Sunday Reads: 29 April 2012

Character Craft & Skills Kylie Quillinan Sunday Reads World-building Writing Tools No Comments

 

10 reads worth your time:

 

Rachelle Gardner suggests your Train your Muse Like Your Train A Puppy.

Sonia Simone talks about the 7 Bad Habits of Insanely Productive People, all of which are relevant to writers.

The Red Pen Of Doom discusses Why Every Man Must Read A Romance and Every Woman Read A Thriller.

Over at Writer Unboxed, Sophie Masson discusses Updating Traditional Motifs To Create Fresh Fiction.

Jody Hedlund has 7 Setting Basics That Can Bring a Story To Life.

At Writers In The Storm Blog, Janice Hardy discusses 5 Ways To Bring Your Description To Life.

Terrible Minds lists 25 Reasons I Hate Your Main Character.

Jennifer Conner explains why you should care about Categories, Key Words and Tags.

The Huffington Post has three tips for getting your e-book off the ground.

Roni Loren discusses some bad advice about twitter.

 

Missed any Fictorians articles this week?

The Heart of Fairwood Press – Guest post by publisher Patrick Swenson

The Conflicts of Character Design – Matt Jones

Plumbing the Depths of Emotion – Brandon M Lindsay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plumbing the Depths of Emotion

Brandon M. Lindsay Craft & Skills 2 Comments

No matter if you write political thrillers, historical dramas, or speculative fiction, a certain amount of research is required for the reader to buy into your creation. Oftentimes we focus on researching hard facts, bits of information to inform the details that lend an air of credibility to our stories. There is one area of study I think is critical for anyone who writes fiction, but it isn’t something that you can read about in a textbook (at least not in any meaningful way), and that is emotion. More specifically, our own emotions.

Recently I canceled my cable TV subscription and opted to use just Netflix instead. One of the shows it recommended was an anime show called Elfen Lied. It was pretty highly rated and I was in the mood for something different, so I gave it a shot.

I was not prepared. Few artistic works have affected me as much as that show. It’s an uncompromisingly brutal and oftentimes disturbing story of a girl on a quest for redemption and the reclamation of childhood’s lost innocence (warning: I said brutal and I meant it. It’s not for the squeamish or faint of heart). But more important than the darkness of the story is its contrast to the moment it all leads up to, when redemption and forgiveness are achieved, when the veil of suffering is lifted to reveal love and hope. Never was such a destination so hard won, by the main character or by myself. It was devastating yet beautiful. It broke my heart.

Would that my own writing had that effect on people, which got me thinking: how was this able to affect me so? I realized that by introspecting my own emotional reaction to the show, I would able to determine what about it caused that reaction, and thus be able to use what I learned about myself as a tool in my own writing. I’ve done similar things in the past, but that’s been more looking at things that I thought could affect people emotionally, rather than looking at the raw emotions as they occur in myself. It’s always been a roundabout or subconscious approach, never direct.

In a book on fiction writing, I remember the author at multiple points recounting how he couldn’t finish watching a movie or reading a book (or some such) because it was too emotionally intense. I have never understood that. One thing art does well is convey emotion-so wouldn’t we, as writers, want to learn what we can of it? Experience and know the full spectrum of emotion, so that we can then imbue our works with emotional impact? After all, shouldn’t we be willing to suffer for our art?

Emotions are incredibly powerful, perhaps one of the more powerful forces in our lives; they can make our writing powerful, too. Being intimately familiar with them can allow us to implement them. From now on, I’m going to make an effort to embrace each emotional experience as it comes my way so as to better understand it. Hopefully I won’t become a neurotic in the process.

I’m always on the lookout for things that stir the emotions, so if you’ve got something that has done so for you, let us know in the comments! (And don’t mention Disney/Pixar’s Up. I’m already aware of its soul-crushing sadness-making ability)

The Conflicts of Character Design

Character Matt Jones Writing Tools 4 Comments

There are many parts of creating a new novel, and creating realistic characters is probably one of the most challenging ones. Characters need to be believable. They need to have their own personality, habits, and traits that set them apart from others. If done correctly, the reader will be able to relate. They’ll understand and feel concerned. It’ll pull them deeper into the novel and they’ll keep reading to figure out what will happen. If done poorly, it will throw them out of the novel. They won’t be able to believe and before long, they’ll look elsewhere and leave your novel behind.

When I create new characters, I focus on the conflicts. Everyone has conflicts they face and have to deal with. It’s the sum of all these conflicts that can lead them on the road of hero or villain. These conflicts will generally take on the shape of external and internal, two sides of a fight that is always raging in everyone.

Internal conflicts are anything that tears your character apart from inside. This can be dealing with a phobia, memory, or other psychological barrier. It can be need to be the best, or look the prettiest. It can be the fear of the dark that makes your character abandon others he could easily save. Or the pride that keeps him from admitting he was wrong. The internal conflicts are generally the deeply ingrained problems that the character spends the entire novel attempting to overcome.

External conflicts are everything else that keeps your character on track. The broken home he has to deal with, the abusive parents. They can include the weather, environment, wild animals, or other characters. Anything that goes against what the character would do and forces them to make decisions.

When you create a new character, consider all the conflicts that they have to deal with. Write them down and keep them in your mind as you write them. They’ll keep your character constant and provide motivation to act, even if it’s running away. Once these conflicts are established, your character can show true heroism by not only saving the day, but by having to overcome their natural reaction to do so.

The Heart of Fairwood Press

The Writing Life 6 Comments

by Patrick Swenson

Writers crave free time. Quiet time. Down time. They live for uninterrupted, intense pockets of time when they don’t have to do anything but write.

They need to get away from their homes, their jobs, their families, and have writing time free from their stressful life situations.

In the fall of 1982, I interviewed for my first teaching job out at a place I had barely even heard of: Lake Quinault, Washington, nestled in the Olympic Rainforest. I was a music education teacher, but I was also prepared for some English classes. I taught all levels of band, choir, and grade school music, as well as sophomore speech and Title I reading. I also coached JV girls basketball and boys and girls track. No more than 350 kids went to this school, grades K-12. (Now, post-timber industry, the student population is closer to 190).

It rains 144 inches a year in Quinault. I’ve often joked that as far as starting out as a teacher there, Quinault was a good place for me to get my feet wet. Long story short, the secretary of the superintendent was married to one of three brothers who owned a resort on the lake that boasted quaint cabins and a simple motel, all with breathtaking views of the lake. The Rain Forest Resort Village has no phones in the rooms or cabins, and, even now, little to no cell phone service. It is its own little village, with a restaurant, general store, gift shop, lounge, post office, and laundromat on site.

I taught in Quinault three years, and during the summers I worked for the resort, mostly at the reservation desk and the general store. After moving away from Quinault to teach in the Seattle area, I went back a few summers to help them out. Except for the summer of 1986, when I attended the six-week Clarion West Writers Workshop, and truly cemented my love and desire to be a writer.

I had a standing invitation from the resort owners, who had become good friends: “Any time you want to stay longer, Patrick, let us know.” I eventually took them up on it. I left my teaching job and moved out to Quinault, living in some rooms above the general store, working for minimum wage and room and board, and hoping to get a whole bunch of writing done. Yes, it rains a lot in Quinault, but oftentimes it is sunny and beautiful. Even the rain-soaked days have a charm and peacefulness that soothes the soul. What a great place to write!

I stayed there for almost two years before going back to teaching, but my heart never quite left Quinault. A part of it, although slightly rusty, ached for the moss-covered trees, the pristine lake, and the idea of being far away from the maddening crowd. (Well, except during the summers when the tourists flocked to the resort.) From October through early spring, however, the serenity lent itself well to relaxing, and writing.

What if I could arrange a few days at Quinault during this quiet time and get some writers out there to give them a chance to feel what I used to feel? That was the impetus for the Rainforest Resort Village, a writers retreat I’ve put on there now for six years. The resort owners were with me from the start on this. In early March, during their off-season, the resort might have five or six rooms rented for the night. It would be a win-win for all involved if writers filled up their resort during this time.

In 2006, 30 writers kicked off the first retreat. This past March, 76 writers attended during two back-to-back retreat sessions.

The idea was to create at least one time and place in the year where all but writing was put aside. To borrow from my own words on the Rainforest retreat website, the objective was to create an annual writers’ gathering that focused on solitary and community writing, in an isolated environment, supported by a collective of contemporaries of like mind and pursuits.

Writers now gather yearly at this Quinault location ready to spend an intensive four plus days on their own work, with others involved in the same who are present for support and interactive development of written creative work as art, craft, and science. Balanced against this is a schedule of events aimed at supporting this process, with the number of retreat guests and attendees kept to a limit. Local populations are small and centers of civilization are approximately 50 miles from the resort; close enough for those who wish to seek them out, and far enough for others not to have to seek escape from them. They get professional advice from, and interaction with, guests who have had success in the writing business.

Doing the Rainforest retreat, I’ve been blessed to have met so many amazing people, so many talented and dedicated writers. I see beginning, intermediate and accomplished writers at the same retreat, all immersed in an art form they love. It’s really a heady experience. For the first retreat, I had this idea that writers would simply plug away at their stories and novels in their rooms and cabins, then come out to writing discussions and group meals, but on that first morning, I walked into the now-famous resort lounge, and I found 20 writers sitting at the small tables.

I stood there in the doorway stunned. Laptop keys clicked. Some writers had headphones on. Some typed furiously. Some were lost in thought. Some gazed out the big picture windows, taking in the misty lake and the pouring rain.

It was quiet. It was inspiring. Tears filled my eyes. What could I do to possibly top this moment?

I found an open table, set up my laptop, and began to write.

Patrick Swenson, Publisher
FAIRWOOD PRESS
The Best in Science Fiction and Fantasy
http://www.fairwoodpress.com/
www.rainforestwritersvillage.com