IWSG Sept., 2016 Characters

It's the 1st Wednesday in September. Summers almost over in the Northern Hemisphere. For are Southern friends they will soon welcome spring. Changes are coming and it's time for the IWSG blog. Created by Alex J. Cavanuagh who realized that many of us are insecure and created a forum so we could share. Thank you Alex.

If you'd like to see what others have to say about their insecurities go here.

Today I've decided to post about characters. Who better to have insecurities than our characters. What kind and how those nasty insecurities affect them is up to you.

Let's say you are developing a character. It doesn't matter if it's a hero or villain. Why? Because each must be motivated by something as well as challenged.

One character has always had it easy. S/he has been loved and encouraged they're entire life.

The other character has struggled through school and has been told they're worthless.

Which one is the most compelling?

While all of us wish our lives had been the first, I think most of us can honestly say life hasn't always been wonderful.

If it is a hero that you're writing about how does s/he overcome the obstacles that are put in front of them? If a villain, how does his/her past affect their mindset. How does the past make them choose what they do.

I love a story that makes me sympathize with the villain while hating his/her actions.

The choice is yours. "Be a brilliant and prolific writer."  I love this quote but I'm having trouble finding the author. If you know please let me know in the comments.

Name a favorite character, what story or author and why.

Be inspired.
Nancy

IWSG, Character

Welcome to the October 2013 edition of the Insecure Writers Support Group, (IWSG). Alex J. Cavanaugh is the founder extraordinaire.

For this edition I've decided to write about characters. Mainly because I've been thinking about them a lot lately. What inspires you, what makes you create a character? Do you base it on people you know? On yourself? What do you admire? What do you detest?

I have many writer friends who base all their main characters on people they know and on themselves. There is nothing wrong with that, but you'd better be careful in case one or more of those folks gets it into their heads to interfere in some way with your writing. We are talking dangerous ground here.

In writing fantasy I often use a quest plot, the description of my worlds are based on this world, dialogue is no longer a challenge for me after more than twenty years experience. So what surprises me? It is always character. They invade my life and demand I tell their story which isn't always good for the manuscript I'm working on.

Back to people you know. With permission I'm going to tell you a little about my friend.

She is an optimist. As a child she was verbally abused and saw her father beat her mother and sister. This trauma caused her to gain weight and gave her a debilitating fear of boys, and men even thought she had an older brother she loved. She has close to zero self confidence and is horribly shy. When she did marry, the man she married continued with verbal abuse. She never left him because she didn't make enough money to support herself and her children and refused to abandon the children.

That's enough information. Given what I just told you, would you use her in a book? Would she be a villain, a hero or a minor character who troubles the hero? What character strengths and/or flaws would  you incorporate into your story?

Hope this gave you some food for thought, to coin a phrase. Ugh, two cliches in one sentence.
Nancy
Copyright 2013

To read other IWSG post go here.

I am participating in two Halloween bloghops. One on Oct. 30 and the other Oct. 31, 2013. The beauty is that one story will serve both bloghops. To learn more or sign up and participate click on the links below.

Denise Covey at Write...Edit...Publish is hosting Haunting.

October. 30, 2013

Francine Howarth is hosting Trick or Treat Hallowe'en, There will be treats with this one.

October 31, 2013

Hope to see some of you or all of you.
Nancy

Character Traits, I’m a Guinea Pig

First, Francine over at Romancing the blog gave me the most wonderful book review. I'd love it if you take a look. Francine is my heroine!

Yes, I am going to use the various parts of my own personality not only to fulfill the requirements of the Stylish Blogger Award I presented to others yesterday but also to give some points on character.

Not only my character, but traits you can exploit to build your own characters.

1. Compassionate Mama: Yup, that’s me.
A. Character type: The Nurturer…she loves to take care of others and will put their needs ahead of her own.

2. Whiner Butt: When I’m stressed and too tired I start to complain and view the world in a negative way.
B. Character type: The Nurturer…is self-sacrificing and takes on too many projects at once. She takes what her family (and others), say personally.

3. Practical Realist: I hate paying the bills, but if I don’t, no one else will either, so I have no choice.
C. Character type: The Matriarch…her strength makes her the rock everyone leans on in the family.

4. Artistic Impressionist: I long for a space that’s all mine to create worlds, characters and draw or paint.
D. Character type: The Mystic…is motivated by aesthetic balance-a sense of order in life, a sense of being connected with something greater than herself-is what drives her. She has a spiritual need to connect or create.

5. Buried Time Traveler: Time slips past me at a pace that sometimes surprises me while I am focused on getting things done that matter to me.
E. Character type: The Mystic…is motivated by the reward of being left alone; having free time and obtaining security are great motivators. She’ll do anything to sustain a quiet and calm home life.

6. Hysterically Historical: When I’m over stressed to the point of not sleeping, I am prone to having hysterics at odd times and in varying places. That’s my history.
F. Character type: The Maiden…she loves to play and do outrageous things.

7. Wall Flower Predator: If there is a nice corner at a party or function where I can hide and not be noticed, then I will find the flower in the wallpaper.
G. Character type: The Mystic…Is shy and somewhat timid at times. Needs to learn assertiveness.

And just to top off all of that a few final Mystic flaws…or are they? Lives in her head. Doesn’t really want to be “here” and may dream of other planets of dimensions. LOL

All character types are taken from 45 Master Characters and how to build them, by Victoria Lynn Schmidt.

Are you still here? Now for the survey:
10 Questions:

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you are not anonymous, do you wish that you had started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now?

I blog to reach out to other writers and readers. It would be pointless to be anonymous.

2. Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

I am stubbornly staying up tonight to get this blog post ready or I face not being able to sleep.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

All the mirrors in my home have been spray painted black to avoid personal scrutiny.

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

Iced Tea year around and purified water. I live on both.

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

I forgot what that feels like…well, see the above character flaws and you will know I crave being alone so I can create alternate worlds and fabulous characters. Now to figure out how to go there.

6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?

I want to be gloriously happy and at peace with myself and others…besides that, well, a success at writing and art would be nice.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?

I was shy…and wanted to hide.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?

Delivering my children…the first took hours and I almost bleed to death. The second was hysterical because a nurse was pushing me to the room at a run while yelling, “This lady is having a baby!”

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

I am blunt and honest to a fault in and out of blogdom.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

You’ve got to be kidding, I’m a writer…read, then read some more and after that write.

As a famous cartoon character would say…”That’s all folks!”
Nancy

Ask Your Characters This

I found a post on Elaine Smith’s blog last week and she found them on Donald Maass blog earlier this year. So I’m passing this information onto you.

Instead of asking your character a set of mundane and over used questions, ask them this.

• Why do you matter?
• To whom do you matter?
• How would the world be poorer if you weren't in it?
• What are you better at than anyone else?
• What do you see or understand that no one else does?
• What was the last thing you learned?
• What was the last thing you learned about yourself?
• What is the worst thing about this moment? What’s the best?

So there you have it. Visit both blogs for more information. I must write 17 post for my blog book tour. So off to work I go.
Nancy

Monday: Characters, the Mentor:

The mentor has many faces. It can be a machine, or a stuffed animal. A mentor maybe an older sibling or a substitute parental figure. A mentor may be a waitress, a clerk at the local drug store or a babysitter. In other words, the mentor can wear many hats. In some cases, the hero may have more than one mentor. The occasional character that arrives in the nick of time and gives the hero the elixir of life, or at least some good advice.

The mentor can be out for his own gain. S/he may use the hero to get ahead, or be jealous of the hero and feed him or her false information. The mentor may be a trickster, or an idiot. On the flip side, the mentor may be good, righteous and of outstanding moral fiber.

Unlike the hero or the villain, the mentor doesn’t need to be as complex a character. You develop this character to suit your story and to give both support and a possible distraction to the hero. The mentor may raise more questions than s/he resolves.

Both ‘The Writer’s Journey,’ 2nd Edition, by Christopher Vogler. and 45 Master Characters, by Victoria Lynn Schmidt talk about the mentor and his/her importance in the story. You can follow the links to Amazon’s web site and learn more.

In my epic fantasy, my heroine has multiple mentors. The first is a unicorn who magically enables her to speak the language. Hey, it’s a fantasy, no translation codes in the jewelry. Then her hand maid is a mentor who speaks simple words of wisdom to my heroine. Trust me; you will be shouting this at my heroine for awhile by the time this shy girl tells her. Next an elf mentors her. He continually calls my heroine princess which irks her to no end. Lastly, a young maiden who lives with the elves mentors her. Each mentor has a specific role and each has a different personality. Some of my mentors also serve other purposes. They are in effect, dual characters or I should say, they have more than one role.

I do not know who the mentor will be for my novella yet…but I will have one.

What character have you recently assigned the role of mentor and why?

Characters, the Villain:

Progress Report: I did manage to get some of my editing done but not as much as I would have liked. This week I am working on a short story that I will post over the weekend. It’s part of the 'Bad News' blogfest hosted by Francine at Romancing the Blog. I struggle with short stories, so I thought this would be a good exercise for me.

Characters, the Villain:

Since I have mentioned 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt recently and in Friday’s post, 9/24/10, I thought I would give some examples directly from her book. (A link to the book can be found at the bottom of that same post).

There are 8 female and 8 male heroes and villains listed. I am not going to list them all here; otherwise, my post would have to go all week. I will list two. Sorry guys, since my WIP has a male villain and also the novella which I am currently developing is a male villain, I will go masculine.

As I stated, to really get a deep character it is a good idea to layer two archetypes. One will dominate the other.

In my novella I have a druid outcast named Erim, he is obsessed with creating a son with more magical powers than his own and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He is an outcast because he is antisocial and unwilling to limit his magic to the good of the people. Which archetype is he?

His main archetype is Hades: The Recluse and the Warlock, the recluse being the hero and the warlock is the villain.

The Warlock is:
Antisocial.
Out for his own gain.
Doesn’t care how his actions affect the world.
May experiment with the occult to gain power.
Is afraid of rejection.
Has no intimate relationships.
Can’t feel or express real love without dominating the other person.
Thinks society is a joke and that he doesn’t have to live under its rules.
Wants to be in control.
Likes to intimidate others.

The layered archetype that will enhance this character can be any of the ones listed in the book. But for my villain it is:

Poseidon: The Artist and the Abuser, the artist is the hero and the abuser is the villain.

The Abuser:
Beats his wife and then brings her flowers to apologize.
Plays head games with people.
Is irritable and unpredictable.
Is a ticking time bomb.
Disregards the safety of himself and of others.
Can’t control his emotions and flies off the handle.
Is driven to revenge and will hold a grudge for years.
Doesn’t understand the word “no” because he always gets his way.
Is reckless and full of rage.

Do you see how you can pull a few traits from the Abuser to enhance the Warlock? And vice versa if you wanted the Abuser to be the dominant character. As we interweave these character traits we come out with a man who will stop at nothing to justify his actions.

My character, Erim, traps a phoenix to use for his own twisted purpose. He manipulates the occult side of the druid religion. Diverts the significance of the worship of a lunar eclipse and believes that the phoenix can enhance his powers during this time to create a human male child who will eventually dominate the world through Erim. What can I say, the guys a nut job. I have about 2,000 words written and plan to write about 18,000 more words. I expect I’ll finish sometime after the first of the year.

For this post I only pulled part of the description for each of these two character types. Victoria gives examples and more detail on each aspect of each archetype. It’s worth the price of submission.

What do you think? Leave a comment and make me smile.

Character Profile:

As promised in yesterdays post, 'Creating Compelling Characters': below is a list that you can copy and save in a word doc. This will help you create a compelling character. On a personal note, I don’t do this. That said, I do keep a list of pertinent details for my characters. Most often, it is as I write the first draft that many of these details come to mind. It is in the actual writing process that my characters come to life. Of course, this makes for major edits when I do the 2nd draft.

Character Profile:

1. Name (including nickname, if applicable):
2. Gender:
3. Age:
4. Health:
5. Appearance (including unique physical characteristics):
6. Identifying Lines:
7. Identifying Mannerisms:
8. Identifying Props:
9. Style of Speech:
10. Education or Vocation:
11. Occupation:
12. Current Job (including job title, company name, and duration):
13. Employment History (including jobs, company names, and time spent at each):
14. Economic Status:
15. Marital Status:
16. Family, Children:
17. Parents Occupations:
18. Ethnicity:
19. Past Relationships:
20. Current Relationships:
21. Home (including location, size , and description):
22. Work ( including company name, size, and location):
23. Possessions (including car, electronic gadgets, sentimental items, and pets):
24. Recreation, Hobbies:
25. Special Skills or Talents:
26. Skill Deficiencies:
27. Tastes (including music, literature, art, food, etc.):
28. Religious Beliefs:
29. Political Beliefs:
30. Promiscuity (including sexual history):
31. Ambitions, Desires, and Long-term Goals:
32. Fears (even Phobias) and Superstitions:
33. Prejudices:
34. Favorite Places (including physical and on-line locations, if applicable):
35. Astrological Sign:
36. Attitudes:
37. Understandable Character Flaws:
38. Virtues:
39. Backstory:
- Place Where the Character Grew up:
- Past Triumphs:
- Past Failures:
- Childhood Traumas:
40. How Will your Character Change Throughout the Story?:

This list came from a workshop handout at the Colorado Gold Conference, 2010; Hosted by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. My friend attended the workshop and raved about it. I have attended this type of workshop in the past.

Does this help?

Writing Compelling Characters:

I’ve joined ‘The Great Blogging Experiment,’ and here is my assigned post. Writing Compelling Characters.

In other words, write believable characters. Your readers must believe this character is a real person, without your character actually being a real person. Lawsuits come to mind. In order for you to achieve this you must know your character, what is his/her habit, goal, weakness, need I go on? You need to have a psychological profile of your character in mind or written out that you can refer to. You may also want a general profile of your character on hand in a file somewhere.

How do you create a profile? A profile is a list of character traits and details that may never see the light of a published page. This is information that you, the author, refer to when you set your character in a scene and forget what kind of response your character would normally have to the stimulus you’ve created. The profile is kept as an easy reference guide. Either in a paper file or a desk top computer file. I knew one writer who actually had an astrological chart made for her characters. She said it helped her immensely, though I can’t imagine how.

I have a book that I refer to religiously when I am developing a new character, titled: 45 Master Characters, by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. (Click the title to view on Amazon). Within the pages each character type is listed by the Greek god/goddess that inspired the archetype. Once you know which one your character is, you can research their response to any given situation. You will learn the traits of the hero or villain both male and female. For major characters, choose more than one archetype, this allows you to layer your character, creating a depth of realism for your readers.

Who inspires your characters? Who mentors them? What is their darkest fear? What gives them the most pleasure? Who do they love more than themselves? Or, do they love only themselves? What are your character’s goals? Will their goals change over the course of the book? Or will they view their goals differently? Perhaps the character changes, matures or evolves in some way.

The other book that I refer to and you should to is: ‘The Writer’s Journey,’ 2nd Edition, by Christopher Vogler. (Click the title to go to Amazon). Buy it, study it, and let your craft soar.

Tomorrow I will post a profile list that you can copy and use if you want.

For the complete lists of participants go to Elana's blog...click her name and it will take you there. But wait, please leave a comment first.

Does this help?

Monday: Characters, the Hero:

Progress Report: I’ve finished chapters 13 – 16 in my search of ‘ly’ and ‘ing’ words and made the corrections. The Colorado Gold Conference delayed my edits last week. So this week I plan to finish eight chapters or more.

Monday: Characters, the Hero:

In the sports arena, the star athlete has taken years to accomplish his/her status. In the beginning s/he was just another kid who loved the sport. (Pick your favorite and interject it here). Maybe they came by the gift naturally. Maybe they had parents who were involved in the sport too. Maybe they had a mentor, someone who took an interest in them and encouraged them to play their sport. Maybe they just wanted to hang with the crowd that loved that sport. In all cases, for this person to become a professional athlete meant years of training, from learning the sport, to disciplining their bodies and mind, to practice, practice and more practice. At some point in all of this a dream developed. Then the dream became a goal. Once it was a goal, they set their sights on the final end result, put their head down and did whatever it took to achieve their goal.

This quality, whether in the athlete or in another profession makes that person a hero. Most of us don’t consider ourselves heroes. But when a writer is looking for the qualities to make their character a hero or heroine, this is exactly what they think of. There are other characteristics of the hero as well. The willingness to sacrifice themselves for others or something they believe in. Any service profession fits this description. Usually we think of those in fire department, military, police, paramedics or doctors and nurses first.

In fiction as well as real life, there are those who are accidental heroes. What does this mean? It is the person who is in the right place at the right time, or perhaps in their opinion, they are there at the wrong time. Regardless they choose to help. To save the child from being hit by a car, or to interfere with a robbery, or maybe the person who runs into a burning building to save the dog. You get the idea. They are heroes.

So what does it take to write a hero? You need to understand your character. What is his/her goal in life? What happens that interferes with their goals and sets them on the path of the hero? Did they choose to take this action? Or where they trust into the middle of things without a clue? Every writer must decide what type of hero best fits the story they want to tell.

Some writers know the plot, or story first, and then create a hero and other characters to tell the story. Some writers know the hero first and build the story around the hero’s qualities. Some writers are inspired by actual events or a person they have met or read about and go about changing enough elements of the person to fit their idea of their hero. Other writers, myself included, do not base any character on a real person.

One thing is absolutely certain, without a compelling hero, the writer’s wonderful story cannot be told.

Who is your favorite hero or heroine of all time? Please do tell.