Never Stop Learning

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Imagine what it would be if we never learned.

Through our five senses--and even a sixth--there are countless ways we learn.  From the moment we take our first breath, we are constantly using information that comes to us from those senses.  Our brains are using this information to teach us.  As newborns, we quickly learned that a cry will bring comfort, whether it's food, a dry diaper, or the security of a parent's arms.  We become toddlers, whose first steps become walking.  From hearing others, we learn speech, and soon learn that when we're good, we are often rewarded, if only with a smile.  We continue to grow into a child making friends, then going off to school, where we begin to understand what learning is.

In school, we learn to read and write, to calculate numbers and what is out there besides what's in our little corner of the world.  We learn how we're each different and yet the same in many ways.  Some embrace the knowledge and continue to learn throughout life.  Those who struggle, often give up, but even so, learning continues.

As writers--one of the many branches of artistic creativity--we must keep learning.  As the world changes, so must we.  Learning is the key to doing that.

When reading articles and how-tos online, I often print the ones I want to keep for reference later.  Right now, it's a hodgepodge of topics, but the plan is to sort through them and keep the files updated.  I've learned that although I might not agree with everything, there's often a tidbit of information that I can not only use, but grow into something more. Learning.

In the 15+ years since I first began to write for real--you know, writing with a focus on  publication...someday--I've learned more than what one would think the human brain can hold.  And yet I still pursue more knowledge, because there's no way to know everything.  I'm not the only one.

Several of us in our local writers' group have begun delving into GMC.  I know, I repeat myself about that subject, but there are countless reasons why, the first being that it's important.  Although the group had gone over this many years ago, sharing it with members and revisiting has fallen to the side.  But with new members coming in the past couple of years, and questions being asked about things that pertain to GMC, it seemed like a good time to look at it again.  We're doing it on our email loop for the past week and a half, and people are learning new things.  Doing it on the loop means we're not set to a specific time and length, and we're able to share more and with greater specifics.

It all comes down to helping.  If I'd chosen to go it alone those many years ago, I might still be struggling to get a manuscript in front of an editor.  Fate stepped in with the advent of the internet for un-savvy people like me, who didn't know a byte from RAM, and I discovered a chat room for romance writers.  In that room, I met several people who became close friends.  One in particular was a RITA Finalist in RWA, who didn't chat much because she was working on her entry, in case an editor requested the full manuscript.  We met up in person a little over a month later in Dallas at RWA's National Conference and became friends.  She knew a lot more about writing romance than I did and helped me along the way.  Together, we were part of a few different critique groups, learning with others the ins and outs of romance writing.  We met others online via email loops full of writers.  Four of us who were closest sold within a year of each other, but I can guarantee that if I hadn't had the supreme luck of finding that chatroom and took the plunge to enter it, that wouldn't have happened for me.

Anything done well takes time.  A large majority of writers had written for several years before finally selling that first manuscript.  Working with other writers--and meeting new friends--to achieve that dream is as good as the dream itself.

Today, there are more opportunities than ever to meet other writers and find a handful that are just right for you.  It may take some time to learn which are the best for you, but it's worth the time.  When it comes to published authors, they may not have the time to take to teach individuals, but if asked for where to find help and information, they're usually happy to oblige.  All it takes is asking.

Yes, I'm still learning, sometimes because of mistakes as simple as not enough conflict or characters who don't jump off the page the way they need to, and sometimes because I need a refresher course or different way to do something.

If you want to learn, too, get involved.  There are writers' groups all over the country to join, there's Facebook and Twitter and Google + and more where new acquaintances can be made.  Articles online can be invaluable for someone looking for information on writing, as can a local library.  It doesn't take money to learn, when it comes to writing, but it does take desire.  I hope yours is growing, every day.

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.  ~ Chinese Proverb

Do Opposites Attract?

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Spring Break came two days early for us, and yesterday involved keeping five children from driving us over the cliff of insanity.  Writing anything--even my name--was nearly impossible with an interruption every five or less minutes.  This morning they're keeping themselves busy with other things.  Yes, I'm grateful. ☺

 My writing group has been discussing plotting on our email loop, which brought us around to GMC (Goal, Motivation and Conflict), a method offered by author Debra Dixon.  For me, it's a starting place.

GMC is a quick telling of what the character wants, why the character wants it, and what is getting in the way of not getting it.

Does that mean that the two main characters need to be opposites?  No.  But they must have opposing goals, somewhere along the line.

A few weeks ago I posted the following opposite traits.

Disciplined/Free Spirit
Homebody/Nomad
Driven & Determined/Lives for the Moment
Cheerful/Angry
Courageous/Fearful
Rigid/Adaptable  

In the above, any could be negative traits or positive traits.  And, yes, they are a bit cut and dried.  We, as well as our characters, don't have only one trait.  We're a mixture of many, both positive and negative, weak and strong.  Our characters should be this way, too.

If you've chosen to have one character  who is disciplined, follows a strict path in life and never waivers from it, while the other is a free spirit, spontaneous and loves to do things on the spur of the moment, you've already set up a conflict, simply in personality types.

But what if you have two characters who are both Driven & Determined?  Where's the conflict?

Within a relationship, whether it's family, romantic, or even business, no two people will be exactly alike, even if they share the same major traits.  Two driven or even rigid people can have conflict with the other character, especially where their goals are concerned.  Neither is willing to give an inch, when it comes to what they want and what they'll do to get it.  Two cheerful people won't always agree.  Somewhere they will differ.  That's where knowing your characters comes in.

And that's when GMC steps up to the plate.  On the surface, these two seem perfectly compatible, but somewhere they'll differ.

• Two sisters are close to each other, they share a room, they share their life, they share secrets.  But one sister loves red, while the other loves green.  It's never been a problem between them, until they have an opportunity to make changes in their personal environments.  Their goal is to paint their room.  Suddenly, this goal is going to raise some conflict.
• A woman and a man are driven to be successful in business.  But what if they're vying for the same job?  Or have competing businesses?
• A couple planning their future together want to buy a home, expecting a happily ever after.  They share many of the same likes and dislikes, whether it's music, movies, dancing or no dancing, TV and reading, and things to do in their spare time.  Her dream is to live in the city, while his is to live in the country.

These are simple, basic things that set each of us apart.  A courageous person can become fearful, while a fearful person can be forced to become courageous.  Rigid people can adapt, when needed.  A homebody may find that he/she enjoys a bit of traveling.  Those sisters above may find a perfect way to mix their favorite colors.

As people, we learn to compromise, and that's what our characters will also learn to do.  Even if they share basic traits, each will have something that is different than the other.  If they don't, if there is no conflict, we'll become bored with them.  Each character is different in some way.  Find it and run with it.  Create memorable characters and you'll end up with a memorable story.

If you're writing about a character, if he's a powerful character, unless you give him vulnerability I don't think he'll be as interesting to the reader. - Stan Lee

Emotions: Mix it Up

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

In romance, we want to see the characters reach their happily-ever-after, just as we want to see the puzzle solved in a mystery.

It's the mix of emotions in a story that keep us reading.  Two people meet.  There's an emotional element to that meeting.  Sometimes it's an attraction, sometimes it's instant dislike, and quite often it's a mix of both of those.

Let's face it.  Nobody wants to read a story of two perfect people, leading perfectly happy lives, where everything goes perfectly well.  Ugh!  What fun would that be?  And just how real is it?

The very best writers know the truth.

 Lysander:

Ay me! for aught that I could ever read,

Could ever hear by tale or history,

The course of true love never did run smooth;

But either it was different in blood—

~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 1, scene 1

Even Shakespeare knew to mix it up and take the characters through a romp of emotions.  It's the emotions of the characters and how they react to them that makes the story.

The path of romance can be a rollercoaster ride of emotions, starting at a high, low, or even medium, then taking each character up an down emotionally throughout the story, yet ending at that happily ever after.

We each have emotions fighting for recognition within.  Something makes us happy, but when something else happens, we can be sad or angry.  We want our characters to feel the same, thus taking readers through that ride of emotions.  Without those emotions, characters and readers become apathetic.  Who wants to cheer for an emotionless hero or heroine?

But happy, sad, and angry aren't the only emotions humans feel.  Countless studies have been done on emotions.  One in particular, by psychologist Robert Plutchik, gives an excellent view of emotions and the depths of them in his Plutchick's Wheel of Emotion.

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The wheel shows the progression of simple emotions to deeper emotions and could be used to help set up your characters emotions from beginning to end.  But they won't stay with one emotion, because in the end, they both (hero and heroine) must reach that ecstacy or at least joy stage to be at that happily-ever-after ending.

Simple Example:

• When the heroine first meets the hero, she might be annoyed with him or something about him.  Maybe she becomes or is angry at something he said or did.
• For the hero at first meet, there could be boredom or even disapproval.

Switch those two around, and there are two different characters meeting for the first time.  Change one of the emotions--perhaps annoyance to apprehension, and there's another set.  Or one might have some interest in the other.  Keep them at odds.  Even if both are attracted, there needs to be an opposition to the other, even if only slight.

The characters must grow.  They need to have a wide range of emotions throughout the story.  There can be surprise, sadness, anticipation, fear (of own feelings or of what might come), and more.  They'll need some trust, both in themselves and the other.  There can be opposing emotions within a character--The I want but I can't have element.  They can feel the same emotions at the same time, but each emotion will move into another, different emotion with a different reaction.  Each character can have layered emotions, too.  A character could feel happiness, but there may be a sadness buried beneath it.

Dig deep.  While the wheel above gives us 32 emotions, there are many, many more that we, as humans, have.  Sometimes having a list can help, so below are three lists that might help, when trying to build your characters.

Philosophy 101: List of Emotions

The Work of Byron Katie - Emotions and Reactions

Your Relationship Matters - List of Human Emotions

Emotions work both ways.  Your characters' emotions can help build their GMCs.  Turn that around and discover that GMC can help build emotions.  Emotions from instances in the past are connected to the present and the future.  GOAL is the future.  MOTIVATION is the past.  CONFLICT is the present.

Make your story emotional by giving characters a wide range of emotions.  Your readers will love you!

"All literature shows us the power of emotion, It is emotion, not reason, that motivates characters in literature." ~ Duff Brenna

Let Your Readers Love Your Characters

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

How does a writer make the reader shout for joy or weep with sorrow?  Through the characters.

There's something about falling in love with a fictional character that sometimes makes the reader wonder why.  Is it because he's so sexy?  Because she's so sweet?   Or is it because the author let us get to know the characters so well that readers almost believed they were real?

The secret to creating the best characters is letting the reader get to know them intimately.  That's done by using POV. Point Of View.

What is POV and How is It Used?

POV is being in a character's head.  This is done not only through dialogue and action, but through thoughts and emotions.  Only that character can think, feel, and describe through his or her eyes and ears what the other character is saying and doing.

Through our POV character we can show the physical reaction of the other character and hear words spoken, then reach a conclusion of that other character's emotions.  Expressions and body language for the non-POV character can tell a lot.  A frown tells us the other is unhappy, sad or angry.  A smile (seemingly real) can show acceptance, assurance or happiness.  But it's only the POV character who gives us not only a glimpse, but the full deal character.

We use internal thoughts, feelings and physical reaction to show the heart and mind of a character beneath the outer shell.  While the POV character may be saying one thing, an internal thought shows the reader why it's being said, how he/she feels about it, and how it affects physically by things like increased heart rate, an internal wave of heat or cold, butterflies in the midsection and many more.

Let's take FEAR for an example.  (I'm using The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression by Angel Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, available in digital form at online bookstores and in PDF at the Bookshelf Muse blog.  I highly recommend this book!)

What are the sensations a character feels internally, when gripped by fear?  Most often, we can't speak.  There's that racing heart, a knot in the stomach, dizziness and more.  If the POV character is watching someone experience fear, he/she might see signs of these things (face growing pale, white knuckles, stuttering or hesitant speech), but not feel the emotions.  The POV character can't know what the other person is thinking and can even be confused by outward signs.  Only the POV character can feel these things.

The mistake that happens the most often with a new writer is when a character describes her physical self.  Some use the mirror trick, but just how many of us are really honest about our appearance?  *My long, raven hair bounces when I walk.  My bright blue eyes are mesmerizing.*  But, really, is that how we think of ourselves?  Is that how we would describe ourselves to someone?  Instead, we'll say something common, such as "I have dark, almost black hair, and my eyes are blue."  Then comes the clothing that we sneak in to dress the character, but we'll tackle description a a later time.

I've used the POV character's clothing, usually sparingly, to do different things beyond a simple description.  In the instance below, it was brief and helped show the character's state-of-mind.

The sheriff approached, casting a shadow into the car.  Slowly, wishing she could disappear, Trish pushed the button to roll down her window.  But instead of greeting the sheriff with a smile, she continued to stare at the misty scene before her, hoping the knitted cap she wore would hide her blonde hair and her identity until she could stop her heart from racing. (The Lawman's Little Surprise) 

After that, the only thing we know about the other character (the sheriff) is what is seen through Trish's eyes.

“Having car trouble, miss?”

She turned slowly, wishing she could be anyplace but where she was.

“You’re back,” Morgan Rule said, his voice flat and matter-of-fact.  

She tried her best to ignore his frown and the lack of emotion in his voice.  “You knew I’d be home before Kate’s wedding and Christmas.”

Later, in the same scene...

Placing his hands on the window opening, he leaned down, his dark gaze connecting with hers.  “Our wedding was cancelled.  You had other things to do.  I don’t see a reason to be friends.”

“I postponed our wedding,” she pointed out, while attempting to remain calm.  “You were the one who cancelled it.”

A flicker of emotion crossed his face, something she couldn’t recognize, and was gone.  His eyes betrayed nothing.  

All of the above is in one character's POV.  In fact, the entire scene is from Trish's point of view.  The next scene is in Morgan's POV and shows his reaction to what had happened.  This is often called a sequel to to the previous scene, where we get to know just how he'd felt and reacted.

It had taken every bit of control Sheriff Morgan Rule had to keep from going after Trish and retracting everything he’d said to her.  But he wouldn’t do it.  Not now, not ever.  

He’d been so proud of her when her children’s book had been bought by a well-known publisher, and he’d thought he’d finally found peace and happiness.  He should have known better.  Instead of peace, one incident with the town drunk had brought back the memories he’d thought he’d buried and reminded him that he could never have a life like most men.  He hadn’t meant to hurt Trish, but to save her.  And now, because he didn’t trust his heart, he had to say and do things he knew were hurtful—to both of them.

Now we have a hint as to why the sheriff reacted to Trish the way he did in the first scene, as the second scene opens. 

Head-hopping vs. POV Purist

I admit it.  I'm a POV purist.  Which is not to say that several best-selling authors aren't able to pull off what's known as head-hopping.  It can happen, but head-hopping from one character's POV to another can also be confusing if not done very, very well.  Why torture yourself (and maybe even a reader) by trying to show too much at once, when you can do it with practice and ease?

It's true that we hear the conversations or our characters in our heads.  At least I do.  I want to know what each character is thinking, what each character is feeling.  But if I'm having to jump back and forth, from one person's thoughts and feelings to another's thoughts and feelings, I don't get to know them as well as I would if I'd been able to stay in one character's head for a decent amount of time.  Sure, we want to know what each character is feeling, but when those feelings are bouncing around like a ping-pong ball, from the head of one character to the head of the other, we never really get to know them as well as we might.

Being a POV Purist means taking a character to the deepest level and staying there long enough to show those emotions that the reader needs and wants to see.  It's also a great way to keep a reader turning the pages at the end of a scene or chapter, instead of putting the book down and turning off the light.  At the end of the scene, the reader should want to know what's going on with the other character.

As a purist, I keep to one POV per scene, and usually--not always--move back and forth with a change of POV for each scene.  It keeps me honest. :)  Still, I'll admit that a handful of times, I've switched mid-scene in the last of the book.  It can be done, but it takes practice and knowing how to do it without confusing the reader.  Because I'm not solidly confident, I keep it to a rare minimum.  One of my best writer friends sometimes changes POV mid-way through scenes throughout her books, but once out of one head and into the other, she stays with the second.  It works well for her, and she knows how to do it seamlessly. The reader knows instantly that she's now in the other character's POV and will stay there.

It's the switching POV every few lines or paragraphs that can be confusing.

Anyone who has read older romances can attest to the fact that things have changed.  Forty years ago, romance stories were written in only the heroine's POV.  Now we have the luxury of reading how the hero is feeling and thinking, and it's much more fun, not only for the reader, but for the writer.  Just be sure your hero's inner thoughts and feelings are those of a male, not a female.  Yes, there is a difference!  And vive la différence!


POV is one of the many things we need to keep in mind as we're writing.  I've caught myself switching and not realizing it, then having to go back and change it.  Becoming the mind of your characters can help.  Use POV as an aid to deepening the emotion in your story, and you'll soon be writing stories that make your readers fall in love with your books.

Study the rules so that you won't beat yourself by not knowing something. — Babe Didricksen Zaharias