Are Things Looking...Scary?

I know we're not even close to Halloween, but I couldn't resist sharing a good scare this afternoon.

• Do you ever feel as if you're not alone in the room, when you know you are the only one currently inside your house?
• Do you ever get a bit, well, queasy, when you consider what you've watched on the news?
• Do you find yourself turning on the hall light when you know exactly where the bedroom is?

• Photo by mepaki: http://mrg.bz/2dAGkY

I've had time times these, and, surprisingly, these times correlate with writing.

I know, I know, I am constantly correlating life with writing, but you know, it's what helps me remember.

• Do you ever feel like you're sharing the room with your characters, even though you're home alone?
• Do you get a bit, well, sick to your stomach, when you have to write a frightening scene?
• Do you find yourself trying to turn on the hall light "called your brain" when you have writer's block?

Writing can be a scary process, especially when you feel as if your characters are speaking to you and you want to write something else. Not all scenes are a pleasant to write. You might find it a bit creepy or uneasy and feel the need to turn on the hall light just so you know that everything's going to be okay.

But I guess that's what we all want, don't we?

We want to write our best. We want to write what our character's want. We want to write even the 'hard to write' stuff. Because we want to write.

And, frankly, we need all of it.

Do Your Characters Speak to You? Do You Listen?

I had a great conversation recently was a fellow author about characterization, and the importance of making their fictitious characters REAL.

What makes a character real? I asked.

I suppose they are like the rest of us, was the answer. They say the right things based on their likes and dislikes; perhaps where they sit in a family situation, whether first or fifth in line. They do the right things. You can count on them to visit particular places and settings.

Photo by: Menage a Moi, courtesy of Flickr

So what happens when your character doesn't feel like that to you?
I asked.

Well, you're probably not listening to them them, he answered.

Listen to a character?

You bet.

Have you ever been writing along merrily, when suddenly what you have written seems awkward, almost forced?

I have.

And the best thing I can do is to stop and take notice. The scene I have just written, does it run true for the character, or am I forcing the character into a place he/she wouldn't really go?

Is the character speaking like themselves, or like me? Do I want the character to say something so bad I forget that the character might just feel differently about that?

Okay, so maybe we writers are a little bit crazy. I'm almost saying here that we hear voices... but I want you to reflect on the last time you wrote dialogue.

Did you listen?

Was it more important to get the feelings of the character authentic over your agenda for them?

There's something soothing and yes, REAL about a character who appears real on paper because we've remembered to listen.

So listen...

Getting Lost: Why it's Important in Writing Your Novel

I don't like getting lost. When I'm driving to a new place I print out a Google map. My husband is showing me how to actually use my Smartphone so that I can plug in destinations and get to places without getting lost.

Yes, I get lost. And not only when I'm driving.

Photo by: grant_loy, courtesy of Flickr

I get lost when I'm reading and sometimes, I can get lost in my writing.

It isn't always easy to keep to the path that you've created for your characters, because sometimes, quite frankly, they like to get off the beaten path.

For the most part I let them. Okay, for "all parts" I let them.

Getting lost is important in a story. Not so far off that you can't find your way back to the main road, but far enough off the beaten path to lend interest and continued reading.

I have had characters who have told me, "You're making my life too easy. I like it, but will the reader?"

I've had nudges: "Don't you think that he should die? I mean, he's great and everything, but he should die. Your main character needs to struggle with death and overcome it."

Photo by: Fugue, courtesy of Flickr

I've had whispers. "Really, I would actually say that? I would actually do that?"

Getting lost is as important as getting found, perhaps more so. Because in the getting lost much is learned about a character's strengths and weaknesses, about his/her determination to work through problems and overcome.

Much like we do.

Do Your Characters Take Over Your Book?

No?

Let them.

I mean it. Say you have a great outline, and the story is moving along steadily as you outlined it, when all of a sudden your character says to you:

"Wait, I don't want to do that! I wouldn't do that!"

Or

Photo by: Jagz Mario, courtesy of Flickr

They simply stop speaking and turn down another lane.

I don't know about you but I like it when my characters take over. They know themselves better than I do anyway, and if something in their story isn't feeling right to them, I like it that they have the confidence to do something else.

I'm glad I no longer hang onto them with a short rope.

There's something amazing and good that happens when your characters take over. It's kind of like inspiration and dictation all at the same time. And I'd like to think that my story will be better for it.

• So, you have a great ending, but your characters don't like it. Change it.
• You're midway through your book and your main character says, "I shouldn't be doing that yet, I've got these other mountains to climb first," or something under those lines. Slow down.
• Your stumped, you're stuck. Listen.

I promise you, it will be worth it.