This is a short one:
First of all, pacing is everything in a story, especially if you're like me and write epic length novels.
How does pacing play into developing your characters? Simple. Don't get too involved in their backstory. Give some pertinent information into their past, absolutely, but don't spend a whole hell of a lot of time going into this and that. A) Most readers don't care, and B) You'll lose your readers. Do you want to lose your readers? I didn't think so.
The development of your character doesn't necessarily lie within their backstory anyhow. Sure, their past plays a part in who they are, but you don't need to get into their past right off the bat. In some stories this is critical, of course, but it adheres mostly to sci-fi stories and the like. If you're writing regular literature, the development of your character can be fulfilled as you tell the story in present tense. In addition, over time, your characters will reveal themselves in due course, and your readers can learn all about them based on their behavior or thoughts/thought processes, or how they interact with other characters. Those last two sentences are two of the most important things you need to know in terms of developing your characters. And even then, don't spend too much time in describing what they're all about. And again, you can use their development to your advantage by allowing their personalities to unfold as you tell your story.
One of my favorite reasons for writing from the 1st person POV, or even reading from the 1st person POV is because you are in the character's head. Whatever their thoughts are, they become your thoughts. There's nowhere for them to hide. When a writer writes from the 2nd person POV you still get a nice glimpse of who you are dealing with as you read, but often you must make some speculations, and that's not to say it's a bad thing, AT ALL!!! It's quite fine! It's only my opinion as to why I appreciate the 1st person perspective.
Author of the Bandita / Billy the Kid Series and currently working on and writing a contemporary novel with plans to publish soon. www.nicolemdixonauthor.com Follow Me On Twitter: @NMDixonAuthor Like My Bandita Page @BanditaBonitaandBillytheKid Website: NicoleMDixonAuthor.com
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Developing Your Characters
This is a short one:
First of all, pacing is everything in a story, especially if you're like me and write epic length novels.
How does pacing play into developing your characters? Simple. Don't get too involved in their backstory. Give some pertinent information into their past, absolutely, but don't spend a whole hell of a lot of time going into this and that. A) Most readers don't care, and B) You'll lose your readers. Do you want to lose your readers? I didn't think so.
The development of your character doesn't necessarily lie within their backstory anyhow. Sure, their past plays a part in who they are, but you don't need to get into their past right off the bat. In some stories this is critical, of course, but it adheres mostly to sci-fi stories and the like. If you're writing regular literature, the development of your character can be fulfilled as you tell the story in present tense. In addition, over time, your characters will reveal themselves in due course, and your readers can learn all about them based on their behavior or thoughts/thought processes, or how they interact with other characters. Those last two sentences are two of the most important things you need to know in terms of developing your characters. And even then, don't spend too much time in describing what they're all about. And again, you can use their development to your advantage by allowing their personalities to unfold as you tell your story.
One of my favorite reasons for writing from the 1st person POV, or even reading from the 1st person POV is because you are in the character's head. Whatever their thoughts are, they become your thoughts. There's nowhere for them to hide. When a writer writes from the 2nd person POV you still get a nice glimpse of who you are dealing with as you read, but often you must make some speculations, and that's not to say it's a bad thing, AT ALL!!! It's quite fine! It's only my opinion as to why I appreciate the 1st person perspective.
First of all, pacing is everything in a story, especially if you're like me and write epic length novels.
How does pacing play into developing your characters? Simple. Don't get too involved in their backstory. Give some pertinent information into their past, absolutely, but don't spend a whole hell of a lot of time going into this and that. A) Most readers don't care, and B) You'll lose your readers. Do you want to lose your readers? I didn't think so.
The development of your character doesn't necessarily lie within their backstory anyhow. Sure, their past plays a part in who they are, but you don't need to get into their past right off the bat. In some stories this is critical, of course, but it adheres mostly to sci-fi stories and the like. If you're writing regular literature, the development of your character can be fulfilled as you tell the story in present tense. In addition, over time, your characters will reveal themselves in due course, and your readers can learn all about them based on their behavior or thoughts/thought processes, or how they interact with other characters. Those last two sentences are two of the most important things you need to know in terms of developing your characters. And even then, don't spend too much time in describing what they're all about. And again, you can use their development to your advantage by allowing their personalities to unfold as you tell your story.
One of my favorite reasons for writing from the 1st person POV, or even reading from the 1st person POV is because you are in the character's head. Whatever their thoughts are, they become your thoughts. There's nowhere for them to hide. When a writer writes from the 2nd person POV you still get a nice glimpse of who you are dealing with as you read, but often you must make some speculations, and that's not to say it's a bad thing, AT ALL!!! It's quite fine! It's only my opinion as to why I appreciate the 1st person perspective.
Using Your Characters To Write A Great Story
If you want to write a great story (and great stories are debatable depending on who you speak with), do yourself a favor and live with your characters a while. Living with them allows you to study who you want them to be and understand them in order to develop them accordingly which should ensure that you will create a well-rounded character that your readers will care about.
Allow me to offer you an example: If you met a new friend, odds are you wouldn't grant that friend your trust until you knew them well enough, right? Well, the same goes for your characters. And just like that friend, the more time you spend with your characters, the more you learn to love them. The more you learn to love them, the more you care about their wellbeing. The more you care about their wellbeing, the more you care about how they handle their dilemmas (and all good stories need dilemmas).
There are a lot of authors nowadays that churn out story after story, self-publishing them, and the lack of attention they put in to the development of their characters comes through—the flimsiness shows. Stories like that are what I think of as 1-dimensional. The story itself has no backbone. It's fluff, and the reason being is because the characters are merely there for the purpose of moving the story along so a writer can self-publish for the purpose of hoping for sales (of course if the book is no good, you can probably say b'bye to sales). But the characters are what make the story!!! There is no story without characters!!
If you love your characters, odds are readers will, too, and they will give a damn and be enthusiastic to read about them to find out how they handle this or that situation, or how they react to circumstances. Once again, and I can’t stress this enough, if you care about your characters, your audience will care about them also.
I know it's hard, but spend time with your characters for a decent amount of time. I lived with mine for three years before I decided to write the first story in my trilogy. My characters are no longer an extension of myself, but they are their own entity--okay, with the exception that they do what I want. But the thing is, despite having them do what I want, I now wonder how theywould handle a situation as opposed to simply deciding on what I want them to do and throwing them into predicaments and makingthem dance through it. I labor over how so-and-so would maneuver through obstacles--it's no longer how I would do it or howI want to make them do it; It's all about the personality I created for them and how that personality will play into their situation and cause them to react. I don’t decide how I want them to behave, I take the time to wonder how they would handle the predicament I have put them in. I know my characters so well that I know what they would and would not do. If I come up with a way to resolve an issue, and I know in my heart that that’s not how my character would go about it, I nix my idea and figure out another resolution.
When your characters come into their own it shows--it projects from the pages and onto the reader. I realize it's tough to sit around thinking on and considering your characters, especially if you're keen to start writing, but in the end it's so completely worth it!
My characters are now like family to me. Of course I realize they do not exist outside of my head, but they do exist, and I have to consider their feelings and emotions just like I have to consider the feelings and emotions of my friends and family. If I don’t consider the personality I have developed for my characters and have them solve problems willy-nilly in order to move past an issue, then it becomes inherently clear (even to readers [who pay attention]) that it is, well, out of character for them.
My characters are just as important as the story I want to tell—without them, well hell…I have no story to tell!
Allow me to offer you an example: If you met a new friend, odds are you wouldn't grant that friend your trust until you knew them well enough, right? Well, the same goes for your characters. And just like that friend, the more time you spend with your characters, the more you learn to love them. The more you learn to love them, the more you care about their wellbeing. The more you care about their wellbeing, the more you care about how they handle their dilemmas (and all good stories need dilemmas).
There are a lot of authors nowadays that churn out story after story, self-publishing them, and the lack of attention they put in to the development of their characters comes through—the flimsiness shows. Stories like that are what I think of as 1-dimensional. The story itself has no backbone. It's fluff, and the reason being is because the characters are merely there for the purpose of moving the story along so a writer can self-publish for the purpose of hoping for sales (of course if the book is no good, you can probably say b'bye to sales). But the characters are what make the story!!! There is no story without characters!!
If you love your characters, odds are readers will, too, and they will give a damn and be enthusiastic to read about them to find out how they handle this or that situation, or how they react to circumstances. Once again, and I can’t stress this enough, if you care about your characters, your audience will care about them also.
I know it's hard, but spend time with your characters for a decent amount of time. I lived with mine for three years before I decided to write the first story in my trilogy. My characters are no longer an extension of myself, but they are their own entity--okay, with the exception that they do what I want. But the thing is, despite having them do what I want, I now wonder how theywould handle a situation as opposed to simply deciding on what I want them to do and throwing them into predicaments and makingthem dance through it. I labor over how so-and-so would maneuver through obstacles--it's no longer how I would do it or howI want to make them do it; It's all about the personality I created for them and how that personality will play into their situation and cause them to react. I don’t decide how I want them to behave, I take the time to wonder how they would handle the predicament I have put them in. I know my characters so well that I know what they would and would not do. If I come up with a way to resolve an issue, and I know in my heart that that’s not how my character would go about it, I nix my idea and figure out another resolution.
When your characters come into their own it shows--it projects from the pages and onto the reader. I realize it's tough to sit around thinking on and considering your characters, especially if you're keen to start writing, but in the end it's so completely worth it!
My characters are now like family to me. Of course I realize they do not exist outside of my head, but they do exist, and I have to consider their feelings and emotions just like I have to consider the feelings and emotions of my friends and family. If I don’t consider the personality I have developed for my characters and have them solve problems willy-nilly in order to move past an issue, then it becomes inherently clear (even to readers [who pay attention]) that it is, well, out of character for them.
My characters are just as important as the story I want to tell—without them, well hell…I have no story to tell!
Using Your Characters To Write A Great Story
If you want to write a great story (and great stories are debatable
depending on who you speak with), do yourself a favor and live with your
characters a while. Living with them allows you to study who you want them to
be and understand them in order to develop them accordingly which should ensure
that you will create a well-rounded character that your readers will care
about.
Allow me to offer you an example: If you met a new friend, odds are you wouldn't grant that friend your trust until you knew them well enough, right? Well, the same goes for your characters. And just like that friend, the more time you spend with your characters, the more you learn to love them. The more you learn to love them, the more you care about their wellbeing. The more you care about their wellbeing, the more you care about how they handle their dilemmas (and all good stories need dilemmas).
There are a lot of authors nowadays that churn out story after story, self-publishing them, and the lack of attention they put in to the development of their characters comes through—the flimsiness shows. Stories like that are what I think of as 1-dimensional. The story itself has no backbone. It's fluff, and the reason being is because the characters are merely there for the purpose of moving the story along so a writer can self-publish for the purpose of hoping for sales (of course if the book is no good, you can probably say b'bye to sales). But the characters are what make the story!!! There is no story without characters!!
If you love your characters, odds are readers will, too, and they will give a damn and be enthusiastic to read about them to find out how they handle this or that situation, or how they react to circumstances. Once again, and I can’t stress this enough, if you care about your characters, your audience will care about them also.
I know it's hard, but spend time with your characters for a decent amount of time. I lived with mine for three years before I decided to write the first story in my trilogy. My characters are no longer an extension of myself, but they are their own entity--okay, with the exception that they do what I want. But the thing is, despite having them do what I want, I now wonder how they would handle a situation as opposed to simply deciding on what I want them to do and throwing them into predicaments and making them dance through it. I labor over how so-and-so would maneuver through obstacles--it's no longer how I would do it or how I want to make them do it; It's all about the personality I created for them and how that personality will play into their situation and cause them to react. I don’t decide how I want them to behave, I take the time to wonder how they would handle the predicament I have put them in. I know my characters so well that I know what they would and would not do. If I come up with a way to resolve an issue, and I know in my heart that that’s not how my character would go about it, I nix my idea and figure out another resolution.
When your characters come into their own it shows--it projects from the pages and onto the reader. I realize it's tough to sit around thinking on and considering your characters, especially if you're keen to start writing, but in the end it's so completely worth it!
My characters are now like family to me. Of course I realize they do not exist outside of my head, but they do exist, and I have to consider their feelings and emotions just like I have to consider the feelings and emotions of my friends and family. If I don’t consider the personality I have developed for my characters and have them solve problems willy-nilly in order to move past an issue, then it becomes inherently clear (even to readers [who pay attention]) that it is, well, out of character for them.
My characters are just as important as the story I want to tell—without them, well hell…I have no story to tell!
Allow me to offer you an example: If you met a new friend, odds are you wouldn't grant that friend your trust until you knew them well enough, right? Well, the same goes for your characters. And just like that friend, the more time you spend with your characters, the more you learn to love them. The more you learn to love them, the more you care about their wellbeing. The more you care about their wellbeing, the more you care about how they handle their dilemmas (and all good stories need dilemmas).
There are a lot of authors nowadays that churn out story after story, self-publishing them, and the lack of attention they put in to the development of their characters comes through—the flimsiness shows. Stories like that are what I think of as 1-dimensional. The story itself has no backbone. It's fluff, and the reason being is because the characters are merely there for the purpose of moving the story along so a writer can self-publish for the purpose of hoping for sales (of course if the book is no good, you can probably say b'bye to sales). But the characters are what make the story!!! There is no story without characters!!
If you love your characters, odds are readers will, too, and they will give a damn and be enthusiastic to read about them to find out how they handle this or that situation, or how they react to circumstances. Once again, and I can’t stress this enough, if you care about your characters, your audience will care about them also.
I know it's hard, but spend time with your characters for a decent amount of time. I lived with mine for three years before I decided to write the first story in my trilogy. My characters are no longer an extension of myself, but they are their own entity--okay, with the exception that they do what I want. But the thing is, despite having them do what I want, I now wonder how they would handle a situation as opposed to simply deciding on what I want them to do and throwing them into predicaments and making them dance through it. I labor over how so-and-so would maneuver through obstacles--it's no longer how I would do it or how I want to make them do it; It's all about the personality I created for them and how that personality will play into their situation and cause them to react. I don’t decide how I want them to behave, I take the time to wonder how they would handle the predicament I have put them in. I know my characters so well that I know what they would and would not do. If I come up with a way to resolve an issue, and I know in my heart that that’s not how my character would go about it, I nix my idea and figure out another resolution.
When your characters come into their own it shows--it projects from the pages and onto the reader. I realize it's tough to sit around thinking on and considering your characters, especially if you're keen to start writing, but in the end it's so completely worth it!
My characters are now like family to me. Of course I realize they do not exist outside of my head, but they do exist, and I have to consider their feelings and emotions just like I have to consider the feelings and emotions of my friends and family. If I don’t consider the personality I have developed for my characters and have them solve problems willy-nilly in order to move past an issue, then it becomes inherently clear (even to readers [who pay attention]) that it is, well, out of character for them.
My characters are just as important as the story I want to tell—without them, well hell…I have no story to tell!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Dealing With Publishers
If you've written a novel and are lucky enough to get picked up by a publisher, do yourself a favor and don't make waves because suddenly, after all the rejections you've received, that acceptance letter and contract has a funny way of making you arrogant and giving you a sense of importance. But remember the reason you feel that way--because that publisher chose you and not necessarily because you're some special entity or the best author who ever lived.
Editors have a way of wanting to make your work marketable, and when this happens you need to listen.
As a writer who is soon to be published, I understand how attached you are to your work, but the thing is a publisher who submits a contract to you in order to establish your work might have second thoughts in dealing with you if you are a huge pain in the ass.
For example, my editor wanted to change my title. I was attached to said title; I had modeled it after the pulp westerns from the 1800s. But I agreed with my editor that most people today wouldn't realize that, and I begrudgingly agreed with him in regards to changing my title. The publisher's marketing department liked my editor's title better, and because they want to sell copies of the book and make money (making you money in the process) they often know better. So I had to let my title go. And really, what's the big deal anyway? It's not as if my story changed. I might have preferred my title, but in the end, I understood the need for the title they chose.
If your editor makes suggestions, take them seriously. Remember, they're investing in you. Unless you're an accomplished writer in the sense that you've written several books and therefore have some clout with the publishing industry, think about the last time someone financially invested tens of thousands on you based on their belief in you and your work. Probably never. Based on that alone your editor/publisher deserves some respect in making marketing decisions.
And it's okay to ask questions, but don't question your editor. What I mean to say is your editor is more than happy to explain things to you, but if you begin to interrogate him/her on their ideas/decision making, you will not ingratiate yourself to them at all, and the last place you want to be is on bad terms with your editor. Suppose, like myself, you have a sequel in the works? If you're a difficult person to work with, even if your publisher goes ahead and publishes your current work, they may not want to be bothered with the second work and it's back to the drawing board and rejections for you.
As for me, I not only want to publish my sequel with the same publisher who is putting out my first work, but I chose my publisher based on the fact that they publish the premier authority on Billy the Kid, Frederick Nolan, and I am honored that they chose me back. Therefore, I want to stay on their good side and remain with them. It's a feather in my cap that I am not only being published with the same publisher that prints one of my favorite authors who writes about and is the number one expert on my favorite historical figure, but also because after submitting my manuscript, they gave me many nice compliments, one of which was the statement that I obviously knew what I was talking about. Being that my story is a period piece that's based on historical fact, this was a major deal to me, and it helped instill even more confidence in myself because they saw and admitted that I knew my stuff.
So, if you are lucky and get yourself a publisher and a contract, and you've done the research on your publisher (see my post on Attempting To Get Published), make sure you don't grow too big for your britches simply because you're getting published. The same person who made you feel that way can make you feel incredibly small conversely if you fail to be modest and listen to their point of view with an open mind.
Editors have a way of wanting to make your work marketable, and when this happens you need to listen.
As a writer who is soon to be published, I understand how attached you are to your work, but the thing is a publisher who submits a contract to you in order to establish your work might have second thoughts in dealing with you if you are a huge pain in the ass.
For example, my editor wanted to change my title. I was attached to said title; I had modeled it after the pulp westerns from the 1800s. But I agreed with my editor that most people today wouldn't realize that, and I begrudgingly agreed with him in regards to changing my title. The publisher's marketing department liked my editor's title better, and because they want to sell copies of the book and make money (making you money in the process) they often know better. So I had to let my title go. And really, what's the big deal anyway? It's not as if my story changed. I might have preferred my title, but in the end, I understood the need for the title they chose.
If your editor makes suggestions, take them seriously. Remember, they're investing in you. Unless you're an accomplished writer in the sense that you've written several books and therefore have some clout with the publishing industry, think about the last time someone financially invested tens of thousands on you based on their belief in you and your work. Probably never. Based on that alone your editor/publisher deserves some respect in making marketing decisions.
And it's okay to ask questions, but don't question your editor. What I mean to say is your editor is more than happy to explain things to you, but if you begin to interrogate him/her on their ideas/decision making, you will not ingratiate yourself to them at all, and the last place you want to be is on bad terms with your editor. Suppose, like myself, you have a sequel in the works? If you're a difficult person to work with, even if your publisher goes ahead and publishes your current work, they may not want to be bothered with the second work and it's back to the drawing board and rejections for you.
As for me, I not only want to publish my sequel with the same publisher who is putting out my first work, but I chose my publisher based on the fact that they publish the premier authority on Billy the Kid, Frederick Nolan, and I am honored that they chose me back. Therefore, I want to stay on their good side and remain with them. It's a feather in my cap that I am not only being published with the same publisher that prints one of my favorite authors who writes about and is the number one expert on my favorite historical figure, but also because after submitting my manuscript, they gave me many nice compliments, one of which was the statement that I obviously knew what I was talking about. Being that my story is a period piece that's based on historical fact, this was a major deal to me, and it helped instill even more confidence in myself because they saw and admitted that I knew my stuff.
So, if you are lucky and get yourself a publisher and a contract, and you've done the research on your publisher (see my post on Attempting To Get Published), make sure you don't grow too big for your britches simply because you're getting published. The same person who made you feel that way can make you feel incredibly small conversely if you fail to be modest and listen to their point of view with an open mind.
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