So many stories…so little time

I’m not sure if other writers have this problem but this past week, I’ve had some issues with figuring out which story to write.

It reminds me of how you throw more than one ball to a dog, and it doesn’t catch any of them. Yeah, kind of like that.

Organizing is helping, but I’m a typical Libra who waffles between decisions trying to find the best choices. Should I go with the short story, the non-fiction, or should I finish the stuff I already started?

I suppose I should let the Creative Muse decide for me; this way, I’ll be bursting with words. Or one would hope. She often abandons me without warning.

So far I organize with the following tips;

- I setup each novel with its own folder. All notes, character biographies, and plot outlines get stuffed in there.

- Any file I want to work on, I add the ! (exclamation point) in front of the word. For instance, !ThisBook. Why? Because it puts this at the top of the alphabetized list.

- I don’t always write from the beginning. When I have issues where I’m not entirely sure where the story beings, I just start writing. Eventually, the plot will reveal where the story starts and where it will end.

What are your tips? Post in comments.

Technorati Tags: story,novel,writing,tips,author,manuscript,files,organizing writing

The fun in tropes

A trope=

trope n.

1. A figure of speech using words in nonliteral ways, such as a metaphor.

2. A word or phrase interpolated as an embellishment in the sung parts of certain medieval liturgies.

I found tvtropes.com, which offers every known trope in books, movies, video games, and more. You can look up by specific media, or specific trope. Such concepts as Villain Decay or Wimpification best illustrate how so much we find in story telling has been done before. This doesn’t negate their entertainment value, however.

Their site states “Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means “stereotyped and trite.” In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries. We are here to recognize tropes and play with them, not to make fun of them.”

If anything, tropes offer a writer a means in which to show universal symbolism we find in stories such as the Action Girl, Beware the Nice Ones, and Sociopathic Hero are just a few of the tons of tropes out there.

I love how its organized as well. You can look up by specific book, movie, comic, etc or look up by specific tropes such as hero, villain, sidekick, or any other trope that comes to mind.

Many of the articles cross link and references other tropes. You can be lost in there for hours, so be sure you have snacks or coffee/tea on hand.

Technorati Tags: character,plot,story,novel,literature,writer,tropes,cliche,metaphor,stereotype,plot device

Characters- making them great

I remember once asking my writer’s group what they felt made a great book. I wondered myself; considering a book is made of many parts. Plot, conflict, theme, character, resolution, a writer’s Voice, scenes, chapters, and everything in between.

The consensus was character. For fiction this is certainly true. A good story tells the story of a character you follow along with their trials and tribulations; a character you can root for, to care about, to be involved with they appear three dimensional.

I suppose this is why people frown on the ‘Mary Sue’ type story, where the author writes herself (or him in the case of a Mary Stu) into a story. They are the author’s fantasy fulfilled through romance, or other genres. Such characters are often unrealistic, being ‘too good to be true’.

I think a great character includes;

- Flaws. Often these flaws hold the character back from their goals becoming the inner conflict of the story. Indiana Jones’ fear of snakes offered him courage when he needed to save himself from a snake pit. We rooted for him, and he overcame his fear.

- Realistic looks. Beauty is subjective. Characters that are drop-dead gorgeous don’t offer the same struggles as us plain folk. Beauty can also come from inside, shining through with charisma or a good heart. Be careful writing ‘beautiful’ characters. Let them be relatable to your readers.

- They rise above things. Great characters are heroes. They might not start out as a hero, but they do the right thing, or try to. Even an anti-hero offers the reader something of humanity, or reasons to their motivations.

- They are unique. Many writers may find they are writing the same character but giving new names, places, and changing a few elements about them. Overall, however, each character should be unique as a real person.

What do you think? What makes a great character? What are your favorite characters? What made them stand out? Post in comments.

Prompt: Use the picture below to create a character. Jot down a bio that includes background, the flaws and admirable qualities, and give them some conflicts they need to face and overcome.

Technorati Tags: writer,character,authors,fictions,story

Killing darlings

If you’re familiar with the two authors, you’ll understand the joke. JK Rowling, of the Harry Potter series, is quoted as having problems killing off her characters. R.R. Martin, of the Game of Thrones series, seems to enjoy the slaughter.

Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Firefly series, and Avenger movie fame, is so well known for killing characters there’s jokes at his expense.

I remember watching the series, Castle, where the author Richard Castle kills off his main character of his thriller so he can start a new series (based on a female detective, influenced by Kate Beckett whom he ‘researches’).  In the show, Castle admits “Writing Derrick used to be fun. Now it’s like work.”; the reason why he killed him off.

So this leads me to think on the reasons to kill characters;

-Their death impacts other characters, to move the story along. The revenge-of-the-death-of-friend/lover/family is a common theme. The death of parents impacts a child to become a hero or criminal, (Batman comes to mind).

-You want to tug on the reader’s emotional strings. Personally, I feel manipulated if the author does this- don’t kill a character you spent chapters upon chapters getting me to like him/her…just, don’t.

-An act of sacrifice is required for the story. What better hero sacrifices themselves to save others?

What do you think? Do you kill off your characters?Difficult? Enjoyable? Have you already done this with regrets? Or not? Write in comments.

Technorati Tags: characters.,plot,authors,writer,rk rowling,rr martin,publish,novels,thriller,story

Want to join the Writer’s Journey Web Ring?

I’ve decided to start A Writer’s Journey web ring for those who wish to market their writing blogs. Who can join?

 

• Your blog must have some resources for writers. This can include tips, links, reviews, and download links for writing related subjects.
• Your blog reflects your writer journey, including mention of your personal methods on plotting, writing, and even publishing.
• Your blog also must have the code somewhere on their site. This lets anyone who clicks on the graphic to go to a page that lists all web ring members.

Cut and paste the HTML code to a widget or into the code of your blog. You don’t need to download the graphic.

Post the web ring button! Copy/paste to your blog

<a href=”http://pub29.bravenet.com/sitering/show.php?usernum=2449306782″ target=”_blank”><img src=”http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Saber2004/Web%20Elements/webringsmall.jpg”></a>

Let me know what you think of this, and if you posted the code in comments below.

Technorati Tags: webring,marketing,publish,blog,writer,authors,fictions,story,plot,a writer’s journey

The personality of characters

A character is made up of many traits (or should have multiple traits), which makes them stand out. They should be distinctly individual to the point of being memorable. But how to do this?

Consider these influences:

Religion. A person’s spiritual belief systems plays a role in morality but also life choices.

Politics. How we relate to the laws and the government system play a crucial role. A hero who lives in a rigid metropolis differs than the character in a free-love hippy commune.

Employment. Often the work we do defines our character. Consider the traits between a teacher, firefighter, construction worker, or soldier. Not everyone is cut out for those types of jobs either.

History. Not just our personal history of our lives, but family history also play a key role in developing a character. You might write into someone a strong sense of family, or they are bound to a culture through their family. Someone surviving a war, or lived through the Depression are quite distinct.

Birth order. Studies show that birth order play a role into building character such as the eldest child often learns responsibility, while the baby of the family gets away with things.

Gender and race. Men and women face different obstacles in life. Combined with race, you find prejudices, sexism, even culture issues rise up.

Trauma. You might consider having a character deal with a trauma in their life. Not everyone falls apart, while others might grow or turn a bad condition into their favor, others might slip into depression or psychosis.

Introvert or Extrovert. Introvert doesn’t mean shy, although many people might perceive their behavior as being similar. Introverts do not get charged up being in groups. They prefer being alone. Extroverts thrive in group situations.

Emotion or logic. Does your character follow what their heart tells them, or do they follow their head?

• Remember to be constant with the character traits you’ve selected for your character.
• You also need your character to grow and evolve. A handicap or something like their fears can be overcome, a lesson is learned, they develop through the story.
• Characters need flaws. This is what makes us human- our imperfections. Some people hide it better than others, but they make for interesting traits in story telling.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator helps with creating characters by personality type.

Writing Prompt: Throw some personality traits together and select them at random to see what kind of characters to create.

Technorati Tags: character,writing,authors,story,fictions,plot,perosnality,psychology