Creating Mini-Me

Our blog chain topic for today started with Sandra who asked:

Have you ever created a character different from yourself in some significant way, such as (but not limited to) different gender, race, ethnic group, religion, or sexual orientation? If so, what, if any, research did you do to portray these differences? Was this character a main character, secondary character, or walk-on? Did these differences have an impact on the story?

I am towards the end of the chain this time around, and WOW there have been some really good responses from some of my fellow chain bloggers (you can easily read them all by starting with the link to Sandra's blog above and then just following the links straight through from one to the next). Mostly I am impressed by how fearless so many writers are in tackling characters who are completely difference from themselves - difference sex, nationality, race - they have done it all. In fact, one of the two themes that's been repeated is: be brave. The other main idea that I picked up on, was to also be true to the characters in your head by listening to them and letting them be whoever or whatever they are.

Yeah, I know, it kind of sounds like the same advice your mom gave you in junior high, and you were all like, "Yeah, okay whatever, Mom. Now buy me the same shoes that everyone else wears so I don't look like a freak." Of course, I usually didn't get the shoes. And even when I did get the shoes, I didn't have the equally essential fifty dollar sweatshirt from The Limited (Yes, I specifically remember this item of clothing. Actually, it was a whole line of sweatshirts, that if I recall correctly, had a sort of Graffiti-esque type writing across the front done in a Golden Girls color palate. Seriously, what pre-teen girl wouldn't want that sweatshirt? It would have looked totally rocking with my red glasses. Alas, as one of five kids that was a bit out of our budget, but my older sister had a friend who was an only childhood and she owned a whole pile of them. We thought she was the luckiest person on the planet - not counting my older sister's other friend who was also an only child and her mother packed her the BEST lunches ever. Like slices of cheesecake for dessert kind of lunches. Meanwhile we got the generic version of Oreos.) to complete the outfit so it didn't look quite right anyway.

Long tangent. I know. Except it's not a tangent. Really, I swear, I'm not using my blog for public therapy sessions. Okay, maybe I am a little bit - but that doesn't change the fact that I also actually have a point here, and I am getting to it right now.

POINT: The characters I write don't necessarily look like me, act like me, or live like me - but at their core they are created from my experiences and in some essential way reflect my point of view and the way I see the world.

In other words they are underdogs, screw-ups, and dreamers. They might not always win, but they put up a good fight. And yes, sometimes they have terrible fashion sense.

What about you - when you write do you like to create mini-me's or do you try to break the mold?

Make sure to check out the post before mine from Shannon - one of our new blog chain members. And tomorrow Amanda will be finishing up this topic!

What A Character

It is blog chain time once more, and I am really excited about the question for this round, which came from Eric. He asked:

Do you create characters that are larger-than-life or are your characters more like the average Joe?

Excellent question - right?

So, for as long as I can remember my mother has used the phrase "he/she is a real character" to describe certain people. Now these aren't movie stars or sports heroes, or even the local newscaster but just - you know - regular people that she came across in everyday life. Maybe it would be one of my sister's boyfriends, or a teacher, or a someone she works with - and after meeting them my mom would say, "they're a real character" and I would know exactly what she was talking about. Basically, these are people who are both average Joe's and at the same time larger-than-life.

Okay, so that's a bit of a vague description, but no worries I have some excellent examples of some real life "characters".

The first comes from a commercial posted on YouTube. Not only is this commercial hilarious, but the main guy in it definitely qualifies for my mother's "real character" designation. The best part comes at around 40 seconds in when he opens up and shares some personal details about himself.



My next example of a great character comes from a story that I heard on a "Best of NPR" CD that I borrowed from the library for a road trip. It was so hilarious that when we reached the destination of my parent's house, I had my mom and dad listen to it too.

The story was called Amy's Answering Machine (they have a part 2 as well) and was about this woman whose mother leaves her these insane messages all the time, until the only thing she could do was collect them on a CD and share them with the rest of the world. If you have the time click on the links above and listen yourself, because it is really the delivery that makes these so wonderfully funny because the mother is so completely serious and sincere. Here are some examples of the messages left on Amy's answering machine.

"Amila, I hope you're on your way home. I just heard on the weather there's a big storm headed for New York. On the weather map, they have snowflakes the size of bagels. So if you have to go out, wrap a scarf around your face to protect it because you know there's that man who climbed Mt. Everest and lost his entire nose..."

"Amila, I'm having second thoughts about that little palm-size computer that you bought. You could swallow it and, God forbid, choke... I just read an article about a fellow who lost a tiny cell phone and when he dialed his own number to try and locate it, he heard a ringing sound coming from his dog..."

And I can't totally remember, but I am pretty sure that after my mom listened to the NPR story, she said that Amy's mom sounded like, "a real character."

For my last real life example is the Twitter feed called "shitmydadsays". I am not a big Twitter fan, however I heard about this when I read that it had led to both a book deal and an option for a TV pilot. Yes, the grapes in our house did go a little sour when I first read that, but when I started reading I couldn't deny that this was some funny stuff. The basic story here is that of a 29 year old guy who lives with his dad and just writes down the stuff that he says. Here are some of my favorite lines (I *** out some of the swear words, just because I try to keep this blog at least PG13, so warning if you go to check out the site yourself - the language is a little R rated):

"There's a word for people like that...No, I'm saying, there's a word and I don't know what it is. I'm not being ****ing poetic."

"Pressure? Get married when you want. Your wedding's just one more day in my life I can't wear sweat pants."

"We're out of Grape Nuts... No, what's left is for me. Sorry, I should have said "You're out of Grape Nuts."

"Son, no one gives a shit about all the things your cell phone does. You didn't invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that."

"You worry too much. Eat some bacon... What? No, I got no idea if it'll make you feel better, I just made too much bacon."

"My flight lands at 9:30 on Sunday...You want to watch what? What the **** is mad men? I'm a mad man if you don't pick me the hell up."

Okay, I think at this point you all know where I'm going with this, but for those who are just skimming through I'll say it once more: This guy is definitely "what a character" worthy.

All right, so these are all (as far as I can tell) real living people somewhere out there in the universe. But how does the whole "real character" translate into my fictional writing?

Well, basically I just try to write people who if my mom met them she'd say... okay, okay - you know what she would say. This doesn't just apply to my main character, but all of them. I want them to be like someone you could meet in your everyday life, but also someone who if you did meet them you'd remember them and tell other people what a character you'd just met.

Okay, that's it from me, but make sure to check back here next week cause I am starting the next chain and you just know that's gonna be fun. In the meantime though, make sure to check out the rest of this chain. Rebecca was before me and Sandra is coming up next.

Characters in Search of An Author

Time for another spin through the blog chain, and Cole has started things off with this question:

How do you get inside your character's world?

In her post Cole admits to more or less stalking her characters. And while I am always impressed - in awe even - by writers who go that extra mile and really get down and dirty with the research, my attitude has always been a bit more laid back. Unlike Cole, instead of stalking my characters, I go in the completely opposite direction and play hard to get with them.

Like Rebecca (who was directly before me on the chain, check out her awesome post here) my characters just generally show up in my brain one day. And like most characters, they're a little self-involved - you know, constantly wanting to talk about themselves. And that's fine... to a certain extent. But come on, I haven't even sat down to write yet, if they tell me every last thing it could make the putting it down on paper part a little dull.

That's why when my characters first show up I don't let them chatter on incessantly, but instead carefully interview them for the job of hero/heroine of my story. It kind of goes like this:

HEROINE: Okay, so I'm twenty-eight, and I have really pretty brown hair that gets kind of curly when it's humid out, and my eyes are --

ME (interrupting): Yeah, not interested. So tell me what is it you want, and what's stopping you from getting it?

HEROINE: Oh, okay... um, okay well, when I was twelve my mother told me that I'd never--

ME (interrupting again. very rude of me, I know): No, no, no. Not your backstory. Geez. I know you've got skeletons in your closet, but we don't need to pull them all out right now. So let's focus, what's your problem right now.

Once we get the interview over, I'll look at some other characters as well: love interests, best friend, villains, etc. Throughout it all I try to stay on the same "need to know" basis.

So, does that mean I start writing with a lot of unknowns and question marks surrounding my characters. Why yes, yes it does. And couldn't that potentially lead to some inconsistencies when the first draft is done? Yeah, sure. But I'm cool with that, and isn't that what first drafts are for?

And when I finish that first draft I'll know a lot more about my characters than I did when I started. That's because as I go along I'm going to throw my characters in different situations and see how they react. Whether it's their head or their hearts being broken, I'm gonna find out what they're thinking while it's happening, and for me that's the really fun and surprising part of writing.

Okay, well that's all for me this ---

What's that you say? That this is all just a bunch of crap to cover up the fact that I don't like to research and avoid it like the plague? How dare you. I am Offended. And Outraged. And some other feeling that starts with O and fits this situation. Really, that is, well that is just...

Well, it's true is what it is. Or partially true, at least. Cause all that stuff I already said isn't crap. I really do like the fun and surprise of writing without having everything one hundred percent figured out, and if this oh so conveniently works with my 'we don't need no stinkin' research' philosophy... well, then that's just lucky for me.

Okay, that's really all for me. To keep following this chain head on over to Amanda's blog and find out how she climbs into her characters' world.

What I Like About You

Time for another spin on ye olde blog chain, and the question chosen by Michelle is not only good, but also extremely relevant to my current WIP.

In your reading and writing, which do you prefer – a main character that is intriguing, or one that is likeable? Who are the characters that you love the most? And who are the ones that you love to hate?

I think that what this question is really talking about are main characters that one would define as "antiheroes." According to this Wikipedia page listing fictional anti-heroes from books, movies, TV, comic books, and video games, there are several characteristics we can expect:

• imperfections that separate them from typically "heroic" characters (selfishness, ignorance, bigotry, etc.);
• lack of positive qualities such as "courage, physical prowess, and fortitude," and "generally feel helpless in a world over which they have no control";
• qualities normally belonging to villains (amorality, greed, violent tendencies, etc.) that may be tempered with more human, identifiable traits (confusion, self-hatred, etc.);
• noble motives pursued by bending or breaking the law in the belief that "the ends justify the means."

Personally, I tend to love these types of characters, and often find more suppsedly "likeable" characters (poor Bella from Twilight has taken quite a beating in this chain, and yet I can't help but bring her up once more as a character who is about as interesting as plain oatmeal.) to be completely unbearable.

However, looking at this question from the writing instead of the reading end of the spectrum is quite different. I think that most writers tend to love the characters they create. I have a terrible habit of even loving my villains, and am always wanting them to find some kind of redemption in the end. The way I see it, they're not bad - just misunderstood.

In my current WIP my main character definitely falls on the anti end of the hero spectrum. Again and again she exhibits many of the traits listed by that Wikepedia entry, and yet I always kind of thought that these were the best things about her.

But then the crits came back from some of my beta readers. And I started seeing that "L" word from the question: "likeable." Except it was proceeded by a "UN".

I wasn't totally surprised, I knew my MC had a hard side that might turn some people off, but I had also tried to demonstrate that she also had a - although very well-hidden - softer side.

But then another one of my beta readers (my husband actually, whose critting skills I've mentioned previously) said that he loved the character and not to change a thing (Don't worry he balanced it out with lots of things he didn't like about the other characters and many other things.). I ended up discussing with him that some of my other beta readers felt my MC could be more sympathetic, and he wondered aloud if the character had been written as a man instead of a woman would they have felt the same way? Now what we expect from our male and female characters is probably a question for another blog chain, but it did make me think - especially since most of the popular anti-heroes that I can think of (and most of those on Wikipedia's list) are men.

Anyway, I am now in the tricky position of trying to make my MC a little more sympathetic while not comprimising who she is or watering her down too much. It's a thin line.

Back on the reading side of things I find that what helps me understand any character is when their motivations are clear. This is why when a character does something for no reason, or just to advance the plot (*cough cough* Entire last two seasons of Heroes. Yes, I know that's TV, not reading, but have you seen how bad it was? I think I've actually picked on it in a previous post, because I was so actually angry at what they did to those characters that I had to stop watching.) it can really turn me off.

There are also times when characters will just cross a line that I will not follow them, no matter what their motivations.

Does that answer the question? I think so. Except I can't really think of any examples of any anti-heroes I really enjoy except for House and that's TV.

Somebody help me out. Do you like anti-heroes? Who are some of your favorites (extra points if it's a woman, since they seem to be rare)? And are there any heroes or anti-heroes who you just found too anti to enjoy?

And to follow this entire blog chain you can find Carolyn before me and Mary will be immediately after.

Heart of Darkness

It's blog chain time again and this time Leah got things rolling with this question:

So blog chain, (and others) show me your dark side...What do you do to amp up the conflict? What pins do you stick in the little voodoo dolls? How do you torture your characters???

When I first read this question the thought of darkness brought this poem to mind:

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said: "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter-bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."

-Stephen Crane

I love this poem. And while I cannot find the words to explain exactly what the exact meaning of it is, I do know that when asked to find the darkness within myself this is what I think of.

What I don't think of is my own writing. As much as I love the image of writers torturing their characters and using them as little voodoo dolls - I don't know that I do this. At least not consciously.


When I'm writing I am usually in one of two modes:

1.) Analytical mode. This is when I look at the story as a whole more like a machine with lots of moving parts. I need action here, motivation there, and resolution over here. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get the puzzle to fit together.

2.) In the story mode. I guess this one is sort of self-explanatory. When I am actually typing and letting the story flow sometimes things happen that I really hadn't planned on happening. As long as this doesn't pull the story completely off-course from where I need it to go, then I just let it happen. So, at this point when bad stuff happens I don't really feel like
I'm causing it, but rather it simply is what it is.

I don't think I'm explaining myself very well here, and maybe that's just because I'm not all that comfortable with the idea of darkness within myself. Ultimately, I like stories about redemption and the ability of the human spirit to rise above, and even if I do have a hidden heart of darkness, ultimately I'd like it to bring light.


Want to read a much better response to this interesting question? Yeah, so do I. Let's both head over to the blog before mine in the chain over at Mary Lindsey's Weblog. And after that why not pop over to Archetype Writing, because I know she is going to have some interesting thoughts on this question as well.