Creating Characters That Live Outside the Story

I'm not a character-chart kind of writer. I start with a general sketch -- place in the family, names of friends, an interesting hobby or two -- and a few of the character’s  strongest personality traits and skills. Add to that something the character wants and then I get writing. I mostly find out more about my characters through their reactions to situations and the other characters as I write.

But lately I’ve been thinking more about building characters that seem to “live outside the story”. To me, this means creating an impression or feeling that characters will live on after you finish reading. You might also have the feeling that these people existed before you jumped into the story. A third part of this is a hint that the characters have other things in their lives besides whatever is going on in the novel plot. Characters that have these rich “beyond the story” lives seem more layered and realistic.

The trick is to find the space in your story to do it, especially if you write middle grade fiction like I do. Some of the strategies I use include:

Memories. When a character goes to a familiar place or sees a familiar person, it might evoke an emotional memory that can give the reader a brief glimpse at events before the story took place. For example, in Kate Messner’s The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z, there’s a brief description of an a humorous event that happened two weeks before the story started, when Gianna’s brother Ian was banned from using his cell phone.

Mention in Passing. Even when the character spends most of their time in experiences and events that are related to the plot of the story, their life seems fuller when other places or events are quickly mentioned without a lot of detail. For example, your plot might not take place at school, but by mentioning school or homework, you create the sense of another part of your character’s life.

Leave a question in the reader’s mind. Most middle grade novels end with all the subplots resolved, especially for stand alone novels. But that doesn’t mean you can’t leave the reader with something to think about. A tiny question or the brief mention of a future event could give the reader a sense of continuity for the characters.

Do you have any good strategies for creating characters that seem to have a life outside your story? We'd love to hear them!

 

Why Listen to Podcasts About Writing?

Every week, I listen to one or two writing podcasts. It started out as a way to stay connected to writing when I have to do other boring (aka non-writing) activities like cleaning, dog-walking, or driving. But it’s more like getting a free course on writing from more experienced writers who are interested in sharing what they know and giving back to the writing community. Some of the benefits:

·         tips on the craft of writing and the writing process itself, from general aspects such as how to structure a story to more specific ones such as how to write transitions, build suspense or write romantic scenes

·         strategies for using social media at different stages of your writing career, such as promoting your book, building a website, whether and how to self-publish your book

·         tips for coping with the stresses and ups and downs of the writing and publishing process

·         a feeling of connection to the writing community and other people who are experiencing some of the same challenges

·         a way to clarify your own opinions and thoughts about aspects of the writing process or different genres

Listening sometimes gives me a different take than I get from reading. I rarely write notes when I’m listening to a podcast, but I almost always end up with a bit of inspiration, a new story idea, a possible solution for a problem in my own writing, or even a recommendation for a book or author I’d like to check out. One of the great things about most of the podcasts I listen to is that they seem to apply to writers at any stage of the writing/publishing process.

The downside of listening to podcasts is that sometimes they can be too didactic (it depends what you’re looking for) or have too much advertising and promotion. You also have to like the voice of the people you’re listening to! The ones I like most usually have a more informal approach, with an interview or discussion format.

Some of my favourite writing podcasts:

Writing Excuses – I love the short length of this podcast from Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson and Howard Tayler. It always leaves me wanting more! I really enjoy the discussion format. In some episodes they answer questions, while in others they will brainstorm the process of building a story.

The Creative Penn Podcasts – Author and motivational speaker Joanna Penn’s approach is very welcoming, because she comes from the perspective of not knowing and finding out what she wants to know as she interviews different guests about their views on publishing and promotion.

Authors' Think Tank – Another informal group discussion with special guests that talk about anything from agents and working with publishers to story openings and writer’s block. Hosts are Mikey Brooks, Michael Young, Jennifer J. Bennett, Chas Hathaway, Charles M. Pulsipher, and James Duckett.

This Creative Life – I just discovered this podcast where author Sara Zarr talks with people from different creative professions about their lives and some of the obstacles and highpoints they encounter. It’s on a summer break but there are lots of back episodes!

Other podcasts I listen to regularly include The Narrative Breakdown with editor Cheryl Klein and film-maker James Monohan, Katie Davis' Brain Burps About Books (especially informative if you write picture books), The Wordplay Podcast by K.M. Weiland, and Write the Book, a Burlington VT radio show.

For me, the key elements of a good writing-related podcast are 1) interesting discussion and content, 2) relaxed format, 3) inviting voices and 4) minimal or non-intrusive advertising.

Do you listen to any podcasts? Do you have any favourites?

Revising Too Much?

Last week I was re-reading Legend by Marie Lu and remembering again just how good it is to be caught up in a story that I just don’t want to put down. And how, as a writer, that’s the kind of story I want to create.

The problem is, there’s a huge gap between the story I envision in my mind and what I can manage to create using words on paper. Sometimes, I feel like all the work I do on my words to get them closer to that emotional vision is taking them further away. Oh sure, I’m getting the events in the right places to build a more compelling plot, to develop character, to improve the pacing and all the other things I need to do to build a story. But I can’t help feeling that sometimes my real goal—my dream of creating a powerful emotional experience— is getting lost in the middle of thinking about structure and other technical details (see Marcia Hoehne’s Of Fiction Writers and English Majors for an interesting perspective on this).  

I know that revising is supposed to make writing better, and it does. But stories are also a little fragile when it comes to the emotional side of things, and it’s so easy to forget to nurture that part of the story. To get caught up in where the characters are going and what they are doing instead of how they are feeling and how the reader might be feeling. Sometimes, it seems that revising some parts of the story too much, or maybe revising the wrong parts, drums the feeling right out of a story.

I’m holding onto the hope that as I get better at the structural and technical aspects of writing, I’ll be able to give the emotional side of the story even more space to grow.  

-- Andrea

Questions A Writer Should Know How to Answer

As I prepare for my first ever big writing conference (SCBWI New York), I'm trying to calm my nerves by thinking about how to answer some questions that might come up in casual conversation. But it occurred to me that I often get asked these questions by non-writers, too. Every once in a while, it’s not a bad idea to take a minute to think about how you’d answer these questions, and even practice them, so you don’t become all tongue-tied if the occasion comes up.

1. What do you write?

2. How did you become a writer/get started writing?

3. What are you working on now?

4. Have you ever been published or where can I find your books?

Of course, you need to keep in mind who’s asking. Some of the writing lingo we use as writers may not be familiar to non-writers. I recently had a conversation where I ended up explaining the term “dystopian” in a hallway of my school. (Lucky for me, I can now refer to the TV series Revolution). And I’m often asked to explain what “middle grade” means – not to be confused with “middle school”, which doesn’t necessarily capture the same age group. There’s also the difference between YA and MG (see MG vs YA: What's the Difference by MiG Writer Debbie Ridpath Ohi for clarification), which isn’t always as clear cut as we’d like to think.

Of course, at SCBWI, everyone will know these distinctions, which will make conversations and explanations that much easier. I can concentrate on what I want people to know about me and my writing. (Because even though I’m an introvert, I do want people to read and know about my work.) It will also be useful to remember that I can draw on these questions when I’m trying to think of what to say to other writers that I meet (since I’m sure they’ll know the answers and feel comfortable talking a little about their work), along with these:

5. Have you been to one of these conferences before?

6. Do you have any tips for a newbie?*

Painful as it may be for someone who spends a lot of time on the computer, it's important to be able to articulate something sensible about what I'm actually doing for all those hours (so I'd better not mention all the time I spend reading blogs and, lately, tweets.) Can you think of any other questions a writer needs to be able to answer?

*For more tips on calming your nerves before attending a big conference, check out Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s comics for conference newbies.

-- Andrea



 

Synopsis tip

I’m working on a new non-fiction book for my publisher. This one is on electricity and while most of my previous books incorporate experiments and inventors, this is my first all-out-science title. It’s pretty exciting. But it’s also a little challenging.

Electricity is *not* something I know a lot about. I’m having to do a good deal of research to make sure I’m getting facts right and picking all the important information to include in the tight format. Typically, after I’ve researched something I call my dad (who does know a lot about electricity) and explain what I've learned to him. Articulating things out loud before I commit words to paper helps me. 

I recently came across an interesting quote (which is now taped to my computer monitor!)

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Albert Einstein 

I was reminded of this quote yesterday when I read Andrea Mack’s blog about writing the dreaded synopsis. 

Only instead of not understanding our books well enough, I think the problem with writing a synopsis is that we know our books TOO well! We keep wanting to cram in all the little details and the results aren’t pretty. It’s a challenge to step back and find those bare bones.

Andrea shared a link to a post by Susan Dennard. I read it and bookmarked it and I highly suggest you go do the same. It's an extremely helpful post and includes a template for a 1 page synopsis. 

I think that when we find these little gems we just gotta share them. Hope you find them as helpful as I did!

Anyone else have a tip about writing a synopsis or a link you'd like to share?