Tedious Tasks

Hello everyone!

What is that one thing that your protagonist dreads doing because it is mind-numbingly boring or gag-inducingly disgusting?  This task can reveal a lot about your character and/or your world.  It is also a good way to make your protagonist relatable, because, let’s face it, we all have something we dread doing for one of those reasons.Your writing prompt for the next two weeks is to write two scenes in which your protagonist is required to do a distasteful task.

• The first scene is where your protagonist is faced with this task for the first time in the book. This is your base line.  Establish the character’s feelings about the task (through showing, not telling) and/or dialogue.  Remember, your character does not have to succeed at the task.  Low baselines leave more room for growth.
• The second scene is when your protagonist is faced with the task again after something big has happened. The character’s view of or appreciation for the task might have changed.  Or maybe this time there are consequences if the character fails to do the task (quickly, correctly, calmly, etc.).

*Remember to have some sort of believable tension in at least one of the scenes.  If the second scene is a wrap-up for the book or character arc, nostalgia or growth are acceptable emotions to aim for in place of tension; however, wrap-up scenes needs to be short.

Happy writing!

Katie

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Character Interrogation

Hello everyone!

Have you ever mixed up the pieces from multiple games or multiple puzzles?  The result is a mess!  However, mixing up characters can be the key to getting out of a writing conundrum.

Occasionally, I will have a character who absolutely refuses to do what I want him/her to do.  No matter how hard I try, he/she will not do or say what I envisioned in a way that feels believable.  The reason is usually that he/she is underdeveloped.  In most cases, I am able to get to know the character better by asking and answering a series of questions.  In other cases, though, I am too focused on the story’s needs to be able to honestly answer the questions for the character.

Your writing prompt for the next two weeks is to learn about your characters by taking them out of their world.

1. Choose two characters from different pieces you’ve written and put them together in a scene that takes place outside both of their stories.

2. Choose one of the following situations to start the scene:

• Put them in an interrogation room together. (One could interrogate the other or they could both be interrogating a third character.)
• Have them go on a blind date. (Be sure to give some thought to the setting.)
• Give them a task to accomplish. (It’s best if the task requires two people.)
• Give them a problem to solve. (There must be consequences if they fail.)
• Have the characters tell their stories to each other. (I did this with one of my villains from “The Four Crystals.”  Wow, the story was different from that point of view.)

3. Write the scene keeping both characters true to their personalities.

4. Read through the scene and note some of the following:

• How did the two characters interact? (Were they friendly, civil, or hostile?  Could they work together?  Etc.)
• Who took the lead?
• Did either of them dominate the conversation?
• Did either character have a key mannerism or phrase?
• What was each character’s primary goal in the scene (i.e. what was most important to each character)?
• Did either character have a predominant emotion?
• What did your characters do or say that surprised you? (For example, when I did this exercise, I discovered that one of my supporting characters was oblivious to her leader’s flaws.  Going into the exercise, I knew that she was a very loyal follower.  When she was talking to another character about her leader, I realized that she believed her leader to be infallible.)

Happy writing!

Katie

*I would like to thank sci-fi and fantasy author Olivia Berrier for sharing this writing exercise with me and for walking me through how to do it.

What’s in a Name?

Hello everyone!

Developing a new character can be tricky.  Apart from asking questions to learn more about who a character is, I can’t say that I have a standard way in which I create one.

Sometimes, characters come to me with a look, personality, and name.  All I have to do is insert them into a story.  Other times, I’ll be writing a story and realize that I have a “role” that needs to be filled in order for the story to succeed.  When this happens, I usually have the personality and maybe even the backstory of the character in mind.  I just have to choose a name and look for the character.

Your writing challenge for the next two weeks is to create a character based off of a random name.

1. Go to an online name generator. (If you want, you may specify gender, but let the computer decide everything else.)
2. Create a character for the name you are given: backstory, personality, home life, family relationships, profession, the culture in which he/she lives, his/her role in society, his/her beliefs (religious, political, etc.), and anything else you can think of.

When you’re done, ask yourself whether or not your new character could fit into a story you’re already writing or if he/she is the inspiration you needed for a new story.

Happy writing!

Katie

*Special thanks to my friend, Taylor Bresslin, for having me do this character creating exercise at one of our writers’ group’s meetings.

Supporting Characters

Hello everyone!

When writing a book, it is easy to focus on the protagonist.  After all, he/she is the person the audience should know, and hopefully relate to, the best.  But what about the other characters?  How prevalent, knowable, and relatable should they be?

For my novel “The Four Crystals,” I divided my book’s cast into four groups: protagonist, antagonist, supporting character, and minor character.

My Group Definitions:

• protagonist: main character or the character whose viewpoint I am using to tell the story
• antagonist: villain
• supporting character: a character whose removal from the book would alter the storyline and/or the plot’s outcome
• minor character: a character whose removal from the book would not alter the storyline and/or the plot’s outcome because another character could fulfill that function in the story

Since my background is in theater, I subdivided my minor characters into two groups:

• extras: human background/scenery
• featured extras: they stand out from the  rest of the extras by having one or more lines, being named, and/or appearing more than once

I believe it is important to develop a supporting character as much as I do my protagonist.  My featured extras (messenger, loudmouth in a crowd, etc.) should be recognizable, but if they do not need a backstory to complete their task, they don’t get one.  My extras (villagers, soldiers, etc.) are scenery; they’re lucky if they get noticed by the protagonist.

The following articles offer advice on how to create memorable supporting characters.  I hope they help you to create a memorable supporting cast!

“How to Write Effective Supporting Characters” by Hallie Ephron – She uses the mystery genre to explain how each supporting character needs to have a defined role or purpose in the protagonist’s life as well as a distinct personality.  The article also touches on the difference between supporting and minor characters.

“10 Secrets to Creating Unforgettable Supporting Characters” by Charlie Jane Anders – He gives some tips that apply to developing supporting characters, some that are geared towards designing minor characters, and some that work for creating both supporting and minor characters.

Happy writing!

Katie

 

Objects and Inference

Hello everyone!

Have you ever heard the expression, “You can tell a lot about a woman by the contents of her purse?” If you look at what someone carries with them or how they decorate their home, you get an idea about their likes, interests, habits, etc.

Try to describe yourself through things. Go through your house and choose eight objects that represent you as a person. You only get to use eight items to portray yourself, so make each one count. See if you can hint at more than one thing about yourself through your selections. (This skill comes in handy with word choice as well.)

Now that you’ve created your own object character bio, ask someone to choose eight items at random. Your challenge for the next two weeks is to create a character based off of the eight things you were given. If this does not resonate with you or if you finish early, you can also try to write a short story that contains all eight objects in a logical way.

Happy writing!

Katie

P.S.

What were you able to infer about me from the eight objects I shared? I’d love to find out! Feel free to post your inferences in the comments section below.