Thursday, January 7, 2010

Reading Blind

THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2010

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Writing a story that someone might be interested in will probably have people in it. We are, after all, interested in our own. Take jury duty, for example; we all wonder: what did he do? even before we throw the notice in the trash, because it will take time away from writing about our guilty characters.

When I began my studies in the craft of writing, primarily through RWA conferences, profiling characters was the order of the day. Writers, I learned from lectures, wrote every detail about each character in an Excel sheet - if they were serious. That seemed a daunting affair to me, especially when I could already see and hear plenty of characters in my head.

“Why do I have to put everything down on paper, too?” I asked myself. Maybe I wasn’t serious enough… yet.

“Isn’t writing, the love of your life?” an internal character inquired.

“Well, yes.” I answered in resignation.

“Then what about that GMC stuff?”

“GMC… ? Oh yeah! Goal, Motivation and Conflict!” Can you believe it? My own characters - teaching me how to write! It’s the truth; they nag me day and night.

I have since come to terms with the chores (and the voices) and find I only need to profile the characters that are not so ‘in my face’. To this end I have mainly worked with these three other methods:

    A. The Three Step

    1. Appearance

    2. Actions

    3. Thoughts

    B. The Collage

    1. One character at a time, creating a personality collage from old magazines, scissors and glue.

    2. creating a Word Cloud of personality characteristics

    C. The Interview

    1. Sit with characters as though in a talk show and ask them questions.

    2. Interview them together as though you were one of them.

After trying each of these, I have come up with a combination technique that seems to bring out the beast (not a typo) in my actors better than the aforementioned 1, 2, 3’s.

First, I decide what their purpose is in the story; heroine, villain, supporting ‘sidekick’… then I break it down a bit for a detailed look; nervous hero, scapegoat, evil clone, heart-of-ice mother.

Second, I name them for simplicity so I don’t get them mixed up. Ernest would probably be an outspoken Greenpeacer, Belle could be demure, polite and pretty and I’d use Tim for the pimply-faced ‘timid’ bus boy. This process often dresses and defines their physical attributes: Ernest wears jeans, Tim’s long apron is dirty and Belle’s hair curls.

Third, the fun part; I antagonize them and watch how they squirm. Poor Ernest is attacked by his Ivy League half brother: “You’re hiding behind that hippy tree-hugger game ‘cuz you’re a little mama’s boy, too poor to afford the good things in life!”

I watch to see if Ernest stays to rationalize or maybe he’ll get into a fist fight. Instead, he walked away calmly with his girl friend giving me a whole new understanding of his convictions. As I watch the responses in my mind’s eye, some of the character’s appearances might change - they get taller, dress sloppier or suddenly have a skateboard sticking out of their backpack. Sometimes they simply outline themselves more clearly by stating that they hate green tea.

Since reality is stranger than fiction, I also write down snippets of conversation or behavior I see and try to add them to a character’s personality for ‘colour’. I recently heard someone say “I went south of the border and all I got was lied to.” and “She only cleans the kitchen mentally.” Teenagers don’t usually talk like that; an artist might, but a cynical, older man totally goes there. As I try to add these lines to my existing characters, some of them balk. That’s when I know I have a distinct player. They don’t need my help anymore. If the conversation bits remain inspiring, voila! I have a new character.

Since these fictitious people will be in my novel for more than a day, I go back to that first technique – the 3 Step, and see if their appearance changes during the next week, month or year. Does the character gain weight, grow out their beard or put on make-up? Do their clothes remain the same style or do they get rich and buy a new wardrobe?

Does their hygiene change? Some people lose hope while others become obsessed about finding that lost friend or treasure and sometimes it is reflected in their presentation. If they are the sort to give up, maybe they wear a frayed, stained sweater. If they get over their heartache, maybe they start going to the gym and get buff or have a face-lift.

When I look into my character’s innermost thoughts these things become self evident. Everybody thinks about what they are going to do long before they execute it unless there’s an emergency; then they do it by rote. When they begin their transformation they talk about what’s on their mind and each of them says it in their own, unique way – just like we do. Accents, inflections, slang, emotional flares; all make their way into what comes out of our mouths… so by now you must know that I’m working on a lovesick American in Europe who has traded in his starched, white shirt for a corduroy jacket (yes, with the leather patches on the elbows) and no longer throws himself on the bed for an alpha-male bit of relaxation.

Next, I’m on to the sassy red-head; she’s a size 10 Cockney secretary that doesn’t take ‘No’ for an answer and tells me she intends to be my jilted hero’s new love interest.

“Hey, Niki, you’re don’ it! You’re GMC-ing!” Interrupting my typing, this piece of fiction pushes my mail across to me, grinning wickedly.

Nooooo!

Jury Summons.

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BuzzNet Tags: Los Angeles Romance Authors,LARA. RWA,RWA,Romance Writers of America,characters,dir trying,fiction,GMC,Goal Motivation Conflict

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