Are you TO Attached to your Character’s?

Hi Fellow Bloggers,
I follow like this page on FB called The Writer’s Circle. The other day I saw this picture and it resonated with me so well. I am totally this person. My characters are real people to me. I talk about them like I do my other friends. When you write a novel you spend a lot of time with your characters. You know them like you know yourself (if they open up to you. Some are private and only share the barest of details.) You have witness my forums with my characters. As writers we much not only talk to our characters like we would each other we must respond to them. Several books later I catch myself writing about one character and comparing their behavior to another. I think about my characters in Forbidden more than I think about close friends some time. I hope I am not the only one that does these things.
It’s just that the characters become such a strong part of you. I remember when I first meet Ivy. She was shy, quiet and hated the spotlight. She prefers to let Anna have it. That didn’t mean she didn’t want a bit of attention every now and then. After weeks, months, and years with her I know that she hides a lion underneath her skin. There is something might and powerful about her. She is strong of will. The best part is I she didn’t know it either. We found out together. Three books later I feel like Ivy is one of my good friends. There’s been a time or two when I’ve thought to myself Ivy would probably love this.
As a writer we have a lot of people floating around in our heads. They speak to us. Tell us there stories. That was an opening for my admittance to a physic ward. Anyway my love for each of my characters continues even after they stop speaking to me. Or there voice gets quitter in my head so that I can listen to someone else’s. I have been writing for one character and written lines that sound like another. In my last book series Faith’s Awakening I did that. I would write dialogue in Ivy’s personality. Faith and Ivy are very different on the surface. One is shy/reserved and the other is fierce and speaks her mind. Dig a bit deeper and you can see similarities. They both desire to help those around them though at times they allow themselves to get in there way. Even with these things in common their personalities are different enough where if Ivy said something chances are Faith would never say that. So when I found myself writing dialogue that coddled people instead of told them the truth straight up I had to retrace my steps. I needed to set my book aside and spend time with Ivy so that she could express herself without interfering with Faith’s story. Then when she was done I went back to Faith.
I said all this to say… no matter how much time passes you will always be connected to your characters. They linger around, and you think about them. Maybe I’m just too attached to my characters. Perhaps I have some weird disorder that I need to get checked. Either way I am happy to be different.

Writing Pattern

Hi Fellow Bloggers,
It’s been two weeks since I posted on here. I thought I would talk to you about my writing pattern and writer’s block. I want to start this post off by explaining why I haven’t posted in the last two weeks. I have some exciting news. Well exciting for me, hopefully one day this will mean more, because the books will be published. Anyway I was working on a book. I think I’ve talked about Faith’s Awakening on here. I have two blogs and occasionally I get post mixed around. However I am almost certain I’ve mentioned it on here. Faith’s Awakening is a duology I started January 2014. It’s based in the future, and mankind has been almost put to extinction because of plague, diseases, famine, any and everything has struck. In the first books Faith’s gifts are awakened and she is able to realize that she is a big part of the continuation of mankind’s existence. The second is called Rise of the Rebellion and as the tittle suggest things get pretty intense. So I was working hard to complete the first draft of the second book.
For Christmas I received a lot of journals this year. Which is great because I have a few books ideas on log that I wanted to get out. So I gave myself a deadline to get this one out of my brain so that I could start focusing on another one.
Which sort of leads me into the post for this week. When I have a book idea floating around in my brain I typically always write it down. Whatever tidbit I did get is the first glimpse into the world I have to create. So I have a journal and the first two to three pages are my table of contents. This is where I write a synopsis of each chapter. I don’t use up more than three to four lines for this. I want to just glance at it and know what the main points in the chapter are. It helps me if I need to find something quickly to reference for a later chapter. Then next page is where I put my story plot/analysis. This is where I write the plot. It’s where I get out all my thoughts about what the book should be about. Any and everything that I need to know about this new book goes on these two pages.
My next four to five pages are filled with research for the book. Right after I get an idea and write out the plot I ALWAYS make a list of things I need to know for the book. If I am writing a book about Native Americans I research customs, ceremonies, jobs, culture, appearances, homes, and clothing. I fill these pages with anything I will need to write my book. I begin to look up locations and climates for those places. All of this helps me later on when I actually begin writing the book.
The next two to three pages are list of names I might use. I am really big on names. Going back to the Native American example… I would research traditional names for their heritage. I also research names that hold meaning to the story I am telling. I love finding out what names mean. So If I am writing a book about a warrior I try to find a Native American name that means that. My names are very symbolic to me. Or I just like the way they sound.
The next two to three pages are character profiles. I write everything I need to know about my characters. I write down what they look like in my mind. I write down their personality traits. Outside of really minor characters everyone is listed in my character profile.
The next two pages are something I just recently started in Rise of the Rebellion. It’s called my prewriting thoughts. I just free write in this space to get out all my actual writing jitters. Sometimes I am so excited to start on a book that I overthink the opening instead of just diving in. I can always write it if it’s bad, but if there’s nothing then I don’t have anything to rewrite. So this place is where I get out my thoughts about why I’m so excited. Why I decided to write that particular book. It’s just a free space that I can look back and see why I started the book in the first place. It’s probably my favorite part outside of writing the actual book. After all this is done I just start writing.

Lovely Characters

So far in the story you have been introduced to Drake the Prince from Ekard. Haley the women he fell in love with and the women who cursed the family. Their daughter Smyrna who was the first firstborn female to establish the curse and travel to another dimension. Then we have Lily Maledetto who is the grandmother of the Protagonist. She is the one we met in the prologue telling her daughter Sarah Grey about the curse and having to travel. They introduce the story line. Chapter one opens up with the introduction of our lovely protagonist Ivy Grey who is the next in line for the curse. Although she is a twin To Anna Grey she was still the first one born. We then finally met their Father Jacob Grey who is pretty awesome if you ask me.

While I was in school one thing that I learned that helped me the most with story writing was development of character. I met my characters before I knew the story. They introduced themselves and began to trust me with their story. I have seen their growth and development over the course of three books and I am very pleased. Ivy is very shy as you probably have picked up in the first chapter so far. She is timid and doesn’t really like to be the center of attention. Of course she has red hair and green eyes so she has some fire in her as well. But its reserved for the most part. Here twin sister Anna is so different, she loves with her whole heart and doesn’t have any problem with telling you what is on her mind. She is something of a jokester and I really enjoyed writing her scenes.

The grandmother Lily is wonderful, there is just something so endearing about her. She says what needs to be said but she will wait to see if someone will say if first. She is the glue in the family. She has to be strong and keep her head up even when it was the hardest thing to do. She was probably the character that moved me the most. There were times when I was writing scenes for her and I cried. I would want to make it least emotional to keep myself for being empathetic for this strong women. But she would tell me to write and I would. I don’t know how appropriate it is for me to have favorites in my story but she is definitely one of the.

Sarah is sick for a good part of the books. So it takes a bit for me to get to know here. Despite this factor she still thrives as a strong member of the family.  We see the wonderful characteristics from her mother Lily shining through in her character. Sarah is wonderful and she cares deeply for her family. She will bring out the loving nurturer in her readers.

Jacob Grey is reserved, He is definitely the head of his family. He is the type of man that will allow the women to chatter and talk over him. But when he has his thoughts they are voiced and they are taken as he gives them. There is no room for discussing. He is a very loving man who is dedicated to the happiness and well being of his family.

I hope as you read the books and get to know my characters as I have you will love them. They are all special in their own way. But each one is missing a link that the other members fill. There is something masterfully wonderful about reading a story about characters with such a strong connection. I hope you see the character driven plot of my story. As it is one of the concepts I cherish that I grasped from school.