Hi to all my readers ... I have been going through a really rough time lately and will take a break from this creative writing class. I'm not sure how long, maybe about a week or less. I apologize to those of you diligently following along, but I'll be back soon.
Thank you for your understanding.
We've had a fun week exploring characters, haven't we! We've learned about the five major types of characters (main character, villain, main character helpers, villain helpers, and background characters), studied character archetypes, and even dabbled in psychology to uncover character motivation.
But everything we've talked about this week with character is not really about the fictional person we'll create on the page, but the real person writing the story.
Yes, character IS YOU! Character is you and me and your coworkers and your friends and your family and the people who live in your neighborhood and the other drivers on the road and the people who work at the grocery store, mail your packages, fly airplanes, fix roads ... and everyone in between.
Character is us. Even if you only write science fiction and fantasy and never write about 'humans', your characters will, in some form or another, be human.
As part of my Free Fiction Friday series, here's the first chapter of a work-in-progress tentatively called Hyde-Land. It's a twist on the Jekyll and Hyde story, one of my favorites. :)
Just like every person lives their own autobiography, so does every character! The Character Biography is an important tool that aids in character development over the course of your story. I love creating character bios and constantly use them for reference. They are a snapshot of your character's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics. I also include a one or two paragraph description of the character's development through the story, just to make sure I'm on the right track.
Character bios are fun to create, too! It's creative and you get to pick and choose the characteristics you'll include.
Here is the format I use, along with an example of the main character I'm crafting for a future story:
CHARACTER NAME (Archetype/Story Role)
*Physical description, birthdate, zodiac sign, few words for general description
*Likes and dislikes, objects that represent character
*Situation when story begins, few words of backstory and family life
*What character wants to do about situation, driving wish
*Paragraph description of character's role in the story
*Description of character growth and development
*Any other miscellaneous notes
TRIXIE SNOW BLUE (Protagonist)
Age 12, short, pale skin, dark eyes, black hair, born November 2, 1859, Scorpio, only child, dresses in black and gray because of mourning her mother
Animal lover, had a pet garter snake named Sneaky Snake back home that she nursed back to health after being attacked by a hawk
It's January 1871, Mother (Eva Snow Blue) has died, Father (Nathaniel Blue) is taking Trixie down to Boston to be with her Aunt Lavinia and Uncle Oliver at the Snow mansion
Trixie doesn't want to go to Boston, misses her mother, her best friend and her collection of pets and animals, driving wish is to have a happy family
Trixie is unhappy (similar to Mary Lennox), Snow Mansion is enchanting, sees a red rose blooming in the snowy garden, meets and becomes playmates with Louis (French maid's son), makes friends with blackbird (Trixie's symbol), finds Magic Pen, gets in trouble, sent to room, uses Magic Pen to open window and escape, enters Land of Possibilities, meets Mr. Fennek, rescues Beo, journeys to Sandalphon Castle, saves Queen Cassiella, journeys to Flame Forest, defeats Red Fairy, saves L of P from Cynics Curse, reunited with Louis
Trixie grows from unhappy little girl into a young woman embracing both gentle (Queen Cassiella/Eva Snow Blue) and strong (Red Fairy) parts of herself to meet challenges and not live in despair and depression
Trixie symbolized by blackbird, blackbirds appear throughout story, also called 'The Black Angel' because she dresses in black, as story progresses dress changes from black to gray to finally white at the end
Combo of Secret Garden/Alice in Wonderland/Wizard of Oz, fairy tale/fantasy
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The character bio can help flesh out your Main Character, Villain, and minor characters so that you know them through and through. You want to know these bios so well that you practically memorize them!
Why? Well, when you sit down to write the rough draft, you don't want to get stuck during a scene! You want to keep going, and deeply knowing your characters' motivations prevents you from having to go back and delve. In short, the deeper you know your characters, the faster you'll write your rough draft!
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What Today's Class is About:
Creating character bios by including the character's physical description, emotional makeup, what they want, and their role in the story.
What You Can Do:
*Create a one-page character bio for your Main Character, Villain, Main Character Helpers, and Villain Helpers.
*Semi-memorize the most important characteristics for each of your major characters.
Character archetypes are symbolic descriptions of character based on both their unique characteristics and the roles they play within your story. Example archetypes include the warrior, the scholar, the waif, and the nurturer.
My favorite book for character archetypes that I have read so often the pages are falling apart is "The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: 16 Master Archetypes." If you want to pick up one book about character, I urge you to get this one! My copy is ripped, dog-eared, and penciled-in. It's a much-valued friend when I create and work on character.
Archetypes are useful because they represent universal elements that we can all relate to. Archetypes are the basic building blocks for creating character - she's not just the Heroine, she's also a best friend or a mother or a teenage girl. He's not just the Hero, he's also a scholar or a company CEO or a captain.
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HERO ARCHETYPES:
The CHIEF - a dynamic leader, he has time for nothing but work.
*Mr. Darcy from "Pride and Prejudice", Julius Ceasar, the King of Siam in "The King and I"
The BAD BOY - dangerous to know, he walks on the wild side.
*James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause", Huck Finn, Holden Caulfield, Mr. Wickham from "Pride and Prejudice", Mr. Willoughby from "Sense and Sensibility"
The BEST FRIEND - sweet and safe, he never lets anyone down.
*Mr. Knightley from "Emma", Mr. Bingley from "Pride and Prejudice", Laurie in "Little Women", Ron Weasley in the "Harry Potter" books
The LOST SOUL - a tormented being, he lives in solitude.
*Rick from "Casablanca", Erik from "The Phantom of the Opera", Heathcliff, the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast", Edward in "Twilight"
The CHARMER - a smooth talker, he creates fantasies.
*Jack in "Titanic", James Bond, Ferris Bueller, Petruchio in "Taming of the Shrew", Peter Venkmen in "Ghostbusters"
The PROFESSOR - coolly analytical, he knows every answer.
*Spock, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter in "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone", Jeff Goldbum in "The Fly" and "Independence Day"
The SWASHBUCKLER - Mr. Excitement, he's an adventurer.
*Robin Hood, Indiana Jones, Peter Pan, Zorro, Tom Cruise in "Top Gun", Han Solo, Westley in "The Princess Bride"
The WARRIOR - a noble champion, he acts with honor.
*King Arthur, Batman, Superman, John McClane in "Die Hard", Luke Skywalker, William Wallace in "Braveheart", Sir Lancelot
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HEROINE ARCHETYPES:
The BOSS - a real go-getter, she climbs the ladder of success.
*Katherine in "Taming of the Shrew", Princess Leia, Amy March in "Little Women", Queen Elizabeth in "Elizabeth"
The SEDUCTRESS - an enchantress, she charms to get her way.
*Scarlett O'Hara, Cleopatra, Becky Sharp from "Vanity Fair", Lolita in "Lolita", Eva Peron in "Evita"
The SPUNKY KID - gutsy and true, she is loyal to the end.
*Lizzie Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice", Lois Lane, Sandy in "Grease", Meg Ryan in "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail"
The FREE SPIRIT - an eternal optimist, she dances to unheard tunes.
*Alice from "Alice in Wonderland", Emma from "Emma", Ariel in "The Little Mermaid", Lucille Ball in "I Love Lucy"
The LIBRARIAN - controlled and clever, she holds back.
*Hermione Granger, Jo March in "Little Women", Fanny Price in "Mansfield Park", Rosalind in "As You Like It", Dana Scully in "The X-Files"
The WAIF - a distressed damsel, she bends but does not break.
*Cosette from "Les Miserables", Rose in "Titanic", Juliet, Guinevere, Dorothy Gale, Cinderella, Anne Eliot in "Persuasion", Bella in "Twilight"
The CRUSADER - a dedicated fighter, she meets commitments.
*Athena goddess of war, Joan of Arc, Jane Eyre, Erin Brokovich in "Erin Brokovich", Ellen Ripley in "Alien"
The NURTERER - serene and capable, she nourishes the spirit.
*Belle in "Beauty and the Beast", Elinor Dashwood in "Sense and Sensibility", Mary Poppins, Meg from "Little Women", Demeter Greek goddess
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Are you excited about creating your character archetypes? These are from the archetype book that I use, but you can use any other archetype that you like.
What is your favorite book or movie? List the characters and then try and find their archetypes. Is there a way you can craft a story using the same archetypes? I'm convinced that the stories we love the most - the ones that deeply touch us - have a strong pull because we identify with the archetypes.
Spend time writing about archetypes in your notebook. Try and find both the virtues and the flaws in each archetype. For example, the PROFESSOR character is smart, witty, and his brains are assets in a pinch. But, he can be cold, analytical, and uncaring.
I could spend an entire month just posting about character archetypes! They are fascinating. But remember - they are only building blocks for character. It is up to you to delve deeper beneath the symbolic archetypal surface and really give us a compelling character with identifiable characteristics!
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What Today's Class is About:
Discovering the basic building blocks of character in archetypes, then exploring archetypes and seeing how we can create character.
What You Can Do:
*Pick a character archetype for your Main Character.
*Pick a character archetype for your Villain.
*Pick two character archetypes for your Main Character Helpers.
*Pick two character archetypes for your Villain Helpers.
There are five types of characters you will create and include in your story:
1. The Main Character/Protagonist
2. The Villain/Antagonist
3. Main Character Helpers
4. Villain Helpers
5. Background Characters
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THE MAIN CHARACTER/PROTAGONIST:
The Main Character or Protagonist is the most important character in your story. They're the torch-bearer who carries their secret wish with them the entire story and fights with the Villain to either obtain that wish in the end or die trying.
You will spend the most amount of time in the story with your main character, they will appear in 75% of your scenes (if not all of them), and will essentially live in your head as closely as a spouse or best friend throughout the duration of your writing ... so I suggest you come up with someone that interests you!
The Main Character can be anyone - young, old, fat, skinny, male, female, blond, brunette, redhead, rich, poor, athletic, intellectual, creative, silly, serious - but they must be compelling.
Some Favorite Compelling Main Characters:
Cinderella
Luke Skywalker
Harry Potter
Dorothy Gale
Frodo Baggins
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THE VILLAIN/ANTAGONIST:
The Villain or Antagonist is the second most important character in your story and must be as compelling as the Main Character but in an opposing way. Think of your Villain as the anti-Hero, their shadow side. If your Main Character is a straight-laced prude, then the Villain could be a charmer who loves life. If your Main Character is poor, your Villain could be disgustingly rich or immensely powerful.
Not all Villains are inherently evil (although some amazing ones are!), so you may want to create a complex Antagonist instead. Your Villain is another character you'll spend a huge amount of time with, so make him/her compelling as well.
Some Favorite Compelling Villains:
Cinderella's Stepmother
Darth Vader
Voldemort
The Wicked Witch of the West
Sauron
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MAIN CHARACTER HELPERS:
Main Character Helpers assist and are friendly to the Main Character, offering him/her advice and magical objects that will aid them on their quest to defeat the Villain and get their wish.
The Mentor is a famous Main Character helper. Mentors are elderly characters like fairy godmothers or wizards who pass on their knowledge, but rarely join the Main Character on their journey.
The Sidekick is a humorous and fun-loving Main Character Helper. He/she provides comic relief, athletic assistance (for action heroes), or their particular gift helps the Main Character in a pinch.
Other Main Character Helpers could be a best friend, a sister or brother, a neighbor, or an animal.
Favorite Compelling Main Character Helpers:
Cinderella's animal friends and her fairy godmother
R2D2, C3PO, Han Solo and Princess Leia
Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley
The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, and Toto
Samwise Gamgee, Aragorn, and Gandalf
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VILLAIN HELPERS:
Before the Main Character faces the Villain in their final showdown, he/she must get through a slew of Villain Helpers. Villain Helpers are also Mentors and Sidekicks, but are working against the Main Character.
Villain Helpers can act as Gatekeepers, guarding a passageway or door the Main Character must go through. The Main Character must pass through this Gatekeeper first.
Villain Helpers assist the Villain by fetching a magical object or weapon. Villain Helpers may Shapeshifters, seemingly on the Main Character's side but betraying them in the end.
Favorite Compelling Villain Helpers:
Cinderella's Stepsisters
Stormtroopers
The Death Eaters
The Flying Monkeys
Orcs, Sauron, and Uruk hai
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BACKGROUND CHARACTERS:
Background characters are actually some of my favorites, since they add such color and flavor to the story. Usually nameless and often grouped together, background characters are necessary for the story to feel real for the reader.
Don't give too much 'stage room' to background characters, for it could detract from the more prominent characters. Keep them mostly in descriptions, with occasionally some dialogue or a small action to perform.
Background characters include soldiers, crowds, coworkers, animals, people walking in the street, other passengers on a train or boat, patients in a hospital, etc. They are usually neutral, meaning they don't work for either the Main Character or the Villain. They may become victims of the Villain's power or they may cheer on the Main Character at the end.
But it's important to include them, for not every scene you write will have just the other four types of characters!
Favorite Background Characters:
Other people at the Prince's ball
Different creatures and aliens in the Star Wars movies
Other kids at Hogwarts
The Munchkins and Winkies
More Riders of Rohan and hobbits
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What Today's Class is About:
The five types of characters you'll create for your story - the Main Character, Villain, Main Character Helper, Villian Helper, and Background Characters.
What You Can Do:
*Brainstorm each type of character and who they will be in your story.
*Think of scenes that would require background characters.
Your plot could be the simplest or lamest in the book, your setting could be as exotic as Antananarivo or as simple as a farm in Vermont, your dialogue could be stilted and weird, and your descriptions could be vague and contain 90% weather ... but your readers will still keep reading your story IF YOU HAVE A COMPELLING MAIN CHARACTER.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, if there can be a 'secret to great writing,' it lies in the main character. And so, we kick off the second week of our month-long creative writing class by exploring the most important element in your story:
As we segue from the basics of writing (take a look at all of the class posts so far) into characters, let's think about the connection between the main character and yourself.
Stories do not just feature main characters or are made up of characters. Stories depict honest emotions and real actions that are entirely human-based. In essence, stories are a mirror of the real world - the world that we all inhabit. But stories practice careful selection of the real world, picking and choosing from its myriad of components in order to show character (human) growth and development over a finite period of time. Stories cannot 'go on' forever, so they serve as a slice of real life.
Since stories have to choose a particular section of a character's (person's) life, then as writers, our goal is to showcase that slice to the greatest of our ability.
In theory, the story you write has a backstory and an endstory as well. Even in fantasy worlds, the story you create is only a small section of what could possibly by shown.
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So, the question I'm asking today is: why choose that section? What is so important about this particular slice of life that it would make a great story?
It's up to us, as writers, to answer that question AND to bring the story to its fullest potential through character growth over a finite period of time. Unfortunately, not every story idea we'll have over our time as writers will 'work' as a story.
The reason is that not every idea showcases that particular slice of life to its best extent. Real life can afford to have boring events, people that drop in and out of our lives, strange happenings with no explanations, and stretch over long periods of time. But stories must have direction. From page 1 to page 300, there must exist a definable path of character development.
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Developing a story idea is the first essential step to writing a story. This is where we use our notebooks to make story notes. A fully-developed novel cannot rely on mere inspiration, though; there must be hard excavation into the main character's motivations. A short story could be built upon several smaller elements, depending on the length of the story.
So, while you're trying to figure out what to write - what your next story idea will be - eliminate all ideas that will not effectively capture the slice of life that would be most interesting and most appealing to readers. Only the most pertinent information should remain.
Let's say you decide you want to write a love story. The story wouldn't start with the main character's childhood, showing how her parents were divorced, how she fought with her sisters and brother, how she did in school, what homes she lived in ... Of course not! These details are great for YOU as the writer to know, but the audience doesn't need to know. In a love story, you structure the story around the most pertinent event - in this case, meeting and falling in love with a boy.
Knowing the difference between an idea that will work as a novel and one that won't have enough weight or contain the most important events in that main character's life will help streamline your writing.
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What Today's Class is About:
Thinking about stories as not just fiction, but as a slice of a main character's life. Then, developing that slice of life to its fullest potential to show that character's growth over a finite period of time.
What You Can Do:
*Take out a sheet of paper or flip to a new page in your notebook and practice developing a story idea.
*What are the most pertinent events of your own life that could be strung together to make a good story?
*How could you incorporate your real life into a fictional world?
Yesterday, my husband and I went to pick up my dead laptop, which bit the dust on Tuesday. I've had a roller-coaster week, but most of my files have been saved ... except for ten years' worth of written journal entries. I'm going to keep my old laptop and send it in to some professional data people at some point in the future, but for now, Gordon (my old laptop) rests in peace.
As Erik and I were driving along the misty cold November roads of Maine, our conversation happened upon a subject I've been thinking a lot about this year - overcoming discouragement at not achieving small victories, and instead sticking it out over the long haul, even if there could be no chance of a huge payoff.
It's a bit discouraging, don't you think? He and I were talking about how regular school doesn't really prepare students for real life, since real life is rather quiet, unglamorous, and requires sustained effort. Whereas school rewards small victories and short-term goals like acing a test each semester, passing in short papers, completing short essays. These small goals boost self-esteem, but also give you the false impression that you'll always have small goals that will be easily obtainable, readily available, and a cinch to tuck under your belt, so that you can just move on to the next one.
Well, uh, that isn't the case ... especially with writing.
The most successful writers are not the smartest, or the ones with the most talent, or the kindest or the 'best.' They're just the ones who stuck it out. No matter what. No matter what.
To tell the truth, I've had a lot of disappointments this year. I've had a lot of disappointments overall with my writing. When I started my first major novel when I was sixteen, I thought I'd be the next Stephen King (not with horror, but you know what I mean!). I dreamt big. I wanted my stories known around the country, my characters famous, my books made into movies and beloved by millions. Kind of like the world writers like Stephenie Meyer, J. K. Rowling and Nicholas Sparks are living in right now ...
Has it happened to me? No. Will it? I still hope it will, 12 years after dreaming that teenaged dream. But it hasn't yet.
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but so is failure. I haven't quit writing, and my love for it was only reinforced to such a deep soul-level this week as I stared at the blank screen of my computer and wept for my lost files.
Writers, you just keep going. Sometimes that's all I can tell myself, as the months tick by and my dream seems farther away than ever. Sometimes those three words - just keep going - are all that separates me from deleting everything and throwing in the towel. I keep writing. I keep going.
Writers, don't fall victim to chasing short-term goals and tiny victories. Don't think that just because you sold one copy means that the second one will sell. Don't stop. Just ... keep ... going.
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What this Class is About:
Understanding that the real key to writing success is not being the smartest writer or the wittiest writer, but the writer who kept going.
What You Can Do:
*Think of your biggest writing dream. The really big one. The one that makes your little inner cynic dig in her heels and say, "Wait, no, that's too big." Yeah, that dream.
*Now work towards it. Every day.
*Just keep going.
As part of my Free Fiction Friday series, here's a cute story I wrote when I was ten. My fifth grade teacher liked it so much, she showed it to our school principal. That was a great moment!
There are many 'rules' about writing floating around in the stratosphere, and one that I've personally never liked too much is:
Write what you know.
Well, I write about fantasy worlds with talking animals, Civil War battlefields, and the 19th century. Um, I have never experienced any of this so how can I be writing what I know?
So, I chucked the ole 'write what you know' garbage out the window and have replaced it with a 'rule' that EVERY writer should follow, to the best of your ability:
Be Honest and Real.
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Be honest when you write. It's surprisingly difficult, but necessary to write a deep and true story. Not true in the sense that you're writing a memoir, but true in the sense that the characters do things in alignment with their nature. Be honest.
You can become a more honest writer by studying people and why they do what they do. In essence, writers use psychology to figure out human motivation. You can also inject a lot of honesty in your characters by creating their biographies, which I'll talk more about in the next week. The deeper you know your character and WHY SHE DOES WHAT SHE DOES, the more honest your story will become.
Being honest is all about exploring character motivation, which is one of the most important foundations for storytelling.
For example, Harry Potter's parents were murdered when he was a baby and he's been raised with cold and nasty relatives, so his primary character motivation is to find a loving home where he belongs.
The more honest you are about your own feelings towards the people and events in your life, the more honestly you can write and create deep, complex characters that are meaningful and grow and change throughout your story.
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Be real. Make your story-world real, with real details. If you're writing fantasy or sci-fi, then concentrate on world-building and nail down as many details as you can. Writing historical fiction is like engaging in a gigantic research project into the past. But the more details - weather, clothing, how fabrics felt, the smell of gas lighting, what carriage wheels sound like on cobblestones - the more real I can make my world.
Being real also has to do with projecting your own experiences into scenes. Not every scene you write will be exactly true to life, but you can create the illusion of realism. For example, in my story "Daniel's Garden," I had a lively abolitionist rally scene. Well, I've never been to an abolitionist rally, but I've been to a hard-rock concert! That would be kind of like the same thing - a bunch of people jostling and bumping into each other, the place pulsing with excitement. So, when I wrote the rally scene, I imagined Daniel being at a rock concert. It worked surprisingly well and gave the scene the energy it needed!
Project that same realism into your own stories - put your broken heart into the emotional love scenes, put your feelings of joy at an amusement park into a character wins the day, put your experience of leaving home and moving to college in a character who enters a new world. Use similar emotions to fuse the real of your own life into the fictional world of your story.
Be real!
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Today's Class is About:
Not just writing what we know about, but being honest and real in our stories.
What You Can Do:
*In your writer's notebook, start thinking of creative ways you can turn the real people and real events in your own life into fiction.
*When you write, keep asking yourself: "Is this character being true to himself? Would he honestly do that, given who he is?"
We fight against enemies - yes we do! There are many! Let's see what dragons lurk around here and try the best to avoid them, shall we?
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Bad Procrastination - Not to be confused with good procrastination! Good procrastinating is writing when there are dirty dishes in the sink. Bad procrastinating is doing the dishes before writing! Your writing is your priority, not whatever else seems to be. Actually, it's quite fun to practice good procrastinating, for then you know that whatever else you thought you had to do is just not as important as getting that character dialogue out of your head. Avoid bad procrastination - you can try out that new recipe/read that blog/check your email/clean your office later!
Boredom - Specifically, your own boredom. If you don't want to keep turning the pages of your story, then a reader surely won't either. Your poor story will die a slow death and eventually become just a cold Word document sitting on your computer desktop, if you don't find ways to keep the fire alive. Writing is hard not because creating paragraphs and scenes are hard, but because it's hard to keep the passion going day after day after day, for months on end. Prevent too much time from elapsing between working on your story, and use your notebook and other tools for inspiration. A consistent writing schedule also helps. Fight boredom!
Staleness - If boredom kills your story from the inside, then staleness kills it on the outside. When your book is sitting quietly on the 'New Fiction' table at Borders, SOMETHING has to grab the reader enough so she will pause and pick it up. The cover may do it, but the ball is also in your court. Create excitement and enthusiasm for your story right from the get-go. Write a timeless story that will appeal to people no matter what the decade or century. Go deep and write about real characters with real emotions. Put hooks at the end of each chapter, so the reader keeps turning those pages. Jazz up your opening chapter as much as possible. The worst thing that can happen to a book is readers simply don't pay attention to it. Keep staleness at bay.
Distance - Not paying close enough attention to your story creates moments of distance between you and the reader. It's probably happened to you before ... you're reading along in a novel, and all of a sudden something jars you enough to take you out. It may be a historical fact that's wrong, a hero does something out of character, a plot twist is just too convienent, or bad grammar and spelling problems. Whatever it is, do everything possible to create a great story that encourages the reader to settle in and stay immersed. Double-check your historical facts, make sure your character motivation translates into plausible action, don't throw in weird coincidences, clean up technical problems, and get plenty of feedback before submitting manuscripts. Fix it, so that distance doesn't deprive you of a great book.
Well-meaning People - If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then so is the road to not finishing a novel. Some of the most charming and loving people - your husband or wife, your kids, your parents, your good friends, even writing group peers - become serious writer enemies at the drop of a hat. And it's because of their questions. "So, when am I going to read it?" "Honey, why can't we go out tonight?" "Hey, Meg, what's going on with the book these days?" Ugh. It's enough to make you wish good intentions never existed. The best thing to do is develop answers to these questions, deflect their attention away from your writing, and don't bring up your writing in conversation. People are amazing, people are nice ... and people can be a pain!
Talking Away Your Story - This is one of the most insidious enemies. It is possible to talk about your story too much - so much, in fact, that you think you're writing when you're actually just discussing. Don't discuss your story, don't talk about future plans with your story (you'll probably just change them anyway), keep your lips zipped around other people (who may cut your story off at its knees), and for heaven's sake don't show your rough draft to anybody. Keep your story hidden and secretive while working. It keeps the fire alive ... and you'll also not have to explain to anybody if you suddenly decide to change the setting from the Congo to Thailand.
Household Distractions - The latest episode of 'Dancing with the Stars', taking the dog out, getting dinner on the table, laundry, dirty dishes. Most of your draft writing will be done at home, so you must learn to separate it from your work. Yes, it truly doesn't matter that there are dirty dishes in the sink while you've got a perfect scene idea between two characters in your head. The book comes first! You may never become famous for the best housekeeper, but novels live a lot longer than dirty laundry, don't they? So, throw the load of laundry in to wash and then get to work.
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Today's Class is About:
Identifying and deflecting writer enemies.
What You Can Do:
*Read over this enemy list and find ways to keep these enemies from harming your work.
A writer's notebook is one of the most important things you'll ever have while creating your story. It's like your personal treasure chest, capturing and holding all of the wispy thoughts, definite bits of dialogue, musings, wonderings, moodlings, and impressions you feel and experience throughout your days.
I like simple cheap notebooks, because then I never feel too bad about marking them up with scribblings, writing in the margins, and throwing them in a bag or purse. Those marbled Composition books work well, as do unlined blank sketchbooks. Choose a format that is a nice size to carry, like 5" x 8.5", and has a great texture for the paper and a rather sturdy cover.
Even if you are a techy-type writer and compose both rough and final drafts by computer (I do!), I encourage you to keep a notebook. There is nothing like freeing your mind from the QWERTY world and hearing the scritch of a pen as it skitters across the page. Notebooks balance on laps easily, notebooks look nice sitting on airplane tray tables, notebooks jam inside purses for doctor's offices and coffee shop visits. Notebooks make a writer LOOK like a writer. Head bent, pen curving and looping, focused and intent.
The great thing about a writer's notebook is its informality. Let your thoughts run wild - write sideways, diagonally or upside down. Write bits of poetry that remind you of that rainy walk in Central Park, make sketches of the terrifying monster your hero will fight, put in song lyrics that will play in your heroine's head as she thinks of him ... In my notebook, I also keep a list of inspirational quotes, websites, and YouTube videos that remind me of the mood of my story.
The notebook becomes your personal inspiration to yourself, by serving as a visual and textual keepsake. During the long slogging-through-the-murky-draft phase, you'll appreciate having a notebook to reignite the embers.
Writers gather the world around us, like a bird gathering bits of string and twig for a nest. We create an environment, where characters eat dinner and make phone calls and cry into their hands and make plans and take naps and decide on what to wear and read the mail and drive. The notebook is a place for capturing your story's particular flavor.
Oh, and you'll need a pen, too! I'd suggest taking your time trying to find one, for I am one of the writers convinced that pens are extremely important. The right flow of ink, the right size and shape of the barrel, the right sound of scritching on the paper. I wrote in black ink for a long time, then switched to blue when I realized I liked seeing the colorful loops of my handwriting.
Write in purple or pink, maybe try one of those silly teen glitter pens for a day - and what about a mechanical pencil? Some writers still swear by a box of newly sharpened yellow #2s - the smell of shavings and the grind of a hand-crank pencil sharpener brings me right back to elementary school. If you're a children's writer, pencils just may do the trick to capture the gleeful and fun world of a child.
Have you ever tried a quill or fountain pen? There is something about the long sculptural nib and the thick black ink, like you're creating glossy streams of text. A bit too formal for rough drafts, but perfect for a love letter between chracters if you're writing a Regency romance or historical fiction tale.
I write in extra-fine, for the pen nib gives me a bit of extra work and the scritchy sound is delightful. The skinny line of blue ink is a pleasure to see, as well.
Seek out your notebook and pen like you're looking for a gift for someone special. In essence, you are - you're gifting yourself with the tools of a writer. These tools will shape, guide, inspire, and inject your story with wonderful details, separating it from other stories and really giving your reader a sense of living in your story.
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Today's Class is About:
Using a writer's notebook and pen to capture the world around us, providing a source of inspiration and creating a treasure chest for our works.
What You Can Do:
*Buy a notebook.
*Get a pen or pencil.
Welcome to my Creative Writing class! This first week we'll talk about the basics of storytelling. Writing is not just setting words to paper (or Word document), but a daily commitment to yourself to get the inner story inside you out into finished form. They ain't lying when they say it's hard - it is!
But it's also amazing, since it inspires you to truly reach deep inside yourself and present us with a great tale. How fun that you get to join me as we spend the next 30 days talking about the joys and travails of trying to get all the gunk out of our heads and into completed form. It's a struggle ... but you know what? The struggle IS the story. Stories would not be so magical if they did not contain deep struggle.
Before we put pen to paper, before we start a new Microsoft Word document, before we brainstorm, before we pick a main character's first name, before we do any of that ... we'll spend time thinking about how our story will relate to the larger picture of storytelling and what makes stories so meaningful to readers.
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WISH FULFILLMENT
I feel the spiritual function of stories and story-telling is: wish fulfillment. Stories appeal to us and will always be a part of human culture because they represent deep and meaningful wish fulfillment.
What is wish fulfillment?
Wish fulfillment comes from every person's deep desire to be happy and live up our greatest potential. Boys get to be heroes, girls get to be princesses, love triumphs, the good are rewarded, the evil are punished, travelers return home at last, wealthy and prosperity reign, all amends are made, and conflicts are resolved.
Stories are the written and visual worlds where readers escape to see their own greatest wishes come true. Wish fulfillment gives stories their magic!
Wishes are emotional and spiritual desires that are met through storytelling. The main character becomes each of us on the road towards obtaining these deep wishes.
To come up with a good story idea, we need to name OUR greatest and deepest wishes. The more universal and appealing the wish is, the more a reader will be engrossed with our story, murmuring to themselves:
"I want to be like her!" "I want to be him!"
Whenever I watch 'Titanic', I want to BE Rose. I don't just want to watch her story; I want to be her and live it out for myself. This is the greatest connection between writer and reader - the ability to make your reader WANT to live in your story.
Little boys want to be Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, Superman or Spiderman - heroes who have magical powers and fight the bad guy to save the day.
Little girls want to be Cinderella, Snow White and Jane Austen heroines - princesses-in-the-making who get princes, castles/homes, happy families and true love.
These stories tap into deep wish fulfillment, and are thus popular with millions the world over.
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YOUR DEEPEST WISH:
What is your deepest wish? When you picture your ideal life, what are its treasures? What rewards have you received? If a genie appeared and said he would grant you one wish, what would it be?
Children have no problem answering this question! It may seem a childlike question ... but it's important because YOUR wish will be transformed into your story so that your character obtains this wish.
Our readers will connect with our stories because they, too, have secret deep wishes. An unhappy wife may want a better marriage, but what she's really WISHING for is true love. A man stuck in a nowhere job may want a better position, but what he's really WISHING for is to be a hero and accomplish work he's proud of.
Your deep wish will come through your story via the main character. We'll talk more about characters next week, but for right now think about how main characters fulfill wishes and receive rewards at the end of their stories.
We'll continue with the basics of creative writing throughout this week!
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Today's Class is About:
Wish fulfillment and how it relates to storytelling. Boys get to be heroes, girls get to be princesses, love triumphs, the good are rewarded, the evil are punished, travelers return home at last, all amends are made, and conflicts are resolved.
What You Can Do:
*Find your deepest wish.
*Think about how that deep wish relates to storytelling, and how a main character could be wishing for the same thing (and receive it!).
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