We Interrupt the Random Stuff with Compelling Characters!

Today I'm joining about 150 other bloggers out there for a bit of a blogfest-blogpalooza and we are all giving you our spin on "Writing Compelling Characters!"

I don't generally do a lot of "how to" posts or what not, because I really think everyone has their own style and that is one of the most important things for a writer--knowing who you are and what your writing style is. You don't need me to tell you how to write.

With that in mind, I'm going to tell you my thoughts on compelling characters and something I always try to keep in mind:

If this was a real person, would I care about this character?

This is a question I ask myself because I think the compelling characters are the most memorable ones. Art can imitate life and vice versa. People who may only have a cameo, or very small, brief parts in our lives may end up making huge impacts that can stay with us forever. Chances are, if this is character is a person whose appearance in my real life could change my life, whether I love them, hate them or recognize them as just a passing acquaintance, will I remember these people/characters?

I guess, the other part of my big question to think about is the word "real." Compelling characters ARE real, they are multi-dimensional. There is depth to them beyond just being good or bad. They are characters that have flaws, strengths, weaknesses . . . these are characters with a soul - whether good or evil. And with that in mind, a compelling character is one thatis developed to where they could come right off the pages of a book and you could run into on your next trip to the grocery store.

Sorry if I'm a bit rambly in this post, running on a week of very little sleep and feeling almost zombie-ish. Plus, a little short on time with day job and kidlet stuff going on.

Regardless, those are just what my thoughts are. As a writer, if I can answer that real person question, I'm all set. As for you, what do you think?

Relationship Maintenance

One of my friends from college moved up to Seattle "for a couple years" and 6 years later, she's still there. We talk every so often and try to get together whenever she's in town (because she's got tons of family here), but she got me thinking. Though she's not a day-to-day part of my life, I really value her friendship, more so than some of the people who are in my life day-in and day-out.

Our friendship is low maintenance: we don't have to talk/text/see each other every day or even every other day, yet whenever we get together or chat on the phone, it's like picking up exactly where we left off last time, plus a quick recap of all that's gone on since the last time we talked. Around when I need her, and I'm there for her whenever, but we both recognize we have our own lives. It's great.

Now, if only my characters were that way. My relationship with my characters are far more high maintenance then I'd like them to be, especially during a first draft-which is where nearly all my wips are right now.

How much maintenance are the relationships you have with your characters? And how do you handle it?

Chocolate Stinks and Character Traits

A while back our big kidlet Phephe (she's 4), did a bunch of stuff and earned a prize. She picked chapstick. She'd always been really good with the chapstick ends I'd given her in the past and husband and I agreed she could go pick out some chapstick.

So we went to the store and this is what she picked out:

Yep, that's M & M flavored chapstick. No big deal. Weeks pass. She uses it sporadically, as most days she forgets she has it.

Then, before we leave for IKEA to pick up my new office stuff (pics to come - so excited to share), Husband walks through the house, sniffing. The entire house smells like chocolate. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but this is not that good, rich, chocolatey smell. This is the el-cheapo cocoa-buttery chocolate smell.

Then Husband walks into our bedroom and nearly gags. Phephe looks at me. And she looks guilty.After some hemming and hawing she fesses up to rubbing her chapstick on the heating vent. So every time the heat came on, the smell grew stronger.

Why am I rambling on forever about this, you ask? Well, Husband and I have been together for nearly 10 years - married for almost 7, and I just learned three days ago that he absolutely hates the smell of chocolate. I mean, seriously? How could I not know this? He likes chocolate chip cookies, and candy bars, but finds the permeating scent of the stuff to be repulsive.

That got me to thinking, do you really know your characters? And I don't mean what they look like and turn-ons and turn-offs? I mean in 10 years from now are you going to look back at one of your characters and realize - OMG, that is why he was gagging every time she baked chocolate cupcakes?

Tuesday's Tiny Talkers

Okay, maybe that's a totally lame blog title, but I decided this is the week where the name of the day will be each blog post. Why, you ask?

I have no idea. Just because I decided.

So yesterday I mentioned I'm rewatching Gilmore Girls. The Complete Series. The husband gave the boxed set to me as a gift a couple Christmases ago. I watched the whole thing a couple times through after I received the gift, but a friend borrowed the set this past year and I just got it back. After about 11 months. So yeah, I missed my GGs.

Lorelei and Rory aside, there are some fantastic supporting characters on the show. The loud, sort of obnoxious, but endearingly caring Babette: the next door neighborly gossip. Taylor - the really obnoxious, condescending town magistrate/selectman/mayor guy who is always out for himself. Mrs. Kim, Rory's best friend's mother, owner of an antique shop and psychotically strict. These people do so much with such a tiny part, you know their personalities, how they will react, who they are.

I recently read a book that had the potential to give the supporting characters personality, but it didn't. And I was really disappointed because of it. Although the MCs were pretty well developed, the world didn't seem real to me when the supporting characters, who interact with the MC(s) constantly, are flat, generic and have no personality.

As hard as it is to make sure the characters in your work are real, have you spent the time needed to make sure the Tiny Talkers in the background, the quirky math teacher, the brainy student body president, the loud and nosy neighbor, are just as real?

Just something I've been thinking about. Have you considered it?

When I Grow Up

I'm going to be a rock star. I'm going to be a newscaster.
I'm going to win the lottery.

I'm going to be a writer was not actually on my list.

Writing was always just something I did and it never occurred to me it could be THE something I did. Funny enough, I realized I answered the "When I Grow Up" question in my VERY FIRST BLOG POST ever. So I'm not going to get into it again.

My question pertains to characters, actually. In my head, I know everything that's happened in most of my character's lives up until their written story begins. That part is unfolding right before my eyes and I'm just there to capture it. Record it. A play-by-play of these characters' lives from when they want to begin sharing their story to when I get to write THE END.

But I've found that I have a hard time leaving my characters alone. I want to know what happens next to these people. To me, they are completely real and I've suddenly become vested in their lives. Mind you, if I wrote horror and just killed everyone off at the end of every novel this could be a pretty moot discussion point, but I don't.

My characters are of the angst-ridden high school variety. Life doesn't end when high school does.

I feel like the stories aren't over when I've finished them. I feel like every single one of my books already has a sequel waiting to be told because my characters' lives aren't over yet!

Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me? Am I so lame as to become completely obsessed with my characters to the point that ALL of them need full novel-length backstories and sequels (even if they never get written)?

Twitter, Words and Seth Morgan

Some highlights of the week in regards to reading, writing and random other stuff.

Started the week in San Diego: a city I love.

But I was there for less than 24 hours. :( No time to enjoy views like this.

Anyway, while there was given a car that smelled like an ash tray. Maybe 25 hours is the pivotal time frame to be in a place before pitching a fit for a different car, but I've decided, if it smell like that when you get there, it will only get worse. Demand a new car ASAP! Because no new car was demanded, all the windows were rolled down for every drive. As such, it appeared that driving at 75 MPH down the freeway with all the windows rolled down was purely for ocean breeze enjoyment. No matter that oxygen flies so fast at that speed, there's no way to breathe.

Tuesday was a highly productive day (and the highlight of my week, so I have to bring it up again): my birthday, I wrote over 6,000 new words and I picked up a couple books from the bookstore. Sushi for dinner and received fantabulous prezes... GCs to the bookstore. yeah. Awesome day.

On a Twitter #askagent session, two very "profound" statements came from the agents who were participating.

@ColleenLindsay - "Don't write to trend; write the best goddamned book you can and start your own trend."

@literaticat made 2 tweets that I thought should be noted: The first - "YA is trending toward WRITE SOMETHING ORIGINAL for god's sake." and the second - "There is always a market for AWESOME."

Another link to highlight: on Nathan Bransford blog yesterday he compiled a Writing Advice Database of all his previous blog posts in regards to the before/during/after & other stuff of writing. Go check it out if you haven't yet. Tons of great stuff in there!

I also finished reading some books I was recommended and now the series isn't over and I'm totally left hanging and I don't know when the next one is coming out and I'm feeling a bit traumatized by this whole situation. (I blame @christinef - but in a good way, because she did introduce me to Seth Morgan and what's not to like there, right? hehehehe.)
Baby E is currently on antibiotics for the ear infection from Hell that will not go away (she's on week 3 of it now, I believe. That is, week 3 that we know of. She's on her 2nd type of antibiotic and broke out in horrible hives late Wednesday. Benadryl helped, but we're still working through it with the doc's office. Hopefully all will be well soon.

Have to go outside and get the yard organized for the Slip 'n Slide. Tomorrow's P's 4th birthday party. She's so excited. She has a list of all the things we're going to do after she's 4 and it's a really long list. But somewhere in there we're looking forward to a fantabulous lunch on Monday with an online writer friend and her 4-yo daughter.

Me thinks that about covers it. Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Mirror, Mirror Part 2 - Seriously this time

I've been thinking about this a lot lately: what do characters look like.

A brief Twitter conversation during the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday night helped put some more depth around this. I know, I know, you're going, seriously? A Twitter conversation? But please, just follow me here.

For those of you who may have been living under a rock for the last 8 months or so, Twilight was big. The movie. Well, the books too, but we're not talking about those right now. So here's how the conversation went down:

My Tweet:
Is it just me or is Robert Pattinson not nearly as articulate as we'd all like him to be? Either that or he's REALLY good @ being awkward...

ElanaJ:
@windyaphayrath I concur. Eloquent, he is not.

AmandaBonilla:
@windyaphayrath RP is not articulate at all! Maybe it's a chemically induced stupor ;)

Me:
@ElanaJ appreciate the support on that. Now must duck and cover from Team Edward, as they hunt down all those w/negative R.Patt thoughts.

ElanaJ:
@windyaphayrath I'm on Team Edward. Just not Team Pattinson. Team book. Not Team movie. Yanno?

AmandaBonilla:
@ElanaJ Team book all the way!

Me:
@ElanaJ I'm glad you can separate Edward from Rob, cuz a lot of peeps out there can't and those are the scary ones.

And yes, those are the scary ones, but I digress.

The point of this post: how do you see your characters, and I don't mean their personality.
How many of us, while reading Twilight, saw Rob Pattinson-yanno, Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter? Probably not many of us.
With that, how to convey what you see in your head to your readers?

Okay, so this may be part 2 of the post, but I'm no where closer to an answer than I was in part 1 or part 1.5.

Just throwing out my thoughts, I guess. Feedback welcome. Encouraged. Begged for.

Have a great Tuesday!

Mirror Mirror, Part, er, 1.5

Here we are on a lovely lovely Friday and here are the answers to the character descrips I put up on Wednesday.

#1 - I had never been one to covet, but I looked up at her now and suddenly wished I was pretty too. Everyone always told me I looked just like my mother. We had the same straight, dark hair, on my mother it was a compliment to her olive complexion; it made my never-tanned skin look nearly transluscent. My dark eyes only emphasized just how pale I was. (pg. 13) == Complicated by me

#2 - I look into the medicine cabinet mirror and . . . turn from one side to the other, attempting to evaluate my . . . face objectively . . . My nose is now small and delicate, almost perfect . . . sculpted cheeks of Pocahontas . . . my lips, they look . . . fuller or plumper or something. (pg. 70-71) == The Pretty One by Cheryl Klam (1 of 2)

#3 - I should be tan, sporty, blond--a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps--all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun. Instead, I was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I was always slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; . . . I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled damp hair. (pg. 10) == Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

#4 - She gives her straight dirty-blond hair a lesson with a wet comb . . . (pg. 68) == Wake by Lisa McMann

#5 - . . . (think bushy-eyebrowed president of some country you've never heard of). But although my heritage may explain m y stature, thick dark hair, and olive complexion, it's not responsible for my oversized hooked nose, my nonexistent cheekbones, my oversized chin, and last, but definitely not least, my buck teeth. (pg. 3) == The Pretty One by Cheryl Klam (2 of 2)

#6 - . . . all I've done with my short black hair is run my fingers through it. I know I look "undone," but I don't care. (pg. 50) == 4 Letter Word by yours truly ;)

#7 - . . . sun is behind me, melting my sheet of dyed black hair to my scalp. I knew my whole going-Goth decision was going to turn around and bite me . . . (pg. 2) == Grace by - yes, me again

#8 - Out the corner of my eye I could see the ends of my straight, black hair. Flat, lifeless. I glanced back at my cousin and wished I was tall, graceful and had that stop-traffic kind of beauty. Instead, I'm just like every other Asian girl out there: long black hair, brown eyes, and completely ordinary. (pg. 2) == Just Maybe by, well, yeah, me last one though

#9 - . . . so vain about my long blond hair I wouldn't dream of scraping it back into a ponytail and hiding beneath a big hooded sweatshirt. (pg. 3) == Evermore by Alyson Noel

#10 - . . . I felt her hand move down the back of my head, smoothing my red hair, which we did have in common, alther hers was now streaked with an early gray. We also shared our pale skin--the redhead curse or gift . . . as well as our tall, wiry frames. (pg. 11) == Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

I've truly decided that in all this, so long as I know what my characters look like, that's all that matters. At least in draft 1. We'll work through the rest of it later.

Okay, I know that's sort of a crappy way to close out the week, I'm just running a little low on the inspiration and thought provoking antics as we had a daycare crisis this morning and I've been working this very very very short post for the last 7 hours. That's what you get with a 12 month old who doesn't want to sleep an almost 4 year old who thinks she's a big kid: 2 very excitable assistants and not a whole lotta work done.

I'll have more next week!

Have a great weekend everyone!