This past Saturday at the DFW Ready Writer's monthly meeting, Margo Carmichael spoke about creating characters. Here are a few notes from her talk that hopefully you all can put to some use.
Margo Carmichael, who writes "Spirit-filled suspense that captures the heart," talked about Writing Personality Quirks for our Characters.
Not a counselor, Margo is "just a people person" and finds psychology fascinating. She took it as electives in high school and college, then some counseling courses a few years ago. Based on the theme of the book, Shadow Syndromes, by Ratey and Johnson, we probably all exhibit to some extent the traits of full-blown syndromes. These little traits could add interesting, challenging, even amusing layers to our characters. With this in mind, she shared resources and information about the full-blown syndromes from which to draw.
We treated the subject seriously and respectfully, aware that these syndromes can cause much suffering for the ones with them and their families. So, whether one wants to write about interesting character traits, ordeal with full-blown disorders, and God bless especially those who write from painful experience, the articles and resources we discussed could be helpful. They are posted on Margo's blog, "Margo's Moments," along with some confessions of her own~Writing about Psychological Traits (That Woman Unmasked!) at http://margosmoments.blogspot.com
Showing posts with label Training Notes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training Notes. Show all posts
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Diving in deep -- Into POV, that is
Deep POV (Point of view) is getting so far into the POV character's head, it's almost like writing from their first-person perspective. Inevitably, a discussion of deep POV leads to italics. Deep POV is not italicized. Only direct thoughts are done in italics. This can raise a dozen more questions, but I prefer to just leave it there. Some people love italics, some hate them. Bottom line is, use them sparingly. An editor or agent is not going to reject you because you've italicized something that they don't think should be.
Here are some tips for deepening POV:
1) Get into character - Imagine what it's like to be that person. Then be sure to show, not tell, what it is they're feeling.
2) Think/tell the story in first person - This helps me a lot. I will tell the story as though I am the POV character. As if I was reading their journal. Your characters are not going to lie to themselves.
3) Remember that your characters' past experiences shape them. How do the things they see, hear, smell and touch affect them based on those experiences? Example: Two people can enter a blue room. The first person can think it's the most beautiful room they've ever seen. The second person, who perhaps grew up in a less-than-ideal home where all the walls were painted blue, is going to think it's the ugliest, most depressing room they've ever seen.
4) Use strong, descriptive word choices. There's a difference between walked, strolled, and trudged. Which one best suits the scene?
Above all, you have to know your characters to get into their heads. That means you have to dig. And as Liz Curtis Higgs shared last year at ACFW, digging isn't always fun. Matter of fact, it's hard. It may take you someplace you don't want to go. But to do justice to your characters, your story, and to touch your readers, you have to dig.
Presented by Mindy Obenhaus
Born in Indiana, raised in Michigan, Mindy got to Texas as fast as she could. With five children spanning sixteen years, life was never boring. Reading came in the form of magazines and writing was something she’d done in high school. But, by the time her youngest started kindergarten, reading consumed most of her time, and writing soon followed. Little did she know the path God had set before her.
Read more about Mindy and what she's doing at http://www.mindyobenhaus.com/
Here are some tips for deepening POV:
1) Get into character - Imagine what it's like to be that person. Then be sure to show, not tell, what it is they're feeling.
2) Think/tell the story in first person - This helps me a lot. I will tell the story as though I am the POV character. As if I was reading their journal. Your characters are not going to lie to themselves.
3) Remember that your characters' past experiences shape them. How do the things they see, hear, smell and touch affect them based on those experiences? Example: Two people can enter a blue room. The first person can think it's the most beautiful room they've ever seen. The second person, who perhaps grew up in a less-than-ideal home where all the walls were painted blue, is going to think it's the ugliest, most depressing room they've ever seen.
4) Use strong, descriptive word choices. There's a difference between walked, strolled, and trudged. Which one best suits the scene?
Above all, you have to know your characters to get into their heads. That means you have to dig. And as Liz Curtis Higgs shared last year at ACFW, digging isn't always fun. Matter of fact, it's hard. It may take you someplace you don't want to go. But to do justice to your characters, your story, and to touch your readers, you have to dig.
Presented by Mindy Obenhaus
Born in Indiana, raised in Michigan, Mindy got to Texas as fast as she could. With five children spanning sixteen years, life was never boring. Reading came in the form of magazines and writing was something she’d done in high school. But, by the time her youngest started kindergarten, reading consumed most of her time, and writing soon followed. Little did she know the path God had set before her.
Read more about Mindy and what she's doing at http://www.mindyobenhaus.com/
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