Characters

Emotional Nuance

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 1 Comment

One of the most difficult things for me, as a new writer, is to put feelings and emotions down on paper.  I started paying attention to other author’s and the way they described emotions. I started out believing emotions were easy to write, they aren’t. Many nuance’s of expression bring emotion to life and make it real. I was missing that subtle difference in shade of meaning, expression or sound.

Most of the time our emotions are reactions. Flares of intense moments. Some are more subtle than others, but how often do you stop to think about what you’re doing, how you’re moving,  the tone in your voice, the look in your eye, the strength in your touch, or your stance? We don’t. We simply do what we do in the moment.

Try writing a scene without thinking about  all of those things, and you’ll have a boring, stilted, emotional scene. I know, because I’ve written quite a few along the way. However, there are resources for us newbies, and I’ve found a great one! The book shelf muse. This is a wonderful blog offering a slew of  resources for writers on character traits,  emotional thesaurus, and others. Check them out. Their hard copy book and ebook will be coming out May 14th.

So, the next time you sit down to write and you can’t get the emotion right, well…. I hope you’ll take a closer look. Break it down. As for me, I have a big Easter weekend with my family planned. So, I’ve been busy, cleaning, cooking, and right now I’m drumming my fingers on the table as I run through my to-do-list, focusing on our family event (anticipation).

Happy Easter  to every one! Happy Emotional Writing!

Character Development

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 9 Comments

This past week I lead a discussion on LinkedIn. The topic was characters. “Where do your main characters come from?”

The most often cited method used to create characters included:people watching, a reflection of self, and family and friends. Some characters “just walked in,” and others were researched to the most minute detail. In each case the goal was always to create believable, full characters that leap off the page as story unfolds, whatever the genre.

Lillie Ammann, writer and editor has a done a great job discussing character development in her eight part series, Creating Fictional Characters. It’s worth checking out. Other resources you may find helpful include:
Holly Lisle’s, Character Workshop, and The Writer’s Resource, Motivation for Characters in Fiction.

Since last week I’ve given a second look to my own characters, making a few changes. The changes were improvements I think. However you choose to develop your characters, here’s to good, strong, full and believable characters that tell our story the way it was meant to be told.

Where Do Your Characters Come From?

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 5 Comments

I belong to two different writing groups and each time, I learn something new. The insight I gain isn’t always about writing. For example, when I worked I was respected as an excellent RN and later, an Administrator. I did my job well. The difference between me and most other women had to do with the delivery. The voice, the tone you might say. I was a very organized, focused, direct person, a strong, independent woman.

All of us bring a little something of ourselves and experiences into what we write. Whether it is in tone, voice, words or characters. I’ve discovered I bring that strong personality into my characters. I have other characters. Some with a sarcastic wit about them that bring a mischievous smile to my face. Others can be rather sexy, but by far it is the strong character that wants to take center stage. It is a challenge for me.

How do you tell your story? Is it with humor? Sarcasm? Bitterness?

When you tell a story are your characters funny? Magical? Strong? All powerful? Silly? or Loving?

Where do your characters come from? Do you tame them? Should you?

Tell me. Share. An aspiring writer would like to know.