Diane Chamberlain's Blog, page 37
October 28, 2009
Whose Story Is It?
Point of View.
Every author has to figure out which character (or characters) is telling the story, and if she’s telling it alone, and if she’s telling it in first person or third (or sometimes from an omniscient perspective), and if she’s telling it in past tense or present. So many decisions! As I begin my new work-in-progress, tentatively titled The Midwife’s Confession, I’m grappling with all these decisions. That started me thinking about point of view in my recent and upcoming books.
I always–at least so far–write in past tense, so that part’s easy. In Before the Storm and Secrets She Left Behind, I told the stories from four points of view, each in first person. What a challenge that was! I needed to be so careful to differentiate between the voices. Even in third person, that’s important, but in first person it’s critical. I loved it, though, because writing in first person made me feel so close to all my characters.
In Breaking the Silence, which will be reissued in less than a month (yeah! I love that book and I’m so happy it’s coming out again), I wrote from three points of view, all third person. Laura, the woman whose father makes a deathbed plea for her to take care of a stranger, has the largest role. Dylan, the father of Laura’s little girl, has a smaller but still important role. And some may argue that the elderly stranger, Sarah, has the most critical role of all. Her story takes place in the past and everything that happens in the present hinges on the events from her life.
In Summer’s Child, which will be reissued in April, I have four points of view, again all in third person. This story of a newborn baby discovered on a beach has more twists than a roller coaster! I just finished proofing the galleys for the reissue and noticed that I did something I rarely do anymore: I changed points of view in the middle of a chapter. I didn’t remember doing that. It definitely works, thank goodness. One thing I’d never do is risk switching POVs in the middle of a scene, although I know some writers who do so successfully. I don’t like jumping around that much, either as a writer or a reader. Even though the POV shift works in Summer’s Child, I’ll probably stick with different chapters for different characters for the rest of my career. I like the neatness of that approach.
In my upcoming June 2010 book, The Lies We Told, I tried something very different. I tell the story only from two points of view, a rarity for me, and one of the POVs is first person (Maya) while the other is third person (Rebecca). Why did I do that? Because the book is primarily Maya’s story and I wanted the reader to feel closer to her. I think the first person POV accomplishes that.
The Midwife’s Confession will have four points of view, and I just realized they’re all female. I’m debating whether any of them will be first person. I think I’ll try the central character’s first few chapters both ways to see which feels right to me.
If you’re a writer, how do you make the decisions about POV? And if you’re a reader, do you even notice? I frankly hope not! A good story should be so seamless that the mechanics of writing shouldn’t even register with a reader. . . unless that reader happens to be a writer as well. Then all bets are off!
Every author has to figure out which character (or characters) is telling the story, and if she’s telling it alone, and if she’s telling it in first person or third (or sometimes from an omniscient perspective), and if she’s telling it in past tense or present. So many decisions! As I begin my new work-in-progress, tentatively titled The Midwife’s Confession, I’m grappling with all these decisions. That started me thinking about point of view in my recent and upcoming books.
I always–at least so far–write in past tense, so that part’s easy. In Before the Storm and Secrets She Left Behind, I told the stories from four points of view, each in first person. What a challenge that was! I needed to be so careful to differentiate between the voices. Even in third person, that’s important, but in first person it’s critical. I loved it, though, because writing in first person made me feel so close to all my characters.
In Breaking the Silence, which will be reissued in less than a month (yeah! I love that book and I’m so happy it’s coming out again), I wrote from three points of view, all third person. Laura, the woman whose father makes a deathbed plea for her to take care of a stranger, has the largest role. Dylan, the father of Laura’s little girl, has a smaller but still important role. And some may argue that the elderly stranger, Sarah, has the most critical role of all. Her story takes place in the past and everything that happens in the present hinges on the events from her life.
In Summer’s Child, which will be reissued in April, I have four points of view, again all in third person. This story of a newborn baby discovered on a beach has more twists than a roller coaster! I just finished proofing the galleys for the reissue and noticed that I did something I rarely do anymore: I changed points of view in the middle of a chapter. I didn’t remember doing that. It definitely works, thank goodness. One thing I’d never do is risk switching POVs in the middle of a scene, although I know some writers who do so successfully. I don’t like jumping around that much, either as a writer or a reader. Even though the POV shift works in Summer’s Child, I’ll probably stick with different chapters for different characters for the rest of my career. I like the neatness of that approach.
In my upcoming June 2010 book, The Lies We Told, I tried something very different. I tell the story only from two points of view, a rarity for me, and one of the POVs is first person (Maya) while the other is third person (Rebecca). Why did I do that? Because the book is primarily Maya’s story and I wanted the reader to feel closer to her. I think the first person POV accomplishes that.
The Midwife’s Confession will have four points of view, and I just realized they’re all female. I’m debating whether any of them will be first person. I think I’ll try the central character’s first few chapters both ways to see which feels right to me.
If you’re a writer, how do you make the decisions about POV? And if you’re a reader, do you even notice? I frankly hope not! A good story should be so seamless that the mechanics of writing shouldn’t even register with a reader. . . unless that reader happens to be a writer as well. Then all bets are off!
October 21, 2009
Where Would You Love to Go?
We had a friend over for dinner tonight and the conversation turned to travel. Given the fact that I just bought beach property, I won’t be able to afford to travel anywhere else for quite some time, but dreams are free!
My dream is to visit Sicily, especially the village of Collesano where my grandparents grew up. It would be a moving experience to visit the places that were so much a part of their daily lives, and it would be fun to track down my Italian relatives. (If you’re a LoPresti or a Cinquegrani, email me a “hello”!) Although I’m setting my books in the southeastern US these days, I think I could toss in a little bit of Sicily, don’t you?
So how about you? Where do you dream of traveling?
My dream is to visit Sicily, especially the village of Collesano where my grandparents grew up. It would be a moving experience to visit the places that were so much a part of their daily lives, and it would be fun to track down my Italian relatives. (If you’re a LoPresti or a Cinquegrani, email me a “hello”!) Although I’m setting my books in the southeastern US these days, I think I could toss in a little bit of Sicily, don’t you?
So how about you? Where do you dream of traveling?
Embracing Change
The original title for this blog post was “I Give Up,” but when I mentioned that to my significant other, John, he nixed it. He said I’m a positive person who has overcome adversity and embraces change, totally shaming me into taking a different slant on my topic. Until then, I was sounding like quite the curmudgeon in this post. Now, I feel much lighter. At least, I’m trying to feel more like the change-embracing woman John believes me to be.
The first thing I planned to gripe about was grammatical abominations that have become commonplace:
•“Me and Joe went to the movies.”
•Omitting the comma before the conjunction that introduces an independent clause. (Do I own the last copy of Strunk and White?)
•Apostrophes used in plural words. As in “Apostrophe’s used in plural word’s.”
The other day, I heard the BBC World News commentator sign off with “Good day, from me and BBC,” and I decided to give up. Whoops. I mean, to embrace change. As John pointed out to me, English is a dynamic language. Accepting the changes will be so freeing! I’ll let you know how I make out.
Then I planned to discuss my war against the sale of used books. I never did mind the mom-and-pop store on the corner selling my books used, but when gigantic Amazon began pushing used books on the same page as the new books–on the same day those new books were released–I joined my fellow writers in fighting back. It’s a losing battle, and while I rue the loss of income to myself and other authors, I’ve stopped fighting it. Nevertheless, I can’t help but whisper to you, “Do you know where that book has been?”
E-books. “I will never read an e-book.” I’m sure I said that as recently as last year, proclaiming, “I need the feel of paper in my hands.” I now own an e-reader and I love it, but not without guilt. Authors make less money on e-books, and I can’t bear to think about what this shift in the way we read will mean to my beloved booksellers. But the times they are a-changin’, and I hope we can all find ways not only to endure what’s happening in the book world, but to actually thrive in spite of it. I have no idea how, but the change-embracing Diane is also an optimist!
Then we have social media. Facebook. Goodreads. Twitter. MySpace. I resisted, wondering what was wrong with all those needy people who befriended strangers. Now, though, I’ve radically embraced this change. Social media rocks. What a fabulous way to keep in touch, not only with my “real” friends and family, but my readers as well.
So how about you? What changes are you resisting? Shall we embrace them together?
The first thing I planned to gripe about was grammatical abominations that have become commonplace:
•“Me and Joe went to the movies.”
•Omitting the comma before the conjunction that introduces an independent clause. (Do I own the last copy of Strunk and White?)
•Apostrophes used in plural words. As in “Apostrophe’s used in plural word’s.”
The other day, I heard the BBC World News commentator sign off with “Good day, from me and BBC,” and I decided to give up. Whoops. I mean, to embrace change. As John pointed out to me, English is a dynamic language. Accepting the changes will be so freeing! I’ll let you know how I make out.
Then I planned to discuss my war against the sale of used books. I never did mind the mom-and-pop store on the corner selling my books used, but when gigantic Amazon began pushing used books on the same page as the new books–on the same day those new books were released–I joined my fellow writers in fighting back. It’s a losing battle, and while I rue the loss of income to myself and other authors, I’ve stopped fighting it. Nevertheless, I can’t help but whisper to you, “Do you know where that book has been?”
E-books. “I will never read an e-book.” I’m sure I said that as recently as last year, proclaiming, “I need the feel of paper in my hands.” I now own an e-reader and I love it, but not without guilt. Authors make less money on e-books, and I can’t bear to think about what this shift in the way we read will mean to my beloved booksellers. But the times they are a-changin’, and I hope we can all find ways not only to endure what’s happening in the book world, but to actually thrive in spite of it. I have no idea how, but the change-embracing Diane is also an optimist!
Then we have social media. Facebook. Goodreads. Twitter. MySpace. I resisted, wondering what was wrong with all those needy people who befriended strangers. Now, though, I’ve radically embraced this change. Social media rocks. What a fabulous way to keep in touch, not only with my “real” friends and family, but my readers as well.
So how about you? What changes are you resisting? Shall we embrace them together?
October 12, 2009
Greetings from Topsail Island
When I decided to set Before the Storm and Secrets She Left Behind on Topsail Island, I never dreamed how important this place would become to me. From my very first research trip, though, I knew I’d discovered something special. It reminded me of my childhood at the Jersey Shore and of my early adulthood on the Outer Banks. Like most coastal areas, it has way too many houses crammed together along the beach, but now with the purchase of my own oceanfront condo I’m part of the development, so I guess I can no longer complain! In spite of the wonderfully eclectic hodgepodge of homes, Topsail retains its away-from-everything charm. Just a few restaurants and shops and only one stoplight. It makes a perfect setting for my books– an area where everyone knows everyone else and where a tragedy and a mystery have an impact on all.
This has been our first visit to the condo, which I purchased after seeing it for only 5 minutes. It’s wonderful! It needs a little TLC and I’m looking forward to making it mine. It’s less than three hours from our home in the Raleigh area and is a perfect getaway. Keeper and Jet had never seen the beach before and after three days here, they’re still a little perplexed, but at least their ears are no longer flattened against their heads! John hasn’t taken his camera from his face since our arrival. I doubt he’ll ever get tired of photographing the island.
As for me. . . I have a simple, incredible, unexpected joy. As my frequent readers know, I have rheumatoid arthritis. It’s under very good control, but my left foot and ankle have a great deal of damage sustained before the “good drugs” came along. It’s hard for me to walk and impossible for me to walk on uneven surfaces, such as the beach. But a year ago, I had a brace made which is built into my sneaker and guess what? For the first time in about ten years, I can walk on the beach! I’ve been overdoing it like crazy the past few days, and enjoying every sandy minute.
The other night, I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about my next book, and the characters wouldn’t settle down inside my head. I got up and went out to the deck and lay down on a broad bench. I listened to the sea while staring up at Orion and the three-quarter moon and thought about how lucky I am to be able to have homes in two places that I love, to be surrounded by the people (and animals) that I love, and to be able to do the work that I love. My hope is that you, my readers, feel equally as lucky in your lives.
This has been our first visit to the condo, which I purchased after seeing it for only 5 minutes. It’s wonderful! It needs a little TLC and I’m looking forward to making it mine. It’s less than three hours from our home in the Raleigh area and is a perfect getaway. Keeper and Jet had never seen the beach before and after three days here, they’re still a little perplexed, but at least their ears are no longer flattened against their heads! John hasn’t taken his camera from his face since our arrival. I doubt he’ll ever get tired of photographing the island.
As for me. . . I have a simple, incredible, unexpected joy. As my frequent readers know, I have rheumatoid arthritis. It’s under very good control, but my left foot and ankle have a great deal of damage sustained before the “good drugs” came along. It’s hard for me to walk and impossible for me to walk on uneven surfaces, such as the beach. But a year ago, I had a brace made which is built into my sneaker and guess what? For the first time in about ten years, I can walk on the beach! I’ve been overdoing it like crazy the past few days, and enjoying every sandy minute.
The other night, I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about my next book, and the characters wouldn’t settle down inside my head. I got up and went out to the deck and lay down on a broad bench. I listened to the sea while staring up at Orion and the three-quarter moon and thought about how lucky I am to be able to have homes in two places that I love, to be surrounded by the people (and animals) that I love, and to be able to do the work that I love. My hope is that you, my readers, feel equally as lucky in your lives.
October 2, 2009
Crazy About Writing
Years ago, my then-husband and I were driving through the countryside in a pouring rain. I was working on my second novel back then, and was utterly entranced with the process. As we drove through the downpour, I noticed a group of cows huddled together under a tree, and my heart broke for them.
“I feel so sorry for those cows,” I said.
“Because they’re stuck out in the rain?” my then-husband asked.
“No,” I said, in all seriousness, “because they can’t write.”
That about sums it up. Well, it sums up the fact that I’m a little insane, I guess, but it also illustrates how much I love and value the ability to write. In school, I was terrible at math and science (and I’m not even going to mention my painful memories of being picked last for every sports team, every time), but I always had a knack for writing.
Yet, writing is hard, no matter how much talent you or I may have for it. Having just completed the final final draft of my nineteenth novel, The Lies We Told, I’m newly reminded of that fact. The other night, I sat for about two hours moving the words and sentences around in one measly paragraph until it said exactly what I wanted it to say. Then I moved all the paragraphs in the chapter around until I was happy with their order. Then I scrapped half of the chapter and started again, because not only did it need to sound right, it also needed to express the characters’ emotions perfectly for that moment in the book, and I wasn’t satisfied I’d succeeded in that task. Sometime around two in the morning, though, after much teeth gnashing and pulling out of hair, I did.
I can look at cows without feeling sorry for them these days. I do, however, feel sorry for people who have a story inside them and long to put it on paper, but don’t have the skill. This is a plea from me to those people: take some writing classes and learn how to string words together clearly, wisely, and beautifully. It may take enormous effort on your part, but the payoff can be amazing. There is no better gift you can give yourself, your kids, and the rest of the world than being able to express yourself well through your writing. You can do it!
As long as you’re not a cow, that is.
“I feel so sorry for those cows,” I said.
“Because they’re stuck out in the rain?” my then-husband asked.
“No,” I said, in all seriousness, “because they can’t write.”
That about sums it up. Well, it sums up the fact that I’m a little insane, I guess, but it also illustrates how much I love and value the ability to write. In school, I was terrible at math and science (and I’m not even going to mention my painful memories of being picked last for every sports team, every time), but I always had a knack for writing.
Yet, writing is hard, no matter how much talent you or I may have for it. Having just completed the final final draft of my nineteenth novel, The Lies We Told, I’m newly reminded of that fact. The other night, I sat for about two hours moving the words and sentences around in one measly paragraph until it said exactly what I wanted it to say. Then I moved all the paragraphs in the chapter around until I was happy with their order. Then I scrapped half of the chapter and started again, because not only did it need to sound right, it also needed to express the characters’ emotions perfectly for that moment in the book, and I wasn’t satisfied I’d succeeded in that task. Sometime around two in the morning, though, after much teeth gnashing and pulling out of hair, I did.
I can look at cows without feeling sorry for them these days. I do, however, feel sorry for people who have a story inside them and long to put it on paper, but don’t have the skill. This is a plea from me to those people: take some writing classes and learn how to string words together clearly, wisely, and beautifully. It may take enormous effort on your part, but the payoff can be amazing. There is no better gift you can give yourself, your kids, and the rest of the world than being able to express yourself well through your writing. You can do it!
As long as you’re not a cow, that is.
September 27, 2009
Booksellers, Friends and Food
I’m at SIBA this weekend–the trade show for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance. What that means is row upon row upon row of publishers showcasing their upcoming books to booksellers, and in many cases, giving those books away. Publishers bring some of their authors with them to meet booksellers in the Southeastern US. It’s also a chance for authors to catch up with one another.
I drove here to Greenville, SC from Raleigh, and my trip got off to a bad start. I stopped at my neighborhood bait and wine shop for coffee on the way out, and when I went back to my car, it wouldn’t start. Thanks to AAA and the Toyota dealer, I was only set back 4 hours and $500 (ugh), but I missed my scheduled dinner with bff Mary Alice Monroe. When I arrived at the hotel, I dumped my stuff in my room and headed out to find something to eat, bumping into author Karen White, whose excellent books I’ve read, but whom I had never met. So it turned into a lovely evening–the sort women are so good at: getting to know each other by talking really fast about every facet of our lives. The Italian food wasn’t bad, either.
Mary Alice and I had a very long lunch today to catch up, and that was just what I needed. I had dinner plans that fell apart, but that turned out well, too as it did last night. Here’s what happened: I spent a couple of hours late in the afternoon revising The Lies We Told in my hotel room. I was working on the scene that takes place in the Brazilian restaurant (where something terrible happens. I blogged about that not long ago) when I learned my dinner date wasn’t feeling well. So I called the sales manager for my publisher, Carolyn Flear, to see if she had plans and she invited me to join her and authors George Colletti and Nancy Knight for dinner. They had reservations at (cue Twilight Zone music) a Brazilian restaurant. I’m not kidding. So we had a great gut-busting ‘13-different-meats-served-on-skewers’ meal at a restaurant that has it all over the one in my book, plus no one was shot.
So, tomorrow morning, I’m signing books for booksellers and then taking off for home. It’s been fun, Greenville is adorable (if wet), and it was great to see old friends and make new ones.
PS!!! I saw a sneak peek of the cover for The Lies We Told. You’re going to love it. I’ll share it soon.
I drove here to Greenville, SC from Raleigh, and my trip got off to a bad start. I stopped at my neighborhood bait and wine shop for coffee on the way out, and when I went back to my car, it wouldn’t start. Thanks to AAA and the Toyota dealer, I was only set back 4 hours and $500 (ugh), but I missed my scheduled dinner with bff Mary Alice Monroe. When I arrived at the hotel, I dumped my stuff in my room and headed out to find something to eat, bumping into author Karen White, whose excellent books I’ve read, but whom I had never met. So it turned into a lovely evening–the sort women are so good at: getting to know each other by talking really fast about every facet of our lives. The Italian food wasn’t bad, either.
Mary Alice and I had a very long lunch today to catch up, and that was just what I needed. I had dinner plans that fell apart, but that turned out well, too as it did last night. Here’s what happened: I spent a couple of hours late in the afternoon revising The Lies We Told in my hotel room. I was working on the scene that takes place in the Brazilian restaurant (where something terrible happens. I blogged about that not long ago) when I learned my dinner date wasn’t feeling well. So I called the sales manager for my publisher, Carolyn Flear, to see if she had plans and she invited me to join her and authors George Colletti and Nancy Knight for dinner. They had reservations at (cue Twilight Zone music) a Brazilian restaurant. I’m not kidding. So we had a great gut-busting ‘13-different-meats-served-on-skewers’ meal at a restaurant that has it all over the one in my book, plus no one was shot.
So, tomorrow morning, I’m signing books for booksellers and then taking off for home. It’s been fun, Greenville is adorable (if wet), and it was great to see old friends and make new ones.
PS!!! I saw a sneak peek of the cover for The Lies We Told. You’re going to love it. I’ll share it soon.
September 23, 2009
Oh Happy Day!
I didn’t think it was ever going to happen! After several months of “everything that can go wrong going wrong” (with the exception of a hurricane, but the season’s not over yet), I now own a vacation home–a two-bedroom oceanfront condo on my beloved Topsail Island! It’s hard to believe I’d never even heard of Topsail until about five years ago. I was invited to participate in an event on the Island sponsored by Quarter Moon Books, and instantly fell in love with it. I chose it as the setting for my last two books, Before the Storm and Secrets She Left Behind, and the more research I did into the area, the stronger the pull. I met so many lovely people down there during my research trips, most notably one of my brave male commenters here on the blog, Glen Pierce. Glen introduced me to many other people, and before you could say “Topsail is actually pronounced Top-sul,” I was looking at real estate.
I do wish I’d kept a journal during this process, because I’ve lost track of all the stumbling blocks I encountered. At times, I felt as though I was living inside one of my novels with its twists and turns. Every morning, I’d get up and wonder “What’s going to go wrong today?” Buying real estate these days is not for the faint of heart.
I’ll be going down in a few weeks to explore my new home away from home. Believe it or not, I’ve only spent about five minutes in it and I’m anxious (in all meanings of the word) to truly check it out. I know from pictures that it’s lovely, but I also know I want to make it mine, with some new decor and two framed bookcovers (can you guess which ones?) on the wall. My friend, interior designer Elizabeth Samuels, who also has a place on the Island, is going to help me out, because while I can write, I can’t decorate. We all have our gifts! I’ll post more pictures once I’m there. In the meantime, join me in this chant: No hurricanes. No hurricanes. . .
I do wish I’d kept a journal during this process, because I’ve lost track of all the stumbling blocks I encountered. At times, I felt as though I was living inside one of my novels with its twists and turns. Every morning, I’d get up and wonder “What’s going to go wrong today?” Buying real estate these days is not for the faint of heart.
I’ll be going down in a few weeks to explore my new home away from home. Believe it or not, I’ve only spent about five minutes in it and I’m anxious (in all meanings of the word) to truly check it out. I know from pictures that it’s lovely, but I also know I want to make it mine, with some new decor and two framed bookcovers (can you guess which ones?) on the wall. My friend, interior designer Elizabeth Samuels, who also has a place on the Island, is going to help me out, because while I can write, I can’t decorate. We all have our gifts! I’ll post more pictures once I’m there. In the meantime, join me in this chant: No hurricanes. No hurricanes. . .
Hook, Line and Linker
During my twenty-eight years of writing, I’ve heard plenty of advice from other authors. One tidbit stands out: tighten the relationship between characters. I know exactly where (in Albert Zuckerman’s Writing the Blockbuster Novel) and when (1995, as I wrote Reflection) I read this suggestion. It’s stayed with me all these years and I draw on it with every book I write.
I thought of how critical that piece of advice is recently, as I read Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In The Thirteenth Tale, the young female narrator is tasked with writing the biography of a popular elderly author. I would have found it difficult to care about either character, strangers to one another, had Setterfield not found a way to tie them together. She did this by making each woman a surviving twin: the elderly author had lost her twin in a fire, while the narrator had been a Siamese twin at birth, losing her sister during the surgery that separated them. The powerful impact “twinhood” had on each woman links them together and makes the story truly work.
When I was writing Reflection, one of my central characters, Michael, was in conflict with the town’s mayor, a woman. That was fine. But as I read Zuckerman’s book, I realized I could make the conflict better than fine: I made the mayor Michael’s cousin, instantly upping the tension as they butt heads during the story. In my recent reissue, The Courage Tree, the aging actress and the lost little girl seem to have completely unconnected storylines until their stories–and their survival–become inextricably linked. In my most recent novel, Secrets She Left Behind, the links are everywhere! Some of them surprised even me.
In my upcoming (November) re-release, Breaking the Silence, the major link is a mystery: A woman’s dying father asks her to take care of a stranger, an elderly woman with Alzheimers. Readers won’t know what the link is between the elderly woman and the protaganist’s father, but they’ll know it must exist and (I hope) they’ll want to keep turning the pages to discover exactly what it is.
I’m thinking about this advice now as I work on the revisions of my June 2010 book, The Lies We Told. The two central characters are linked not only by virtue of being sisters, but also because they’re doctors and even moreso because they shared the same harrowing situation from their adolescence.
As a writer, it’s fun to come up with new and intriguing ways to tie characters together, knowing that each link will pull the reader deeper into the story. If you’re a writer, think of how you can create new links between your characters. And if you’re a reader. . . just sit back and enjoy the story!
I thought of how critical that piece of advice is recently, as I read Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In The Thirteenth Tale, the young female narrator is tasked with writing the biography of a popular elderly author. I would have found it difficult to care about either character, strangers to one another, had Setterfield not found a way to tie them together. She did this by making each woman a surviving twin: the elderly author had lost her twin in a fire, while the narrator had been a Siamese twin at birth, losing her sister during the surgery that separated them. The powerful impact “twinhood” had on each woman links them together and makes the story truly work.
When I was writing Reflection, one of my central characters, Michael, was in conflict with the town’s mayor, a woman. That was fine. But as I read Zuckerman’s book, I realized I could make the conflict better than fine: I made the mayor Michael’s cousin, instantly upping the tension as they butt heads during the story. In my recent reissue, The Courage Tree, the aging actress and the lost little girl seem to have completely unconnected storylines until their stories–and their survival–become inextricably linked. In my most recent novel, Secrets She Left Behind, the links are everywhere! Some of them surprised even me.
In my upcoming (November) re-release, Breaking the Silence, the major link is a mystery: A woman’s dying father asks her to take care of a stranger, an elderly woman with Alzheimers. Readers won’t know what the link is between the elderly woman and the protaganist’s father, but they’ll know it must exist and (I hope) they’ll want to keep turning the pages to discover exactly what it is.
I’m thinking about this advice now as I work on the revisions of my June 2010 book, The Lies We Told. The two central characters are linked not only by virtue of being sisters, but also because they’re doctors and even moreso because they shared the same harrowing situation from their adolescence.
As a writer, it’s fun to come up with new and intriguing ways to tie characters together, knowing that each link will pull the reader deeper into the story. If you’re a writer, think of how you can create new links between your characters. And if you’re a reader. . . just sit back and enjoy the story!
September 16, 2009
On the Road Again
Just a quick post tonight, since I’m traveling. We’re staying at a B and B in a cute little town in New Jersey. This is a trip for pleasure as opposed to work, although I did bring my manuscript with me and am working on revisions during the down time– plus I’ll be breakfasting with my agent Tuesday morning. Aside from that, it’s family time.
We arrived Friday evening after hours of delays which culiminated in a safe and easy flight. My sister, having read my recent Jersey Girl blog post, had the pork roll sandwiches waiting for us. LOL! Yesterday we went to my nephew Chris’s new New Jersey Film School open house. Here I am in front of the green wall, which has a technical name I don’t recall. Here’s one of the little films one of his teen classes made this summer. Back at my sister’s we ate diner take-out food and watched an excellent movie, Innocent Voices.
Today, while my sis and I did church and talked a bunch more, John and my brother, Tom, made a photography trek around Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and they are now tired. Tomorrow, I’m meeting with my sister’s bookclub. The members could read any one of my books for this meeting, so I guess we’ll have a general discussion about my writing. Should be fun!
But I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night when my younger brother, Rob, and his wife, Terri, will be in town (they live in Washington State). We’ll all be together for dinner (yummy pans of lasgana and eggplant parmegiana coming in from a yummy Italian restaurant. I love New Jersey!) and to celebrate both my brothers’ birthdays (Sh. They don’t know.). It’s so rare for all of us to be in one place at the same time. I’ve mentioned this before, but between us we have 3 writers, 3 musicians, 1 theater director, 2 photographers, several actors, and I know I’m leaving something out! Unfortunately, the entomologist can’t make it (she’s also a klezmer musician, so she fits in better than you might think…)
Family’s so important, isn’t it? Mine is talented, easy-going, big on social justice, short on intolerance, calm and quiet (very odd for a mostly Italian family. John, also Italian, thinks we must be fabricating our roots). We are in each other’s corner. How about your family? What are they like?
http://www.dianechamberlain.com/blog/...
We arrived Friday evening after hours of delays which culiminated in a safe and easy flight. My sister, having read my recent Jersey Girl blog post, had the pork roll sandwiches waiting for us. LOL! Yesterday we went to my nephew Chris’s new New Jersey Film School open house. Here I am in front of the green wall, which has a technical name I don’t recall. Here’s one of the little films one of his teen classes made this summer. Back at my sister’s we ate diner take-out food and watched an excellent movie, Innocent Voices.
Today, while my sis and I did church and talked a bunch more, John and my brother, Tom, made a photography trek around Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and they are now tired. Tomorrow, I’m meeting with my sister’s bookclub. The members could read any one of my books for this meeting, so I guess we’ll have a general discussion about my writing. Should be fun!
But I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night when my younger brother, Rob, and his wife, Terri, will be in town (they live in Washington State). We’ll all be together for dinner (yummy pans of lasgana and eggplant parmegiana coming in from a yummy Italian restaurant. I love New Jersey!) and to celebrate both my brothers’ birthdays (Sh. They don’t know.). It’s so rare for all of us to be in one place at the same time. I’ve mentioned this before, but between us we have 3 writers, 3 musicians, 1 theater director, 2 photographers, several actors, and I know I’m leaving something out! Unfortunately, the entomologist can’t make it (she’s also a klezmer musician, so she fits in better than you might think…)
Family’s so important, isn’t it? Mine is talented, easy-going, big on social justice, short on intolerance, calm and quiet (very odd for a mostly Italian family. John, also Italian, thinks we must be fabricating our roots). We are in each other’s corner. How about your family? What are they like?
http://www.dianechamberlain.com/blog/...
September 10, 2009
My Characters are Party Animals!
I was looking through the scrapbook I kept during the early years of my career and found this old article from a Richmond, Virginia newspaper. For the first several years of my writing career, I maintained my private practice as a clinical social worker. It was so hard to make the choice between my two careers, but as I began writing my fourth novel, Keeper of the Light, with its painfully tight deadline, I knew I had to choose one career over the other. No regrets, although I loved working with my clients as much as I love working with my characters.
Speaking of my characters, what is this headline all about? I’ve always devised ways to get to know my characters better, and throwing parties for them was so much fun. I’d put myself in a mini-trance and imagine my characters together at a party. Did they arrive on foot, an SUV, a convertible? What were they wearing? Were they comfortable approaching one another or were they painfully introverted? I loved learning more about my characters by observing their interaction.
The first time I threw a party for my characters was during the writing of my first book, Private Relations. In my imagination, I eventually showed up at the party myself to find that none of my characters would talk to me. I was hurt and a little miffed. I finally approached one of the guys and asked him why. He gave me a nasty look and said, “You expect us to talk to you after all you’ve putting us through?” Chastened, I slunk out the door.
Okay, so now you probably think I need a therapist myself. I admit that in my early days, I overdid everything related to my writing, consumed with the rapture of creation. Things are different now, primarily due to the fact that authors must do so much more than “just write.” We must maintain our websites, write our blogs, keep up with our Facebook pages and on and on. Yet, I spent today revising my work-in-progress and I can tell you, many things may have changed, but the rapture remains the same.
I think I’ll go out on the porch and throw a party.
http://www.dianechamberlain.com/blog/...
Speaking of my characters, what is this headline all about? I’ve always devised ways to get to know my characters better, and throwing parties for them was so much fun. I’d put myself in a mini-trance and imagine my characters together at a party. Did they arrive on foot, an SUV, a convertible? What were they wearing? Were they comfortable approaching one another or were they painfully introverted? I loved learning more about my characters by observing their interaction.
The first time I threw a party for my characters was during the writing of my first book, Private Relations. In my imagination, I eventually showed up at the party myself to find that none of my characters would talk to me. I was hurt and a little miffed. I finally approached one of the guys and asked him why. He gave me a nasty look and said, “You expect us to talk to you after all you’ve putting us through?” Chastened, I slunk out the door.
Okay, so now you probably think I need a therapist myself. I admit that in my early days, I overdid everything related to my writing, consumed with the rapture of creation. Things are different now, primarily due to the fact that authors must do so much more than “just write.” We must maintain our websites, write our blogs, keep up with our Facebook pages and on and on. Yet, I spent today revising my work-in-progress and I can tell you, many things may have changed, but the rapture remains the same.
I think I’ll go out on the porch and throw a party.
http://www.dianechamberlain.com/blog/...
