I Need a Good Man!

Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813. I’m no math whiz but that is almost 200 years ago. What is it that makes this book so popular?

The Twilight series has sold MILLIONS of copies worldwide and is one of the most popular YA series in history. Why?

People can debate relevance, social message, and quality of writing. But what you can’t dismiss is the popularity of both books.

Everyone has different reasons for loving these books, but for me it’s all about the MEN! A fantastic leading man can take your book to a new level. As much as extreme feminists would like to disagree—we NEED men. (Notice the use of the word extreme, no hate mail please :) This is what I love to see in a man.

Flaws – Please, no perfect men. They don’t exist. But to be fair neither does the perfect women.

Need – Men need women as much as we need them. And I think most women will agree it is nice to be needed. I don’t know how my hubby functions without me :)

Want – Nothing melts my heart more than seeing that a man wants a woman. Not in the selfish, “what can I get out of this” way, but in the “I will sacrifice for you” way. See I’m melting already.

Sacrifice – This goes along with want. Men that will sacrifice their own wants and think of others are SEXY! Also there is nothing as ugly as selfishness.

Intelligence – Glasses are optional :)

I could make a LONG list. Who are some of your favorite literary men and why?

-Angie

“You need psychological help!”

I’m not ashamed to admit that on more than one occasion in my life I’ve been to a therapist. These wonderful men and women have helped me recognize my thinking errors and change my perspective.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could take your emotionally broken characters to the therapist—sit them on the couch and get them some serious professional help?

Ya! You can! Jeannie Campbell’s blog The Character Therapist lets you do just that. Jeannie is a REAL therapist by day and also an author.

Yesterday she had one of my characters on the couch (read about Taggert here), and I learned a lot. I have to say that even just filling out the answers to her questions about him really helped me flesh him out. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. What is the most important childhood event that still affects you today and why?
2. What is your soft spot or biggest vulnerability? Why? Do others know this or is it a secret?
3. What is your greatest fear?
4. What would your best friend say is your fatal flaw? Why?
5. What would the same friend say is your one redeeming quality? Why?

Try and answer these questions for your characters or make an appointment with Jeannie. All the cool kids are doing it :)

-Angie

Fiction and Empathy

I’ve never loved non-fiction. Unless it is downright riveting it won't hold my attention—and I have a decent attention span.

I’ve had this debate with my book club—Which is better Fiction or Non-Fiction? Which teaches you more? Which makes you a better person?

Now, I know that the answer to this is different for different people. I also know that it’s a complicated question. But I would like to share a bit of information I recently ran onto.

Dr Keith Oatley of the University of Toronto conducted a study in 2006 with these results: (read the entire study here—just a warning it’s non-fiction :)

“Through a series of studies, we have discovered that fiction at its best isn’t just enjoyable. It measurably enhances our abilities to empathize with other people and connect with something larger than ourselves.”

To sum it up simply—Reading fiction engages our brain in the task of working out how others are thinking and feeling. It drops us into situations where we have to interpret motivation and actions. Fiction can help us flex our emotional and social muscles.

“How do we explain these results? My colleagues and I think it’s a matter of expertise. Fiction is principally about the difficulties of selves navigating the social world. Non-fiction is about, well, whatever it is about: shellfish genes, or how to make Mediterranean food, or whether climate changes will harm our planet. So with fiction we tend to become more expert at empathizing and socializing. By contrast, readers of non-fiction are likely to become more expert at genetics, or cookery, or environmental studies, or whatever they spend their time reading and thinking about.”

Fiction is art—subjective, expansive, and moving! I believe both fiction and non-fiction are important. But if someone tells you are wasting your time reading and writing fiction. Tell them to look up this study. And you can use the line I did to win the debate at book club, “Jesus taught in parables.”

-Angie

I know it’s low to use Jesus to win a debate—but I couldn’t help myself :)

Families in Storytelling

Maybe it’s because I just came back from an amazing family reunion, but I’ve been pondering the role of families in storytelling.

In a lot of the books I’ve read lately the family unit is destructive and even ruthless. Because this isn’t my personal experience with families I have a hard time relating.

In my WIP the MC’s family has been murdered by her betrothed—someone who is supposed to be her new family. This murder influences her choices and drives her desire for close relationships.

I really feel that story families do the same things that real families do.

• Support: Families compensate for our personal weaknesses. When we are at our lowest they make us strong. Literary example—Pride and Prejudice: Jane and Elizabeth Bennet use each other through out P&P. Without the other I’m not sure either sister could get through.
• Growth: We can’t help but be our true selves with our families. And sometimes that is our worst selves. Families can magnify our weaknesses and help us grow as people. Literary example—Summer of the Monkeys: Jay Berry Lee’s family lets him grow and learn until his growth culminates in the climax of the book
• Love: Having people who love us no matter what is a powerful thing. Families also give us an opportunity to love in return. Literary example—To Kill a Mockingbird: Atticus Finch's love for his children trickles down to all the other characters in the story. Scout and Jim can’t help but show others the love they receive from their father.
• Dysfunction: Competition, anger, undermining, passive aggressive behavior, neglect, and a million other examples of what can be wrong in families can still be useful to our characters. What better way to know what you don’t want than to experience it firsthand. Literary example—The Hunger Games: Katniss’s neglect at a young age drives her choices and her connection to her sister.
• Needs: Families either meet our needs or they don’t (deep, I know), either way it helps us focus in on what motivates us. Literary example—Harry Potter: Harry’s deep need for family is woven through the book. There would be no story without Harry’s need for family and connection.

Families—good and bad—are such a common human experience we can all relate. And whether families are amazingly supportive or horribly dysfunctional they shape our view of the world—and our characters world.

Fears

I’ve been struggling with my second WIP. It’s lacking the tension and pace of my first MS. If feel like my characters are milling around—being boring. This past weekend I had an epiphany!

I’m going to make my character face his greatest fear. I’m going to make this fear follow him around the story—pick, pick, picking at him like Chinese water torture. It’s going to create awesome conflict and tension, and it will force him to change.

What are your characters greatest fears?

• Shame
• Betrayal
• Worthlessness
• Abandonment
• Change
• Stagnation
• Snakes, spiders, peanutbutter :)

I did this very thing in my completed MS, but I didn’t think about it as I wrote. It just happened organically.

Putting your characters in situations that make them face their fears can help them resolve their inner conflict and move your plot along.

-Angie

False Choices

I’m currently reading a book by a well known author (Newbery Honor Award Winner) and—I don’t like it.

Gasp. I know. It feels like blasphemy saying that.

So I started to analyze what it is about the book that isn’t getting me excited, and I’ve figured it out—false choices.

Every choice the heroine makes isn’t really a choice. Die or fight—of course she will fight. Save her family or save herself—unless she's totally selfish the choice is obvious. I could go on and on.

I can see every twist and turn and I know every choice the heroine will make—it is so boring.

So what I take away from reading this is that the choices we give our characters need to be real choices. I think instead of a choice between good and bad, how about a choice between good and good or even better—bad and bad!

I’m going to look at my story and see if I have crafted real choices.

-Angie

Psychology 101 - For Writers

My husband is excellent at finding characters acting “out of character” in fiction. His main complaint about books is that authors write characters and then they don’t stay true to character. I think the reason he is so great at finding these discrepancies is that he not only has a BA in, but also a talent for—psychology.

This had led me to believe that writers must also be armchair psychologists. We all hear we need to know our characters motivations, but that could mean a million things.

Here are 10* questions that should help. You need to be able to answer these questions to have a well fleshed out character:

1. What is their background? How does it affect their actions today?
2. What is the defining moment in their life?
3. What do they want most?
4. What will they do to get it?
5. What is something they assume to be true that is not?
6. What do people believe about them that is false?
7. What are their talents? How did they develop them?
8. What are their flaws? How did they develop them?
9. What is their main goal?
10. How do they go against stereotype?

If you can answer all of these you are well on your way. If not take a deeper look. The answers could help and even drive your plot—especially #4.

-Angie

*Some, but not all, of these questions came from a class it took on Characters by J. Scott Savage and Deanne Blackhurst