|
mary rosenblum
|
Hello all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't have to go rescue my
son this week, so I guess we actually get to talk aobut this topic.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I carried it over from last
week.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
geezer
|
I'm depressed. The publishing
houses I've looked at require agents. The agents I've looked at want
published authors.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Don't be depressed, geezer.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
While agents DO prefer
published authors....they are easier to sell of course...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you have more agents out there
than clients.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can find agents one of two
ways.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You look for new agents,
preferably juniors from an established agency who are setting off on their
own.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
OR you go to conferences and
chat up writers and editors....
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and ask for recommendations. Coming
to an agent with the recommendation from one of their clients will get you
a look at least.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But it is doable.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A young friend of mine ended
up with two agents willing to look at her book and she had no publication
history at all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And she only used the list of
agents in the various market index books.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
She got tons of rejections as
you can imagine, but she did end up with an agent.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's hard and often
discouraging work, the writing is hard and often discouraging work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Why do you think so few people
actually pursue it seriously?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We all work WAY too hard for
the money we make and we all need to have our heads examined! :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh, by the way, I was
interviewed yesterday be a columnist for Pages Magazine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is a relatively recent
magazine that focuses on in depth reviews with authors of forthcoming books
and it's now stocked in all the major bookstore chains...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and is being pushed as their
'what's new' advertising for customers.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's certainly something to
check out.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you're looking for new
books to read, too, it sounds worth it. I know that if I like what an
author has to say,
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'll buy his or her book, and
I've never been disappointed.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So I'll be picking up copies
to see who they've talked with and what that author has to say.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As far as our Forum today, I
wanted to return yet again to an aspect of characterization, because good
characterization...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is probably the most difficult
aspect of craft to master and has the greatest effect on your success as a
writer...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
whether you write fiction,
personal essay, even nonfiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The more you practice
characterization deliberately, the better you'll get at it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
When I'm stuck in a long line
at a store, if I don't have something with me to work on, I just do
characters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is, I'll pick out a
person who looks interesting, decide on a backstory that seems to fit his
or her appearance...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and then carry on a
conversation about something with that character in my head...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
generally an argument. :-)
|
|
sewsteph
|
How do you prevent all
characters sounding too much like you
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the key, and an
excercise like the one I've just described is a good way to get better at
that, sew.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is VERY
intentional...creating a 'different' character.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You cannot do it
'automatically' without thinking about it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that, of course, is what
most novice writers (and many published writers) do.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They don't think about their
character's responses, they just focus on how that character reacts to the
plot, without much thought as to WHY he or she reacts that way...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and guess what? All the
characters seem more or less similar and all are more or less similar to
the author. Imagine that. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The reason is this...every
word you speak, every action you make is shaped by your past experience,
childhood, world view, and belief system.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if your character is
different in any of these respects from you (and of course, that character
may be different in all those respects)...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
then it requires conscious
thought on your part in order to decide what words and actions belong to
that different character.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you have to think about
that every time your character speaks...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
every time your character so
much as reaches for a glass of water. (Maybe he'll go get a beer instead)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is why characterization
lapses in so many stories.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's not that it's difficult
technically, it just requires a lot of thought.
|
|
oddangel
|
How do you deal with characters
that you don't like but are integral to the story? I'm working with one
character that really pushes my buttons, and I have difficulty writing her
because I find myself muttering "you're such an idiot" under my breath.
LOL
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is a challenge, odd,
because if you don't like that person, you'll tend to hold back, focus on
their surface attributes...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and they can end up flat and
shallow.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You really have to find something
of you in that person, I hate to say.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't know about you, but
I'm far from a perfect person and while I may not have my negative
character's attributes to the same degree...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I can find echos of the dark
things that drive my character in myself...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and I really spend time
putting myself in my character's shoes so that I can understand from her
perspective why she does the things she does.
|
|
winterpk
|
so all negative characters r
people we've disliked in reali
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They should be, but they
should also be a bit of you, too, winter. :-)
|
|
janecj333
|
It's crucial to find a reason
for a character to do stupid things, imo. Maybe to keep a secret, maybe
because of a past experience or mental illness. Stupid actions don't exist
in a vacuum.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Exactly. Neither do evil
actions.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They are not stupid to the
character...if they are, then your character suffers from Stupid Character
Syndrome.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And readers don't believe in
him or her.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if they exist only to
commit evil, they're just another cardboard villain.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
idwins
|
How do you stay focused and not
add too many deviations?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's really a matter of self
discipline, idwins, of putting the story first above all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I work very hard on character
and I could follow all kind of tangents that would be interesting with this
character...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but would detract from the
story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If I really love some subplot
or other, I"ll make extensive notes and do it later as a stand alone
story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you ever collected all my
short fiction (quite a job) you'd find that many stories are directly
connected to each other or to published novels.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They are the subplots that
were just too distracting to bring into that novel or that other story.
|
|
oddangel
|
Oh yeah. I'm definitely trying
to avoid "Stupid Character Syndrome." She's got a back story.
However, this is a short story and I can't include too much backstory
without it sounding like exposition.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You're right, odd, and this is
where craft comes in.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's a matter of thinking
about her stupid action.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What in her backstory explains
that choice?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now, what one comment, action,
or comment by another character will allow the reader to guess why she did
it?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can usually manage to get
one hint in there, even in a short story.
|
|
winterpk
|
but villians of our soaps r so
popular...most r pure evil
|
|
winterpk
|
just like cardboard villians
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure winter, and so are the
villains of a lot of escape fiction...the evil emperor in Star Wars for
example.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It really boils down to what
do you want to write?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Something shallow or something
that has an impact on readers?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
How many people who watch
soaps think they're anything other than TV candy?
|
|
sundale
|
Dose every charactor HAVE to
have a little bit of me in them? Or is it just a good idea?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
My feeling, from my own
experience and that of other strong character writers is that to make a
character real, you need to be able to wear that character's skin...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you have to really understand
what makes them tick.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that's really dependent on
recognizing some similarities in that person. As I said...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
what is a tiny flaw in you is
the main driver for this character perhaps...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but I feel that the
identification is pretty necessary. :-
|
|
ink4hyre
|
What if a character is an
animal? How would you express what they are doing/thinking and not allow
them to become to human like?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh, that's a lovely challenge,
ink, and I am always SO impressed with writers who (rarely) do animal pov well!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That requires thinking about
how that animal would perceive things.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If a deer looks at a school
house, why would she think 'school'?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Where does a deer get the
concept for a school?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
She might think of it as
'people hiding place'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
She knows hiding place...she
beds down in the blackberry thickets.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And people seem to hide in
those funny things.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A dog might think of that
school as little people place...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
because he lives with people
and the little ones go there all the time...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
or even the puppy place if he
realizes that the small people are the puppies.
|
|
oddangel
|
In my case, her stupid action
isn't one of evil. It's more pathetic--she's got an eating disorder (among
other issues.) And that's where I'm challenged--I've never had an ED
before.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's pretty easy to
research, odd. A lot has been written about eating disorders and their
causes.s
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And I bet with very little
work you could find someone who has had one at some time...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and with a bit of adroit
questioning figure out why.
|
|
janecj333
|
Do you notice in recent reviews
of sf and fantasy that the reviewer latches on to an element of absurdity
in the story? I'm just not sure that in the interest of being different or
unique, that stories need characters whose attributes border on the absurd.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I haven't particularly Jane.
It might be a particular reviewer or that several authors have used that
technique.
|
|
winterpk
|
so how du we decide whts the
best preception an animal...
|
|
winterpk
|
shud have? cant diff writers of
diff cultures feel a dog ...
|
|
winterpk
|
shud say diff things?.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can have a dog be nothing
but a person in a fur coat.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's done often enough.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and certainly a dog from one
culture will know different things than another.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's mostly a matter of what
you want. Anthropomorphic animals are almost the rule rather than the
exception. YOu'll have lots of company.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Look at the Redfern
series....Jacques doesn't really intend you to think of his characters as
animals first.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They're people first, with a
nod to their animal natures.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And it's a wildly successful
book.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Series, rather.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's just what you want to
achieve.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The hard part about good
characterization is that you have to keep it at the front of your brain.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You need to think about it all
the time, in ever scene...what would she really be thinking? What would he
say after this guy said this?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you don't think about it
consciously, you'l unconsciously put YOUR reactions on the page.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
sewsteph
|
Off topic a bit, I have heard
mention here and elsewhere that Long Ridge is offering a novel writing
vourde now. What is the link to that?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The novel writing course, sew?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, LR is.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can query Student Services
about it. They'll send you the information.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't think they have alink
up on the website yet, sew...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but as of now, you have to
have completed one of the basic courses in order to take it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Winter, I saw your question,
send it up here, will you? It's a good one.
|
|
jackie7777
|
Would it help to keep a bio of
each of your characters next to you when you are wrtiting to keep you
reminded of the characters' backgrounds?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes indeed, jackie. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I do that all the time.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And I add to it as I write, as
I think up backstory reasons for behavior, I expand that bio.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you're writing a novel it
really helps your consistency. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You don't have your character
mention that his mother died when he was ten on page 23 and...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
that his mother died at birth
on page 211.
|
|
winterpk
|
one problem i have is writing
abt emotions i've never come across
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a real issue, winter.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You have to extrapolate is
all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Your charater may feel hatred
and maybe you've never experienced a negative emotion that extreme...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but perhaps you knew this
person in high school who made your life miserable and you really really
really didn't like her at all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That feeling of extreme
dislike can be way in to a sense of real hatred, an emotion that is more
extreme than just really disliking someone...]
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but not all that different.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You'll get the 'flavor' of
extreme dislike.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And how many of your readers
will have felt a hatred that allowed them to kill someone, say?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Hopefully not many. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you start with happy, sad,
fearful, you've about covered the spectrum and everything else is a
variation on those basics.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They give you the 'flavor'.
|
|
winterpk
|
but wont that at some point look
"borrowed"?
|
|
winterpk
|
its a real prob esp when talking
of social segments
|
|
winterpk
|
if i've never been poor/rich i'm
bound to leave sthg out
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is certainly true and why
many characters of other ethnicity or social standing seem shallow.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You really do have to have
some insights into the world view of someone who is of another culture or
social strat...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
or all you will do is use your
world view.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that is going to require
research.
|
|
onepozy
|
So you portray the villan like
you imagine he is thinking
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I think I know what you mean,
one. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, you want to portray a
villain who doesn't think of HIMSELF as a villain.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
He can BE a villain, I don't
mean to excuse him.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But he knows why he's doing
what he's doing. It makes sense to him, even if his 'sense' scares us.
|
|
winterpk
|
thats the hardst.. part gd
research..i've been thrashed 4 it
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep. It sure is the hardest
part, winter.
|
|
sundale
|
How much background is too much?
I've got a pair of charactors that have ben through alot and it's the basis
of who they are.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't think you can have too
much, sun, unless you spend the rest of your life researching and never
write anything! BUT...it should not all go into the story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Think of character background
as an iceberg. Only the tip shows up in the story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But because you know all of
it, you'll give those characters consistent reactions all the way through.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I would choose the events from
their past that have had the most direct effect on these characters...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and let them get mentioned
somehow.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So that the reader knows why
these people behave like this.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your character behaves
significantly outside the 'norm' of human behavior, it's wise to include a
hint ...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
of just why this person is,
say, quite paranoid, or perhaps very fearful of authorities.
|
|
geezer
|
How deeply should one go into
characterization with a secondary character?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As deeply as you can, geeze. I
usually know my secondaries nearly as well as I know my main characters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But I won't bring their
backstory into the piece much...they are not center stage like the MC>
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Still, I want their behavior
to be consistent. For that I have to know them very well.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A 'spear carrier', someone who
simply fills a walk on part...the soldier at the gate, the innkeeper, what
have you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Doesn't really need much
backstory, since he/she might only appear briefly once or twice.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There you can draw a vivd,
superficial character, and let the reader fill in the blank.
|
|
tory
|
Mary, I've heard don't include
information more than once; it weakens the story. But--if a character has
an unusla quirk--say nervous smiling, or easily startled--whouldn't we show
that in scenes and conversations throughout the book? "Her irritating,
ever-[resent smile." etc.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That quirk is part of that
character's behavior and yes, it should show up more than once if it's a
nervous habit, but beware!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One time too often and readers
start noticing it. Then it stands out like the proverbial sore thumb.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Once or twice may be enough.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Do it early on in the story
and the reader realizes, okay, she always twirls her hair around her finger
when she's talking to someone...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and after that you don't need
to mention it. The reader will see it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
dawndancer
|
How do you research a person's
reactions to events or feelings when they are from a different culture?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's difficult to pull off,
dawn, because cultural differences have to do with world view.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The best way is to be close
friends with people in that culture.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So you know how they regard
family, duty, the work ethic, authority, and the like.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The second best way to
research is to read a mix of personal narratives by people in the culture
and nonfiction works about the culture as a whole...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
although I've found I get the
most help from personal narratives. Still, don't depend on one.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That person might not be a
'cultural norm'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that goes for various
socio-economic groups within our country, too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A huge mix of things
contributes to cultural outlook.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But some consistent traits
generally stand out.
|
|
winterpk
|
is there a safe way to go
cross-cultural with characters?
|
|
winterpk
|
sometimes what we write may be
offensive for that culture
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A: Know the culture well
enough to know if you're being accurate and then you'll know if that's
offensive or not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
B: Get someone from that
culture to read it and ask for a reaction. Then listen to it!
|
|
sewsteph
|
Do you find it hard to
characterize children? I read so many books where children do things that
don't seem age appropriate and it is annoying.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's very hard, sew, and I get
a lot of novice stories featuring children with not only a college level
vocabulary, but the world view, say, of a 40 year old adult.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's a good idea to hang
around with kids if you don't have any, to get a sense of how kids look at
the world.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They do not have the resevoir
of experience that adults do, and they tend to react to things very
differently than...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
someone 20 or more years
older! :-
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
speckledorf
|
Another way to meet people from
different cultures are culture specific chat rooms. Many want to learn
English and will gladly talk about their world too. Of course you have to
watch out for the occasional creep:--)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh, good idea, speckle.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Just be sure that the person
you're talking to IS of that culture. Remember...people wear many masks in
chat rooms.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's a great place, by the
way, to try out your 'kid' or your 'other gender' character. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Tamora Pierce, who is a
powerful YA writer, hangs out in YA chatrooms quite often.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
When she was my guest, she
specifically suggested that for writers who wanted to tackle ya.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
(YA = young adult)
|
|
sundale
|
something I found helpful for
developing a charactor is sim groups. Places where you create a charactor
and role play. Thre you can try out a charactor fairly safely.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I've always thought the role
playing games were great character-building exercises, myself, sun.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As long as you don't get
sucked into the black hole of role playing, never to emerge again! :-)
|
|
gskearney
|
Please tell people not to
pretend to be someone they're not in the YA chatrooms. Not only can they
get in trouble, but it's not fair to the children. --gk
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, I think that depends
Gary.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you're out there to
disseminate a particular view or, as many do, prey on kids, that's one
thing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you want to drop into a YA
chat and pretend that you're 13, what's the issue? OTher than that you may
make a fool out of yourself and discover...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
that your '13 year old'
characterization has serious flaws!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's like the occasional kid
who hangs around here pretending to be an adult. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about creating the 'different' character. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word
bubble next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular
send bar to reach me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I do cross gender stuff now
and again...practicing my male characterization. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I find you get the most by
being a rare contributor to the conversation and just paying attention to
what and how people speak.
|
|
geezer
|
So you end up in a chat room
with 30 authors pretending to be 13
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now that's a distinct
possibility, geeze, LOL.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You know, that could make a
very humorous story!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The real issue with chat rooms
is that you don't know if the person representing themself as X, Y, or Z...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
IS X, Y, or Z.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
YOu're much safer doing your
research in the flesh..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You have plenty of
opportunities to do that.
|
|
winterpk
|
one more Q abt culture Mary...in
fiction its ez to get away
|
|
winterpk
|
with characters but in NF its
rpresenting a true country
|
|
winterpk
|
and if i'm doing my own country
how can i stop my ...
|
|
winterpk
|
readers from misinterpreting my
culture thru me?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
YOu can't. Your readers ARE
going to interpret your culture through you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can't help yourself
either. We all reveal our own world views in our writing, whether we mean
to or not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Hopefully, your book or story
is not the ONLY one that the reader will every read written by someone from
your culture.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But you're not misrepresenting
it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You're representing it through
your lense.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's why reading one book
written, say, by an Iranian, will not give you a perfect picture of Iranian
culture.
|
|
winterpk
|
that means i can never give an
unbiased view
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Nobody ever gives an unbiased
view, winter, even when we're supposed to, as in the newspapers.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I do not believe it is
possible to write a perfectly neutral and unbiased piece of work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Bias can be very subtle, but
it's there in terms of what we mention, what we leave out, how our
characters behave and what they do.
|
|
winterpk
|
that means truth is reflective
of what we believe
|
|
winterpk
|
thats not fair work wont u say?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Truth IS reflective of what we
believe. One person's truth is another person's lie.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Look at the religious
conflicts that have arisen from just that.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
"History is written by
the victors' is an old cliche that is sadly true.
|
|
sewsteph
|
Wouldn't the perfectly unbiased
view be a little boring as it is our opinions and views that give our
writing colour?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Even more than that, sew, even
if you write in colorless nouns and verbs without description, what you
choose to include and what you choose to leave out changes 'truth'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Even a videotape is not
necessarily 'truth' depending on what the cameraman focused on.
|
|
winterpk
|
so supp i want to make a
controversial issue rite...
|
|
winterpk
|
that wud take an entire
lifetime!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It would, winter, and it would
take many many stories, articles, commentaries.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But...that is one of the
powers of writers.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can chip away at the
'untruths' you see around you by writing stories that make people question
those truths.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I have been doing that all of
my career.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's hard to take on the big
issues, but you can make people rethink their assumptions.
|
|
geezer
|
If you jump off a cliff, I
gurantee you'll go splat no matter if you think you can fly.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yeah, but that's physics,
geeze, and we're not really talking about science.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sheesh, even there, any more,
you have issues!
|
|
winterpk
|
is ur approach subtle or
upfront?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Always subtle, winter. I
banged hard into the reality when I first began writing that people see a
soapbox...the flee.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But you can bring them to the
same question by a more roundabout method.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I know it works, because
readers have mentioned it to me and some are even annoyed that they wake up
in the middle of...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
the night and think about
stuff. heheh.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Score.
|
|
winterpk
|
i guess being frontal leads to
more conflict
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
No, it merely leads to
avoidance, winter.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The people who don't want to
hear what you say won't read it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You're preaching to the choir,
then.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If readers see a message they
don't agree with...and they're easy to spot...they don't read the story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Why should they?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They know you're wrong.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you quietly involve them
with a character they can identify with, they like and respect, and
suddenly...gasp...they...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
realize that this person is
someone they would not approve of...it can make them reconsider. Just a
bit.
|
|
winterpk
|
hmm...so its tricky to make them
see they arent rite either
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yeap.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Nobody likes to be shown that
they are not right.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But if you open that door a
crack...'hey, it might work this way, too'...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
rather than 'hey, YOU are
wrong'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Often, they'll peak inside.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Wow, this has turned out to be
a bit on the philosophical side of writing, has it not? :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But this is where genuine
power lies in writing, in my opinion.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is the power to make people
who are sure of their world, question it just a bit.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is, I believe, how you
can make changes with your words.
|
|
winterpk
|
ok but as a writer a person how
do i handle rejections...
|
|
winterpk
|
from my readers?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you please everybody, your
writing is pretty bland winter. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You are NEVER going to please
everybody.
|
|
winterpk
|
since not everybody wud peak at
the first attempt
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some will. Others will not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Learn to tell a strong story.
|
|
winterpk
|
ok so challanging a few is
always good then :)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And I am going to have to end
this promptly however.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I have an appointment this
afternoon, so I need to hit the road here.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We should continue this
discussion, winter. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's my favorite topic in
relation to fiction writing in general.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
another time!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
O
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'll post the transcript in
the usual place.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Writing Craft: Forum
Transcript.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
See you all in the AM
tomorrow.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Drop by then, winter, and we
can talk about this some more.
|