Laura Roberts's Blog, page 28

Character Tools: #Preptober, Day 5

Let’s talk about tools. Equipment. Maybe even weapons.

What kinds of stuff does your character carry around on a daily basis? Think about Harriet the Spy: she’s got a whole mess of spy gear, all clamped onto a belt. She carries her notebook and a pen, obviously, along with a flashlight, a yo-yo (to make adults think she’s just playing, and not spying on them), and a special outfit she wears on her adventures.

My MC, Ara, is a ninja. She wears dark clothing, special shoes, a bandana over her face, and a hood to conceal her hair. She’s also got lots of gear:

Throwing stars (shuriken)
Knives
Short sword
Smoke bombs
Explosives
Matches
Rope
Cord

And maybe even a little duct tape. Hey, this is the 21st century!

If your characters are real people in the real world, they may not have any use for weapons. Or you may want them to have to use whatever comes in handy, like a frying pan or a shovel.

You may want them to have certain objects, like a lucky charm or a backpack full of food. Maybe they carry a notebook with them at all times. Maybe they’ve just got their wallet and a broken shoelace.

Give your characters some of the things they need. And then, make ’em suffer with the stuff they need but don’t have.

Want to prep with me?

Fill in the same info for one of YOUR main characters, post it on your blog, and be sure to use the hashtag #Preptober on social media so we can find each other.

Don’t forget to grab a free copy of my Preptober Prompts Printable, which you can print out for personal use.

See you tomorrow with a new prompt!

The post Character Tools: #Preptober, Day 5 appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

Character Speech: #Preptober, Day 4

Today, let’s talk about how your character talks.

Speech is important. It not only expresses what a character is thinking, but it also gives you insight into what this character is really like, based on their word choices, regional dialect and rhythms.

Beginning writers often make all of their characters sound the same. Why? Because they’re all just variations on the writer who created them. There might be a lot of back-and-forth dialogue where a character seems more like a prop for the hero to expound on an idea – it essentially is a monologue with one person prodding the other to go on. And on. AND ON!

That is not what you’re aiming for. Instead, you want individual characters with their own quirks of speech.

I’m not saying you need to make one character rap out all his or her sentences with 21st century slang, while another broods in Olde English and iambic pentameter, but giving each character a distinctive voice is still important.

Think about what kind of character you’re dealing with. My MC is a ninja, so she tends to be more of a silent observer than a chatterbox. It’s part of her nature. She’d be a pretty crappy ninja if she was always getting caught singing in the woods instead of silently creeping up on her targets!

Then again, that could also be an interesting character flaw. A noisy ninja! She can never complete her assignments, because the enemy always hears her coming from a mile away. (Something I might have to keep in my back pocket for a funny story.)

Your character’s voice is probably different. Male and female characters talk differently (especially in relationships), and kids talk differently than adults, too. What kind of vocabulary does your character have? Are the the loquacious type, or the kind that gets straight to the point? Do they use clichés or local sayings? Do they like to make everything all about them?

Think, too, about the genre of your story. Science-fiction stories tend to have more jargon in them than romances, for example. (But, of course, you could be writing a romance between two scientists, featuring a little of both!) Your genre may dictate some of the ways your characters speak, or it might give you good reasons to break all the rules and give your characters unruly voices.

Just remember to keep each character’s voice consistent. If you take away all the dialogue tags (“he said”/”she said”), would you be able to correctly identify the characters speaking? If so, you’ve got strong, consistent character voices. If not, it’s back to the drawing board!

Another good trick: write the way you want the character to say the line in the dialogue itself. Instead of writing:

“I don’t like the way you said that,” Tabitha said angrily.

You could try:

“I told you never to call me Tabby-Cat!”

It’s a playwriting secret I picked up from one of my creative writing professors. He warned us that directors will do things their own way, so if you want to be sure the actors will convey your lines as written, don’t use dialogue tags (or, in the case of playwriting and screenwriting, additional notes before or after your dialogue) to explain what you just had them say. Let them say it and be done. Trust the reader to understand the emotion of the lines in context.

Want to prep with me?

Fill in the same info for one of YOUR main characters, post it on your blog, and be sure to use the hashtag #Preptober on social media so we can find each other.

Don’t forget to grab a free copy of my Preptober Prompts Printable, which you can print out for personal use.

See you tomorrow with a new prompt!

The post Character Speech: #Preptober, Day 4 appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

Character Style: #Preptober, Day 3

Character Style. What is it, and why should we care?

A character’s style is all about how they carry themselves in the world. How they dress, how they speak, and how they act.

Let’s start off with the easy stuff: What kinds of clothes do they wear? Are they minimalists, wearing the same t-shirt and jeans everyday, or do they like to get fancy, experiment with fashion, wear something new each day? Have their sneakers got holes in the sole from wear and tear, or are they brand-new? Do they have a specific uniform? Do they like to express themselves through their clothing and hairstyle (or color)? Paint us a picture of their typical style of dress, so we can get some ideas.

Next up are the harder questions: What kinds of things get these characters motivated, excited? What kinds of things totally turn them off? How do they respond to a crisis? Are they thinkers or doers? Do they stand around talking a lot, or just jump right into problem-solving and getting their hands dirty?

What is this character’s personality like – and would you be interested in following along on their journey?

Some people like to judge characters based on whether or not they would like to be friends with them. And that can be a useful exercise – to a point. But if your character is an antihero, an antagonist or a villain, then obviously you wouldn’t want to befriend such a jerk!

Instead, think about whether or not your characters are compelling. Are you interested in what they have to say, even if you don’t necessarily agree with it? Would you be willing to listen to their arguments, or see what kinds of sneaky things they’re planning? Have they got some kind of a spark that makes you think “Yes, I’ve got to know MORE!”?

Your characters don’t have to be NICE. They don’t have to be GOOD. In fact, it’s probably better if they’re NOT – because eventually you’re going to start torturing them. So let your characters express themselves in their own style, even if it’s not like yours. Especially if it’s not like yours! After all, why create fictional characters if they’re all just going to be your clones? This is a chance for you to live a dozen different lives! So think big and bold and give your characters unique style.

Want to prep with me?

Fill in the same info for one of YOUR main characters, post it on your blog, and be sure to use the hashtag #Preptober on social media so we can find each other.

Don’t forget to grab a free copy of my Preptober Prompts Printable, which you can print out for personal use.

See you tomorrow with a new prompt!

The post Character Style: #Preptober, Day 3 appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

Character Details: Scars, #Preptober Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of Preptober! Let’s talk about scars that can help distinguish your character.

What kinds of scars or physical characteristics make your character unique? These could be recent wounds like skinned hands and knees from playing in the street or broken bones, or older wounds that linger – like a broken leg that never set properly and causes your character to limp.

Maybe your characters have freckles. They could also have distinctive birthmarks, moles, or wine spots.

Your character might have tattoos. They might just have one, or they could be covered from head to toe in ink! Are their tattoos linked to some personal story, and if so, are those stories positive or negative?

Going to extremes, perhaps your character would even be described as disfigured. Have they got an immediately noticeable scar, one that’s unmistakable, like a cleft palate or a missing eye or limb? Perhaps they’ve been mauled by a tiger and have deep gashes on their body, or they’ve suffered from severe burns?

Please note that scars and markings can be used to show both a person’s character and reveal some of their backstory (check back on Day 13 for more on this topic!). Wounds can indicate physical trauma, but don’t necessarily need to be used as shorthand that your character is evil. In fact, the disfigured villain is quite a cliché – so much so that Teen Vogue took it to task this July. So be sure to use those kinds of obvious scars sparingly.

Finally, don’t forget to think about internal scars – psychic or emotional wounds that may be festering below the surface. What kinds of emotional trauma has your character dealt with in the past, and how does it connect to something they’re dealing with right now? Anything from their childhood is likely still simmering in the background, so be sure to ponder that.

Want to prep with me?

Fill in the same info for one of YOUR main characters, post it on your blog, and be sure to use the hashtag #Preptober on social media so we can find each other.

Don’t forget to grab a free copy of my Preptober Prompts Printable, which you can print out for personal use.

See you tomorrow with a new prompt!

The post Character Details: Scars, #Preptober Day 2 appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

Character Basics: #Preptober Day 1

Welcome to Preptober! It’s day 1, so let’s talk character basics.

Here’s a quick sketch of my main character, Ara Brown, who will appear in my #NaNoWriMo novel this year, The Reluctant Ninja.

Name & AKAs: Ara Brown, aka The Littlest Ninja

Age: 13

Gender: Female

Height: 5’2″

Weight: I actually hate describing my characters in terms of this number, so I will stick with a description of her build instead and say slim and athletic

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Brown

Skin Color: Hard to tell, under her ninja outfit… and it’s usually dirty, to boot!

Want to prep with me?

Fill in the same info for one of YOUR main characters, post it on your blog, and be sure to use the hashtag #Preptober on social media so we can find each other.

Don’t forget to grab a free copy of my Preptober Prompts Printable, which you can print out for personal use.

See you tomorrow with a new prompt!

The post Character Basics: #Preptober Day 1 appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

Let’s get preppy! #Preptober is coming

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you already know what a big fan of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I am.

But what you may not know is that… I’ve never actually used the month of October for intensive preparation before I attempt to write my novels.

As a reformed Pantser (and current Plotser), I usually end up writing up a very hastily scrawled outline on October 31st and then winging it for a few days as I attempt to figure out just what in the heck I’m actually writing about.

But all of that is about to change. Why? Because I’ve discovered PREPTOBER!

What is Preptober?

As I’ve discovered, Preptober is the unofficial planning month before NaNoWriMo takes off. So, the entire month of October can be devoted to brainstorming, plotting, character sketching, figuring out settings and scenes, and otherwise scribbling notes towards what will, ultimately, become your novel.

This year, I’ve decided to dive deep into the planning process, attempting all of the stuff I normally avoid, to see whether or not it makes writing my novel any easier come November.

I’ve also decided to share my process with you, via this blog and social media.

If you’d like to prep along with me, here’s a worksheet with prompts you can use for each day of the month:

Click to download your very own copy of the prompts

And here’s a link to download a Calendar version.

Each day I’ll post the prompt on my Instagram profiles (@LauraRobertsBooks and @originaloflaura), with links to my blog posts exploring characters, settings, scenes and plot points from my own NaNo novel.

Follow along daily, or jump in whenever the mood strikes you!

This is a totally optional component to help you get novel-ready for November, but the goal is to get your fiction muscles flexing, thinking about your characters and story.

So, what do you think?

Will you prep along with me this Preptober?

Use the hashtag #Preptober on social media so we can check out each other’s work, comment and connect!

The post Let’s get preppy! #Preptober is coming appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

18 Before 2018

Summer’s almost over, and the last quarter of the year is coming up quick. Which means it’s time to do a little bit of assessment and see where I’m headed with my yearly goals.

Lucky for me, Lisa Jacobs has challenged us all to “18 Before 2018″ – write up a list of 18 goals to accomplish before 2018. These can be big, small, or a combination of both. I did a bit of brainstorming, and here’s what I’ve come up with…

Finish my World’s Coolest Jobs book proposal and start pitching it to agents
Write a second proposal for a totally different book and start pitching it to different agents (this one is still in the kernel phase, so I don’t want to say much more about it, for now!)
Write a 3-Day Novel about middle-school ninja (Sept. 2–4)
Publish my ninja novel
Take a train trip to LA

“Surfliner” image by Flickr user Nick Chill

Visit with my BFF, Jenna, in November (and possibly try to convince her to write a joint novel with me, à la Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke)
Visit with my parents, aunt and uncle in December
Sell books at the San Diego Festival of Books – August 26!
Sell books at the San Diego Zine Fest – October 8!
Attend San Diego chapter meetings for SCBWI
Read 52 books
Get a new mattress
Journal daily, on paper (I’ve started Bullet Journaling and want to start an art journal as well)
Walk 10,000 steps every day
Attend John Lithgow’s free lecture at UCSD
Make a French Silk pie for my birthday – October 14
Try one new recipe every week (for some reason, I’ve decided I need to start with a pot roast – something I have never cooked before – but I am also reading a lot of cookbooks that I’ve borrowed from the library)
Start a NaNoWriMo write-in at my local library

As you can see, some of these are pretty big goals, others are pretty small, and some are just for fun.

I need a little more fun in my life!

What about you?

What are YOUR 18 Before 2018?

The post 18 Before 2018 appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

Meet me at the San Diego Festival of Books!

Guess what?

I’m going to be tabling at the first-ever San Diego Festival of Books!

The Festival runs from 10 AM to 6 PM on Saturday, August 26.

I’ll be at the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild table from 10 AM to 12:30 PM, along with fellow member-authors Marcia Buompensiero, Larry Carleton, Barb Huntington, Edward Lopatin and Penn Wallace.

Come on out, take a look around, and buy some books from local authors. I’d love to meet you in person, and I’ll have some Festival-only goodies for those who stop by to say hi.

See you there!

The post Meet me at the San Diego Festival of Books! appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

July handwriting challenge round-up

I’ve been participating in some fun Instagram challenges lately, so it’s time to share my pix! Here’s a quick round-up of some of my posts from the month of July:

To see any of these images bigger, check out my Instagram account.

It’s new!

Want to play along?

I’ve been posting either handwritten or photographic responses to the #BohoBerryChallenge each day. To join the tribe and post photos of your own, check out the complete list of August prompts at Kara’s blog, and be sure to follow her @Boho.Berry.

If you’d like to follow me on Instagram for more immediate gratification than this monthly round-up, you can find me @LauraRobertsBooks.

Happy handwriting!

The post July handwriting challenge round-up appeared first on Buttontapper Press.

Return of the ninja!

First, there was Ninjas of the 512.

Then, there was Confessions of a 3-Day Novelist.

Now, six years later, it’s happening again…

The ninja is back!

A new YA saga is coming this Labor Day weekend (September 2–4, 2017). Are you ready?

Sign up for my new mailing list to get updates on brand new characters and the gang’s secret hideout!

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