Characterization

Step one of characterization should really be done before revision, hell before writing the damn thing, but a few simple questions can help you decide if you successfully portrayed your character.

Step one is: Know your characters. Pretty straight forward, yes?

Yes, but how WELL you know your characters is the kicker.

You know their name (how about last name?) You know generally what they look like. You may even know their background. But what about the rest?

What do they want in life? I find this the hardest of all the questions, because frankly, it’s the hardest for me personally to answer. Essentially all character driven plots come down to this question: What do they want? They want to get a degree—or get the girl. They want to win the science fair, solve the crime, get a nose job, lose weight, make someone’s life miserable, seek vengeance, learn to sew a quilt, save a life, invent something, win the lottery, get a job, find the perfect pair of shoes, end war, or they just want to be happy.

What or whom is stopping them from getting it? Therein lays your conflict.

Another tricky question: What is the character’s motivation? In real life this isn’t always obvious, but in fiction it should be fairly clear. What they want can motivate them, or a tragic death in their past can motivate them, perhaps something from their childhood? They never had anything growing up, and the desire to own stuff motivates them—perhaps your character is an OCD collector. Or maybe they are just greedy. Or they need to support their family. What makes them do what they do?

If these questions are hard to answer, you may not know your character well enough, or perhaps they haven’t traveled far enough on their journey for you to recognize these answers. That’s okay. Take a look at your plot. What do your characters have to do with the plot? What is their role in it? You may find some answers there. If not, well then you found a big hole in your story and need to fix it. Don’t fret. Finding problems is good, it’s wonderful, great. Problems should be celebrated. They make us better writers. If we can identify what is wrong with the story, then we can make it better, and avoid these same problems in the future. I’ve also found that identifying these problems in writing and fixing them can relate back to real life. Perhaps you as the writer are having the same difficulties as your character. Then your writing is doubling as therapy. Woohoo! Embrace the emotions and the ride the wave, it’ll only make you,you’re your writing stronger.

If you find that you can answer these questions right away, you are on the right track. But do you still feel a little something still missing from your character? It could be their personality.

Answer these questions to help flesh out your characters:
What kind of clothes do they wear?
What is their job?
Level of education?
How is their home decorated?
What kind of music do they like?
What are their pet peeves?
Any idiosyncrasies? Facial tick? Nervous habit? Bite their nails?
Favorite word or phrase? Dy-No Mite!
As a child, what did they want to be when they “grow up?”
What are their friends like?
Political stance?
How do they respond to stressful situations?
How do they argue with someone?
Are the logical?
Over emotional?
Do they get defensive?

Knowing all of these things about your characters makes writing your story that much easier.

YA Fantasy Thoughts and Recommendations

I've been a bad girl.

I haven't written much since I met my goal for NaNo. How bad am I!

And since I haven't been writing, I've been reading. My new fascination, which isn't really new at all but whatever, is YA or Young Adult Fantasy, more specifically, Urban Fantasy. I've been reading Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy, Liza Conrad's High School Bites, Ellen Schreiber's Vampire Kisses and Amelia Atwater Rhodes.

I tend to read YA fantasy during this time of year. YA has an innocence and a sense of wonder to it that really comes to life for me in the Christmas season.

I love Christmas. The snow, the twinkling lights, the songs, the really good cookies... I love it all. Of course nothing I listed specifically has to do with Christmas being the birth of Christ, but I guess I am shallow and a victim of commercialism that way.

Regardless, I find myself at this time of year yearning for a sense of wonder, of awe... I need to find the magic in life. Perhaps Christmas movies inundate me that this is the most wonderful time of the year and that a special kind of magic is needed, but no matter how I ended up this way it doesn't matter. The fact remains that I simply am this way. I love Christmas and I seek stories full of wonder and magic.

I've found the innocence of YA fantasy awes me the most. I've been a teenager. So I can relate to the characters (hell I still feel like I'm 15 half the time, but when I really think about it, I realize I am nothing like I was when I was 15. Oh to know back then what I do now... *wistful sigh*)

There is a special kind of sense of immortality and pure emotion to a teenager. This lends itself very well to fantasy. Teens aren't held back by their experiences in life. They, for the most part, don't shove their emotions under a shell to deal with the real world. Their world is full of relationships and learning how to operate in life. These are the core issues of a good fantasy novel--figuring it all out and the interpersonal relationships along the way.

The teenage years are magical, because so much seems possible. We dare to dream, to reach for the stars, to wonder about what exists in the world. We form our ideals and cement who will we be in the future. For us older folks (I'm only 27 but it applies none the less) a lot of our ideals and outlooks on life have been cemented. And only with a jack hammer and serious destruction can those outlooks be changed... But a teenager's mind... it's like wonderfully colorful sparkly playdough in every shape and size and capable of making anything you could possibly dream up.

So this is why I love YA fantasy.

Some YA Fantasy I love...

Best Young Adult Fantasy Books and Authors:

Richelle Mead's The Vampire Academy: Mead doesn't talk down to teenager about sex and drugs--It's refreshingly real for a vampiric world.

Ellen Schreiber's Vampire Kisses series: Raven, the heroine, is brave and true to herself. What more could a reader ask for? Oh hot guys? Well there's them too.

Melanie Gideon's The Map That Breathed: A brilliant world so colorful I want to wallow in it and never leave. I hope, I pray, I cry to the heavens that there will be more books in this world.

JK Rowling's Harry Potter series: This is probably a no brainer for most people, but I love these books. I love the personal growth Rowling forces her characters to undergo. Kudos to you JK!

Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy: These books are on par with Animal Farm in my book. A great wayto show the nature of human beings on a "small" scale.

Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series: A clever young irish man who is as wicked as he is smart. Fun read with a fresh twist on legendary fantasy creatures.

Bruce Coville's Unicorn Chronicles: A prolific author of all things YA, Bruce Coville excelled with the majesty of the Unicorn Chronicles.

Diane Duane's Young Wizards series: Pre Harry Potter, these wizards are strongest at a young age and have to save not only their own world on a regular basis, but others as well. Deep Wizardy is my favorite.

Stephenie Meyer's Bella series: Bella is in love with a vampire and befriends a newly turned werewolf. Sounds blase based on that, but the emotionality in which these are written is incredible. I find myself in Bella's place and torn between worlds as much as she is. I love both of them so much, how could I ever choose between vampires and werewolves?

Have I forgotten any really good ones? Want to tell me about a series I possibly haven't read yet? Comment here or email me at sandra@sandratuttle.com

The end of NaNoWriMo

November has ended and as much as I'd liked to say Deja Vu, book 2 of the Just Sam series, has as well, that'd be a lie. While I did make my goal of 50k words for the month of November, I am still not finished with book 2. So far my total word count is up to 123k words and I know I have a TON of editing to do on this book, and as I look back on Inevitable, book 1, as well. December will be a busy month for me.

The writing frenzy I had in November was a good thing for me as a writer. The mania that my main character, Samantha, forced me into in order to write so much so fast caused me some emotional turmoil, as I went through everything she did and as any good writer knows, you have to put your characters through the paces. But it really helped me through the writing process, both in seeing my strengths and realizing what areas I need to boost in order to make my writing that much better. My characters and my story wouldn't let me go.

I loved the NaNo experience and look forward to participating next year. I don't think I will be finishing a whole novel in a month but the energy and mass goal really helped to spur me on in my own endeavors.

Personally November and the past few months have been difficult. I'm finding myself to be frustrated by the economy and my lack of employment. I focused on my writing and that definitely helped with my confidence level, but I also fear I will find myself very disappointed when I do get hired on and can't write as much as I do now. We all have to stumble along the uneven path before publication and pay our dues I suppose, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. I just want to write for a living. That is my goal. I want to be able to live on what I make from writing. I haven't always had a goal in life, so setting this one is good.

I have something to work toward now. Anything that happens on my path to my goal will simply be a stepping stone. If I have to take a job I don't want, big deal, it isn't the end of the world. I won't be stuck in a dead end job forever. I have my writing. All of these pitfalls will simply be the next stone on the way to my goal. Every stone I step on, every stair to get to the top, will simply strengthen my muscles, both physically and mentally. In the end I will be stronger and more prepared for what lies ahead.