Category Archives: Creating Characters

Writing Perspective – Day 23 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 23 – Reader Engagement

Today’s writing tip concerns the info dump. When you start writing, people tend to start with the backstory and tell everything about the situation and in doing so, lose their audience before the end of the first paragraph.

You want your reader to know your characters, their personality, and the time period they live in or the planet they’re on, depending on what genre you’re working with.

However, there’s a right way and wrong way to do that. I once picked up the book Ben Hur from the library. I couldn’t get past the first couple of pages because it was all information about the time period. How do you overcome that and get your reader interested in your book? Sprinkle it in where appropriate. Not all at once.

You might start with a paragraph showing location for your character but get to the dialogue as soon as possible. Interaction between characters can show as much information about the time period, genre, location as several pages of info dump does. And it does a better job of keeping your reader engaged in the story.

As your story moves along, your reader will get a good idea of where your characters are and what they are doing from the dialogue. Yes, the description is necessary to the book, but don’t over describe. Don’t under describe either. You don’t want to leave the person wondering what just happened and cut him out of the story.

Remember, your reader is on the same journey as your characters. Let them look around the location and see where they are. Build tension with dialogue. You won’t get tension in an info dump.

Below is an excerpt from my book New Horizons – Predators and Blue Fire. I hope it shows you what I’m talking about. Information, but not too much. It’s the end of the first chapter.

———-

They finished a late-night snack when the plane went through an electrical storm. Lightning flashed around the plane, but there weren’t any clouds in sight, at least none Shanara could see as she gazed out the window. It reminded her of movies about a spacecraft forced through space at an excessive speed.

She expected to see dark billowy clouds below them, indicating rain, but there was nothing. She also found it strange that flying above the clouds, they would get caught in an electrical storm, something she would expect below the clouds. However, she couldn’t see the sky or clouds.

The seatbelt sign came on, and everyone put their seats in an upright position, preparing for the worst. Only the worst didn’t happen, at least not from what Shanara could see, or not see.

“That was a strange storm. What can you see out the window?” asked Michael.

“Nothing. I mean, literally, nothing. Before the storm there was an ocean beneath us, now there isn’t even water.”

Suddenly, the plane took a sharp turn upward, and Shanara could see the mountain peak in front of them.

“Where did that come from?” asked Michael.

“I have a feeling we’re not on earth anymore,” said one of the passengers, her eyes glued to the window.

“I bet you’re right. Nothing looks familiar,” said a male passenger.

As soon as the plane righted itself, the captain came on the intercom. “I know many of you are wondering where we are. So are we! Our navigational charts are useless. We passed into what is known as the Bermuda Triangle, and though I’ve flown this route many times, nothing like what we experienced has ever happened before. Some of you saw an electrical storm out your window. That wasn’t an electrical storm. It was a wormhole. I know what you might be thinking. You’re not in the Twilight Zone. However, wormholes are a theory which just became fact. We are looking for a place to land and hope we can find a civilization who will not shoot first and ask questions later. For now, please remain calm. You will know what is happening at the same time we do. Captain Fredericks out.”

“Okay. Now I’m glad I packed as much as you did,” said Michael.

“That’s not our moon,” said a male passenger behind them.

“No, it’s not,” said Shanara, seeing a larger moon than she was used to seeing.

“Look over there. Is that another planet?” pointed a woman, a few rows ahead of them.

Shanara focused on the terrain below them and the moons or planets she saw out the window amid a vast array of stars. It was clear they were no longer on Earth, but where they were, she hoped they would soon find out.

—————-

I hope this helps show you how to give your information to the reader and keep your reader engaged in your story.

Tomorrow’s Perspective: Show vs. Tell

Writing Perspective – Day 20 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 20 – Magic

I hope some of you look forward to these tips and I’m glad I can help. I’m not an expert. This is what I’ve gleaned in my time as a writer and now author.

I’m still going through the world-building points. There are six of them. This one is the fifth—magic.

Magic is a broad field. It can come from any direction. Through science, through the supernatural, through technology.

Consider what you know today and where you are technologically. Now place this same knowledge in a different by-gone era and people would accuse you of witchcraft. We know the supernatural exists. All religions have some basis in the supernatural. It isn’t a far stretch of the imagination to tap into the supernatural.

You also don’t need to use the supernatural or magic in science fiction alone. Consider the best-selling book of all time, the Bible. God presents His people with signs and wonders throughout the Old Testament with the plagues of Egypt, and Elijah calling down fire from heaven and going to heaven in the whirlwind. In the New Testament, you have Jesus’ resurrection, and signs and wonders done by the apostles. These are factual representations of a mighty God.

As a Christian author, I showed God’s mighty power with the supernatural in two of my published books, Manifest Destiny and Freedom’s Cry. Magic can be presented in different ways. Consider JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Not everyone had magic and not all magic was good, some were bad.

How you present magic will bring your reader into your world or leave him or her standing at the door. It must be done in such a way that it’s natural to the story.

Is magic something your characters dabble in and learn, fearful that anything will happen and what happens when something does? Is magic a way of life for the people of your world and everyone has magic, some more than others? Is magic a magicians’ conjuring trick? Admit it, you enjoy a good magician’s trick. You’ve even tried it yourself.

When considering magic as the main topic of your story, you need to present it at the beginning. Even if your main character is unaware of his or her ability with magic, it must be shown at the onset of your story. Then your audience will be waiting for it to manifest in your character or will wonder how he or she will use their magic.

You can also use magic as a surprise element for your character. Again, it must be a natural outcome for the character, even if it is a surprising one. Once presented, your audience will wonder what’s going to happen next. Don’t disappoint them.

There’s also magic in the world around you. Watch nature and see how it fits together. It’s an amazing world we live in. Use it in your writing to help develop your characters. You never know where you’ll find a bit of magic.

Have you tried using magic in your writing?

Tomorrow’s Perspective: Culture

Writing Perspective – Day 19 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 19 – Religions

Thank you for your interest in writing tips for novels, short stories, and blogs. It doesn’t matter what you write, it helps to know how to write. I hope I have helped you.

I am still discussing science fiction and world-building. Today I will focus on religion. Every culture has a religion of some type.

When creating your world, you need to know what fuels the hearts and minds of the people in your story. What do they believe? Do they believe in one god or many? Do they believe in the true God or no god? How do people interact with their gods? Do they have religious leaders to tell them what their gods want from them? What kinds of gods are they? Are they benevolent, malevolent, or manipulative? Do they make demands of the people or do they take care of the people?

Religion plays as much a part of your story as any other part. Your reader will want to know, even if they don’t realize it, what the people believe in the story you create. They want to know how it all fits together. It’s your story. Tell it in such a way that your reader will want to be part of the world you create.

Tomorrow’s Perspective: Magic

Writing Perspective – Day 18 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 18: World History

Welcome to today’s writing tips. I’m still on world-building as there is so much to it that can also apply to other genres, not only science fiction.

One of the things you need to concern yourself with in your world is the history of the world your characters live in. What took place to put them in the position they’re in? Is it the result of peace, or is there a war going on?

History is important to every genre. To learn the history of what you’re writing you need to do research. In science fiction, you’re making up the history of your planet or world. What will your characters face? Will they be accepted or not? Was there war? How was peace achieved? Is it an uneasy peace in which war could break out again with little provocation?

Aside from wars, how did the planet come to exist? Was it part of creative design? Was a god responsible for the planet or the solar system? What kind of technology does the world have or not have? What about different societies or classes of people?

No matter what genre you write, you need to consider all the factors that make up your story. In science fiction, you can set your creative imagination free to roam. What obstacles do you face in your writing? Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow’s Perspective: Religions

Writing Perspective – Day 17 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 17 – Inhabitants

Today in world-building, I will discuss the inhabitants of your world. Are your inhabitants a completely different alien race? Are they human or non-human? Are they mythological or magical? Are they monsters? Are they on earth or another planet?

There is a lot you can do with your story. You can base your mythological, magical, and monster stories on earth or create another planet for your story or don’t name the planet or place of origin as was done with Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. All you have is a map of Middle Earth, you don’t know where it’s located.

In the Star Wars universe, George Lucas introduced you to a myriad of creatures, supposedly human in nature, some looking half animal and half human. In the wizarding world of Harry Potter, you know you’re on earth, particularly the UK in an unseen magical world only seen by wizards. Any human, muggle, who came in contact with wizards either have their memories wiped of all knowledge or are sworn to secrecy about wizards, as Harry Potter’s muggle family was.

Where do you start with your story? First, determine where it is. Are you on earth or in another galaxy? Next, determine your inhabitants. Are they humanoid, or extraterrestrial? Then you need to determine how they are the same as or different from humans. Do you have a combination of humans and extraterrestrial species? What are their life spans?

Once you determine your characters, you need to consider where they live and how they live? What are the main biomes of the planet? Are the plants and animals friendly or dangerous? Will they kill you or can you live side by side with them? Even on earth, we have deadly plants and animals. We have deserts and rain forests, and every ecological system living together to make the earth a living breathing planet. You need to determine the amount of land to water. Do your inhabitants dwell on land or in the water? What makes your inhabitants unique to what we’ve already seen from other authors? What makes your inhabitants stand out? Remember, if you thought of it, someone else has too, so how different can you make them to what we’ve already seen in books and movies?

Tomorrow’s Perspective: World History

Writing Perspective – Day 16 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 16: Environments

Welcome to today’s writing tips. Today’s tips come from the recent UntitledTown event held in Green Bay April 25th to 28th. I attended ten sessions and have a wealth of notes and information handouts. One such is on World-Building.

If you’ve ever read anything in the science fiction or fantasy genre or watched such movies as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, you were immediately immersed in a world unlike and like our own. One thing I keep running into as I research one of my favorite genres is that your world must look real to the characters and it will be real to you the reader. Orcs were known to every character in Middle Earth. Hobbits were three foot plus tall but not four feet. And Harry Potter was a wizard. Everybody knew it but him, but only wizards knew cars could fly.

So, how do you create a world you can take for granted? It depends on how involved your story is. My interest in science fiction began when Star Trek came on the scene, but I didn’t know it was science fiction back then. I only knew it was a good show with aliens who had a different skin color, and some of them had green blood and pointed ears.

I began writing science fiction approximately ten years ago. I have a few starts, one finished, and one almost finished novel I’m hoping to finish soon.

When world building you need to consider six different areas: Environment, Inhabitants, History, Religion, Magic, and Culture. Let’s look at Environment and in the coming days, I’ll look at the other elements of world-building or this would be a very long post.

When considering the environment of your planet you need to know if you’re on a different planet in a different galaxy or are on earth. If you’re on a different planet are you dealing with only that planet or is there a whole galaxy of planets, what are their names? How big is the planet in relationship to the earth? Size matters. What about gravity or the lack thereof? Are there other inhabitants? Are they indigenous to the planet or transplanted there from earth or elsewhere in the universe?

When I started naming planets and people in my New Horizons series, I found a wonderful site called fantasynamegenerators.com. With it, I was able to give names to aliens, planets, and cities. I created a whole universe separate from Earth. I was able to let my imagination run freely, but not so freely there weren’t any rules and laws the inhabitants needed to abide by.

If you are creating another planet or universe, don’t forget to create a map of your planet and universe. It will give your reader a point of reference as he or she begins to read and immerse into the world of your imagination. The environment is the life of the planet. Creating life in science fiction and making it real to your reader is exhilarating. As a writer, don’t forget to research. You can’t forget the simple laws of physics that govern everything. Even in science fiction, you need to present the facts. Do you read or write science fiction or fantasy? Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow’s Perspective: Inhabitants

Writing Perspective – Day 15 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 15: Secondary Characters

Yesterday I wrote on character development. I’m going to continue with that thread as there is a lot more to write about than I focused on yesterday.

Another part of character development deals with the number of characters in your story. Too many and you overwhelm the reader, too few and your story could lack interest. Though I have heard of a two-person story.

Your secondary characters help your main character by supporting them in various ways. In Scarred, Jo-Ann has a moment of doubt and despair, despite her strong faith. Too much has gone against them, when Emalei reminds her that God is everywhere and encourages her. It’s not the only time she finds encouragement.

In order to have good character development in your secondary characters, you need to know them as well as you know your main characters. Don’t shortchange them. Balance your secondary characters with your main characters and you will have a strong story.

When it comes to the characters in your book, it isn’t good to give several characters names starting with the same letter. It can bring about much confusion when it comes to who’s speaking. You don’t want to confuse your reader. I hope these tips are helping you as a writer. Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow’s Perspective: Environments

Writing Perspective – Day 14 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 14: Character Development

One of the essential elements of writing your story is character development. You can’t just put any name on a page and expect it to fit in your story.

Think about all the characters you know from your favorite books or classics. Would A Christmas Carol be the same if Ebenezer Scrooge had a different name? Maybe, but doubtful. And what about Atticus Finch? Would To Kill a Mockingbird be the same with a different name?

Speak those names or many others and you immediately have an idea about the character, who he or she is and what kind of personality they have.

Names are important. You need to consider what kind of book you’re writing. Is it contemporary, western, mystery, science fiction, romance?

Once you have your character, you need to dress him or her. Who are they? What is their catchphrase? If I said, fiddle-dee-dee, do you know who said it? An idea of war, scoundrels, and cads might come to mind. Love, family, regrets, determination, might also come to mind. Put that fiddle-dee-dee alongside “As God is my witness, I will never be hungry again,” and you know exactly which character it belongs to.

What kind of person will fill the hero and heroine roles in your stories? To find out what kind of person he or she is, you need to communicate with them.

One method of communication is to have your character write you a letter about what they want to do or not do. Let them tell you what they fear the most and what they love the most and have your character be angry at you for stifling who they want to become. Get to know your character.

Once you know your character, you will know how he or she will act in any given situation. You know if she will flee the hospital when the doctor asks her help to amputate a soldier, and you will know if she has the guts to kill a man whose intent was to steal whatever he could.

Getting to know your character takes time. You won’t know everything about your character when you finish your first draft. You’ll have an idea about him or her. As you edit and revise your story, you give your characters the personality you started to develop in the rough draft.

It’s time to find out exactly who they are and if your audience will like them or hate them. You need to give them a purpose. Survival is a common purpose. Turning people from hating a person because of the color of their skin to fighting for them, is common. Fighting for what you believe in is also a common purpose.

How you develop your characters to bring about the outcome you want will show how well you develop the characters in your stories. Who are your favorite characters? Tell me why they’re your favorite.

Tomorrow’s Perspective: Secondary Characters

Writing Perspective – Day 11 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day 11: Pantser

Welcome to today’s writing tips. Yesterday I talked about plotting your novel or work. Today, I will focus on pantser’s. A Pantser is a person who plants themselves in the chair and writes. Whether they write with paper and pen or computer, doesn’t matter, the important thing is to write.

Pantser’s need to write. They have an idea that must be written down as soon as possible. There’s no time to outline, summarize, or decide on characters. From personal experience as a Pantser, characters are there as soon as I need them. I don’t need to do heavy thinking about character names or locations. As soon as I put my fingers on the keyboard, their story comes about.

Pantser’s characters talk to writers, constantly, obsessively at times. It can be obnoxious, especially when the writer needs to sleep, but the character has no regard for a writer’s health or well-being. Sleep and food are taken between scenes, or when the character becomes quiet.

As a Pantser, I tend to work on multiple books at a time. It’s not uncommon for me to have five books I alternate between as the story develops between each. I’m certain other Pantser’s have their way of writing. No two writers or Pantser’s are alike.

I’m certain some would say I have a classic case of OCD. I would tell you I have a case of character intrusion which needs to be taken care of as soon as possible so I can have peace and quiet.

How long it takes to get the story written depends on the complexity of the story, but in most cases three to six months is common. That said, every story goes through quiet times. Writer’s tend to think of these times as writer’s block. Maybe it is, but it also gives me a chance to work on another book in progress.

When one story becomes quiet, another story becomes noisy. I need to take advantage of those times to advance the story. Eventually, I come to the end of a story. It feels like I’ve won a race, come to the end of the trail, or accomplished something monumental. It’s also a time when I feel like I don’t have anything to do and wonder what’s next. Why I wonder what’s next is beyond me when I have several other books waiting to find the final word in the story.

On the whiteboard behind me, I have a list of nine books in progress. Nine books I intend to work on this year. Of those nine, one is in the publishing process and will be published in the fall. Five being edited, two are ready to finish, and one begun this year and I need to write. I have plenty to keep me busy.

So, you see, a Pantser is always in writing mode. A Pantser needs to write. A Pantser is always thinking. With a Pantser, the story comes first. Everything else comes after I finish the story.

I’ve been writing to publish for 39 years. In that time, I’ve learned to do research during the writing, instead of after. That way I don’t need to worry about the facts when I finish the story.

Things to research while I write the story—time period if it’s a historical novel. Customs, culture, clothing are big areas of research. Location is another big one and for historical novels, I rely on old maps. Pantser’s must think about everything as they develop a story.

With the story finished, the time comes for revision and character development. Putting flesh and blood on the story to make it come alive to the reader.

Early in my writing career, someone read a little bit of Joanne, now called Scarred, and told me she couldn’t see the characters or the action. All she read was dialogue. I was grateful to her and brought life to my characters and the scenes in my story so that when the next time a person read my story, they told me my story read like a movie, they could see the characters and the action.

Writing is work. Bringing a story to life takes time and development. Writing is a joy and finishing a story brings fulfillment. Yes, it takes three to six months to write a story, but it can take years to develop the story and bring it to life so that when someone reads what I write and tells me they enjoyed it I feel a sense of accomplishment.

If you’re a writer, are you a Pantser? How long does it take you to write and develop your story? Do you work on several at once?

I haven’t done a recent count, but the last time I counted the number of stories in progress and finished, I had over fifty titled works. I have plenty to keep me busy for years to come.

Tomorrow’s Perspective: Typos

Tell Me a Story That Makes Me Tired the Next Morning

By Rhonda Strehlow

I read nearly every night before I go to sleep. It relaxes me, well, sometimes it does. Other times, it gets me riled up, excited, scared. Any time I find my emotions carrying me away, I write that author’s name down and track his/her other books. When an author stirs emotions in me, I become a fan.

Which leads me to the thesis of this blog:

Anais Nin said, “We don’t see things as they are. We see things as WE are.

Said differently, when we are writing we need to be aware of our biases, our strengths and our flaws. We cannot simply create characters that reflect us. That would be boring. We need to get into the heads of each of our characters and make them unique. We need to give them their own biases, strengths and flaws.

When we create characters, we need to make them multi-dimensional. If I’m reading a book and the protagonist is perfect, I quit reading. Why? I’m skeptical because I’ve never met a perfect person. Perfect people are boring and don’t deserve a book.

I want to root for my protagonist, but I also need to relate to him/her. I want to see her make mistakes and, I want understand why she makes them. Did she have indifferent parents? Was she bullied in school? Did she have to care for her siblings? Was she abandoned? Smothered?

What I’m saying is I want you to let me into her head. What motivates her? What scares her? Where do her quirks come from?

But, don’t dump it all on me at once. Tease me. Lead me on. Make me curious. Most of all, I want to care.

Make me want to read one more chapter at midnight because I won’t be able to sleep until I find out what happens next.