Showing posts with label character arcs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label character arcs. Show all posts

Avoid These Common Mistakes in Creating Characters for your Story

I do some of my best thinking
while pulling weeds.

                                Martha Smith
Many characters inhabited the early drafts of my WIP: a MG mystery. Like many of my characters’ counterparts—kids—I assigned each character a “friend,” following the example I’d seen so often of kids going around in “packs.”

What fun I had! The snappy dialogue! The endless opportunities to showcase what was on everybody’s mind! And oh, the ballooning plot--sensational! Until along came an editor who, with utmost gentleness and understanding, gave me a reality check.

Each Set of Friends Morphed into One Character

Whoa! Cut! My editor suggested I settle on one character for each set rather than have two: one sidekick for the main character, not two. One antagonist, not two. One little brother, not a little brother and his friend. I edited out the "doubles," the “extras”, and though it was painful eliminating the “friend” appeal I had created, it did clean up the story—a lot. But there was still work to be done.

Each Character Must have a Role

In narrowing down the number of characters in my story, a few things happened.

  • Though my MC’s sidekick lacked other girlfriends, their relationship became stronger. 
  • There were fewer distractions; that held true for the antagonist and the little brother, too. 
  • And then . . . I was told that the little brother would have to go. She knew this would be difficult for me. I loved this character dearly. I had rounded him out so well and he was funny. But that wasn’t enough. 
  • So, I gave him a role. In the beginning he plays a prank on the main character. For the rest of the story, he faded back into the background. Still not enough, she said. 

Each Character Must have Follow-Through

Now it’s your turn to make sure your characters have roles throughout your entire story. You do that by creating a story arc not only for your main character, but for each one of your characters. To use the bigger role I assigned to my little brother character as an example:

  • When he first appears, he brings up the mystery.
  • Early in the book, he plays a prank on the main character, which is directly related to the plot.
  • A little later, he teases her about the prank.
  • Still later, he takes part in one of the main character’s adventures.
  • And two things were added to top it off near the end: 
  • He possesses a secret of his own that he brags about to the main character and her sidekick, which is eventually revealed, and . . .
  • He receives a surprise of his own.

Writing instructors describe the creation of  characters’ story arcs in different ways. The one that has stuck with me is to view your characters’ story arcs as strings of pearls that run throughout your story.

One way you can accomplish this is to highlight your characters’ actions with different color highlighters to make sure they are not forgotten in any section of your book. While creating the story arcs for my characters, I found the dog in my story had disappeared for about thirty-five pages. I went through that section and added him in where he fit, and when he was gone from the story, showed an explanation for his whereabouts. This must be done for each character. And, for recurring items such as a key, a flashlight or a locked door, items I had to check and re-check to make sure mention of them was accurate.

A Word about Multiple Points of View

Editors say that new writers should shy away from attempting multiple points of view. They say it takes experience and skill to pull this off. A good example applies to an adult novel from Audible I recently listened to, which was told in two sisters’ alternating POV’s. There were problems. First, their names were similar, perhaps because they were sisters. I had difficulty jumping from one to other and felt confused about who was who.

The other problem was that unfortunately, I didn’t care about the sisters. The author hadn’t, in my opinion, spent enough time allowing me to get to know each of them. I almost didn’t finish the book because it became tedious rather than enjoyable.

One of my writing instructors dislikes multiple points of view because of this problem. She believes in having one main character that you as the reader can get to know, love and “get into her head” so that you experience what she experiences throughout the book.

Personally, I find novels told in multiple POV’s refreshing. I’ve enjoyed sinking myself into more than one character. But I agree with my instructor: it has to be done right. And as a beginner, I don’t plan to venture there until I have a lot more experience under my belt. But I do plan on highlighting my characters' arcs and making sure they have ongoing roles tied to the plot.

Photo: By Linda Wilson
First Book: Almost Done

Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, has published over 100 articles for adults and children, and six short stories for children. Recently, she has completed her first book, a mystery/ghost story for children 7-11 years old, and is hard at work on Book Two in the series.  Follow Linda at www.lindawilsonauthor.com.

What's Stopping You Writing ?

What stops you writing? 
head in hands

Writer and marketer Jenn Dize asked me that question today in a new 30-day course on web writing--Making Waves as a Web Writer.

And it made me think. I thought I knew--procrastination. But when I analysed why I was procrastinating, I came up with something new

One of my faults is that without a deadline, I write too slowly--not a bad thing in itself provided it equates to better, more thoughtful writing. But when it leads to losing focus, ideas blowing in the wind, and too few projects ever completed, then it is time to tackle the problem.

As freelance writers, our income depends on how much we write--how many reports, articles or books we produce.  We need to manage our output without falling victim to burnout.

The assignment was to face the problem and do something about it. I had pinpointed procrastination as a weakness but the realization that writing too slowly was the main factor stopping my writing came as a surprise.

"Do something about it," said Jenn, who is very hands on as a motivator, always at the other end of an email.


How to Write Faster

I searched the Internet and found lots of advice and help. An article by Dany Iny pointed out the importance of planning. I know this but still jump fast into anything which is teetering toward a deadline. The article, of course, also led me to investigate the website, join the newsletter and download the free book.

Yes I know the article says not to do things like that but the book is going to help me finish what I start--honest.

As I am battling to finish a novella by June, I was delighted to find K.M.Weiland's series on character arcs--especially useful for fiction writers.
Knowing what you're doing speeds up working patterns. Having a way of structuring work helps divide it into headed sections and writing content to match headings keeps it from straying too far off the point.

And yes, I investigated the website, joined the newsletter and downloaded the free book all about crafting unforgettable characters. Well, I need to do that, right?

Joanna Penn's podcasts offer 75 hours of writing, marketing and publishing advice. Plenty of potential for procrastination here but liberated by nailing my flaw, I am too enthused at the thought of writing to stop for long. I did however have a little look around the website, signed up for the newsletter and picked up the Author 2.0 Blueprint. After all, I am about to be an author when I finish my book.

And then there was Holly Lisle on pacing dialogue and action scenes--your story at your speed.

At your speed, perhaps. But not mine. My speed is somewhat slower than that of a lackadaisical snail. My story would take a century to unroll if left to itself. But if I don't know about pacing, I risk far too many wasted words and wasted words really do slow the writing down.

I know what you think--and no, I didn't. I already have Holly's newsletter and free book.

I then found myself tempted by How To Publish More Kindle eBooks Faster: How To Write 7,000 Or More Words Every Day by Marc Guberti . It was free on Amazon today. Irresistible. Will it work? I'll let you know--when I can spare the time from writing to read it.


Useful Websites

http://writetodone.com

For the first in the character arcs series:
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2014/02/character-arcs-1.html

If you change the number after character-arcs- you will find all the articles in the series. The latest so far is number 10

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/

http://hollylisle.com/

For news and reviews of  Making Waves as a Web Writer, visit my blog.


 Anne Duguid is a freelance content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and she passes on helpful writing,editing and publishing tips from time to time at Slow and Steady Writers 

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