The Pinocchio Factor

Since yesterday's post featured characterization in fiction, I thought you might like to see a repeat of another post that gives more specifics about showing and emotion in characters. 

An intriguing plot that piques the reader's interest and holds it throughout the story might be at the top of a list of goals for writing good fiction. As important as plot looms in creating memorable fiction, however, characters that show emotion and carry out the plot may surpass it in importance. No matter how good the story line, stiff and unfeeling characters will deflate a story faster than a pin pops a balloon.

In the classic tale, Pinocchio, a woodcarver named Geppetto creates a puppet boy made of wood. Geppetto's fondest wish is to turn his inanimate creation into a live boy who can love and cry and be a son to him. Pinocchio's adventures and misadventures fill the pages of this beloved children's story. We're writers, not woodcarvers. We don't want to create lifeless characters that might drag a story into oblivion.

We've all read work with characters that move the reader from Point A to Point B, but if they are wooden and show little or no emotion, we lose interest quickly. Emotion drives us, identifies us, and creates feelings of one kind or another for the characters in a story.

Readers want to see emotions in the characters they read about. Let them feel the anger, fear, or sadness in a character. More important than a physical description is to show what that character feels within. Show is the keyword here. 

Consider the following two passages:

A. Jennifer felt angry.

B. Jennifer stormed into the kitchen, picked up a bowl of gravy and threw it against the wall. Body shaking, she clenched her hands into fists and searched wildly for another missile to hurl.

Passage A is short and sweet and tells the reader what the emotion is, while B shows the emotion through Jennifer's actions. The reader can relate to and feel the emotion in B. Depending on the situation in which Jennifer vents her anger, the reader may be angry and empathize with her, or the reader might be in total disagreement and feel no sympathy at all for her. The important thing is that Passage B not only shows emotion in the character, it creates emotion in the reader.

Have you ever read a novel where lengthy physical descriptions of the characters filled page after page? At the end, all you have is the outer layer of the character. You still don't know what they are like emotionally. Let the reader be moved by the character's jealousy, deep love, or sorrow. Naming the emotion the character experiences isn't enough. The writer must make the reader feel what the character feels.

In Lois Lowry's Newberry Award novel, Number The Stars, a girl living in Nazi-occupied Denmark during WWII runs into two German soldiers on her way home from school. Ms. Lowry did not say "Annemarie was frightened by the soldiers." Instead, she wrote the following passage:

Annemarie stared up. There were two of them. That meant two helmets, two sets of cold eyes glaring at her, and four tall shiny boots planted firmly on the sidewalk, blocking her path to home. And it meant two rifles, gripped in the hands of the soldiers.

When a reader comes to this passage, her heart might beat a little faster. She’ll feel the same fear that Annemarie must be experiencing by seeing the soldiers through her child eyes.

In her book, Skylark, Patricia MacLachlan created characters that let us know their feelings through their actions. Consider this passage in which Anna describes a reunion with her father, whom she and Caleb have not seen in many months:

"Papa!" Caleb ran into Papa's arms, and Papa held him close. Papa picked me up, too, and my hat fell off, and I buried my face in his neck.

Instead of Anna saying "I was happy to see Papa," Ms. McLachlan shows us that joy in all three characters with a simple description.

In Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi brings Geppetto the woodcarver to life through his words and actions. When Geppetto carves his wooden puppet, strange things begin to happen, and we see his fear and frustration in the following passage:

In a few minutes it had become an immense nose that seemed to never end. Poor Geppetto tired himself out with cutting it off. The mouth was not even completed when it began to laugh and deride him. "Stop laughing I say," he roared in a threatening tone.

In real life, we often hold back our emotions. When writing, we must learn to do exactly the opposite. If you want to create memorable characters that inspire deep feelings in the reader, release the passion in you and allow the emotion to rise to the top. It's the perfect place to give your own emotions the outlet you might not have in your everyday existence. Make your characters laugh and cry, shout and stomp.

Pinocchio spent an entire book trying to become a real boy. You can create a real person in a paragraph with the right words. Let yourself go. Who knows? It could be a lot of fun! 

 

 

 

 

Creating Characters in Fiction

Writing fiction has many facets. One that is very important is characterization. No matter how good your idea for a story is, if your characters seem wooden, it hasn't a chance of being published. 

How do you make your characters come alive? Make them the kind that readers can relate to, feel happy or sad for? 

A.  Give them goals  Maybe Elena is a waitress who wants to be an actress. Or Sam is a detective who wants to write novels. Or Marianne is a retail clerk whose biggest desire is to be a fashion designer.

B.  Make sure they have a few flaws. Nobody is perfect, and if you want your character to feel like a real person, they had better not be meandering through life with a halo over their head. 

C.  Also give them strengths. Let them be good at something. 

D.  See your character in your mind, then describe him/her physical traits and habits and possible quirks. You must have a good picture of your character in your own mind in order to allow the reader to 'see' him/her. 

E.  Dialogue  When writing dialogue for your character, keep in mind the kind of person he/she is. Don't use perfect or stilted English for a homeless man. Don't use street slang for an heiress. Make the language fit the person. Use contractions like 'she'd' or 'we'll' instead of 'she would' or 'we will' as it's the way we speak in everyday conversation. 

F.  Show your character's emotions. Note that I said 'show' rather than tell. You don't want a mere report of how the character feels. The reader needs to see this. 

G.  Base him/her on someone you know or have observed. There's nothing wrong in doing this. It helps you 'see' your character's habits, traits, way of speaking and more. 

H.  Physical descriptions don't need to be done all at once. Sprinkle bits and pieces of what your character looks like throughout the early part of your story. 

Some writers create a history of their main characters before they ever begin writing the story. Much of the details they include aren't necessarily going to be in the story, but they're meant to let the writer know his/her character intimately. 

 

Writing the First Draft

You've come up with an idea for a story, a book, an essay, or article. Perhaps a poem. You feel those writing juices simmering, but you're not quite ready to begin writing. You want to ponder on the idea, let it twirl and swirl in your mind for a bit. Perhaps you want to do a bit of research.

Then, the day comes that you're ready to write. Write it and send it to a publication with the great hope that, one day, you'll see your piece in print. 

But wait! It's not simple. The first writing of your story is only the first draft. It might be compared to a ballet dancer working out on stage all alone on a new routine.  It's merely the beginning of what one hopes will be outstanding later. 

This first writing is only the beginning. It's you transferring the ideas from your head onto paper or a screen. As Terry Patchett said, "The first draft is you telling yourself the story." A very apt description. 

Another quote for today from Shannon Hale, YA author is "I'm writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles." You have the ingredients in the first draft that lead you to a finished product.

The third quote, which is anonymous, says "First drafts don't have to be perfect. They just have to be written." Keyword here is 'first' which lets you know there is more to come before this project comes to fruition. 

Are there any rules regarding first drafts? Not really. Once again, the choice is yours. Some writers start the first draft, keep writing, and don't look at it until it's completed. Others edit as they go. It's a stop and start situatuon. 

What is universal, however, is that this draft is merely the beginning of the entire project. You'll spend time revising and editing. Some writers do multiple editing processes, while others make it a once or twice habit. Those who do a large number of edits may end up frustrated and doubting themselves. Again, do what works for you, but don't overdo it. If you cease the revisions and editing, you may never feel you finally have a finished product. It could also mean you're a bit fearful of calling it done because then you must be about the business of submitting. A little scary in itself for some writers.

Keep the word 'first' in mind when you begin a new writing project. It's the first time you put your idea into words and sentences and paragraphs. Hopefully, the best is yet to come. 

 

Quotes on Writing from Mark Twain

 

Mark Twain's quotes have lived far beyond his death. I like the one that is our poster quote today. "Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words." 

Take a look at a few other quotes related to writing by this much-loved author and humorist.

A.  The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.

B. The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.

C.  The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - 'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.

D.  My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water.

E.  Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream. (Great illustration of Show, Don't Tell!)

F.  Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. (Get rid of unnecessary words.) 

G.  In 'Huckleberry Finn,' I have drawn Tom Blankenship exactly as he was. He was ignorant, unwashed, insufficiently fed; but he had as good a heart as ever any boy had.(His characters were real)

Writers can learn from these quotes and many of his others. Mark Twain wrote about life as it truly was. He didn't sugarcoat anything. He didn't steer clear of controversial topics of  his era. Sadly, there are those today who would like to ban some of his books because they don't fit into today's society. Perhaps not, but they show history as it was. 

Let's go back to the original quote today. "Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words." What a great way to tell writers the importance of editing their work. Edit once, twice, three times, but no more than that. Too many times, and you might lose what you were trying to say in the first place. 

Don't Thumb Your Nose at Writing Exercises

Who are they? Where are they? What are they talking about? 

Don't thumb your nose at writing exercises. You can sharpen your writing skills if you do them on a regular basis. They can be a warm-up to your regular writing routine. You can also come up with an idea for a piece to write that is publishable. These exercises are not punishment, only meant to help.

Many writers don't bother with writing exercises. "I just want to write!" That's the attitude. Exercises are all about writing, so don't roll your eyes and move on. If you are someone who thinks they are boring, all you have to do is vary the kinds of exercises you do. Try them daily, three times a week, or occasionally. Whatever works for you. 

Here are a few writing exercies you might try:

A.  Photo Prompt:  Find a photo of any kind, one that shows some activity or a person in a particular setting. Like the one with today's post. Don't start writing yet. Study the photo or painting. Use your imagination to decide who the person or people are, where they're at, where they might be going and more. Then start writing a paragraph or several. Keep going as long as something comes to mind.

B.  Free Write:  Open a book, close your eyes, and point to a word. Type that word, then start writng whatever comes to mind for a full ten minutes, or even longer. (Some writers say that fifteen to twenty minutes gets the best results. ) Don't stop to think, keep writing. Let your subconscious free itself. You don't need to make sense, but normally something sensible will come in part of what you write in this exercise. Some of it may give you an idea for a story, essay, or poem. 

C.  Color Exercise:  Choose a color, then write a descriptive paragraph without naming the color. Here's your chance to highlight your descriptive abilities.  Make a list of colors and choose one each day.

D.  Weather Exercise:  Make a list of weather situations (tornado, hail, hurricane, windy day etc). Choose one and write a descriptive paragraph or paragraphs using the word as a prompt.

E.   Emotions:  Make a list of emotions. Choose one and write whatever comes to mind. Let yourself use emotion in this exercise. Too often, we hold back our emotions when we write. Doing this one repeatedly will allow you to release some of those pent-up feelings. 

Exercises, whether physical ones or the writing kind, are meant to make you stronger. Hit the walking trail for an hour and your body will benefit. Try a writing exercise for fifteen minutes to half an hour, and your future writing will gain in quality. The more you do the exercises, the stronger writer you will become.