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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 morning
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. We're
talking about creating character conflict today. 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 in your regular
send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you all had a good
weekend.
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mary rosenblum
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I thought I'd come back to
characters today because creating three dimensional characters...
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mary rosenblum
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is probably the most difficult
part of the writing craft to master.
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mary rosenblum
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And many published writers
never do master it....but shallow characters really limit what you can do.
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mary rosenblum
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Hi, Winona. You're doing fine.
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mary rosenblum
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Your question came to me up
here.
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mary rosenblum
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If your story contains only
shallow characters, you're really going to be successful with fiction only
when your plot is strong enough...
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mary rosenblum
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to carry the entire story.
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mary rosenblum
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Or you'll be limited in the
type of market you can sell to.
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curseofthe44
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I think I have read too much
Lovecraft. I tend to think more of the story than of the characters. My
characters are always flat. I've tried many suggestions to give them depth,
but it never works. What can I do?
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mary rosenblum
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And actually, curse, Lovecraft
is an excellent example of successful fiction where characterization is not
a big deal.
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mary rosenblum
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None of HP's characters are
more than actors for the plot, but the stories certainly work...
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mary rosenblum
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because of the incredible
strength of his plot and use of suspense.
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andi
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what's lovecraft?
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mary rosenblum
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H.P. Lovecraft is a dark
fantasy/horror writer from the thirties (?) or forties...
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mary rosenblum
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who never sheds an onstage
drop of gore...
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mary rosenblum
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but can still scare the pants
off me if I"m reading him alone on a spooky day.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're thinking about
writing good suspense, I would read him...
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mary rosenblum
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not for an example of good
characterization...he doesn't DO characters...
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mary rosenblum
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but for his use of suspense.
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curseofthe44
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But most editors want the
characters fleshed out; not just a good plot.
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mary rosenblum
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That's not true, curse...but
what IS true is that it is very difficult to do a plot that is SO strong...
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mary rosenblum
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and SO unique that it does not
need rich characters.
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mary rosenblum
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And your plot can be much more
familiar...romeo and juliet again, for example...
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mary rosenblum
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if your characters are fully
three dimensional.
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cherley
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My big problem is starting out
in first person and changing to third.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't do that, Cherley.
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mary rosenblum
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It is very very very difficult
to make work, if you can make it work at all...
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mary rosenblum
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It is really not something to
try at the novice level unless you are just experimenting...
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mary rosenblum
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and don't really plan on
selling the story.
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cherley
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I don't mean to.
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mary rosenblum
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If you keep slipping into
either first or third all the time...then use that voice.
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winona
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how many char's should be in a
short story
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greenfaile
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I run into trouble with rotating
points of view. How many pov is too many?
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mary rosenblum
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If you are trying to develop a
three dimensional character in a short story, I would stick to one POV.
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mary rosenblum
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You can have lots of other
characters, but stick with a single POV.
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mary rosenblum
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Now you can certainly make
stories work with more than one....anything is doable.
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mary rosenblum
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But it is much more difficult
to engage the reader and it tends to require quite a few more words...
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mary rosenblum
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and you'll realisitically have
less trouble selling something that is 5000 words or less rather than
10,000 words.
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cherley
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Seems like I do one POV then
feel the need to add narative
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mary rosenblum
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Well, put the narrative into
your character's thought, cherley.
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mary rosenblum
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You'll find an article on that
on the Long Ridge website.
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mary rosenblum
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If you go to the Article Index
and look under Dialogue, you'll find one on...
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mary rosenblum
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Internal POV>
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curseofthe44
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I write my stories in first
person to maintain one pov. I change it later if the story works better in
another pov.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good way to do it,
curse.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating character conflict today. 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 in your regular
send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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The nice thing about a well
developed character is that you can create a character conflict.
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mary rosenblum
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That can be a strong second
conflict to help power your story and keep the reader riveted.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're external plot falters,
you have your internal conflict to keep up the tension.
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mary rosenblum
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And if you engage readers with
your characters, they forgive you any little plot weaknesses and love your
story.
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jyinxy
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what is your idea of a perfectly
developed character?
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mary rosenblum
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Ooooh, nice question, jyinxy.
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mary rosenblum
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You know, I don't think I've
ever tried to quantify it as a list of traits, but let me see here...
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mary rosenblum
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I'd say that a fully three
dimensional character is one where the reader...
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mary rosenblum
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understands the character's
motivation for all his or her actions...
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mary rosenblum
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without the author having to
tell us EVER.
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greenfaile
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it must be a character the
reader cares about.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good rule of thumb,
green. But you can also have a character that the reader...
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mary rosenblum
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dislikes but cannot help
caring about.
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mary rosenblum
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It's still caring....
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mary rosenblum
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Caring is the bottom
line...it's easier to make the reader care about a likeable
character...MUCH easier.
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mary rosenblum
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And it's quite difficult to
create a negative character that the reader cares about in a short story...
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mary rosenblum
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because it generally takes
more words to make the reader understand your negative character enough to
care about him/her.
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greenfaile
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can identify with? Isn't that
why "bad" guys are not always completely, bad?
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mary rosenblum
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Good ones, green.
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mary rosenblum
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We don't really believe in the
evil-through-and-through villain...
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mary rosenblum
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but the one that's really
human and has some traits we share is much more scary...
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mary rosenblum
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because we believe that person
COULD exist.
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cherley
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How closely should you follow
your orginal outline for the story.
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mary rosenblum
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Only so far as it works,
cherley...you're talking about LR summary/story exercises I assume.
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mary rosenblum
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As stories develop they often
change the plot. THat's fine.
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greenfaile
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Conflict also helps with
character development, movement and progress. How much should a character
change in a story for it to be..noticable?
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mary rosenblum
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It can be very subtle green,
but enough of a change that an alert reader will see it.
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mary rosenblum
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And that IS the key to
story...
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mary rosenblum
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character change.
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mary rosenblum
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And that is also where your
three dimensional character matters...
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mary rosenblum
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it allows you to make a
believable change in that character.
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curseofthe44
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I have received editor's remarks
that the story is great, but the characters are flat. They won't buy unless
the characters are more real. Do I just need to find a different
publication or market?
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mary rosenblum
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I think you would be better
served, curse, to really work on those characters and resubmit to this
editor...
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mary rosenblum
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learning how to create real
characters will help you over all, and this editor clearly will publish the
story...
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mary rosenblum
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if you enrich the characters.
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mary rosenblum
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There are quite a few articles
that may help you in the Writing Craft: Character Development section of
the LR website.
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winona
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what does "flat char"
mean
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mary rosenblum
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It means that the character
seems shallow and not like a real person to the readers.
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winona
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how do you show a char who is
hiding hatred of another char
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mary rosenblum
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Well, think about how you know
that a friend or relative dislikes someone else?
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mary rosenblum
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You're doing your best to
replicate reality remember?
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mary rosenblum
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You may notice snippy
comments, or that person may bad-mouth the person behind his/her back...
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mary rosenblum
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and of course in third person,
you can let us 'overhear' that POV character's thoughts. I can't stand that
witch.
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mary rosenblum
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By combining that POV's
actions (she turns her back on the offensive person), speech (Did you hear
what that idiot Melinda did last week?) and
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mary rosenblum
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thought (If she doesn't stop
talking, I'm going to slap her)...
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mary rosenblum
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you make it eminently clear
that our POV really can't stand Melinda.
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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. We're
talking about creating character conflict today. 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 in your regular send
bar to reach me.
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margieh
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How do you handle character in
short (500 - 800 word fiction?)
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mary rosenblum
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That's a real challenge,
margieh.
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mary rosenblum
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Or course you can't DEVELOP a
character in a short short like that...
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mary rosenblum
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so you have to reveal
character traits that exemplify this person.
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mary rosenblum
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You might have an old man who
snaps at kids skateboarding on the sidewalk, but who picks up an injured
stray cat...
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mary rosenblum
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even when he gets clawed, and
so when one of the skateboarders steps in to help...
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mary rosenblum
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the man's response makes
sense.
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mary rosenblum
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We have guessed that even
though he seems to hate kids, he's really a caring person, and is capable..
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mary rosenblum
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of relating to that kid, even
though he's one of the skateboarder.
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geezer
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Isn't I can't stand that witch
first person?
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mary rosenblum
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In the example above it's
either a thought or a line of dialogue, depending on whether it's silent or
out loud...
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mary rosenblum
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and could belong in either a
first or third person story.
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curseofthe44
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Should the main character
actually to an "about-face" in developement to be effective?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, not at all, curse.
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mary rosenblum
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How often does that really
happen?
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mary rosenblum
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Even an implied change later
works.
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mary rosenblum
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Our old man, for example...
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mary rosenblum
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might yell at the skateboarder
when he tries to help...
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mary rosenblum
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but later on, when he sees the
kid leave a few cans of catfood at his apartment door...
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mary rosenblum
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instead of throwing them away,
he uses them.
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mary rosenblum
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You're implying that even if
he couldn't relate to the kid NOW, that might change in the future.
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mary rosenblum
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That's plenty of change.
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mary rosenblum
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As I said, it can be subtle.
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cherley
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After I finished a story it
sounded very similar to a famous story. Should I change it?
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mary rosenblum
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Depends on how close it is,
cherley. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It's not a copyright
issue...you just don't want someone rolling their eyes and saying 'Oh,
another Tolkien clone' or what have you.
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mary rosenblum
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But romeo and juliet has been
done dozens of times!
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redwagonmaster
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I have a story about a chemist
who discovers an invisble serum, then murders his wife and her lover that
he just discovered also! im having a hard time finding a market. any ideas?
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mary rosenblum
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You're probably looking at
either mystery or horror or SF redwagon, depending on how you handled the
story.
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redhead68
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Do you put character's thoughts
in italics?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't. Italic tends to
'sound different' to readers.
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mary rosenblum
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Now some publishers will put
direct thought into italic.
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mary rosenblum
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I have had a couple of loud
arguements about that with an editor or two...
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mary rosenblum
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and if the editor won't back
down, I stop using direct thought.
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mary rosenblum
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But many writers do.
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mary rosenblum
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It's up to you. I wouldn't.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating character conflict today. 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 in your regular
send bar to reach me.
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andi
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is it alright to put she thought
into the story like she really needed a vacation, she thought
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mary rosenblum
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Sure Andi. We think all the
time....In third person you do just what you included here.
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mary rosenblum
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In first person, she tells us
what she's thinking.
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mary rosenblum
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I stared at the mess on my
desk. I really needed a vacation and I needed it right now.
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mary rosenblum
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OR...if you're using direct
first person:
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mary rosenblum
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I stare at the mess on my
desk. I need a vaction. I stomp down the hall to the Boss's Lair and bust
right in.
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mary rosenblum
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I need a vacation are both her
thoughts, but in first person, it's all internal narrative, so thoughts
don't stand out.
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margieh
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Do you put quotes around a she
thought phrase that you don't italicize?
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mary rosenblum
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No. Never. Quote marks are
ONLY for spoken out loud dialogue lines.
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greenfaile
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Mary what about internal
conflict? Things that go on inside someone's head...like plotting a murder
say...
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mary rosenblum
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Think of internal conflict as
something that is broken in the character that needs to be fixed.
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mary rosenblum
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Using a murderer as your POV
is a tough challenge, by the way...
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mary rosenblum
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since you have to make the way
the murderer thinks believable and we each have our own idea...
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mary rosenblum
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of what that is, and very very
few of us (hopefully) have ever murdered someone...
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mary rosenblum
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so we don't really know.
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mary rosenblum
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But an internal conflict might
be a character's eternal sense of failure...
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mary rosenblum
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we know this character will
never really be happy and whole until he realizes he CAN succeed...
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mary rosenblum
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so when he asks the pretty
girl in the office he's admired for two years out on a date and she says
yes...
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mary rosenblum
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and on the way home, he stops
to buy a new jacket which he NEVER does...
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mary rosenblum
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we realize he is going to
begin to believe in himself more and will ultimately be okay.
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redhead68
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Do you always have to have
internal and external conflict ?
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mary rosenblum
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You don't, but you will have a
MUCH stronger story that is more likely to sell if you do.
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mary rosenblum
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That was the 'sell' line for
me. And for many other writers.
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mary rosenblum
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When I began to include real
characters with conflicts, I began to sell more and more of my stories.
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redwagonmaster
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i use italics for thoughts and
wondered if i needed a new paragraph for it?
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mary rosenblum
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You don't need to treat it
like dialogue, red, but you do need to make sure your reader isn't confused
about who is thinking.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating character conflict today. 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 in your regular
send bar to reach me.
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cherley
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Other people didn't notice the
similarities but I say a trace of it in the ending.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, goodness,
cherley....EVERYTHING has been done.
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mary rosenblum
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If it's only a bit like
someone else's your just fine, don't worry.
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redwagonmaster
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if you dont use italics for
thoughts, what do you use?
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mary rosenblum
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Just make it clear from
context, red.
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mary rosenblum
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Use 'she thought' or not,
depending on whether the reader will understand that it's a thought.
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winona
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what is direct thought, how do
you show thought
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mary rosenblum
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Direct thought is simple a
'quote' of what is actually going through the character's head.
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mary rosenblum
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Angie stared at the broken
fish tank, the dark stain on the Persian carpet. Oh no, she thought. I'm
grounded forever.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh no. I'm grounded forever is
passing through her mind...those exact words.
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andi
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about italics what about if the
talk was telepathically sent
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mary rosenblum
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Yes! I use italic to indicate
telepathy, machine voices, loudspeaker announcements...
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mary rosenblum
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anything I want the reader to
realize is not a normal human voice.
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redwagonmaster
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POV is point of view ?
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mary rosenblum
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Yep. Sorry. POV is Point of
View.
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mary rosenblum
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The character through whose
senses we follow the story (third person)...
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mary rosenblum
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or who is telling us the story
(first person)
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margieh
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If you have a main character
using lot of internal dialogue when would you automatically use 1st person?
When not?
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to choose first person,
yes, if the character will do a LOT of thinking.
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mary rosenblum
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I don't normally write in
first person, but I do if the story is very internal.
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greenfaile
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well lets say the MC is thinking
about it, but not decided so there are "accidents"
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andi
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would that be leading up to the
murder
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mary rosenblum
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This is the murderer POV,
right?
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, you could let the
potential murderer go back and forth...do it, don't do it...
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mary rosenblum
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and that could generate a lot
of suspense for the story...
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mary rosenblum
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especially if you make this
character a bit likeable at least...
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mary rosenblum
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so that we don't want this guy
to do this and wreck his life forever.
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redwagonmaster
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when writing a summary, do i
have to disclose my surprise ending, can i just say theres a surprise
ending?
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mary rosenblum
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If your summary is for your
instructor or an editor you MUST MUST MUST disclose the ending!
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mary rosenblum
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You are not trying to entice
these people to read your work...
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mary rosenblum
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you are proving to them that
you have a solid plot.
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mary rosenblum
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THe ending is a critical part
of that solid plot.
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cherley
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Off subject: What does it mean
payment may vary and kill fee?
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mary rosenblum
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Payment may vary means they'll
probably offer an established writer more than they'll offer you, cherley.
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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And a kill fee is a fee,
usually about half of the purchase price, which you get if you sign...
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mary rosenblum
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the contract and then the
editor decides not to run the piece after all.
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mary rosenblum
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The piece reverts to you, you
get the kill fee, and you can resell it because no rights have been
compromised.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating character conflict today. 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 in your regular
send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
|
When you're creating your
character, before you start writing, ask yourself...
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mary rosenblum
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what does my character NEED
here?
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mary rosenblum
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And then create something that
character needs, if you can't come up with something.
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mary rosenblum
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THAT is your character
conflict.
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mary rosenblum
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Then think about how that will
interact with your main plot.
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geezer
|
And, after the kill fee first
rights revert to the writer?
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mary rosenblum
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Yep. It's never been
published.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating character conflict today. 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 in your regular
send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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For example...say you have a
nice external plot...
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mary rosenblum
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of a helicopter crash in the
Amazon jungle...
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mary rosenblum
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and our POV...a teen,
say...has to be the one to get the injured pilot out...
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mary rosenblum
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to safety. Nice adventure
plot, great millieu.
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mary rosenblum
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Character conflict...
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mary rosenblum
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what if we use our success
issue?
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mary rosenblum
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Kid is a nerd, Dad has always
been disappointed...no football, no basketball...
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mary rosenblum
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is a physical mediocrity and
Dad's say a Navy Seal.
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mary rosenblum
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But kid manages...and does it
by thinking as well as fortitude.
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mary rosenblum
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He proves to himself that he
can succeed (internal plot) and of course he saves the pilot and himself
(external plot).
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mary rosenblum
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Here, they work together. And
that's what you want...mutually supportive conflict/resolution.
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redhead68
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Some of my character's conflict
have been called too coincidental, but in real life it really happended
that way. How can I fix this?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, I hate to tell you, red,
reality is never an excuse for good fiction. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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'It really happened' is not a
good reason.
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mary rosenblum
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If it seems contrived to most
of your readers, it seems contrived, even if it really happened that way.
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ling630
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what if you have a story about
epilepsy the main plot and then you have a subplot about the relationship
between daughter and father. How would you decide which one to emphasis and
go into detail about?
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mary rosenblum
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That entirely depends on how
you plot the story, lingo, and what matters to you, the author.
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mary rosenblum
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A story 'about epilepsy' seems
more in the realm of nonfiction to me...say a personal narrative about or
by someone who suffers from it.
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mary rosenblum
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My own feeling is that if you
wrote a fiction story about a daughter's relationship with the father,
where her epilepsy colored and shaped that ...
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mary rosenblum
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relationship, you'd have the
relationship as your primary conflict/resolution and the reader would learn
a lot about epilepsy in the process.
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mary rosenblum
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That would be a strongly
character-driven story and might have very little external conflict...
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mary rosenblum
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or they might simply be
subplots in a novel length work.
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mary rosenblum
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Realize that if your primary
purpose in writing a 'story' is to tell the reader about something, you may
not be very successful...
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mary rosenblum
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might be better to do it as
nonfiction.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...you can create a strong
story and in the process give the reader a LOT of information about what
you want them to know..
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mary rosenblum
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I do that all the time with my
SF... I always sneak a soapbox into the story.
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redhead68
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Mary, can you interchange
obstacles for conflict?
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mary rosenblum
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Obstacles ARE conflict, red...
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mary rosenblum
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Although you still need that
character change, and if your POV is simply overcoming obstacle after
obstacle...
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mary rosenblum
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you really need a character
conflict and resolution or the story will tend to seem 'flat'.
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mary rosenblum
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Hmmm here's an example that
just occurred to me.
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mary rosenblum
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Think of watching horses
jumping at a horse show.
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mary rosenblum
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The horse jumps obstacle after
obstacle...and there's a certain amount of suspense with each jump...
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mary rosenblum
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how well will he clear it,
will he tick the top rail, refuse?
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mary rosenblum
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But now, think of a
steeplechase...
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mary rosenblum
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We still have horses jumping
those jumps, but they are RACING...and the level of excitement rises...
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mary rosenblum
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will he make that next jump
and will he win????
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mary rosenblum
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The story with both the
obstacles...the external conflict...and the quesiton of will this character
fix...
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mary rosenblum
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what he needs to fix before
the end...really ups the reader engagement.
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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. We're
talking about creating character conflict today. 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 in your regular
send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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The ability to give you
character a conlict that is resolved during the course of the external
story is what will probably start selling your fiction.
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mary rosenblum
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That is a rare ability in
novice writers and makes editors sit up and take notice.
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jyinxy
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i recently read Centinnal by J.
Michner, i found it to be way overloaded with detail. When do you know when
you have added enough detail but yet not too much to where your reader is
overwhelmed and lost.
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, Michener not only loves
his details...
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mary rosenblum
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he has a host of grad students
to get them for him, LOL>
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mary rosenblum
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Well, the best way to know,
Jyinxy, is to get reader feedback...
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mary rosenblum
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It's hard to know for sure
from your perspective as writer.
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mary rosenblum
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When I first started out, my
readers were always telling me to cut more detail.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm much better at catching
the excess in my revisions, but I've had a LOT of practice by now.
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curseofthe44
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So, the character needs to have
specific "flaws" for a specific story?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure curse.
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mary rosenblum
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Ideally, the character's flaws
and what she needs to do to correct them will support your external plot.
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mary rosenblum
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Let's go back to our
helicopter crash example.
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mary rosenblum
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Let's say that what this kid
really needs to do is stand up to Dad.
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mary rosenblum
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Now...he rescues the pilot and
gets them both out of the jungle...but Dad isn't there...
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mary rosenblum
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and at the end of the story,
he STILL hasn't faced Dad down, so his conflict is not resolved...
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mary rosenblum
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and the story will probably
leave readers feeling that something is missing.
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mary rosenblum
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This is really something to
work on because really and truly, it will help you make those first fiction
sales to high-end markets.
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redwagonmaster
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Is it wrong to take a short
story i have written and make it into a book? what if the short has sold
but the copy rights are expired?
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mary rosenblum
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Of course, red! Lesseee...four
out of four of my SF novels all originated with short stories.
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mary rosenblum
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In two of them, the first
couple of chapters ARE the short story...nearly verbatim.
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mary rosenblum
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You are selling different
rights.
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mary rosenblum
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Book rights have nothing in
common with serial rights. (short fiction/non rights)
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mary rosenblum
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Expanding a short story is a
nice way to ease into a novel...
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mary rosenblum
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although of course you're
going to need more plot and more characters in order to make it work.
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info
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so if your short story was sold
(first rights), and you put that short into a novel, it is then first
rights again, right?
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mary rosenblum
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No, info. 'first rights', the
ones that magazine bought..
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mary rosenblum
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are 'First North American (or
world) SERIAL rights'.
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mary rosenblum
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That serial means magazine
publication.
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mary rosenblum
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As part of the novel, you'll
sell first book rights...
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mary rosenblum
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the fact that the chapter or
so was a freestanding short story has nothing to do with the matter.
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mary rosenblum
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It is now just part of your
book.
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redwagonmaster
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is there such a thing as First
North American Book
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mary rosenblum
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As I recall I mostly sell
'English Language Rights' with my books...I'd have to go look at a couple
of contracts...
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mary rosenblum
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Books have a wide
distribution.
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mary rosenblum
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I then may sell First French
Language Rights (just did this), or simply the right to publish my book in
a certain fashion assigned to a particular ...
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mary rosenblum
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publisher in say, Poland, or
Germany.
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mary rosenblum
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Your book contracts are specific
to this publisher.
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mary rosenblum
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And the rights in terms of how
they publish that book are spelled out in very minute detail, believe me.
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mary rosenblum
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Many authors go back and forth
between the UK and US>
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mary rosenblum
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Greg Bear's latest thriller
came out first in the UK...
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mary rosenblum
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and was then published in this
country. The UK publisher had the right to publish it first...
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mary rosenblum
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the US publisher had to bring
it out after the UK version (a year later).
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redwagonmaster
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So BOOK RIGHTS are for books and
SERIAL RIGHTS are for Short stories? or am i losing it...?
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mary rosenblum
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That's it.
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mary rosenblum
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Serial as in series.
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geezer
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I assume that the trans lation
into a foreign language is the publisher's resposibility and not the
authors?
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mary rosenblum
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Durn right. I do not speak
Polish or German or Finn or Czeck!
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mary rosenblum
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I can't even read my copies!
LOL
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mary rosenblum
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I caught that question,
jyinxy.
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mary rosenblum
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That was the preditors and
editors site.
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mary rosenblum
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Hang on...
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mary rosenblum
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preditors and editors site
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mary rosenblum
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http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/
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mary rosenblum
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for those of you on java who
get to see the whole html statement. :-)_
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curseofthe44
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Do I need to create characters
from say a list of detailed q & a, or can I create the character with
details of the story in mind?
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mary rosenblum
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It is really a good idea, if
you already know your plot, to keep that in mind when you create your
characters.
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mary rosenblum
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If your character won't work
with your plot...you need to change your plot or the character...
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mary rosenblum
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becomes a plot puppet. Not
real.
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mary rosenblum
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Take out helicopter example
again.
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mary rosenblum
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If I had come up with that kid
who needs to stand up to Dad, I would have made Dad the helicopter pilot.
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mary rosenblum
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If I wanted to make the pilot
someone else, I would have made sure that the kid...
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mary rosenblum
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had a flaw that could be fixed
by the trek out, not by standing up to Dad later.
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mary rosenblum
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I have removed characters from
stories when I liked the plot...
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mary rosenblum
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but the character wouldn't
work.
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mary rosenblum
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And I have changed plots for
the same reason.
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mary rosenblum
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They need to work together.
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curseofthe44
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So, I don't NEED to do a big
know-all-the-details-of-your-character's-life thing? I don't know all the
details of most people's lives, so I guess knowing everything about a
character is not logical enough for me.
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mary rosenblum
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Welllllll...you don't have to
if you make your character consistent, but if you don't know that person...
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mary rosenblum
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it can be more difficult to
make that character consistent.
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mary rosenblum
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And people are consistent!
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mary rosenblum
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It's a good idea to spend
enough time thinking about your character so that you can answer the many
many times you will ask yourself...
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mary rosenblum
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what will she do here? What
will she say here? How will she react?
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mary rosenblum
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If you don't put some real
thought into it, she'll do just what the plot calls for...
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mary rosenblum
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PLOT PUPPET!
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour.
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mary rosenblum
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Much drier in here than
outside right now, LOL>
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mary rosenblum
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Thanks for coming, folks.
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mary rosenblum
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Really work on those
characters and their conflict.
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mary rosenblum
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That way lies sales.
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curseofthe44
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Did you get snow yesterday? We
got some snow here in the gorge.
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mary rosenblum
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Cool, curse...nah, we're just
getting rain.
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mary rosenblum
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See you all in the morning!
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mary rosenblum
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For our casual chat.
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good week!
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