Month: April 2015

Raw

In the Raw

FanTC
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Writing in the Raw...not that raw.

I read a lot of blogs.
A lot of blogs.
Usually the fun, entertaining ones of people rambling about their fun, entertaining lives. Mostly educational blogs involving writing, mental health living, or the latest and greatest of those blogs that becoming huge and circulate the entire planet of the English speaking cultures. You know of which I speak. You’ve probably read them, too.
I read more blogs than I admittedly realize.
You see, when you’re working at a hair salon and the phones forget how to ring and there are no clients penciled on the books, the cyberworld of blogs becomes your best friend.
Sorry, I won’t give you free hair advice. Not because I’m stingy, or uppity,
But because I can’t see what your hair looks like.
No brainer.

As a fantasy fiction writer, I often wonder what people have to write about in their average day in life. I’ve seen such posts as work drama, family drama, life events drama, boss drama, craft drama, and religious drama. A lot of stuff happens during my days….but I honest to goodness do not have the ambition to write them out. Half of the time I can’t remember what happened to start the chain of events, or how it was resolved for that matter.
I’ve always had people telling me to write about my life, but I haven’t even lived my life to know enough about writing it. Besides, I’ve tried. I can’t do it.

Ever notice how some people ramble on in their blogs? And it’s the funniest stuff you’ve ever read in your life. How do they do that? Funny stuff happens to me all the time, but I don’t write about it.
Although at work today, I made a classic blunder. My coworker asked if a client was coming in this week, because she switched her rotation to every other week. So I replied with “I feel like she called and said she wasn’t coming…”
Turned out she did come.

There are even super cool people at the salon I could write about, but I don’t.

I don’t because I know I couldn’t do it justice. Or if I forget something and try to fill it with made up drama, I feel like a liar. Because people reading it who know me (and who were there) will know that’s not how it went down.  
It’s much better to create a world of my own making in which I can do anything I please. No one will be the wiser if I forget a line and recreate it.
No one at all.

But people these days want the real deal. They want quality. They want to know there is someone just as messed up as they are or who have just as crappy jobs too. I don’t. Have a crappy job, I mean. I love my job.

Except the retail one…… Retail. Kills. Everything. (If you could read that in the evil Joker’s voice that would be great).

I think this is where today’s Christians are failing in their witness. People want to see people in the raw. Christians want to be perfect.
And let’s face it–nobody can ever be perfect.
Except Jesus. He’s awesome.
Christians strut about like painted peacocks on pretty pedistals, expecting their peers to fawn over them and their ‘lessers’ to grovel at their feet.
It’s true. I see it every day.
Catholics.
Baptists.
Evangelical.
Non denomination. Like, is that even a thing? What is that?
Oh wait….that’s me. Hah.
If Christians washed feet, visited the lonely, ate dinner with outcasts, and did not turn anyone away, they would be living the example of Jesus. If they prayed in gardens, quoted scripture, and trained up disciples, they would model His ministry.
Instead they slander ‘the enemy’, act like bigots, riot, lynch people, cuss out their neighbors, sleep around, lie, and steal.
Self-proclaimed Christians do those things all the time. Then they go to church on Sunday and sing Hallelujah.
That leaves a bad taste in your mouth, doesn’t it?

Listen, if you could do one thing–one little thing for me…don’t…don’t listen to those Christians. They’re not Christians. They are leading you astray.
They are not good people to exemplify.

If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.

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Note: I actually wrote this lesson yesterday. I wrote halfway through this and realized it didn’t belong as lesson 6. This is a good example of letting go of control as a writer. I outlined each lesson, organized them, researched for them, and still managed to run into a hiccup. No worries. Just postpone one chapter and figure out where to put it later. In our Editing lesson, we will talk about this more.

Without further ado…

Point of View

PoV (Point of View). The PoV alone can set the tone of the book. Do not take this lightly, this may be the single most important aspect (not really, but it is important!) It is the view point of which your readers will follow, and will determine how they connect to the characters.

First Person:  First Person is written from the main character’s (or any character of your choosing) view point. It is the direct link to the character’s thoughts and feelings and, when done appropriately, can be very impactful.

E.g. The sound of my shoes click-clacking on the cobblestone was soothing. The air was cold, and my breath came out in ghostly puffs. I walked slowly, trying to draw out this trip as long as possible–even though I was running five minutes late. John was surely waiting at the coffee shop already. I didn’t want to talk to him. But I had already agreed. Why was I always so agreeable?  He knew something, I had seen it in his eyes–the suspicion.

When writing in First Person, remember to use pronouns of “I”, “me”, “myself”, etc., because you are writing a direct line from the character’s thoughts. Think of it as the MC’s personal diary. However, unless you are writing straight from a diary, be careful not to treat First Person as such. Note in the example, I maintained a past tense, giving it the same flow of a story being told. Now take into consideration that excerpt written like this:

Click-clack, click-clack–I love my tappy shoes. I love high heels! I’m so short, I feel like this gives me an extra edge, lol. Brr, it’s cold out here. I wish it was summer. Omg, why did I agree to meet that weirdo John? Geez! What is with that guy? I think he knows my secret. But what does he care anyway? I don’t even know him.

Notice the lack of description, and the intimacy of the text. This writing certainly gives you a strong voice of the main character, but the average reader will not suffer through this long. This loose and exaggerated writing works well with middle school to young adult books (e.g. Diary of a Wimpy Kid). If you’re trying to write a serious novel, I would caution you from this writing. Editors and agents will not take you seriously, because this is not good writing.

Second Person:  Rarely will you see second person point of view in a novel, because it is a difficult view to write. This is not to say it’s a bad style, it is just difficult for both writer and reader. However, it can be done. Second person is used when the narrator (meaning you) is telling the story to another character using ‘you’, or when the narrator is telling the story directly to the audience in which pronouns of ‘you’, ‘your’, or ‘you’re’ is used. This blog is an example of Second Person, as it is a narration from me to you.

E.g. You walk along the cobblestone street, listening as your shoes click-clack noisily. The cold wind bites through your light jacket, and you shiver.

If you’re up for the challenge, fiction can be written using Second Person. You might struggle with it, but it can be done, and it can be done well. But mostly it is reserved for email correspondence, educational blogs, and manuscripts.

Side note: I always thought second person was weird. What if you portrayed your MC as a girl and it was a man reading your book “your high heels, your luscious long hair”, etc.

Third Person: This is the most frequently used form of writing. It is versatile in the fact that you can cover a variety of characters with your story and can illustrate the world from a panoramic view. It uses pronouns of “he”, “she”, and “it”, and allows you to get into any character’s head–even an animal’s, such as a dog.

E.g. John tapped his foot absentmindedly. The bustle of the coffee shop surrounded him, voices mingling in the air, a never ending buzzing drone. He wasn’t a coffee drinker–to be honest, he never liked the stuff. It was too bitter and reminded him of dirt. But he had found coffee shops to be the ideal place to meet strangers. His thoughts were on the woman he had met the other day–the incident. He hadn’t been able to get it out of his head, even now, his hands shook just thinking about it. She had tried to cover it up, tried to run away even. So why had she agreed to meet with him–a stranger, the only witness to the incident, but a stranger none the less? Seven minutes after. She was late…or not coming at all. He leaned forward on the table, raking a hand through his blond hair.

Homework: Decide which PoV you will use in your story. Commit to the view point, to your decision to write this story. You’re on an adventure, and it started when you conceived this brilliant idea. Write three paragraphs in your MC’s PoV in a setting of your choosing. Discover the “voice” of the character, get a feel for what they will sound like on paper. And for gravy’s sake, have fun!

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World Building

We touched on this briefly in our Research chapter, now we will break this down more clearly and discover what World Building entails.

Setting > Real world or fictional

See why research is important? What if you wanted to write about Paris, France and realize you know nothing about France? For the story to feel real, you will need description of buildings, names of real streets, local highlights, parks, even culture. But say you’re writing fiction–your very own Middle Earth.

We have already talked about drawing out maps. This is a good habit whether your book is set in Paris or in [insert-epic-name-here]. You as the writer needs to understand where you are, where you are going, and where you have been (not ‘you’ you, but your characters of course).

Take Middle Earth, since we brought that up. A vast world is explored over the course of those books. There are mountains and rivers and countries and kingdoms. Each geographical monument is drawn on paper for clarity. Directions–north, south, east, west–are set in stone. As a writer, you can watch your characters traipse across the land and not worry about whether the sun is rising in their faces, or urging them on from behind. The goal is to be as accurate as possible, because while poking fun at the discrepancies in your favorite movies is entertaining, it can be embarrassing to experience first hand. It’s going to be hard enough not to have typos, let alone correctable mistakes in a world of your own making.

Give your readers credit. They are incredible intelligent and observant.

Enough about maps, let us talk about description.

What not to do:

E.g The old coffee shop was directly ahead. It was full of people, chairs and tables. A bell rang when people walked in and out. Jane could smell coffee as she sat down with John.

What a blah description. I wouldn’t read that book, would you? Depending on your reading level, I suppose you might. But I’m going to assume you are educated which, in itself, denotes an intelligent individual. You’re welcome.

What to do better:

E.g. Jane approached the quaint coffee shop. It was an old building, the walls sagged and the red paint covering the door had long since faded and chipped. But such wear and tear did not affect the shop’s business negatively. When she pushed through the door, the bell overhead jangled softly. Voices bubbled and fluttered through the room. It was bustling with activity. The family owners hastened to and fro, stirring up the famous concoction known as coffee. She had smelled it blocks away, that earthy, robust aroma which boasted of sunshine and better days. She breathed it in a moment before searching for a blond man seated alone.

Notice the difference? Good description works in an orderly pattern, whether chronological or in order of importance. It gives color and detail to an otherwise black and white world.

When building a world, it is better to have too much than too little. You can always trim down too much, and a good editor will instruct you on what to trim. But it is difficult to look at something and say, “I can’t put my finger on it, but it needs more.”

Homework: Select a descriptive scene and spend fifteen minutes writing it.

Option #2: Draw a map. ;D

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Character

This is the character development of your outline.

Protagonist
Antagonist
Supporting characters
Guides and/or guardians
Animal companion (optional)

You can break this down as detailed or as simplified as you need, but to have some statistics on hand is always helpful when you just cannot remember whether John’s eyes were green or blue, and you do not feel like going back to reread everything you last wrote.

Hair color
Eye color
Skin tone
Age
Personality
Culture/heritage
Weapon of choice
Strength
Weakness
Name & nicknames

This is a basic format and you can use all or some of these stats. It would be confusing to have Jane’s sandy blond hair in the beginning end up as dark as a raven’s feather in the twilight hours at the end. Your readers will pick up on that. Trust me. Now that is just scratching the surface of your characters. As you begin writing their stories, keep an open mind because even a well developed character might surprise you.

For instance, I once had a love interest turn out to be the evil villain. Who could have predicted that?

Moving on. There are a few fun exercises you can practice to develop your characters.

Create a dialog between your protag and antag. What would your protagonist want to ask the antagonist?

If your antagonist had a hobby, what would it be, and write a scene in which he/she/it is working on that hobby.

Explain in three sentences why the Guardian is helping your protag.

If your protagonist was villain for a day, write a paragraph or two of his/her goals. Why is he on that path? What drove him to the “dark side”? Does he continue down that destructive road, or does he reform in the end?

“What is the point of this,” you may ask. When you try to write your characters outside the realm of the story, you’re free to discover more. The reader may not know every detail of every character–indeed, they should not, some things are best left a mystery–but this will inhance your experience. You as a writer should never stop asking questions, you should never stop learning. Think of yourself as a talented journalist, willing to travel into the battlefield to get The Story of a Lifetime. Follow your characters around relentlessly, get inside their heads, haunt their dreams, become so connected to them that you almost become the serial killer on his angry rampage.

…On second thought, do not get that close. That is just a little frightful.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive one level deeper…

What will your character ultimately gain from this adventure?

What will they lose?

Pain can be a powerful driving force. Readers connect with characters that are struggling. Knock them off their pedastal a step. Some of the most iconic, well rounded characters have a difficult past.

I have never met a strong person with an easy past.

In my new book coming out, I delve into the whole idea of give and take. In order to earn something, you must lose something else, and the greater the gain, the bigger the loss. There is a battle of emotions, the anger against seemingly unfair circumstances, and the bitter resolve to accept their situation. But this is what makes the characters feel real. This is what makes them leap off the page and into your readers’ lives. Do not skimp on the pain your characters feel, do not gloss over it. Explore it, dig deeper, and ask the hard questions.

Are you ready? Get to work. Research, outline, and start developing your characters.

Homework today involves fleshing out your characters. Fill out the description sheet and play with some of those fun exercises, post in the comments section your progress. Do you find this helpful?

Good luck and Dream Big!