animals
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mary rosenblum
|
That's great! Way to go! If
you'll email me the details, I'll include it in the website update that
I'll be sending out this weekend..
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mary rosenblum
|
I have several new sales to
announce.
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mary rosenblum
|
Including one student who sold
her first assignment to Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
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info
|
This may be a silly question but
if you are working on an assignment and it is required to inform your
instructor what you are planning to do for the following assignment when
you send in the present one, is it a good idea to write a letter to your
instructor that you have too many ideas and need advice or is it better to
let each idea simmer until you can decide?
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mary rosenblum
|
I love it when my students
send me several options. I can tell them which one I think is the strongest
idea. They don't always take my advice either, and that's fine.
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mary rosenblum
|
Well, this has been a fun
Oregon Hour.
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mary rosenblum
|
Do join us Sunday...
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mary rosenblum
|
for our casual chat...
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mary rosenblum
|
no topic, anything goes. :-)
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mary rosenblum
|
That's the same time, same
place...only I'll be down there in the auditorium, too.
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mary rosenblum
|
Remember, next time you're
tempted to TELL us what is going on with a character, figure out how to
show that to us.
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mary rosenblum
|
Have a good weekend, all!
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mary rosenblum
|
See you on Sunday!
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mary rosenblum
|
I'll post the transcript of
this at Writing Craft: Forum Transripts
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mary rosenblum
|
Thanks for coming, all!
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mary rosenblum
|
Good night!
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