Judith Post's Blog, page 119

Writing: Themes

When I was young, I drove my mom nuts by asking “Why?” I wanted to understand how things connected, the cause and effect of life’s happenings. A lot of my writing explored the meaning of life. Maybe that’s why I was so drawn to mysteries, and why I’m still so drawn to plot points. Plots use cause and effect to move from one scene to the next. Mysteries take the chaos of crime and bring the criminals to justice. It makes the world…and writing…more orderly.

Now that I’m older, I don’t expect to discover the meaning of life. It’s sort of like understanding the idea of infinity. I believe in it, because it makes sense to me. How can anyone draw a line in space and say This is where it ends? Because then, we have to ask What’s on the other side of the line? Something must continue. So even though I can’t fathom infinity, I believe in it. For the same reason, I believe there must be SOME meaning to life, but I have no idea what I think it is. I’ve heard lots of different discussions on it–that life is a classroom, and we’re here to learn, that life is a blessing and sacred, even if it stinks, and that life is a stage, and we each play a part–good or bad–for the experience it brings us. I can find flaws with each and every answer I’ve heard, but that just means that the question is possibly too big for me. Like infinity. So I can’t picture the answer.

These days, I’ve flipped the question and instead of asking, What is the meaning of Life, I ask How can I add more meaning to my life? And that’s the theme that turns up more often than not in my writing. Life experience probably paid a part.

Some people are lucky and don’t attend their first funeral until they’re older. I lost my one grandfather when I was too young to remember the funeral. I only have impressions of the man–a man with a big laugh who bounced me on his knee. I lost my second grandfather before my teens. Both men went quickly, no lingering. They were there, and then they were gone. My father believed that man’s days were numbered, like the notion of the Greek Fates, who wove a person’s thread and then cut it at the allotted time. My grandfathers had lived their days, until they’d reached their quota. I decided I’d better use my time wisely. But soon after I married, my father was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He died before he was sixty, and the disease took him a little at a time. When his blood clogged with too many proteins and cells, doctors attached him to a machine and took the blood out of his left arm, spun it in a machine with centrifugal force, and then put his clean blood back into his right arm. In the beginning, a treatment would last a long time. Then, several months. Then, shorter. Being the man that he was, he went through the treatments with no complaints, making the best of each visit and the time he had between them…until his time was up. I’M the one who shook my fists at the heavens and asked Why? To me, a lingering death seemed more like a punishment than a quick one. It wasn’t a matter of just cutting Dad’s threads. But then, one of my close friends, who’d been through loss of her own, asked Why not? Bad things happen. Why wouldn’t they happen to you? A sobering thought, but it made sense to me. So I waded through the experience. And it helped me with the next one.

My mom died a short while ago, and my sisters and I felt almost guilty, we were so happy for her. Mom had suffered Alzheimer’s Disease for ten years. The last year was just plain ugly. My sister Patty cared for her, and my sister Mary, constantly helped. I was only an occasional visitor. My theory was to help my sisters, because it’s no fun being a caregiver. I got the easy part of the downward slide that ended my mom being my mom. But I can assure you that out of love, all three of us felt huge relief when Mom’s struggle was finally over. And that experience, along with everything else that’s happened in my life, has affected my writing. Maybe that’s why urban fantasy appeals to me right now. Life’s struggles loom large in my mind, too big for mysteries. The concept of life and death is more complicated than it once was. A witch or a werewolf live until someone or something kills him. Is that a blessing or a curse? A fallen angel is immortal and can’t die. How desirable is immortality? And what makes living each day, every day, meaningful? What purpose makes life worth living? Those are the themes I’m drawn to now. And next week, I’ll lighten up:) Maybe I’ll talk about romance:):)

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Writing: Getting it on the page

I finished my rewrites for Blood Lust, the third Fallen Angels novel. It’s an urban fantasy, but I tried for fewer big battles in the book and for more tension between Enoch (the protagonist) and Feral (the antagonist). As a former mystery writer, I sprinkled clues here and there throughout the book to let the reader know that Feral’s devious, playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Enoch. I was proud of myself when I finished my polished draft and gave it to my critique partners. I didn’t feel quite as brilliant once I got their feedback. The thing is, I knew the hidden meanings behind some of the scenes I wrote. The readers didn’t. What was in my head didn’t come out on the page. And that’s why writers need critique partners.

Writers live in their heads. Their characters talk to them. Scenes scroll behind their eyelids. We see them, hear them. And we THINK we’re writing them. But not always. There’s a fine line between being subtle and trusting the reader to “get” what you’re not telling him and…just not telling him. I’ve written books where I’ve given away too much too early (that takes away tension), so in this book, I tried to make the reader WORK for the clues. Except I was the only one who realized they WERE clues, and my readers just got frustrated. I know that feeling, too. I’ve read stories where the author withholds exactly what’s happening to try to titillate my interest, to keep me guessing and turning the pages. That simply annoys me. If the conflict isn’t enough to keep me turning the pages at the start of the book, trying to guess what the conflict IS irritates me even more. Keeping the reader in the dark is NOT tension.

Most books have a simple concept. Usually, in the opening scene, something happens to the protagonist that he doesn’t like. He wants to fix it. How he decides to fix it makes a book, because the fix is never easy. Nothing ever goes according to plan, and things keep getting more and more complicated or harder and harder to cope with. (Same goes for writing the book:)

I got the concept part right in Blood Lust. But once a writer introduces the problem the protagonist has to solve, the rest of the book is about cranking up the tension. It’s about teasing the reader with the idea that behind curtain number one, there’s a fix that’s going to make everything in our protagonist’s world better. We dangle that in front of the reader, and then we don’t let him reach it, or we take it away. We keep taking it away until the last one or two scenes of the book. I didn’t crank up my tension enough, because the readers didn’t SEE the problem. Only I did. That doesn’t work, and that’s why critique partners say, “What the heck was this scene supposed to do anyway?” (That’s when you know you have great partners, because they tell it like it is). And that’s when you know the story you had in your head didn’t translate to the page.

The other mistake I made was trying to find a balance between the book’s big conflict and developing my characters more. One of the writers I really admire at Scribes (my writing group) always tells us she needs a place to “sit” in our stories for a minute, to catch her breath and reconnect with our characters. Too much action can wear out a reader. Getting that balance right, though, takes a rewrite or two. Hopefully, I’ve worked through all of my critique partners’ notes and I’ve found my balance for tension, story line, and character development. I sent the finished manuscript to my agent. She’s swamped right now, so I won’t hear from her for a while. But when I do, I might have another rewrite in my future. Such is the world of writing. If we screw up, we can usually can make it right:)

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy

Writing: Too much of a good thing?

I love writing short stories and novellas, so when I first started putting my work online, I wrote short stuff while I waited for my agent to look at the books I sent her. I wasn’t sure if she’d like the books, so I wrote about completely different characters and settings. Probably not the most brilliant idea I’ve come up with, but I had a wonderful time and ended up with 31 different stories with a cover for each one of them. When Lauren looked at my list of work on Amazon, she said, “Enough already!” Maybe I’d indulged in too much of a good thing?

To cut back on the chaos of choices, I decided to bundle novellas with the same characters into collections. I put up the Death & Loralei collection first, then Gorgons and Gargoyles, Emerald Hills, and Babet & Prosper. This coming week, the last of the 5 bundles should go online. I added 2 new stories to the Christian and Brina collection, making a total of 6 stories in the bundle. Everything’s ready to go, but then I realized that most people, (unless they’re fans of witches, dragons, and castles and buy the thing) will only get to see the main cover when they go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble, etc. Now, I admit I’m prejudiced, but I’m equally in love with the covers for each of the novellas.

The thing is, once I thought about it, I’ve accumulated a LOT of covers for my fun flight of short fiction writing–one for each collection and one for each novella inside the bundle. Thank heavens Michael Prete, who made them all, charges reasonable prices, or I’d have to sell a child to afford so many. Anyway, here are the new ones for Christian and Brina.

All of the covers in my other bundles are on my webpage: http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/series-of-novellas.html. But it’s something to consider if you get a little too enthusiastic about writing short stories or novellas to share. If you do it the way I did, you’ll need lots of images:)

Writing: historical fiction

I asked my friend/critique partner/and awesome writer, Mary Lou Rigdon, to share her VAST knowledge of writing historical fiction with us, since I know diddly about it. She doesn’t just write historical. She’s one of those naughty writers who indulge their love of different genres. She writes fantasy, contemporary action/romance, and YA (which you can find on Wattpad). I love everything she writes, but I especially love her Regency novels, which she writes under the pen name Julia Donner. My husband knows that I have a huge crush on Lord Asterly from her novel The Heiress and the Spy, but since Asterly only makes me hot and bothered on paper, my John chooses not to worry:) Anyway, for anyone who’s interested in writing historical or adding research into stories (like I do with myths in my Empty Altars series), here’s some solid advice from Mary Lou.

09/21/14

Critique partner, Judy Post, suggested we swap blogs as a change-up, saying that her readership would be interested in how to write in the historical genre. My thing is regency and western, but the American West will have to wait for another posting. Both time periods have masses of information and juicy historical tidbits.

Research isn’t always first but is mandatory. The internet is a wonderful thing, but one has to be careful when applying the information floating around out there. This shouldn’t have to be mentioned, but anything and everything written by Austen is a must read. Not only is she as sly as all get-out, she presents on a palette the everyday life and mores of her time period.

The most important rule is to understand the nature and mindset of the time period. Your reader wants to “live” there. To be safe, I stick to reliable books specific for the era. Because of the internet, in minutes, we can find out exactly what was occurring, and where, on any particular day. This means you can take your reader there with a trivial piece of information, and that’s not to say you’re going to smack them in the face with it. Have it lazily dropped into a conversation. Men were horse mad and something can be said about a recent race. Women were interested in these events, because many spouses and other family members won and lost fortunes.

If your story is about the aristocracy, gossip was the mother’s milk of society. Make it something interesting, like the Green Man, no not the mythical forest creature, but Henry Cope of Brighton. Everything he wore and ate had to be green. This included his furnishings and the servants’ liveries. The antics of someone like that makes for interesting dialogue. The regency period was loaded with famous personalities, like Lady Laetitia Lade, the Holland House set, Poodle Byng, the fabulous Beau, an endless list of colorful sorts. Reams were written about them, their habits, movements, clothes and politics. The trick is to not overdo with an info dump. As they sang in The Producers “keep it light, keep it happy, keep it gay.”

Remember the constraints of the era. There were no light switches. What is the time of day or was the room so enclosed it required lighting at all times? At night, a light had to be carried to their room, or servants carried it for them, or the rooms were lit before, a fire laid, and in winter, the sheets warmed. Wealthy households had a servant just for all the lights.

Servants had a strict hierarchy that didn’t disappear until the end of the last century and is still practiced at Buckingham. Know the size of the house, which servants stay in place or move with the household. How much money are we talking here? To maintain a house in town and in the country, we’re talking a £10,000 yearly income, a lot of money back then.

So where do you start? Do some research, but don’t make yourself nuts, and write the story. It’s your characters that count, their problems, how they solve them, and grow. Once the rough draft is done, I go back and verify. Plots can be tweaked—your characters and situations can’t be fake or contrived.

There were many rules, written, spoken, and unspoken. Discretion and following the code was the imperative. Some of the people who populated that era broke all the rules to become beloved and accepted. Before he was Wellington, Arthur Wesley (later Wellesley) was Irish born and thought to not go far. Admiral Nelson, the impoverished son of a preacher, was so admired that he survived a scandalous affair.

Having gotten that said, now comes a scary caveat:

Readers of regency know the time period, and that means they really know the time period. They’re fussy about the details, just as I am. If you’re going to break the rules of regency, be careful how you tread. The rules did get broken, but they were done with a certain style. Some things were never forgiven, never forgotten. Even though popular in certain circles, Lady Holland was not accepted by the high sticklers because of her divorce. She didn’t care and led a bustling social life. Even if your story is about servants, remember that the working class in the finer houses was as snobbish, if not more so, than their employers, for whom morals ran fast and loose, as long as one was married and played by the rules, especially discretion. It’s been written that on her deathbed, Lady Cowper’s mother, Lady Melbourne, told her daughter to always be faithful to her lover, not her husband, and that’s the regency mindset.

Suggested reading for a start:

The Regency Companion by Laudermilk and Hamlin

Wellington by Elizabeth Longford (family approved biography)

The Age of Elegance by Arthur Bryant (if you can find it)

Any writings by Captain Rees Howell Gronow (observer and prolific writer of the era)

Thanks for sharing, Mary Lou! And if you want to read more from her, here’s where to find her:

M.L.Rigdon

webpage: http://mlrigdon.com

blog: http://historyfanforever.wordpress.com/

Writing: looking for covers can hurt your eyes

I’ve finished a lot of rewrites lately. My critique partners and I got off schedule and out of rhythm. Life happens. People get busy or sick or take vacations, but I now have two, new novellas ready to go. They’re going to complete a bundle with some of my older Christian/Brina stories. That means I need three, new covers–one for each new novella, one for the entire collection. No sweat. I usually find the images I want to use before I ever write the first word. I fly through the stock picture sites that don’t charge royalties and scroll through page after page until I find the image that sticks with me. Between that and the story’s title, I get the mood and tone that I want to paint with my words. Piece of cake. And it was…for my novellas.

I’ve changed my mind over and over again for Enoch’s new novel. I’m starting rewrites for that on Monday, and I finally found the image I want to use late, last week. I can’t tell you how many images I’ve looked at to find the one that felt right to me. I got desperate enough, I thought I’d just use an image that made me think of Enoch. Not so easy. I can picture Enoch in my mind. He’s tall, dark, intense, and gorgeous–but in a worldly, I’ve-seen-it-all type way. I went to my usual sites. I typed in tall, dark-haired man wearing a long coat, like he does on the cover of Fallen Angels. Only one image came up. Close, but not right on. Enoch’s face is all angles and rugged. I tried all kinds of other key words and was starting to get frustrated. I finally typed in tall, sexy man with dark hair. Oh, lordy! Rippling abs scrolled down my screen, page after page. I would have dehydrated if my husband hadn’t brought me a glass of wine to fortify myself. I found LOTS of hot, sexy men in various forms of undress, but none of them struck me as Enoch. Most were too young. Some looked too friendly or nice. Or they were blond with blue eyes or cute and cocky instead of dark and brooding. Michael (who does my covers) can work many miracles, but he has his limits. It’s not easy carrying a mental image of your protagonist in your head. It’s hard to find a match.

I found a model I thought made a perfect Christian, but he never wore a shirt in any of the pictures I could use. Of course, most models these days don’t wear medieval garb, silly them. I had to force myself to look at page after page of hunks until I finally settled on something that’s not perfect, but has the right feel, at least, for me. Who knows how readers envision my characters? Anyway, some research is harder than others. If you see me and I have bloodshot eyes, you’ll know it’s because I’ve been working so hard:) Hope you’ve been hard at work, too! Finding the right man is still a tough job!

Writing: nitpicky points

Lately, I’ve gone to a few more writing/author sites than I usually do.  I’ve been curious what’s out there.  I’ve especially taken the time to read a few stories posted on Wattpad, a variety of short stories submitted on Chuck Wendig’s blog challenge, and stories offered here and there on twitter posts.  I found lots of great writing, but I also found small, nitpicky points that bothered me.  

I’ve found a lot more spelling and grammar mistakes than I expected.  Way back in my young and innocent youth, I was blessed to have two, high school, English teachers who would not tolerate grammar mistakes in their assignments.  Mrs. Meese made us diagram sentences until our eyes glazed, and Miss Wimmer would allow us one mistake of any kind–commas, spelling, dangling participles–per page of our assignment.  If she gave us a five page paper to write, when she hit the sixth mistake, she put a huge, flaming red F on the page and quit reading.  She informed us–repeatedly–that she read for content and ideas, period.  Suffice it to say, if we wanted to pass her class, we did lots of proof reading.  No writer is perfect.  None of us can see every mistake we make, but I think we should treat readers like I treated Miss Wimmer. Readers notice mistakes.  They might not put a red F on our story, but they can quit reading.  We need to make our writing as free of errors as possible.

I started out writing mystery short stories.  I’m a devoted fan of Agatha Christie, and I follow her rule that if you put a gun on page two of a story, someone had better shoot that gun by the end of the story, or use it as a red herring, or make it significant in some way.  Details matter.  Significant details matter more.  A reader notices them, stores them away for future use, and is disappointed when they add up to nothing.  A story is like a dance.  It moves from one point to the next, constantly striving to keep the reader’s attention, with every movement adding up to a grand finale–and if we do it right, each movement evokes emotion.  If a character shows up on page three, just like the gun, he has to contribute something of significance to the story.  Nothing is random, even if it feels like it.  It all works to serve the whole.

My last point, and it’s personal, is that I’m not a fan of ambiguous endings.  I went to a sci-fi story from a twitter post, and I got really excited because I thought the writing was superb, wonderful, but I didn’t understand the story’s ending.  And that frustrated me.  I’d invested time and energy, reading it, and then I had no idea what it all added up to.  I know that this is probably the mystery lover in me, but when I add up clues, I want them to mean something.  The shorter the story, the harder it is to set the scene, perfect a voice and tone (two, separate things), move the story, and then wrap up everything in a great ending.  Rushed endings FEEL like rushed endings, but even those work better than endings that leave a reader saying, “What?”  At least, that’s the way I feel.  

I don’t know if anyone’s ever written a perfect story.  I know, for sure, that I never have.  We all try, though.  We just get in a hurry, or do so many rewrites that we can’t keep track of where we are in a story any more, and we all fall short.  Even if we DID write a perfect story, not everyone would like it.  So good luck with whatever you’re working on.  Happy writing!

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

 

Write what you love

I’ve mentioned before that when I first started writing and selling mystery short stories, I got more respect. Now, when people ask, “What do you write?”–I’m almost apologetic when I answer, “Urban fantasy.” “Is that the stuff with werewolves and vampires?” they ask. “Yup,” I say, “and witches, succubi, Druids, and gargoyles.” Some are intrigued. Some give me an odd look and say, “But you seem so nice.” Most wrinkle their noses and announce, “I never read that kind of stuff.”

That’s fair, but I don’t turn up my nose if they write literary novels, and I’m not a prolific reader of those. I’m not offended, though. My agent warned me that urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy, and editors mentioned the market was glutted. Other markets are bigger and, maybe, more open. But it doesn’t matter, because urban fantasy makes me happy, and for some reason, writing it freed me in unexpected ways. I could never quite pinpoint why…until I read Lev Grossman’s article in The New York Times. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/16/finding-my-voice-in-fantasy/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 He brilliantly identified what it was about writing fantasy that appealed to him. And his reasoning resonated with me.

I went to a writers’ conference once, where a speaker on a panel explained why each genre appeals to its readers. She said that mystery readers like the idea of justice, that good ultimately conquers evil. They like the idea that reason wins over chaos. Crime fiction is different than mysteries. It concentrates on…well, crime and criminals. Noir gives it a dark tone–the protagonist who doesn’t care about good or bad, but is swayed by what’s convenient for him at the moment.

Science fiction and fantasy readers, according to Carol Pinchefsky, http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?article=012&do=columns&vol=carol_pinchefsky, often feel like aliens, or outsiders, in society and the stories they choose to read often reflect that. Horror readers, according to the panelist, enjoy scary stories as an outlet for the fears they have about everyday life. Romance readers, mostly women, like the emotional appeal of a hero who is completely focused on his love interest, unlike real life where a woman has to compete for a man’s attention against his job and favorite TV shows: http://www.ibtimes.com/why-do-modern-women-love-romance-novels-call-it-fifty-shades-grey-syndrome-720842

When I read the explanations for the appeal of each of these, I got it. I understood. But what pulls me to urban fantasy? At first, I thought it might be because the protagonists are kick-ass heroines. That’s fun, true, but action/adventure doesn’t have the same pull for me as UF, so there has to be something more. Lev Grossman nailed it when he mentioned the use of power. Who has power, who wants it, and why have always appealed to me. I believe what my parents told me–with power comes responsibility. Is it worth it? Not always. And what if you didn’t want the power in the first place, but no one asked you. What if you’re the only who can make a difference, but you don’t want to? These are questions that fascinate me. And thanks to Lev Grossman, I no longer feel apologetic about my love for urban fantasy. I embrace it. If more people thought carefully about power, the world would be a better place. Or not. After all, people are people. And that’s what makes them so interesting to write about.

P.S. I put a new post on my webpage and added a new, (longer), free short story. Hope you enjoy it. In Caleb’s casino (from Fallen Angels), the stakes are high.

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Writing: How do you make it immediate?

Recently, I finished a first draft of an Enoch/Fallen Angels novella that I want to do something with–not sure what yet. I’ve thought about putting it online for free–which I can’t do at amazon unless it price matches smashwords and other sites–but I’ve never had much luck getting amazon to price match. Then I thought of putting it on my webpage for free, but I can never tell if anyone ever reads those or not. I don’t get any feedback, so they’re sort of frustrating, so I’m still debating. But just writing the damned story was a bit frustrating, too. I started out with one idea, and the story sort of decided to do its own thing–which I don’t usually allow–but this time, I decided to go for it. And it ended up more of a mystery plot than an urban fantasy. I like it, but the plot took over the story, and that, I don’t like. The story’s not immediate. It keeps the reader at a distance, which might be all right for a mystery, but it’s not all that great for urban fantasy. So I want to tweak the voice more.

Voice is the one thing that sets one writer apart from all others. It’s the turn of phrase, the attitude and word choice, the themes he chooses, and the way he structures his story that makes him unique. But more than that, some writers are more cerebral than others. My friend, Paula, writes stories with so many layers and so much depth that I happily immerse myself in them and try to keep up. Mary Lou Rigdon (also Julia Donner) imbues her novels with wit and humor. A new writer to our group, Sia Marion, practically lives inside her characters’ skins and we share what’s happening to them. Her stories are so immediate, the reader just goes along for the ride. (See for yourself. She has lots of flash fiction on her webpage: http://sia4215.blogspot.com/)

I’ll never be THAT immediate, so, how do I breathe more feeling into my Enoch novella? For that, I usually have to delve deeper into my characters. Any writer who’s finished more than a few stories and gotten feedback knows that you never tell. You show. Every description and experience is told through your character’s eyes, hopefully, through action or dialogue. And that’s a start, but it’s not enough.

When I have Enoch walk up to Caleb’s casino and fortress, I show it through his eyes and share his reactions/feelings to his friend’s obsession for pleasure. I was happy enough with that, but once the plot hits full swing, I have Enoch react, but his reactions don’t let us know enough about him. They’re not telling enough–those small, fleeting thoughts that reveal character. I need more internal dialogue, more give and take with people who push Enoch to places he’s not comfortable with. I need more emotion! Another rule for making writing immediate is to get rid of the “he thought,” “he wondered,” type phrases in your writing. Instead of “Enoch wondered if he could trust Darius,”–which creates a distance between the thought and the reader, just say, “Could he trust Darius? Enoch glanced at the vampire beside him. Vampires were hard to read. Could he believe anything Darius told him?” Just an example. I want the reader to be inside Enoch’s head, to “hear” his thoughts.

Anyway, some writers are more immediate than others, but it’s something to consider when you write. The more immediate, the bigger the emotional pay-off. An entire novel doesn’t have to be written one way or another. There are action scenes, “soft” scenes that let the reader catch his breath, and scenes for emotional impact. But there should never be a boring scene. That’s when the reader can put the book down, and he might not pick it back up.

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Writing: How to bring your protagonist to life

One of my blog friends just found a wonderful, generous group of fellow writers who critiqued her manuscript. There’s nothing as wonderful as writer friends. Their main comment: her protagonist was static. That critique resonated with me, because when I started writing, I got it often. The thing is, I think it’s harder to bring your protagonist to life than most of the other characters in your novel. Why? Because we see everything through the protagonist’s eyes. He/she describes the people he meets as the story unfolds. We get visuals and impressions of everyone he meets. Everyone BUT the protag.

The gospel of writing is that a protagonist has to grow or change from the beginning of the novel to the end. The BIG book question that he/she wrestles with has to make him dig deep and come out a different person at the end of the book than he was at the beginning. But that’s sort of a given. When Life smacks you down, you either grow stronger, change tactics, or you curl up and suck your thumb. Most authors don’t want their character in a fetal position for the entire novel, so we give him what he needs to deal with the problem and, if you want a happy ending, resolve it. But there’s more to developing a character than that. We want the reader to LIKE our character, to enjoy spending time with him–hopefully, so much so, that they hate it when the book ends and look forward to another one.

So how do we make readers CARE about our protagonist? This was a tough one for me, but EVERYTHING counts. How our protagonist ACTS is the first clue to readers. What drives him/her? What does he want and what will he do to get it? The digger he has to dig to reach his goal, the more readers care. Remember–emotional impact is pay dirt. If readers only wanted information, they’d read nonfiction. Fiction should make us FEEL. We want to sweat alongside our protagonist, to get frustrated and worry about defeat when he does. We want to laugh and cry with him.

We pay a lot more attention to what a character DOES than to what he says. If he says one thing and does another, we know he’s lying to himself and to us. He says he loves animals, but then a stray that’s so skinny, its ribs show, comes to his door. If he grabs a broom and scares it away, he’s done as an animal lover for me. If he says he loves his grandma, but he never has time to visit her at the nursing home, the guy’s all talk.

How he REACTS to things is another clue. If he says he hates conflict, but then his best friend irritates him and he rakes him over the coals for it–bull pucky. I’m not buying it. If he says he’s not brave or strong, but when bullies pick on his friend, he jumps in–even if he’s afraid–to help, I know he underrates himself. What does he do when his girlfriend’s friend comes on to him? When he meets someone who intimidates him?

Internal dialogue is awesome for getting to know the protag. What are his thoughts when he meets his best friend’s girlfriend? When his fiance’ breaks up with him? When headlights are speeding toward him on a highway? What’s his voice like? Stoic, funny, or smart-ass? When I can “hear” him, I get to know him. Some writers use first person POV so that we live in the character’s head, but that alone doesn’t work. I’ve read first person where I’m immersed in the character and I’ve read others that make me follow the protagonist around, but I don’t really get to know him/her.

I try to give my protag a friend or two in every novel. Friends usually know us better than anyone else. They know which buttons to push, how to comfort us, and what we’re up against. Scenes with a friend can add new perspectives to a protagonist, sides he’d never show to anyone else.

The trick is, to KNOW your protagonist before you start writing. Every writer accomplishes this in a different way, but know what works for you. And then, bring that living, breathing character to life for your story. Flawless people are admirable, but boring. Keep that in mind. And the protagonist needs to be challenged in one scene after another until the end of the book.

Have fun with your characters, and Happy Writing!

P.S. In case any of you are thinking of making an e-book free, I made EMPTY ALTARS free on Kindle for Aug. 14-18, and the response sort of overwhelmed me. It made it all the way up to #89 in the free rankings, #1 for fiction with mythology and #2 for witches & wizards. I don’t think it helps a writer very much to make a book free if you only have one book for sale, but if you have three or more in a series, and you’d like more readers to discover you, it’s something to think about once in a while. It’s too soon to tell if there’ll be any carry-over for my other books, but I sure hope so.

P.S. I finished loading FABRIC OF LIFE onto Wattpad. Enjoy.

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Empty Altars is FREE

Empty Altars is free for Kindle, Aug. 14-18. It goes on Ereader News Today on Aug. 15–the first time I’ve used that site. Wish me luck!

Empty Altars