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!

 

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!

 

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.

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.

The Fallout of Being Published

After discussing how friends/family do not take you seriously as you're writing your novel, a funny thing happens when you've completed it and finally find a publisher who does take you seriously. And it could be my imagination, but in all honesty, it seems as though there's a bit of jealousy going around.

People seem to think that once you become published you automatically get a large paycheck. While this is true in some cases (provided you're super lucky and have a commercial publisher pick you up), in most cases this does not happen. But, that doesn't mean you won't make any money.

The jealousy, I suppose, is well founded because when you write a novel and a publisher takes you on, you still have the opportunity to make serious money, whereas those friends of yours who never truly supported you and left you to dangle out there all on your own, stuck in your head while your sanity waned, will never have that opportunity. So even though odds are a big check isn't coming your way as soon as you sign a contract, you're still in the running for a big check to possibly find it's way to you some day.

Most novels take a while for the public to notice them. Many authors need to work at getting their novels out there via word of mouth, book signings, the internet, and other various, creative ways that involve making your brainchild known to the public.

Anyhow, it really just flat out sucks when the same friends who couldn't be bothered to help you by listening to your lamentations or to offer help in the form of advice during your writing period when you needed it most become some version of a jerk after you do finally become published because they aren't going to receive a piece of the pie. The sad thing is this:  I would have remembered anyone who had been there for me while I wrote my first novel. Unfortunately, no one was truly there for me with the exception of my husband, and he would have received the spoils anyway.

***Be careful how you treat people--you never know who they'll become later in life.