Tag Archives: Lisa Mangum

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of Netflix or shows that I’ve recorded on my DVR, which means that I’m not watching a lot of commercials (hooray!), but I caught one the other day for a dating site with the tagline: “First Comes Like.” As tags go, I thought it was pretty clever. Because before love comes along, there is like—in real life, and in fiction.

The idea of like was one of the sparks that I fanned into the story that became After Hello. I wanted to write a story that took place in one day and really focused on the 24-hours immediately after my two characters said “Hello.” How did they become friends? Why? At what point could that friendship turn into something more? Could I keep them together for a whole day without it being boring or weird? Those were intriguing questions to me, and then I thought about how much I loved the movie Before Sunrise, and I jumped right in.

And it was strange and awkward at first. But that was okay, because most first meetings between people are strange and awkward. Plus, I was getting to know Sam and Sara at the same time they were getting to know each other.

I realized pretty quickly that in order to pull off the story I had in mind, I needed to keep an eye on two things: what they SAID, and what they DID. Dialogue and action, those where going to be my two best tools to build the plot.

And really, isn’t that how most friendships start? We’re focused on learning more about the other person so we ask a lot of questions. We offer a lot of information. We make jokes; we tell stories. We talk for hours.

So that’s what I had Sam and Sara do. Spending the whole day together meant they were going to talk to each other—a lot. I worked on keeping the conversation natural but still interesting. Not only did they need to talk about PLOT stuff, but they needed to feel comfortable enough with each other so that they could talk about CHARACTER stuff.

I started their conversation with a blend of mystery and humor. Questions were asked, but answers were given in a roundabout way. Often Sam deflected. Sara sometimes made a joke, sometimes not. They had conversations with other people. I tried to parcel out the information in bits and pieces, not all at once. After all, even in real life, the best conversations feel organic, not an info-dump on page 1.

Real-life friendships also develop because of what the other person does. How do they behave in stressful situations? Are they nice to strangers? Do they lose their temper? I wanted to show Sam and Sara in a variety of situations so they could see each other in action.

When it comes to writing romance, remember one thing: first comes like. Your characters need to be likable so that we like them. That way when the characters fall in love, so will we.

Watch the After Hello book trailer:

About Lisa Mangum:
Lisa Mangum attended the University of Utah, graduating with honors with a degree in English. A lifetime lover of books, she has worked in the publishing industry since 1997, editing works by several New York Times bestselling authors as well as debut novelists. She is currently the Managing Editor of Shadow Mountain Publishing.

Besides books, Lisa loves movies, sunsets, spending time with her family, and trips to Disneyland. She lives in Utah with her husband, Tracy. She is the author of four award-winning YA novels (The Hourglass Door trilogy and After Hello), a short story (“Sold Out”), and novella (“&”). She also edited One Horn to Rule Them All: A Purple Unicorn Anthology.

You can find her on Twitter @LisaMangum or Facebook.com/lisamangum.

The Mr. Potato Head Analogy

January 15, 2015

fictorians

Character Craft & Skills Guest Posts Writing Tools 1 Comment

A guest post by Lisa Mangum.

Strong characters are memorable characters, and memorable characters can make or break a story.

So how do we build strong, memorable characters? By taking our lead from Mr. Potato Head, of course! After all, the key to three-dimensional characters is to have three-dimensional characteristics.

When I start building a new character, I like to think about every facet from head to toe. And Mr. Potato Head makes it easy to remember the key elements of a strong character, and which questions to ask (and answer) during character development.

I begin with the eyes. This goes beyond choosing the color or shape of your character’s eyes. When you think of your character’s eyes think about what it is they see. How does he perceive the world around him? Does he look at his environment as something to conquer, or something to survive? When he looks around, does he see an urban setting—or something more rural?

Thinking about these kinds of questions helps you know where your character is coming from before you move him into a different environment. Contrasting the past with the present can create interesting insights for future change.

But don’t just look outside your character. Look inward too. How much introspection does your character require? Are they confident in who they are? Why? Why not? It’s important for you, as the author, to know where and how they fit into the world around them because it allows you to come up with personalized conflicts for your characters.

When I think about Mr. Potato Head’s large, pink ears I try to imagine what it is he hears, and the same goes for my character. If my character hears compliments more than complaints, he’s going to believe certain things about himself and behave in a certain way. Likewise, if all he hears is negative comments from those around him—or from himself—then he will believe negative things about himself.

Is my character the kind of person who listens to gossips? What kind of music does he like? Does he need things repeated, or does he understand ideas the first time he hears them?

And after listening, what does he say? Mr. Potato Head has so many mouths to choose from: smiling, frowning, with teeth, or sticking out his tongue. Mouths can be quite expressive, and not just for the literal method of expression.

Obviously, your character’s mouth is used to deliver the story’s dialogue—a key element to revealing plot and character—but when examining your character’s dialogue remember to go deeper than just what he says. Figure out why he says what he does. Does your character use slang or pet phrases? Is he a liar? Does he prefer silence to speaking?

Remember: Words can be used to hurt as well as heal. For some characters, they can be weapons.

Then comes one of the most important questions to ask a new character: What is his goal? His heart’s desire? To help me remember this question, I think of Mr. Potato Head’s bendable arms, wide open and reaching for his dreams.

We all have something we want, and your character should be equally as passionate about his dreams. If you spend some time evaluating and identifying your character’s “nice to haves” and “have to haves,” you will know how to withhold the fulfillment of those dreams and desires, and therefore you can force your character into action, into growth.

A character in action is a character with strong motivation. To hone in on your character’s motivation, ask four questions:

What does he want?
How is he going to get it?
What is going to stand in his way?
How will he overcome that obstacle?

Mr. Potato Head doesn’t really have legs, but he does have large, solid feet. When considering your character, consider his feet. Where does he stand? What does he believe? What will he fight for? What will he die for?

It’s important for characters to have strongly held values and beliefs. Characters with well-defined values—even if you as the author don’t agree with them—make for compelling, interesting, and memorable characters.

Characters with conviction are characters who can carry a plot—and who can change things.

Eyes, ears, mouth, arms, feet: five easy characteristics to remember that can help you build a better character.

Guest Writer Bio:

Lisa Mangum attended the University of Utah, graduating with honors with a degree in English. A lifetime lover of books, she has worked in the publishing industry since 1997, editing works by several New York Times bestselling authors as well as debut novelists. She was recently named Managing Editor of Shadow Mountain Publishing.

You can find her @LisaMangum or Facebook.com/lisamangum.

When Purple Unicorns Become More – One Horn To Rule Them All

September 3, 2014

Nancy

Doing Good in the World Guest Posts Nancy Greene Networking Publishing Superstars Writing Seminars The Writing Life No Comments

Over the years the Fictorians site has existed we’ve talked a lot about Superstars Writing Seminar. This group wouldn’t exist without Superstars. It’s hard to explain how special this conference and the people who attend it are. But maybe, Lisa Mangum’s post below might give you some idea.

Lisa has loved and worked with books ever since elementary school, when she volunteered at the school library during recess. Her first paying job was shelving books at the Sandy Library. She worked for five years at Waldenbooks while she attended the University of Utah, graduating with honors with a degree in English.

An avid reader of all genres, Lisa crossed over to the publishing side of the industry in 1997. She’s currently the Managing Editor at Shadow Mountain. Lisa loves movies, sunsets, spending time with her family, trips to Disneyland, and vanilla ice cream topped with fresh raspberries. She lives in Utah, with her husband, Tracy. She is the author of the Hourglass Door trilogy and After Hello.

So, Lisa – When is a Purple Unicorn more than just a silly mythical creature?

***

I’ve been working in the publishing industry since 1997, and I’ve seen a lot of books cross my desk. I’ve even written a few books of my own. But I haven’t ever really edited an anthology quite like ONE HORN TO RULE THEM ALL. I mean—purple unicorns? Really?

Yes, really.

The genesis of the collection came about from the Superstars Writing Seminar. I was attending for the first time, and I was both impressed and amused by the fact that a purple unicorn was the example used to illustrate how to be a professional author. The idea was that if an editor asks you for a story about a purple unicorn, you better deliver a story about a purple unicorn.

As the conversation continued, I made a comment on the Superstars Facebook page about how now I kinda wanted to write a purple unicorn story. Enough people agreed with me and responded with title suggestions and more pictures of unicorns than I imagined existed. (Though, hello, Internet, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised.)

The idea stuck with me, though, long after the seminar ended, and one day I emailed Kevin J. Anderson (cofounder of Superstars) and said, “This might be the stupidest idea ever—or the most brilliant.”

Together we hammered out a plan that would result in a collection of twenty stories about purple unicorns. I said I would donate my time to edit the anthology (including reviewing all the stories and editing them) if WordFire Press would publish it, and all sales of the book would benefit a scholarship fund for someone to attend next year’s Superstars.

I’ll be honest. It’s not like I had a lot of time to edit a 100K-word anthology in July. I had a novella of my own to finish writing, plus a Con to attend, plus helping my husband shoot his short film, not to mention all the work that comes with my full-time job as Managing Editor of Shadow Mountain Publishing. And yet…

I wanted to work on the project. I had such an amazing time at the Superstars seminar, and it was such a rich and fulfilling weekend that I wanted other people to enjoy the same thing. Plus, I had made dear friends with the other Superstars attendees, and I wanted to read the stories they would write.

So, as an editor, I asked for unicorn stories. And, as professionals, the Superstar authors delivered.

And oh, the stories they wrote! Some were funny, some were sad. I read stories about detectives and mobsters and fairies and moms and zookeepers and veterans. I traveled to distant planets, to Fairyland, to a Comic-Con.

It has been a joy and a privilege to work on this anthology. The stories are amazing, and best of all, with each book sold, we get that much closer to bringing even more aspiring authors into the Superstars Tribe as we help each other make the leap from amateur to professional.

Being a writer can be a crazy career choice. Publishing can be heartless. It’s a crazy world out there, kids. Best find yourself a Tribe—and bring a unicorn with you if at all possible.

***

Thank you, Lisa. Purple Unicorns are everywhere.

She picked some amazing stories for the anthology. Kevin J. Anderson and the entire WordFire gang will be at Salt Lake ComicCon starting on September 4. Stop by the WordFire Booth to say “hi” and maybe help us fund the Superstars scholarship. If you buy a copy of One Horn To Rule Them All at the Wordfire booth I bet you can get several of the authors to autograph it. The book sells for $14.95 in paperback and $4.99 in E-reader formats:

If you (like me) aren’t able to attend the Salt Lake ComicCon this time, you can find Purple Unicorns here:

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/one-horn-to-rule-them-all

(Kobo like Shadow Mountain is a Superstars Sponsor so if we can send love/ sales its way, that would be wonderful).

Amazon: One Horn

Barnes & Noble: One Horn To Rule Them All.