Creating Characters: A Five Part Series

Photopin: M Harrsch

I am starting a  5 part series dedicated to Characters and what we love about them.  I hope to offer some assistance to writers who are devoting time to the mechanics of their writing.  Think about the last book or story you read. What made that character memorable to you? As an aspiring historical fiction novelist and avid reader of the genre, the writing of the character is what differentiates a world I can become absorbed in versus a plain historical textbook.  

I completed NaNoWriMo in 2011 with no guide other than the few wonderful blogs I follow and of course Larry Brooks and his awe inspiring website,  StoryFix.com.  Larry’s website and a supportive NaNo  group kept me going through that long November.   After reading the unstructured mess that had spilled into the writing program I endeavored to master, I knew I clearly had more work to do to ever come close to producing a cohesive story which a reader could enjoy.  My verbal stories have followed me for several years and along the way were pleas from friends of “You must write this story. I really want to know what happens to these people!” For these patient friends, I am determined to tell the stories of a civil war soldier, a depression era waitress and a forlorn prince in a foreign country. Three different books, three very different characters and I am determined to convey each one onto paper.

The reference books I will be using for this series are:

Writing the Breakout Novel by  Donald Maas

Growing Great Characters from The Ground up by Martha Engber

Characters, Emotons and Viewpoints by Nancy Kress

The Dramatic Writer’s Companion by Will Dunne

Crafting Unforgettable Charafters by K.M. Weiland (sign up for her newsletter and get this nifty booklet for FREE)

and of course, the great seven part series by Larry Brooks.  I can’t wait to introduce you, the faithful blog reader to not only my characters, but those of some of my favorite writers.

Tell me, dear writers and readers, who is your favorite character and name the traits that endeared them to you!

Critique My Blog Fest

Going on today at A Writer's Journey, my friend Teralyn is sponsoring a Critique my Blog Blog Hop.  I would really like feedback on my blog so I am posting some of the rules here. To join please check out her site! 


Here's how it works:

Please comment on the following items regarding my blog: 

      You can make comments on:

a.      Appearance: Does it appeal to you? Is it too busy, or too plain?

b.      Layout: Is it difficult to navigate? Is it cluttered, or sparse?

c.      Frequency: Does the blogger post too often? Not often enough?

d.      Content: Are the posts interesting? Unique? Are they focused, or all over the place?

e.      Quality: Are the individual posts too long, too short, too sloppy, or too generic?

Watch for an  upcoming series on characterization!

Week of Links for Writer's and Readers

This week has been a very busy week for me and my blog posts have been sparse. My roller derby team hosted a very successful recruiting event and we are busily preparing for season 2, which begins next month.  I am also participating in a couple of online writing workshops and have had assignments due.  I have learned so much in these classes and I hope to blog about some of those experiences.  For this post however, I am passing along some links I have found of interest this week.

100 Words for Facial Expression – This article is especially of interest to the historical romance fiction writer in me. I will most certainly add a wolfish expression to my 1930’s WIP.

The Bookshelf Muse presents us with Character traits of the disorganized. I love this website and highly recommend the thesaurus listings found there.

Melinda McGuire asks the question, “What If?”  She has several interesting previous posts to explore as well.  She is also a fan of another website I love, Larry Brook’s Storyfix.com

I must mention a Wedding Story I read this week as well over on Kimberly Matthews blog. I am a sucker for bookstore weddings. 

Donna Yates has a valuable guest post regarding the Use of Quotes in writing on her blog this week. 

Lisa Tener interviews  Dr. Jill Grimes, who authored, "Seductive Delusions: How Ordinary People Get STD's. This book is written in terminology that is understandable by the exact audience it targets. It has become required reading in several health and medical related classes. Dr. Grimes is a graduate of a program sponsored by Harvard Medical School that assists authors of medical related content learn to negotiate the writing and publishing process. She also offers some firsthand and excellent advice for authors attending any type of writing  conferences.  

K.M Weiland hosted Becke Martin Davis on her website this week. The post “What would Agatha Say?” was in reference to one of my all-time favorite authors, Agatha Christie. My favorite quote from Agatha Christie was in regard to her first try at writing.

To update the progress on my 2012 Genre Project I have chosen two books this week that have caught my attention. Seeds of Insight by Breeana Putroff and  The High Crusade By Paol Anderson, reviewed by a fellow Blogger Gene Lempke.  

Now, I must be off to the year 1935 and check in with my favorite character at the moment, Josephine.  I suspect today’s chapter will deal with keeping her well-meaning but slightly naïve grandmother out of some sort of trouble.