Be Mean To Characters-The Little Things

Everyone is busy. If it's not kids, it's aging parents, or a needy spouse, or soccer practice, or a day job, or a night job, or a service opportunity, or a random obligation you didn't mean to say yes to, or an old friend in from out of town, or a cold, or the microwave blows up, or pursuing a hobby, or a mental illness or a struggling friend, or a lack of sleep that is about to drive you batty, or the simple fact that you're in a bad mood and have no extra energy by the time 8pm comes around.

And I came up with those from just three people. Imagine what it's like when we put everyone's stresses in one pile. I think that's what is now referred to as “Going Postal.”

But that's not what this blog post is about.

A few minutes ago, I sat staring at my computer screen, wondering what I should blog about. I'm frustrated about things that have nothing to do with writing, but they're effecting my writing. Affecting? Whichever. I didn't think I had anything writer-ish to type about.

But then my brain kicked into gear.

Oh yes, go brain.

Are you ready for this? This is so brilliant I'm pretty sure I've stolen it from somewhere.

Think about the last character you wrote or are writing. What are their worries? Sure, they've got those pesky aliens who are about to invade and destroy all the rolls of toilet paper on the planet (hey, this is really serious), but what else is going on? Ex-girlfriend bugging him? Maybe his dog is at the Vet for a haircut and must be picked up by 5:00pm or they charge an extra $50, which he just used to buy the last cell phone charger at the store because his phone was about to die as he was talking to the woman in charge, who is his now girlfriend and is really, really mad that he hung up on her.

Maybe his mother doesn't approve of said girlfriend. Or his best friend is trying to sell an old Porsche and keeps asking what price he should put on it. And his tap dancing instructor wants him to do a show on Friday night.

Who knows!?!?!

If we have these little concerns, than our characters do too.

So put them in your story. If your character isn't at least as stressed out as you are on TOP of whatever the story is about, then their life is way more fair than yours is.

You'd better take care of that.

Fairy Godmothers Inc.

Hey all!

Today we have a guest. I would say to be nice to her, but I'm pretty sure she can hold her own.

Meet Jennifer Wardell, author of Fairy Godmothers Inc., lover of bacon and all around instigator of trouble.  The good kind, of course!

If you could eat anything for breakfast, what would it be?

Bacon. Glorious, glorious bacon.

Do you prefer leather or cloth seats in cars? Why?

I generally prefer cloth seats, because if I’m sitting on a leather seat I’ve probably lost my mind and stolen some rich person’s car. Since they probably wouldn’t let me have my laptop in prison, I’d rather avoid getting arrested if I can help it.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

London. I’ll be able to geek out simultaneously on Shakespeare, Sherlock, and Doctor Who, and it’s the perfect place to feed my shameful museum addiction. I do promise, though, not to harass the guards at Buckingham Palace – they seem to get in enough trouble as it is.

What is the most interesting job you've ever had?

Being a journalist. I’ve talked to mixed martial arts fighters, watched someone build a guillotine, roamed behind the scenes while they were filming for a video game, and gotten an up-close look at mummies. And that’s just been in the last year.

Tell us about a strange writing habit that you have.

When I really need to concentrate on a tough scene and the outside world is too distracting, I’ll write in the dark. In the summer, I like to go out on the front porch after the sun sets. If it’s cold enough that hypothermia might be an issue, I’ll go into the bathroom and sit with my back to the door.

What is your favorite quote/saying about writing? What does it mean to you?

I collect quotes about writing like other people collect buttons or stamps, so this is a tough one. I don’t think I can pick a single #1 quote, but one of my favorites is by Barbara Kingsolver: “This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don't consider it rejected. Consider that you've addressed it 'to the editor who can appreciate my work' and it has simply come back stamped 'Not at this address'. Just keep looking for the right address.” I re-read it so many times when my manuscript was making the rounds, and it never stopped being a comfort.

What scene of this novel proved to be the most difficult for you to write?

The first time Kate’s heart gets broken. I really felt everything she was feeling, and at the same time had to struggle to explain it precisely enough that everyone reading would understand why she was so upset. Also, I understood what the person who had upset her was going through as well, so I just felt bad for everyone.

What scene turned out exactly as you imagined it?

Oddly enough, the second version of the ending. My original version was a little bit of a cop-out, and even though it was good I thought I could do better. In the final version I amped up the action, gave all of my lovely cast more room to play, and orchestrated everything with a much more precise sense of timing. I re-wrote the chapter in a big burst one morning, and it just flew.

What aspect of your life has most influenced your writing?

My reading. I essentially write the stories I wish were already on the shelves, and they’d be right next to Terry Pratchett, Patricia C. Wrede and all the other authors I’ve read and loved over the years. Their words inspired mine, and I’ll be forever in debt to them.

Why should people read your book? What does it have to offer them? (Besides the simple fact that it is awesome?)

“Fairy Godmothers, Inc.” is funny, romantic, exciting, emotional, and like nothing you’ve ever read before. If Terry Pratchett was a girl, he would have written this (but please don’t tell him I said that.)

If you could write a spin-off novel about a side character, who would you choose?

It’s not technically a spin-off, but I’ve already got the outline for a sequel in mind that would give Lawton (Prince Jon’s friend) much more room to play. He’s so sarcastic that he’s a delight to write, and I have a sneaking suspicion there’s so much more to his back story than he’s telling me. It would be fun to see how he handled being shoved into the spotlight.

Tell us why you love this story.

This is the fairy tale for everyone who’s spent their lives being pushed to the sidelines, who had to sit by and watch while the crowd’s eyes were on someone else. Everyone who always felt the sidelines were where they belonged, since only pretty, popular people deserve to be the heroes.

I wanted to show them how wrong they were. How wrong I’ve always been to feel the same way. We all deserve a story.

This one’s ours. 

I dare you to read this book and not love it!

You can stalk Jennifer here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JennifferWardell

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wardellwriter

Blog: http://www.jennifferwardell.blogspot.com/p/events.html

 

The Power of a Decision

People always say things like, “Yeah, I need to lose 20 pounds,” or “One of these days I’m going to learn to play the piano,” or “I should get my stuff together for the impending zombie apocalypse.”  These words get said, but I’d venture to guess that only about 10% of the people who say them actually do anything about it.

I’m one of those 90% who talk a lot and don’t usually follow through.

You know, the type that talks about losing weight and then decides that I need ice cream more than anything else in the world at that moment.

I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the world that is this weak willed.  Really. Sure of it.

BUT, during my time in this life, I have learned a few key lessons. One of them has been this:

If you want something, you have to go after it

 Or, if I could steal from Nike for a second:

Just Do It

As I mentioned above, I am a weak willed person when it comes to food.  I’ve been especially naughty with it over the past few months, and all of my efforts toward losing weight (my knees can’t take much more) have been completely thwarted by, well, me.  So I decided I would do something drastic.

Something insane.

Something no woman in her even mostly wrong mind would do.

I gave up chocolate for a month.

I’ll give you time to digest that, become appalled, circle back around to confused and finally decide to read on. If for no other reason than to listen to my chocolate withdrawal symptoms and convince yourself that this is a terrible idea.

In the beginning, I thought I was off my rocker. I had my boyfriend take all of my Girl Scout cookies out of the house, along with anything else I could find that was chocolate and was mine.  His receding footsteps down the front stairs felt like I imagine the clang of the prison door shutting behind you does.

I imagined it would be hard. I imagined clawing my way through to the candy jar at work somewhere around the 12^th due to a great need for chocolate. I imagined myself being really, really grouchy.

Much to my surprise, none of these things happened.  It wasn’t at all hard to walk by the candy jar, refuse chocolate silk pie or politely decline a brownie.

Although I must admit to eating a few bites of some pumpkin chocolate chip bread the other day and not even realizing there was chocolate in it until I’d swallowed.  This is how fried my brain is, people. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I’d done drugs at any point in my life.

So I’ve been thinking about this whole experience, and wondering why it’s been easy.  And as I pondered, I went back to some of the other big things in my life looking for correlations.  I found a simple answer.

I made the decision to do whatever it is I wanted to do.  I moved out of my parent’s house. I lost 50 pounds. I wrote a novel. I decided to write a novel with the purpose of getting it published. I got my black belt. I read the Old Testament.  And many more.

The key really is to make that decision. In your mind and in your heart and in that place inside of you that you can’t lie to.  Once the decision is made, the choice is already made and you don’t even have to think about it.

So if you’re hesitating on something, or wanting something but not doing anything about it, do some soul searching and figure out what you’re willing to do for it.

Then do it.

Don’t look back. There’s too much right ahead of you to look at!

Realization

Sometimes you don't realize just how well you're doing.

No, really.

Stop wallowing in your negative outlook of yourself, step outside and look around.

We all wish we were doing better at something. Am I right? Personally, I've got about eight things I wish I was doing better at, including (but not limited to) writing, kung fu fighting, eating, reading, early Christmas shopping and being more positive. There is literally no end to the “to improve” list.

So do yourself a favor, and stop looking at it for a few minutes.

Allow me to elaborate with a personal experience.

Over the past few months, my Sensei has been having us do a new workout at the beginning of class. It keeps us moving, kicking, punching and in general wears me out. Which I like. I go to class not only to learn to destroy people who are foolish enough to attack me, but also to stay in shape.

Granted, even after 10 years of kung fu fighting I'm still the rather pleasant shape of a pear. Not a skinny pear, just to be clear. So most of the time I just figure that I suck. We won't go into how keeping your expectations of you low is certain sabotage.

Well, the other day one of our awesome black belts came to class. She's been focusing on her art and hasn't been around much. She's in much better shape than I am, and is a great fighter.

Poor thing, had to go first through the workout line, and claims she almost died.

That's serious exaggeration, but she did look tired. And she tried to tell me she sucked.

At this moment I caught a glimpse of both of us feeling like we sucked, but I also caught the realization that we were both there, at class, trying and improving. Even if it was slowly.

It's way too easy to look at the “to improve” list. Looking forward is good, but don't forget to keep track of where you've been and where you are now.

Effort

Definition:

An earnest or strenuous attempt

This particular “Rule of the Dojo” is the one that I pour the most belief into. I pretty much live my life with the attitude that if I do everything in my power to get something finished, then the rest of the little things will take care of themselves.

I’m happy to say that this often happens. You can chalk it up to faith—I am a religious person-or karma or comeuppance or whatever, but it works.

Allow me to talk about my black belt efforts. I started Kempo at 25 years old. At the time I was about 120 pounds overweight, couldn't do a single lunge and the thought of running was, well, really, really funny.

I'm not fast at anything physical. My body doesn't like to be pushed, and my willpower quickly gives out. But if I can do it slow, things sometimes work out. I was always the distance swimmer on the swim team in high school. Sprints—not so much.

So it took me seven years to get my black belt. Some people can do it in two. I'd have to say five is pretty average in our system, if you're putting some good effort into it. I put effort into it, but not enough to move very fast. However, I always practiced and for the longest time I could remember anything I ever learned in class.

I recall on my purple belt test (4^th belt out of 10 to black) my instructor said that I would get my black belt. Keep in mind, this was during the test. You know, when you get punched for thinking too loud or for not yelling loud enough. I laughed. Out loud. Really loud. I never had the aspirations of being a black belt.

But I just kept going to class. Every once in a while my instructor would send me to a test. I slowly gained ranks until...black belt.

Now it took me a long time, but I consistently put effort into it. And eventually I got there. I'm still short, I'm still over weight and I still can't do as many lunges as the young kids. But I did it my way, put my effort into it, and it all worked out.

The same principle applies to writing. Or anything else you're working at in your life. Put effort into it. Move forward. Even if it's just a little at a time. If you do, other things will fall into place. I've seen it happen in my own life, I've seen it happen to others and history is filled with success stories of people who “plugged away at it” until they got there.

Figure out your destination, keep your eye on it, and move toward it.

What's in a Cover?

I'm going to be very honest for a few paragraphs. I'm a sucker for a good cover. I have often picked up a book because of its cover, but I only buy a book when the back blurb really catches my attention. And if the cover is good and the blurb is enough to pique my interest but not enough for me to spend money on, I write it down and get the book from the library.

So I don't judge a book by its cover, but I certainly am lured in by good artwork and presentation. Which means that this is something every author should be concerned about. If you are publishing traditionally, then your publisher will probably take care of it. I've heard horror stories about badly done covers that have significantly hurt book sales. I've also seen covers that blow me away. So like anything in life, it can go either way. If you're indie publishing, then spend the money to at least get a respectable cover. Go for a level above that. You won't be disappointed.

Personally, covers give me an idea of what sort of feel I can expect from the book. It should evoke emotions from me, and if I like the combination it presents, then I'll pick it up and look at it.

I'll only bore you with one example. Below is the cover to Time Riders. I picked this one up off the shelf because of the cover. These were my reasons:

-The title has time in it, which means time travel! I was thinking Quantum Leap

-There is a city with a zeppelin in the background, and zeppelins are always cool.

-The whole picture looks a little warped—a little off, which is what I assumed the characters would be fighting against.

-There are three characters pictures. This is a YA book, which means they are a team of some sort. I love a good team story.

This combined my love of light sci-fi with comradeship and time travel, leading me to buy it.

And that's how I use a cover when I buy a book. Notice that the title came into play as well. The blurb didn't do much for me this time around, but sometimes they really draw me in.

What about you? What role does a cover play when you're looking for a new book to read?

Sincerity

Rule 2

What is sincerity, you ask? The dictionary can help us with that.

“the quality or state of being sincere : honesty of mind : freedom from hypocrisy “

Often times, during belt tests for Kempo, the instructors will start asking you random questions to try to mess with your head. If you're doing really well on a test, and don't see you being rattled by anything else, they'll start asking you about stuff from the manual that no one reads after they look at it once as a white belt.

One of the more common questions is what are the five rules of the dojo? Remembering them isn't too hard. But this one time, I had a fourth degree black belt escort me into the office of the studio, sit me down and ask me which rule I thought was most important.

My first reaction was relief—no facing off with a fourth degree black belt. A few breaths later, I said, “Sincerity.”

He raised his eyebrows and asked me why.

The words are gone now, but I remember trying to explain that if I'm going to commit to doing something, I want it to be for the right reasons and I want to be able to put all of the energy into it that it deserves. If you don't know why you're here, what do you care about anything else?

So instead of rambling for a few more paragraphs, I'm going to ask all of you to think about what you do each day. Why do you do it? What do you hope to gain from it? Do you like it, hate it, do it out of obligation? Are you sincere in your activities, or do you fake it a lot?

Think about it, then do something about it.

And don't forget, that being sincere doesn't mean that everything is always bubbly and happy. I think it means that in the end you'll be very satisfied with what you've done.