Why is my character unstable?
This is a sensible question really. Knowing I’m in the middle of editing one book and getting it ready to be published and that I already have two wip’s that need a lot of polish, I’ve decided to not start drafting any other stories until after I move in January. This means getting familiar again with a work in progress that I thought I had put aside for the time being.
There are a lot of problems with this work in progress but the one I’m trying to sort out first goes by the name Derrick. Derrick is a ridiculous name and I know it isn’t right but that is his name for the time being and that is the least of this particular characters problems.
See, Derrick starts out in the very opening scene as a very impressive and strong, if emotionally immature, young man. It is a great scene where he lords his power as a mage over a group of commoners (or non-magic users). It really sets the tone for how the world works and all and all that particular scene works.
Jump a half-dozen chapters further a long. Oh. What is Derrick doing? He is playing a childish prank on someone a lot stronger than him and then running away. If you are wondering why the scene actually serves to show the other character’s explosive temper which is kind of an important part of the plot later on but Derrick’s actions do not make sense. Not if he is the same Derrick who appeared back in chapter one.
Skip ahead again. Now what is he doing? He’s giving the best friend, morale boosting speech to someone who was about to collapse. He is thoughtful and well-spoken and considerate. No. It can’t be the same character.
And so on.
Poor Derrick is facing an identity crisis. More importantly, I am facing a crisis. All of these scenes are important to the plot but the character makes no sense at all and his progression is random. Actually, his progression is simple. I need a character to do this to cause that. Throw him in. That seems to be how he has gone along and that does not work. Yes, he is a minor character in the grand scheme of things but that is no excuse for not plotting out a logical character arc. I’m either going to have to figure a way for Derrick to do all the things he needs to do, in a way that allows him to stay true to his character, or I’m going to have to find someone else to fill the spot in the scene, someone who makes sense.
Poor Derrick.
Warning, False Alarm
I don’t think anybody likes alarms. They wail and shriek and give you a headache and more often than not they serve no purpose because the alarm was being tested or it went off because of a fault. That said, we aren’t likely to get rid of alarms in a hurry. Despite all the false alarms there is a small chance that this time it is in your best interest to listen and to respond.
Warnings are another thing I don’t like. Particularly on the computer. Warning, this site is insecure. Warning, you are about to send your details etc. I wouldn’t mind so much if these warnings came up when I was genuinely doing something stupid but they always appear when I’m actually playing it safe. When I do something stupid they just let me.
My latest pet hate is the battery warning. “Warning, your cordless mouse’s batteries are critical.” They’ve now been critical for over a week and they still haven’t died. Last time I continued to use the mouse for about a month and a half with the warning up before the batteries actually stopped working. It is irritating. I just start ignoring all messages flashing in the corner of my screen assuming it is just the same old false alarm. As such I probably miss a few important messages and more importantly, when the batteries are actually critical I won’t know it until the mouse actually stops mid-click.
It is the same in stories. False alarms can raise the tension levels, certainly Jaws proved that. Building up and then having nothing happen will keep people guessing and wondering what comes next. If you do it too often, they become emotionally immune to the tactic.
Computer, I am ignoring your warnings. Which means I will be unprepared when something actually does happen and I will be unhappy with the results regardless of how it turns out. I don’t want my reader feeling the same way about my story.
10 Reasons Why Movies Are Better Than Books
So last week I shared my thoughts on why books are better than movies. The post was mostly in response to people who ask me why I bother to read since you can just wait for the movie watch the story faster and with less effort. I had ten very good reasons and in the comments left there were probably another ten mentioned. That said, I love movies as well. Not enough that I would ever give up books, but enough that I realise that some stories are better told on the screen than on the pages.
And that is really the whole point. Juliet Boyd did a follow up to my post asking why we would expect books to make good movies and she raises some excellent points. With that said I would like to jump into my ten reasons why movies are better than books (sometimes).
1. Visually movies are more appealing. To many people a page of text is daunting and dull and they are automatically locked out from accessing the story. Stories are more accessible to a larger number of people in movie form than as books.
2. Leif Motifs – you know the music that plays as one particular character comes on screen. It tells us the bad guy is coming or that the hero is entering the fray and whether we like it or not it gives us a slight emotional charge that just isn’t there when you read it in a book. If you want the perfect example of this, watch Star Wars. Luke Skywalker comes on screen, cue either the wistful music or the hero music. Darth Vadar appears and we have the strong military beat. Han Solo and we get a sense of whimsy and so on.
3. Time is of the essence – I read a lot and I read fast but if I were to spend my entire weekend doing nothing but reading I’d be pushing to finish three novels (admittedly I read fantasy and they tend to be huge but still). If I spend the entire weekend watching movies (unless I’m watching Lord of the Rings or something equally epic) I can probably knock over about twelve movies. Movies skip out a lot of detail that appears in books, plus they don’t need to describe scenes to you, they just flash a picture and move on. They are quicker in conveying the story.
4. Special Effects – Now it has been pointed out that our imagination has no limitations and special effects do so things that sound really good in books sometimes look quite ridiculous in movies. However, my imagination is limited by my sense of reality and so when a book has a car crash I see a little ding and a bit of broken glass, where as a movie will usually just blow the car up in a spectacular show of carnage. Logically I know the car probably wouldn’t blow up but watching it on the screen I can go with it. Reading about it, I will usually tone it down.
5. The social aspect – You can go to the movies with your friends (and if you don’t mind the evil glares you can talk while watching). More importantly, you can watch a movie at home with everyone gathered in the one room chatting and eating and it is a very social experience. I don’t know about you, but when I read, I read. I’ve had people steal the book out of my hands, throw water at me and clap their hands over my eyes to get my attention while I’m reading. It isn’t a social event.
6. Okay I waited until number six for this one and that was very restrained of me. Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp, Antonio Banderes, etc, etc, etc. Don’t tell me you’ve never chosen a movie just because you thought the main actor was cute. Technically this is part of the visual appeal but I felt it needed to be separate.
7. Action sequences – yes you can read action sequences but I find them quite dull. Particularly sword fights. Please do not describe everything single thrust and parry to me if you expect me to still be reading by the time the battle is over. However, in movies… they define the show don’t tell theory. It is a lot more exciting to watch a sword fight than to read a blow by blow commentary on a sword fight.
8. Previews – I hope I’m not the only person who does this, but I love previews. Half the fun of going to the movies, or renting a movie, is to watch previews and to find out about other movies. Sometimes books have other books by the same author or publisher listed, but they aren’t quite as exciting as movies. I was wondering if now with ebooks and readers whether they could start putting book trailers with books and that would be almost the same but maybe they can’t. I don’t know.
9. Jaws. Read the book. Watch the movie. Toss the book. That is kind of cruel given it is beautifully written but the love triangle is dull and all of the character development takes away from the thrills. The movie focused entirely on the suspense and the thrill and nailed it. The book, for once, was too cluttered. Sorry to anyone who loved reading the book.
10. I kind of ran out at nine so ten is going to frozen coke which I always drink at the movies. I don’t drink it when reading because the condensation leaves water marks on the pages of the book. If you can think of a tenth, be sure to add it.
Tell me your reasons why movies are better.
Writing Lessons From Reading Pratchett
A couple of weeks ago I did a post about writing lessons I learned from reading Ann Bishop. While I was writing that post I realised that every book I read teaches me something about writing and I started to think about some of my other favourite writers.
Terry Pratchett writes the Discworld series and they are an incredible collection of books with some of the best fantasy characters, interesting plots and settings, and a hilariously satirical look at life. Most readers of the series agree that they prefer some books over others. For me, I like the stories that revolve around the witches, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. These are two of my favourite characters. Strangely enough neither actually appear in my favourite Pratchett story, The Truth. One of my friends prefers the stories involving the night watch in Ank-Morpork and I find these the least interesting.
What I have I learned from reading Pratchett?
- Just because it is a serious situation doesn’t mean you have to take it seriously. With the number of times the discworld has almost ceased to exist and the perils that the characters are constantly placed in, if any of it was taken seriously this would be a very dark, very depressing series to read. Instead, the more dire the situation, the more inexplicably ridiculous the solution is likely to be and yet it makes a certain kind of sense.
- Creating diverse characters and developing them fully allows you to tap into diverse readership. While I don’t like the guards so much, I read the stories because they are still well constructed characters, but I love the witches. My friend isn’t a fan of the witches and prefers the guards. Other people I know love the stories about Death and his grand-daughter. We all read the same books but we are all reading for a different reason.
- When creating a realistic fantasy world, all five senses have to be engaged. If you ever read any discworld novel and read a description of Ank-Morpork you would know that Pratchett is brilliant at this. He really brings the place to life, particularly the smell. Some of his descriptions of smell leave you literally gagging.
- If you aren’t Terry Pratchett, don’t try to write like Terry Pratchett. This one I didn’t learn from Pratchett but I did learn from reading many poor imitations of his stories. Very much like the Harry Potter phenomenon where suddenly there were dozens of knock-offs there are hundreds of want-to-be Pratchett’s. I might learn a few things from reading Pratchett but I don’t intend to try to copy his style. It is definitely his.
Notes From The Past
At the moment I have seven notebooks on my desk – and many bits of paper with various things scribbled on them. Beside my bed I know I have at least three notebooks and on the table and fridge I have several more. Most of them are old and tattered with pages falling out because I’ve torn so many pages free. One of those pages is now floating loose across my desk and has quite a good outline for a new writing project on it.
I possibly should file these things but strangely enough things put in my filing cabinet tend to stay there and they never actually get acted upon. Bits of paper floating across my desk are far more likely to float to the surface and should they do that just when I’m ready for an idea… More importantly, I know when I’m looking for something it is on my desk and I will find it if I just turn over enough pages.
One of these notes that floated to the surface today has a couple of things written on it. On one side I have a list of names, some with meanings attached to them. Beside that, but written upside down, I have a list of rankings that I was thinking of using in a story. Turn the paper over and I have another list of names, most of which are crossed out and underneath that I have the very useful note: Arrives, Fights, Flash-back, End of Fight, Move on. Fantastically useful.
Actually it is a fairly important bit of paper and now that I have found it again I’m going stick it in my dictionary so I don’t lose it. The notes were written over a two day period as I was working on other things and I just pulled the paper out of my pocket and scribbled down the ideas as they came to mind. They all relate to one of my WIP’s that wasn’t really working the way I needed it to. I was mulling things over in my mind and random ideas kept popping out so I was just adding them wherever there was space on the paper.
Should I have all my notes for one project together? Probably but I’d rather spend my time writing the draft then filling the paperwork and if I desperately need one of my notes I know I will find it sooner or later. Besides, just by writing it down I tend to remember the most important parts.
Question to the writer’s out there: Do you organise your notes or do you let them float across the desk?
Call for Writers
This is a quick call out to all the writers out there (published or not). Basically I am wanting to run a series of posts called “Writing Is…” and I am looking for some willing writers to contribute a short post (approx 250 words) to the series.
If you are interested in contributing please email me: cassandra.jade.author@gmail.com
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Reflections on the Week That Was 3
Another exciting, if ridiculously hot, week over and this one was fantastic for me. I finally finished the rewrites and revisions of my novel (for the time being, there are sure to be more coming) and I’ve had the pleasure of reading some fantastic writing advice. I look forward to what the next week is going to bring me.
The Recommended Read:
Jonathan Danz shares his advice on Writing Magic In Fantasy Fiction – not so useful to non-fantasy writer’s, but a must read for anyone writing fantasy as it includes some great links and great advice.
Posts from my blog this week:
Magic in Fantasy – why I love magic and why I know my current WIP is not magical.
10 Reasons Why Books Are Better Than Movies (stay tuned, next week I tell you why movies are better than books).
I share my top ‘This Is Not Editing‘ moments.
The poll results are finally in – Avoiding Writer’s Block
From the Book Shelf – Discussion about John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began.
Who says stereotypes are bad? Discussion about the use of stereotypes for character creation.
Posts I found useful:
Kathleen Noud shared her advice on Making Action Scenes Matter (technically this was last week but this is when I found it).
Eliza Wyatt asks why novels don’t have pictures in Silly Children – Pictures Are For Grown-Ups.
Pat Bertram shares his thoughts. What do you do when you have too much background information?
Wise Sloth gives us four simple formula plot templates.
Lee on Angry Robot provides some tips to the being Pitch Perfect.
Scifialien discusses the importance of defining your audience in Name That Audience.
Carolyn Hayes Uber shares some insight on copyright in The Non-Case of the Stolen Manuscript.
As always, feel free to add links if you’ve found some great sites this week.
Who Says Stereotypes Are Bad?
Well, I guess most people you talk to will tell you that stereotypes are bad. Then again, I’m always reminded of a Dilbert comic by Scott Adams where he introduced a new female character. Scott Adams wrote a note in one of his books that he was later inundated with emails telling him she was too stereotypical. Now this is a female character who was extremely insecure, cracked under pressure and was personally insulted by anything a male said to her. I find it odd that people found this character ‘too’ stereotypical. I don’t know any women like this. Certainly some share a little of one of her traits, but any person who acts like this character would be nearly impossible to deal with.
It was on reading about this situation Scott Adams found himself in that I realised there was no point in worrying if a character is a stereotype or not. What one person sees as stereotypical, or ‘generalising’, or type casting, or whatever, can be taken an entirely different way by another. You’re never going to please everyone so trying to create a totally new character that has no stereotypical attributes is a waste of time and next to impossible.
Instead of worrying about whether my characters are stereotypical I focus on whether they are believable. I look at whether they are consistent. I decide whether they are interesting. These things matter far more than whatever label someone will later smear across them.
That said, stereotypes are good in that they allow you to create a diverse cast. By creating simple labels (for much more complex and interesting characters) you can ensure that you have diversity and within the characters and that they will interact well (or at least in interesting ways). Doing this also allows you to see the lack of realism in some of your choices. A tom-boyish girl is not going to be best friends with the ballerina (unless there is a lot of history that is nicely explained as to the why).
3 things I try to remember:
1. Stereotypes can give you a good starting point or an easy guide to work with.
2. If your character never advances beyond a two-dimensional stereotype they are probably going to be boring anyway.
3. Stereotypes exist for a reason, but they also need to be reimagined to keep originality and interest in a story.
What are your thoughts about stereotypes?
From The Book Shelf – Tomorrow, When The War Began
I’m not usually a big fan of book reviews because I think tastes are fairly subjective so even though I’ve called this a review it is more a discussion about a book.
Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden
Cover
There are a few reasons why I decided to discuss this particular book. Firstly, it is Australian, set in Australia, and while it is realistic in its portrayal of Australia and Australians it has enough fantastic elements to keep me interested. Secondly, the main character and narrator is female and extremely interesting. Thirdly, despite not liking having to read multiple books to get the whole story, this seven book series is well worth reading, multiple times for sheer enjoyment.
This series is about Australia being invaded by an unnamed enemy (though the description given at times would seem to indicate a few ideas about who the invaders may be). The politicians have bailed out of Australia, flying to New Zealand and America to hide and none of Australia’s allies seem inclined to intervene.
Elle, our narrator, is a teenage girl who decides not to go to her town’s annual show and instead sets off with a group of her friends to go camping for the weekend. By doing so, the group of them are not rounded up and captured when the invasion occurs.
The story recounts Elle’s initial fear and surprise and then determination as she and her friends learn what has happened and then set about attempting to disrupt the enemy, possibly free some of their friends, and to survive. Things don’t all go Elle’s way and this story at no time assumes that untrained teenagers would run rings around armed soldiers. Marsden was sensible in choosing a country town where the kids grew up on farms and had a slew of practical skills, working with machinery and minor explosives prior to the war.
I said initially that I like this story for three reasons. The Australian setting is one of them. The setting varies between extreme scrub, farmland, rocky valleys and small towns and each setting is described beautifully and they are all believable. It really felt as though you could drive out to the town and walk into the mountains and actually find the rocky basin the teens nick-name ‘hell’. This setting is used to great effect providing shelter for the teens and a means of out smarting, and out hiding, the enemy when things get rough as well as isolating them and creating its own dangers.
The second reason is Elle. She is an incredibly detailed character. As a farm girl she is tough but she is emotional and loyal to her friends. She is recounting the story (writing it down on behalf of the group) and she is brutally honest in her reflection. As a reader you can forget at times that this isn’t a real recount, it is simply a story. Elle is a phenomenal character and one I couldn’t get enough of when I first read this series. If you get far enough along, you will genuinely cry at some of the things that befall her (trust me on this one).
Finally, the story is incredible. The plot has been worked over until it feels completely seemless. Maybe some people will have a hard time believing teenagers are actually capable of doing more than watching television, but if you get over this, the story is amazing.
Tomorrow, When The War Began – very much worth the read.
Avoiding Writer’s Block
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been taking a poll and doing a lot of research on the idea of writer’s block, trying to come up with a list of helpful strategies to overcome it. Much of my research has included the blogs of other writer’s who hold various opinions, everything from writer’s block being an excuse to being a genuine problem that needs extensive work to overcome. For most of us, writer’s block just means we are stuck on a particular part of a particular story and from most of what I’ve read and discussed, most writers have their own means and ways of getting around this tricky block.
Poll Results
From the vote, writing anyway and other came up even with six votes each. Really needed a few more people to take the poll for the results to be statistically meaningful but we’ll just make do with what we have. Our six other votes each came with a brief descriptor with two of the others claiming they will write something else for awhile, one suggested staying up late, one suggested editing, another suggested a combination of several of the options, and the final vote was to use a creative headspace activity.
I found it interesting that no one nominated exercise or eating and very few suggested talking with people. For short term writer’s block these are always my first stops. A quick walk around the block, having a snack, or just chatting to someone can jog my mind and usually I’ll race back to the computer and keep going. If it doesn’t I end up resorting to writing something else, editing something or, if I’ve accomplished some writing, calling it a day and reading or watching television.
What did become obvious is that every person who writes will face some sort of block at some stage. Either because they are distracted, or they’ve run into an unforseen plot problem, or a character isn’t working the way they should, and there is no obvious solution. I may not have uncovered some fantastic sure fire way of overcoming writer’s block, but I did come across many things that most people will agree won’t help.
Ways to not get over writer’s block:
1. Sulk
2. Avoid the computer and shut yourself away for days
3. Complain bitterly to anyone who will listen about why you can’t write the next sentence
4. Stare listlessly at the WIP waiting for inspiration to strike
5. Anything that involves banging your head hard against something.
Feel free in the comments to suggest your way of overcoming writer’s block, or reason why writer’s block doesn’t exist, or ways to not overcome writer’s block, etc.
