BITCHES AND BASTARDS—CREATING CHARACTERS THAT ARE BOLDLY IMPERFECT

Jade Lee was scheduled for today but unfortunately was unable to visit. We'll catch up with her later.

My guest, is fiction editor, Beth Hill. Her topic is on creating characters the touch readers. If you get the chance, do stop by Beth's Blog and check out her archives. She has some fabulous articles on craft and they are a great resource for writers.

I was recently talking with a frustrated writer, frustrated because beta readers were finding fault with her lead characters.

Some readers didn't like her male lead; others had trouble with the female. They said the characters were unsympathetic, unkind, or just not nice.

No, her leads aren't rotten; they aren't the bitch and bastard referred to in this article’s title. They are simply characters with character.

And isn't that what we want for our stories, characters who stand out, who grab our attention? Don’t we want characters who make us notice them? Characters with character, characters we’ll remember for their bold actions, characters who stir our emotions? Don’t we want stories peopled with characters who aren't safe and who don’t blend in?

RUSSELL CASSE--INDEPENDENCE DAY

The characters we most enjoy have some growing to do. They aren't necessarily nice. They certainly aren't insipid.

They don’t always do the right thing, say the right words, and have the correct motivations. They aren't always politically correct and they may hurt others, both willingly and unknowingly. They may never apologize. They may make excuses. They may lie or cheat or steal. Characters who are bold, who aren't always nice or polite or solicitous, are the characters readers will remember.

So why all the fuss from beta readers?

My guess is that the readers don’t want the writer to submit something they think won’t be popular with either agents or editors.

Yet characters that stand out, who are outrageous or who stumble or who push the readers’ buttons, are exactly the kinds of characters agents and acquiring editors are looking for.

Who wants to read about nice characters, characters who don’t ruffle feathers or who don’t get into trouble or who always say the right thing?

Don’t we want bold characters who are different from us, who speak their minds—even when fearful of consequences—who press ahead despite fear and anxiety and feelings of worthlessness?

Nice characters don’t create tension—they’d work to diffuse it. Nice characters mean bland scenes and ho-hum motivations. Nice characters mean not-so-nice stories.

And lest anyone take offense, I’m not talking about doing away with characters who are good, who stand on the side of justice or integrity or decency. Good characters can be strong and bold and powerful. But nice characters, characters who don’t take a stand and who have no outstanding quirks and who don’t rock the boat are not strong enough to be the leads in a novel.

Characters without flaw are flat and the stories told about them can’t draw the readers’ interest the same way stories about imperfect characters can. What surprise is there when a perfect character defeats his enemy? Doesn't he always defeat his enemy? Was there any doubt that he’d win again?

HANS SOLO--STAR WARS

But what about the imperfect character who’s admitted to cheating to get ahead—can he win the biggest challenge in his life without resorting to cheating again? Will those around him let him forget what he’s done before and pull for him or will they always stand against him, no matter how honest he now is? Can a rude or belligerent character change enough to get other characters on his side when it counts?

If your lead character is perfect, how will he grow? If he’s perfect, how will his next victory be any different for him than his last? If he’s perfect, how will the reader relate?

The writer I was speaking with said the characters didn't resonate with the beta readers. Yet after hearing some of the comments her readers had made, I told her the characters certainly did resonate. They had those readers upset. The characters had succeeded in touching the readers.

And that’s exactly what you want your characters to do.

Consider Rhett and Scarlett, whose movie was on TV just in time to bring them to mind for this article. Neither Rhett nor Scarlett are perfect, but they are good characters. Great characters. They give us reasons to both loathe them and root for them. They are bold, brash, audacious, and larger than life. They pull us into their lives not by their goodness, but by their manner. Their personalities. Their daring and confidence. Who would work his way through Margaret Mitchell’s tome without the reward of Scarlett’s nerve and Rhett’s disregard for propriety?

So, be bold in ruffling feathers of both other characters and your readers and don’t be afraid of writing characters who stir the puddin’. Certainly don’t shy away from giving characters unlikable qualities. Give them those negative qualities and make us like them anyway. Or make us root for them, even if they have flaws.

No, characters don’t have to be bastards or bitches or cruel or crazy or repulsive. But they could be. And if you write them well, readers will enjoy reading them. 

Don’t play it safe with your characters. Create characters that are boldly imperfect. Write strong fiction by creating characters that are far from bland and nice. Your readers will thank you.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

I love the written word, the ability we have to create worlds and emotions with well-chosen phrases. It’s my intention to share tips and insights and encouragement with writers at all levels, to help you craft stories that will entertain and satisfy your readers. That will help satisfy you as writer as well. I am both writer and editor. My editing focus is on long fiction, primarily novels. I also mentor beginning writers.

A Novel Edit

The Editor's Blog

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

MONDAY MUSINGS—GIVE ME THE WILD RIDE!

Reading can teach you a lot about writing. It teaches you not only what is good writing but it shows why it works in the over all story. Reading can also teach a lot about wrong techniques, no matter how pretty the words and phrases, and what it does to a story.

Why do I mention this?

As writers we hear a great deal about pacing, character POV, info dumps, exposition, and building and sustaining tension. Our critique partners have probably harped on some of those very things in our writing, or content editors have given us pages of edits that address those issues.

Recently I downloaded a story that had a good premise and an interesting take on the shifter world. I was looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to its promise. If I were officially reviewing the book I would have given it maybe 3 stars.

This particular story really did have a lot of potential of being a solid series. The world had an original twist, the characters were, for the most part, well thought out with a distinct voice, and I could see their goals, motivation, and conflict. The plot bones were good.

The problem? 

The plot got lost in words. The author could have seriously lost 40% of her word count and had a better and tighter story. The pacing and tension tripped over action stopping scenes that didn't move the story forward but stalled it. Instead of telling the story from the POV of the main characters and bits from the villain, she pulled in five or six more characters and three more villains like characters. It made me dizzy. The tension waxed and waned. I mean pages and pages that had nothing to do with moving the story forward or upping the tension. Or telling me anything I needed to know.

Wiki commons

Tension in a story is like a rafting down a rogue river. The journey starts in relatively tranquil waters but you can feel the pull of the current. Unseen inland rainstorms can suddenly increase the water’s texture and speed. The river narrows, rocks and boulders start to appear, there are tricky eddies with dips and sudden drops in the water surface. Your senses are engaged because you see, feel, and hear the changes in the river. It’s moving faster, the ride is rougher, you have seconds to push off from rocks or capsize. You

wiki commons

see more twists and turns in the river, more white water, and the river’s roar is deafening. The current is incredibly strong and you have to fight to stay in the safe zone. You whip around a treacherous curve in the river and holy crap a waterfall! You have minutes to fight against the current to get to shore. One of the rafts capsize and a mad scramble to rescue the strays. Your heart pounding because one wrong move and someone dies or is swept over the falls.

Afterward, you’re laying on the shore trying to catch your breath and noticing all the scrapes and abrasions and laughing over the close calls. Wind down chat—did you see? Man that last turn…and I lost my oar…I hit that rock and almost went head first in the water… And despite it all the feeling is wow! Oh my god that was so much fun and worth every scrape. That’s what we want our readers to feel. The tension pulling them forward, turning the pages to reach the climax and then satisfaction at the end. If we’re lucky, they will be thinking about events of the story long after ‘the end’.

What we don’t want is the reader feeling ticked off and thinking, ever heard of a content editor?What a waste of my time! 

WRITERS—TURN WEAKNESSES INTO STRENGTHS

Today, I'm featuring some words of wisdom from a friend of mine, Beth Hill. You've read other contributions from Beth both on craft and some of her short stories. 

Beth is a fiction editor and an excellent story content editor. I've benefited from her knowledge and I've always appreciated her easy to understand advice. In today's topic she reminds us of the importance of not only identifying one's weaknesses, as a writer, our strengths. Be sure to check out other timely articles on craft at The Editor's Blog  

Writers have personal strengths and weaknesses. What one writer nails every time, another might struggle with again and again.

Writers have two options for producing better works based on their knowledge of strengths and weaknesses. They can either play to their strengths, featuring the skills they do well as they craft entertaining stories. Or they can turn their weaknesses to strengths by working on those weaknesses, whittling away at them until each time they write, they nail that issue that used to give them fits.

Perfecting a skill may take a while. It may take a long while. And it may not be fun, that repetition and practice and boring effort. But the focus on eliminating a weakness and making it not only a neutral element—something that won’t work against the writer—but a strength—something that actually works for the writer—will serve those writers for years. Why limit yourself to a few skills you’re comfortable with and know you manipulate well when you can also learn new skills and better position yourself to meet new writing challenges?

Identifying your weaknesses

Don’t know your weaknesses? Pay attention to critiques, especially when several readers comment on the same element.

If your dialogue doesn't work, you’ll hear about it if you’re letting others read your work.

If failure to plot tightly is your weakness, spend time learning how to plot.

Learn more than the basics. Stretch yourself.

Learn the importance of character arcs. Learn how to weed out clichés. Learn how to make use of setting, how it affects characters and tone and pacing. Face up to your limitations rather than hiding them.

Learn and practice and overcome your personal weaknesses one by one.

Any combination of writer strengths and weaknesses can be worked and finessed to produce an entertaining book, but weaknesses can overburden a story. And they can tax a writer so much that he doesn't develop a story the way he should. Most of us don’t want to spend time on difficult tasks that promise little pleasure or minimal reward for the effort.

A writer doesn't start out as an expert in every skill.

A partial list of elements a writer can be weak in or excel at—

plotting
characterization
chapter-ending hooks
dialogue
description
conflict
word choices
pacing
sentence construction
resolution
foreshadowing

Can you say that you’re an expert at each? What about the skills I didn't mention? Are you as equally skilled at every task required for writers to produce entertaining and engaging stories?

If not, why not work on one of your weaknesses, actually follow a plan to improve your writing? Why not become skilled at just one writing element that gives you fits? (And after that, take on a second element that needs work. But I don’t want to overwhelm you. One skill at a time works just fine.)

Books and the Internet and writing groups are wonderful resources. Tap into them. Make use of available tools to perfect your skills. Turn weaknesses to strengths.

Don’t settle for being a writer; strive to be a better writer. Better than you were last year. Better than you imagined being. Better than just good enough.

                                                                                                                                               

Freelance fiction editor Beth Hill.

I love the written word, the ability we have to create worlds and emotions with well-chosen phrases. It’s my intention to share tips and insights and encouragement with writers at all levels, to help you craft stories that will entertain and satisfy your readers. That will help satisfy you as writer as well.

I am both writer and editor. My editing focus is on long fiction, primarily novels. I also mentor beginning writers. My editing service is A Novel Edit.

. 

The Hazards of the Unskilled Writer Attempting a First-Person Rookie Novel

Today, I need strong Turkish coffee and 4 more boxes of tissue—could you hand me
another blanket too? Thanks! 

We've committed more disastrous mistakes in early manuscripts than we care to admit—we’re talking about manuscripts pushed under the bed never to see the light of day. For we literary mortals, skillful writing takes more than innate talent; the learning process can only be perfected by constant practice and brutal self-examination. By constant, we mean every day; working endless hours on unworthy prose—learning what is bad and learning what resonates with an audience and becomes readable. One lesson: beware of being your own critic. Writing in an unexamined, non-evolutionary manner won’t lead to a sale. We need fresh, honest eyes from the outside...experienced, talented writers, teachers or a reading/critique group to point out mistakes we've made and to teach a new, fresh approach to our language.

We’re told to write what we know, but this can be spectacularly bad advice when it leads the novice to attempting a first-person novel. We assure you, once you've looked at the first hundred submissions in the legendary slush pile, you’ll join us: the idea of reading another will make you want to poke out your no-longer-virginal eyes with a pencil. If you are a rookie writer submitting a first-person manuscript, here’s the sequence of events you can expect from the submission screener:

• Rookie writer?
• First person perspective?
• Quick response to the author: unfortunately, your submission does not meet our needs at this time.

Next manuscript.

Even for a fledgling company like Stairway Press, we see far more manuscripts than we could ever dream of publishing. With severely limited decision-making time, we are forced to be quick. This sad reality of the publishing business leads to a conundrum because we have many beloved first-person novels resting comfortably on our bookshelves. It can be done and the result can be remarkable and memorable, but the unskilled writer must overcome many hazards.

One hazard: the tendency for the unskilled writer to slip out of the first-person point of view. The writer has to stay in the narrator’s head—the reader will only know what the narrator knows. All information must come from the observations and the experiences of the narrator. By slipping up and presenting things others see…this is called head-hopping and is a lapse of necessary writing discipline.

However, that’s not the biggest hazard. If the story is a thinly disguised autobiography, the tendency is to only include events as experienced by the author. Frankly, as fascinating as your life is to you, the recounting will seem random and mundane to the outside reader. Be honest—has your life been amazing and filled with ample pithy lessons to support a satisfying fictional story arc? There is a natural tendency to honestly report the facts as experienced; otherwise, you’d be a liar, right? But, a satisfying story can’t just be about you. We’re sorry, but unless you’re Brad Pitt or Hilary Clinton, your life simply is not that interesting. To create a vivid tale, you need to stretch and make things up. The story needs focus and plot and clean movement from point A to point B. Does that describe anyone’s real life? Probably not. Beyond that, most of us need to build a career with more than one book, so why not dive in now to create that detailed imaginary place where the good stories come from?

In fiction, the reader must connect with interesting characters and follow them along a colorful path to a rewarding conclusion. The story has to be believable and the characters must ring true. This is a contradiction, but to make the typical story real it must be invented.

We have read many excellent books written in first-person perspective. In the hands of a skilled writer, it doesn't matter which POV is used. If the plot is compelling, the characters are relatable and the writing is fresh and original. That book will be a success.

Here’s a test. If your story is strong, it will work in the more common third-person perspective. If it will work, then why not take that approach? It could be the direct, visceral flow from the first-person perspective is a benefit to your story, but, if you’re inexperienced and your book will only work in first-person perspective?

We’ll be blunt: dancing on the freeway would be safer.

• Agree? Disagree? 

Let’s hear your thoughts.

AUTHORS: 

Laura Elvebak is the author of the 

Niki Alexander mystery series.

www.LauraElvebak.com

Ken Coffman is a writer and 

Stairway Press publisher. 

Fairhaven is his latest novel.

www.StairwayPress.com

A PUBLISHED BOOK IS LIKE A WEDDING GOWN

I'm pleased to have as my guest, debut fiction novelist, J.B. Chicoine, to Over Coffee. 

Bridget's topic compares her writing journey to creating a wedding gown. Creative skills become honed by deconstructing and reconstructing a piece of creative work.

Thanks Sia, for having me as a guest! I do believe this is my first guest post ever!

To start with, I’d like to share a little-known fact about myself: In a former life, I designed and constructed formal wear  specializing in wedding gowns. (Even now, I love to grab a handful of silk taffeta, give it a scrunch and see how it holds its shape like sculpted butter!) Just recently, a friend asked me to have a look at her wedding gown that was ‘doing something weird—the back wouldn't lay flat.’ The second I looked at it, I knew what the problem was and rattled off, “There’s more lining than shell, so it’s bunching.”

How on earth did I know what the problem was, let alone how to fix it? She asked, as if I were some sort of miracle worker. I just shrugged. I dunno—experience, I guess.

Later on, I thought about my learning process—about the first gown I made, when I was seventeen. I was so proud of it. Not only had I designed it, but I sewed it up and wore it to a formal dance in my senior year. *cringe* It was horrid. I mean the premise—the idea in my head was good, but in reality, it looked like a polyester sack hanging from two thin drawstrings. That undertaking reminds me of my first novel, written over twenty years ago. I was so proud of it. I actually made people read it *cringe again*. Sure, I had been writing since I was a little kid, just like I’d been sewing since I was old enough to thread a needle, but when it came to constructing something complex, I was just winging it.

So, with big aspirations, I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan—oh yeah, I was going to be a big name designer! It took only one semester to realize that was not the career I wanted. I also learned classroom settings squashed my creativity. Just the same, in those few short months, I acquired some very important basic rules of design. I continued to sew for myself and, later, my children, but it wasn't until after I started doing alterations for a bridal shop that my skills improved exponentially. I had to muster the courage to deconstruct and reconstruct very expensive and elaborate formal wear  I figured out what worked and what didn't work by being methodical and taking my time.

Here’s the parallel with my writing. I persisted and wrote more novels, but it wasn't until I had to deconstruct and reconstruct them—because three years and over 200 rejections from agents told me my writing wasn't yet proficient enough—that I really figured out how to write a good novel. I read some helpful How To books (my favored way of learning) and figured out how to apply the basic rules and principles. I found a few good beta readers that helped me cut away ‘the unruly stuff that wouldn't behave.’ Then I put it all back together until everything fit just right.

Recently, I completed the phase of writing that is akin to adding the finishing touches to a wedding gown—final edits on my novel, Uncharted: Story for a Shipwright that has just been released by Rhemalda Publishing. It was like sewing on the last of thousands and thousands of beads, adorning luscious silk taffeta, awaiting its debut. It is complete and it’s breathtaking, finally out of my hands, out there for anyone to see.

Now, I’m off to ‘alter’ some earlier novels of mine that don’t ‘fit’ quite right.

BUY: AMAZON, B&N

UNCHARTED: STORY FOR A SHIPWRIGHT

J.B.Chicoine

When a peculiar young woman shows up at the Wesley House Bed and Breakfast with a battered suitcase and stories to tell, shipwright Sam Wesley isn't sure if she’s incredibly imaginative or just plain delusional. He soon realizes that Marlena is like no other woman he has ever met. Her strange behavior and far-fetched tales of shipwrecks and survival are a fresh breeze in Sam’s stagnant life.

Sam isn't the only one enchanted by Marlena. With his best friend putting the moves on her and a man from her past coming back into her life, the competition for Marlena’s heart is fierce. In the midst of it all, a misunderstanding sends Marlena running, and by the time Sam learns what his heart really wants, it may be too late to win her back. 

EXCERPT

Bridget Chicoine has been coming up with characters and stories since she was a child. She started writing seriously in 2006 and undertook educating herself on improving her craft and about the publishing industry. Working on her painting simultaneously with her writing, one creative outlet stimulates the other. Much of her inspiration comes from having lived near the ocean and in New Hampshire's Sunapee Lakes Region. Bridget has a contract for publication with Rhemalda Publishing and is currently working on several other writing projects.

Currently, Bridget live near Lake Huron in Michigan with her husband Todd, renovating yet another old house, and painting when she can clear away the debris and sawdust. When she’s not involved with a painting she’s working on various writing projects 

You can find Bridget: ART, BLOG, FACEBOOK, WEBSITE, and TWITTER.

Monday Musings: Grappling With Spring Clean Up

Spring brings storms. Lots of storms as the ground prepares for the growing season. Aside from the storms, spring brings lots of extra work. We have weeding and preparing those garden beds for planting, cleaning up the debris of winter rains or snow, and working on the outside buildings and the house itself. Finally, we see the yard clean and looking good. Granted it’s still bare bones but it’s ready for the next step, beautifying it.


The work we did in the past, the planting and pruning, is now showing evidence of growth. Shoots from the bulbs we planted are pushing through the dirt. We can almost see what everything will look like when it’s done. We’re not done but we’re on the way. Now comes the mulching, trimming, and weeding.


Isn’t that just like our writing? The initial work is showing promise but there is still much clean up we have to do. Trimming, weeding, fertilizing, and mulching. Not always the fun part but necessary if we want it to match our vision.

I've been writing this winter plus I’ve pulled out some of my older manuscripts and I’m analyzing them. Some are good stories and have good bones but the execution is poor. Editing, pruning and weeding, is necessary. Some are close to the query stage and actually I’ve had some good feedback on them.


Now it’s a matter asking myself questions. Am I telling the reader the story, or are am I putting them on the spot to feel and see things unfold. I learned quite a bit by some of my recent 5 star reading.

• The Second Duchess puts me in Barbara’s mind and environment so I trying to answer the same questions she is. I had no warning that a certain dish would kill a character close to Barbara, but I was there and felt the shock when it happened. My mind was reviewing who would or could have done it and why.

• The Dawn Country puts me in each scene and again I’m there on location as the story unfolds. I’m running with Koracoo and Gondo. I see by their actions they’re terrified as to whether they will be too late and the actions of their guilt for being unable to protect their children. I watch in horror with the kids as their captor orders the death of a twelve-year-old child.

• Rock Hard doesn’t tell me Sed is a controlling man, the author shows me and allows me to see and draw my own conclusions. Ditto with the fact Sed has a heart of gold. I’m in the scene so I’m seeing him pull on the SOB persona to protect his heart. Jessica demonstrates by actions her distrust of Sed and his motives and her own.

Each of these authors has a different writing style and choose different words and phrases to place me there, but all three are highly skilled at showing me the inner character by their actions and connecting me emotionally to the characters. None of the three bog me down in info dumps, their characters are distinct, and everything done moves the story to the next level without losing the momentum or the richness of the setting. To me, that ability is a five star read, or like a friend mine who is also a contest judge, says; that’s a winner.

I want to be a winner too. That means I have to look hard at what I’ve written. I have to step back and not be emotionally attached to what I’ve written. As with my garden, if it’s meant to be for lilies then the daisies, as pretty as they are, don't belong there. I can move them to a place it fits better. So it means being able to analyze the theme of each flowerbed or, in this case, chapter, and pulling out what doesn’t belong or detracts from the theme I’ve developed.

So, I’m grappling with manuscript clean up and questions:

• Am I starting the story in the right place? How do I know? Do I have a hook that draws the reader forward? Do I have a hook at the end of the chapter to make the reader feel they just can’t stop here they have to see what happens?
• Is having your character reflecting on something that happened an info dump? Could I show that worry in a better way? Like my friend said, a well thought out sentence can signal the problem better and give the necessary clue to the reader there is problem without a page or so of reflection.
• 
  
• The contest judge says, “Goals, motivations, and conflicts are laid out in the first 7000 words, without TELLING and without infodump/backstory. They are simply integral to the character descriptions.” Have I done that?
• 
  
• “Each of the characters has a unique voice, that's conveyed mostly through subtle turns of phrase, word order…” Do mine? Or is the reader lost without tags?
• 
  
• What the heck is an inciting incident and how do I know if mine is a valid one?

Ah, spring brings a lot of work, both with my gardens and with my writing.

What are you grabbling with? If you participated in Nano, as I did, what are you doing with your Nano entry?

Up coming guests, Stacy Netzel, Linda Wisdom, and Olivia Cunning and her Sinners