BookTherapy

She Makes me a Better Man

Everyone needs to go out and get the movie Cutting Edge. Rent it, borrow it, purchase it, whatever. But lay your hands on it and watch it.

It’s not a Christian movie. And it’s sorta old. And, it may or may not have the values you look for in a movie…BUT, for the next few weeks we’re going to talk about my FAVORITE topic…romance!

Or rather, the romantic thread in a book!

And, well, the fact is, the Cutting Edge is a wonderful romance. I just love the external obstacles and the tension….and I’m going to be referring to the movie a-LOT.

So, you can either take my word for it, or go get the movie….

Meanwhile, let’s talk Loooove. Or rather, Romance!

I love a great romance. The story of a man loving a woman despite her flaws, and vice versa. That sweet moment when they realize they were made for each other. That sense that all is right in the world when they are together…

Okay, maybe I’m just a little too Jane Austen, but I truly believe that a good romantic thread makes a book that much richer.

But a great romance has to have certain elements.

Most of you know my favorite movies:
How to Lose a Guy.
Chasing Liberty
Return to Me
Kate & Leopold
Princess Bride
Timeline

And, when I asked my hubby his favorite, he said…finger painting. (See, if you watch the Cutting Edge you’ll get it!)

Why are these my favorites? Because they contain what I consider the 10 elements to writing a great romance.

We’ve already discussed the first two during the beginning of our Hero’s Journey: Loveable Heroes & Obstinate Heroines (or, Heroines who believe in themselves)

Now, we’re going to move onto the next 7 elements:
Virtues
External Obstacles
Make me cry -- or Heartbreaking Internal Obstacles
Entertain me – scenes and setting that are out of the ordinary
Tension – the sexual kind
Eternal Love – why she’s/he’s the only one!
No Way out of this mess – Black moments that seem insurmountable
Dialogue that Sparks
Ever After – a Happy Ending
Re-occuring Characters – for your next book!

Let’s start with VIRTUES!

What are virtues? Well, values, the kind we respect and admire. A great romance has virtues. It has lines it won’t cross – and I’m not talking physical virtues, but those we find in both secular and inspirational markets. For example: a great hero won’t put a woman he loves in serious danger (unless it’s beyond his control, and then he’ll sacrifice himself first). Likewise, a great heroine will believe in her man. I want a romance that brings out the best in the hero/heroine when they are together. Even if he’s a scoundrel, I want to see that with the heroine, he’s noble. And if she’s impulsive, I want her to become patient because of the hero in her life. Make them better people when they are with each other. Virtues are those elements in our characters that develop as they characters grow in love.

In CE – Kate get drunk one night, and practically throws herself at Dorsey, who isn’t necessarily shy when it comes to women. However, he doesn’t want to betray Kate in any way, so he takes her back to her hotel and tucks her in bed, and leaves her alone. Of course, the next morning, we find him in bed with someone else, but with Kate, he’s noble. (My personal opinion is that he should have turned away the other girl, but no one asked me). The point is, however, with Kate, he was turning into an honorable man.

What hidden virtues do your characters have that the romantic interest can cultivate? How do they grow into better people when they are together?

Rachel will be starting a discussion on the elements of a great romance so hop on over to Voices and let’s talk….Romance!

Grappling with the uglies

Dear Susan,

“Wow you've done it again! That book was fantastic. You have a way of developing believable characters that suck you into the story as if you where there. I don't know why or how, but your books have stirred in me a new sense of faith. Your messages have hit home and I am seeking my place with God, and how I fit into the picture in his eyes.”

I love those kind of letters! People often ask me what I write – my answer (because I’m all over the place in genre!) is - I write Novels with a Christian World View. But inside, I’m really wanting to say – I write 4 dimensional stories. I believe that with Christian fiction, because it deals with not only the physical and emotional sides of a character, but also the spiritual side, we are getting a “full-bodied” view of a character. More than that, however, we also get a glimpse inside the “4th” dimension – the Great Plot, which is God at work to draw people to Himself. I strive to write the deeper story, the one that changes lives.

As your hero begins this leg of the journey, the challenges he encounters should be more than physical. They should test his mettle, emotionally, and stir up issues, spiritually. Even make him confront the ugly things inside him.

Ask yourself – what spiritual issues will my character be grappling as he encounters new places in himself. How is this journey going to change his view of himself, his God, his place in eternity?

Recently, Rachel and I were talking about publishing, and how, as a writer, once you get published, it doesn’t erase any problems you have in your life – in fact, you are forced to grapple with them even more. Reviews, editorial changes, competition – it’s a journey that can bring out a side of a writer that they didn’t know existed. I didn’t know I was so possessive of my words until an editor wanted to change them. I didn’t know I was so thin-skinned until I got a scathing letter. This leg of my journey had made me take a hard look at myself, hit my knees and allow God to change me.

How is your hero’s journey going to change lives? Will readers see an eternal truth played out on the page? What is the spiritual take-away for the reader as they experience your hero’s journey with them?

Why, in the fabric of eternity, does this book matter?

Tomorrow, we’re going to talk about the different ways contemporary authors weave in spiritual threads…and then later this week, we’ll discuss how to weave in your own spiritual threads.

Today’s homework is – what fiction book in the last year have you read that has impacted you spiritually? Why, and how, and what did you learn from it. Post your answers so we can learn with you (and perhaps pick up some great recommendations!)

See you tomorrow!

The Tension Was So Thick, I Could Puff It Away

Ever read a book where the tension just did not deliver? Conflict was set up, devastation delivered then all resolved on the next page, or worse, the next paragraph?

Yeah, me too.

Tension is that part of the story telling that keeps the reader on edge. Conflict ebbs and flows, devastation is resolved, or handled, perhaps escalated, but tension is the one element we must maintain.

In our physical world, we use tension to keep a cable or rope taunt. No trapeze artist wants to walk on a lose high wire, right? It's the tauntness of our stories that hold it together.

But most of us don't like tension. We don't want to walk into a room and get the cold shoulder or get ignored. The stiff remarks between family members at Thanksgiving dinner makes our stomachs knot.

But fiction thrives on tension. We must have it.

How do we decide tension? First, as you begin a scene, think of how you can move your protagonist farther away from his or her goal. What can go wrong?

Now, hold on. Don't have something go wrong for the sake of going wrong. Chick lit offended here with the pratfall, the office gossip that revealed the protagonist's secrets, or the spilling of coffee or fowl language. That's not tension. That's just "stuff happens."

Tension is the underlying tauntness that holds the conflict and the devastation together, driving the protagonist away from the story question or overall goal is what you want.

If I want to drive up I-95 to the mall, what are possible obstacles? Traffic jam. A wreck. My car breaks down. A road detour taking me way out of my way.

Now what kind of tension does it create? Road rage? Snippy conversation with my husband when he calls. Speeding, thus a speeding ticket. Well, you get the picture.

Tension is created four ways: Dialog, Description, Action and Tone.

Let's set up a scenario: Two newlyweds are working out the mechanics of their marriage. After a few days of spats, she wants to create a homey atmosphere for her husband. She took off work early to grocery shop. She bought candles. She cleaned house.

He comes home and... Scene.

The key in the door told Susie her man was home. Surprised at her fluttering heart, she pressed her hand to her chest as she listened for his, "Hey, babe, I'm home."

Instead, sharp footsteps echoed down the hall, against the hardwood. His keys clanked against the desk.

"Hey, Andrew, I'm in the kitchen."

"Be out in a minute."

Susie heard the click of his old lamp, the creek of his college chair, and angled around to see a lone cone of pale light slicing the darkness. "Andrew?"

"I said in a minute."

End Scene

Okay, I just threw that together to give you an idea of tension. Susie is excited for Andrew to be home, but apparently he's had a bad day. We feel and hear the tension on the scene with the clipped dialog, the footfalls on the floor, a lone light in the darkness.

I have a feeling Susie isn't getting her romantic dinner.

In Sweet Caroline, my heroine's story question is "what do I do with this money pit Cafe?" She stuck with it until probate ends, and in the mean time she's dealing with money and structural problems.

Not long after she takes over command, Caroline learns the former owner booked a 90th birthday party for a family matriarch. Everyone is coming. Caroline rises to the occasion only to have the Cafe itself betray her.

On the day of the party, the electricity fails. Bad wiring. This creates all kinds of tension keeping with the over all goal and story point. It created tension within Caroline, with her employees, with her customer.

In the end, she finds a solution to satisfy all, but don't worry, the next bit of Cafe tension is around the corner... bad plumbing!

You must have several layers of tension going on, too. I had tension with the Cafe, with Caroline's family, with herself, with her love interests. And, a time or to, the town.

Layer in the tension. Your readers will love you for it.

So, let's recap. Tension is the tauntness that keeps your readers turning the page. If you have a relaxed, happy moment, devastation ladened with tension should be on it's way.

Tension is communicated through the dialog, the character's action, the setting description and the tone of the writing.

See you over on Voices!

Them are Fightin' Words

I love House. (And I'm not talking about HGTV -- this is a show about a doctor that has just about the best dialogue on the planet). I love House because he (and the other characters, like Wilson) say things that make me howl, stop the Tivo and beat the sofa in hilarity.

Clearly, the writers of House have let their characters off their leashes, allowing them to say all sorts of crazy things, and create sparks that are delicious for the reader.

Fighting words, I call them.

And that is my super secret Susie hint to writing great dialogue.

What are Fighting Words?

Interruptions: "Hey Susie, we don’t have enough days --"
"Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a post here, Rachel?"

Name-calling – “Maybe you don’t have snow in your brain, Florida Girl.”

Sarcasm: “Oh sure, because the sun doesn’t actually make it all the way up here in the north, so it is a little difficult to see the difference in days.”

Accusations: Good grief, Rachel, do you know how long it takes to warm my fingers up to type every morning?

(Caveat – okay, seriously, Rachel didn’t even MENTION to me that we were short on days, I TOTALLY MADE THIS UP. So, just in case you’re thinking, wow, Rachel, totally get off her back already, or conversely, Susie, sheesh, you’re so sensitive…It’s all fiction. In my head….or rather now, in the blogosphere...)

Back to Fighting words…in short, they are anything that makes the dialogue sound real – (only not real because like I said, no one really has the guts, or perhaps was raised with the social decorum to know that they shouldn’t say these things to their best friend).

AVOID – long narrations about information the readers already know.
AVOID – giving a history lesson. Let us infer it from the dialogue

One helpful technique – find the “hook” or the zinger in every sentence, and have the characters react to that…sort of like a snowball, picking up pieces of snow as it finally hurtles down the mountain.

Here's a couple variations:

“I don’t feel like going to school today,” Sarah said, the covers pulled up to her chin.
“School? Where DO you feel like going today, huh? Maybe the Mall?”

“I don’t feel like going to school today,” Sarah said, pulling the covers over her head.
“Yeah, well I don’t feel like going to work, either, but that’s life. Deal with it.”

I used two different hooks in each sentence, and gave each a different direction for the dialogue to go next.

But what if we don’t have a big fight scene? How can we make that resonate?

You can create tension in any scene…you just have to dig for it.

Let’s take yesterday’s dialogue. (Last time, I promise)

“I think she’s off one of her days,” Rachel said just above a whisper to the MBT audience.

Yeah, Susie could hear her, but really, did Rachel always have to point out that she was losing her mind? “So today is Thursday, and I might have thought yesterday was Tuesday, which makes me wonder what I was doing on Monday, but that just means that I’ll post my hint to great dialogue on FRIDAY, and our excerpts on Saturday, or Monday, so just calm down, Florida Girl.”

Can you find the zingers? There are two, possibly three, depending on if you count Rachel’s pov.

Here’s a hint:

Accusation – Rachel
Sarcasm – Susie
Name calling – Susie

Fighting words don’t have to be used in EVERY conversation, but they add spice, and hopefully make your reader howl with delight.

We’re opening a Dialogue Conversation at Voices – post your dialogue, and show us them fightin’ words!

See you all Monday with the dialogue excerpts!

Yes, I’m talking to myself

“I think she’s off one of her days,” Rachel said just above a whisper to the MBT audience.

Yeah, Susie could hear her, but really, did Rachel have to point out that she was losing her mind? “So today is Thursday, and I might have thought yesterday was Tuesday, which makes me wonder what I was doing on Monday, but that just means that I’ll post my hint to great dialogue on FRIDAY, and our excerpts on Saturday, or Monday, so just calm down, Florida Girl.”

*****

We’re going to be dissecting that ever so riveting dialogue today and tomorrow in MBT… And then, because yes, I might be losing my mind and thinking that this week has 8 days, when it doesn’t, we’ll do our dialogue house calls on Saturday, or maybe Monday. (Oh, I said that already…okay no comments from the house…)

What is Internal Monologue? Should I italicize my reader’s thoughts?

These are two questions I get a lot – because, let’s be honest, it’s confusing, and frankly, every author seems to do it differently.

Here’s my take: If you’re in a characters POV, then every thought, action, feeling, etc, funnels through their brain. If it doesn’t have quotation marks around it, it’s their thoughts. You’d be italicizing the entire page!

Let’s take a closer look:

i.e.: I really don’t want her to leave, because if she does leave I’ll be alone and back where I started. He paced the room, one long march of worry.

If you're writing in third person, and you put the thoughts in first person, it's really jarring. If you’re writing in third person, just write the character’s thoughts in third person.

Try: He didn’t want her to leave. Not really. Because then where would he be? He paced the room, one long march of worry.

Do you see the difference? This allows the reader to sympathize with him, in fact, the reader knows him better than he knows himself at this point, which is fun for the reader.

Same goes for things like “He thought, he wondered.” You know who is thinking the thought, so it’s not necessary.

i.e. : Did he really want her to leave? No, he thought.

Try: Did he really want her to leave? No.

What about internal introspection? you ask. I sometimes use it during an epiphany, when a character is remembering something he or she said, or something someone said to them, but even then, I keep the memory in italics, and keep the introspection in thoughts.

not: He always took a good thing and tore it to pieces, he thought about himself.

but: He always took a good thing and tore it to pieces.

And you can give it even more impact by converting interior monologue into a question.

Not: He wondered why he always took a good thing and tore it to pieces.

Better: Why did he always take a good thing and tear it to pieces?

Hint: Limit your internal monologue to within the dialogue scene for the most punch. I really think that internal monologue in the middle of a narrative is confusing if it is italics.

Let’s sum up the differences:

For example:
(original, bad Susie writing).

“I think she’s off one of her days,” Rachel said just above a whisper to the MBT audience.

Rachel was always pointing out that she was losing her mind, Susie thought with a huff. “So today is Thursday, and I might have thought yesterday was Tuesday, which makes me wonder what I was doing on Monday, but that just means that I’ll post my hint to great dialogue on FRIDAY, and our excerpts on Saturday, or Monday, so just calm down, Florida Girl.”

Cleaner:
“I think she’s off one of her days,” Rachel said just above a whisper to the MBT audience.

Rachel was always pointing out that I was losing my mind. “So today is Thursday, and I might have thought yesterday was Tuesday, which makes me wonder what I was doing on Monday, but that just means that I’ll post my hint to great dialogue on FRIDAY, and our excerpts on Saturday, or Monday, so just calm down, Florida Girl,” Susie said with a huff.

Better:
“I think she’s off one of her days,” Rachel said just above a whisper to the MBT audience.

Rachel was always pointing out that she was losing her mind. “So today is Thursday, and I might have thought yesterday was Tuesday, which makes me wonder what I was doing on Monday, but that just means that I’ll post my hint to great dialogue on FRIDAY, and our excerpts on Saturday, or Monday, so just calm down, Florida Girl.”

Best:

“I think she’s off one of her days,” Rachel said just above a whisper to the MBT audience.

Yeah, Susie could hear her, but really, did Rachel always have to point out that she was losing her mind? “So today is Thursday, and I might have thought yesterday was Tuesday, which makes me wonder what I was doing on Monday, but that just means that I’ll post my hint to great dialogue on FRIDAY, and our excerpts on Saturday, or Monday, so just calm down, Florida Girl.”

See how the voice gets stronger, more intimate each time?

And here’s a final caveat:
Good internal thought should be interspersed lightly, but be only the thoughts the pov character would think. Same goes with tone of voice – sparingly, but with impact. Your tone of voice is actually an extension of the thoughts, so often, it’s not even necessary. Also, one of the fun parts of interspersing IM, is that your character can be saying one thing, and thinking something totally different…and his tone of voice can also convey that.

Think of internal monologue as the truth he’s thinking.

Don’t forget to send us your dialogue dilemmas – Rachel and I (WHO ARE NOT FIGHTING, btw. Whenever she tells me I’m losing my mind, she always says it directly. *grin*) will work on them and post asap. The victims/courageous ones who so generously give of themselves for others will be rewarded on earth with a preview copy of Wiser than Serpents, my new book, hot off the shelves at the end of the month! Submit to: booktherapy@susanmaywarren.com

Let's Talk!

“I want to talk to you.”
“Hi, Maggy. How are you?”
“Don’t ‘how are you’ me! I can’t believe that you came back to take away Cole’s land.”

Okay, I admit it. Dialogue is my favorite part in the book. I just love to hear people get into arguments, dodge questions, tell it like it is, and most of all, give each other the what for. Sometimes (and this is the schizophrenic writer side of me) I will even talk out loud as I’m writing dialogue, just to get the inflection. (Besides, I can say anything to myself and not get into trouble!)

But what is the secret to sizzling dialogue? What’s the difference between writing conversations that zing or mind-numbing dialogue that causes a book to end face down on the bureau collecting dust?

I think it’s all about adding a little GUSTO. That element that contains attitude and energy and courage and everything your character has inside of him. What do I mean? Let’s take a closer look:

Goals – every character has goals for the scene, as well as for the book. And good dialogue reveals those goals – not only in what is being said, but what is NOT being said. Don’t let your character lay it all on the line – make him hide his motives to everyone but the reader. In fact – don’t even let them answer the questions they’re asked. Dodge, be evasive, and most of all, never give the expected answer. Not if you don’t want readers to skip lines.

Useful information - Dialogue should add new information to the reader – but DON’T use it in place of backstory – eg: “Joe, I know that you’re the great uncle of my step-sister sally, and that you were having an affair secretly with my dad’s ex-wife who left her and became an alcoholic and eventfully died after going to rehab of liver disease, and that you now got your life together and became a Christian after attending a Billy Graham event in Minneapolis four years ago, after which you dedicated your life to helping orphans in Russia, but could you tell me why my step-sister won’t speak to my little brother, especially since they used to be so close, until he left for the navy two years ago and is in now in Navy Seal training because this was the dream of my father due to my grandfather who was one of the first SEALS in WW2?”

Make dialogue meaningful – don’t ask how they are, or how the family is, how the weather is (unless it’s a weather book). Cut right to the meat of the story with new information.

Stop Shouting! Don’t use Tom Swifts – ie: “Stop Shouting!” he yelled. “I’ll tell you all about it,” she explained. Use tags sparingly, and keep them to he said, she said, with the occasional, he murmured, or she whispered. In fact, body Language and Active Narrative in place of dialogue tags speaks as loudly as words, if not louder.

Here are two scenes, one with dialogue tags, one without, with just body language and narrative. Which one reveals more?

“I don’t care where you’re going,” Janice murmured. “Stay out all night if you want to. In fact, I hope you have a great time.”

“I don’t care where you’re going.” Janice barely looked up from her book as her sister stood by the door, question on her face. “Stay out all night if you want to.” She put a thumb over the paragraph to keep her place. Looked up and smiled, a real smile that filled her chest and made her sister smile back. “In fact, I hope you have a great time.”

Tell it like it is: Cut to the chase and say what your character REALLY wants to say, even if it is only to take away attention from his real agenda. The best dialogue is when you think, oh my, I can’t believe she (or he) had the guts to say that!

don’t Overuse Names! We as writers use them to help us remember who is who when we’re writing. But the reader doesn’t need them, so cut them out as you are editing. Ie – “Hey Sam, how are you? Hey Joe, I’m good, but my car is in the shop. Sam, your car is always in the shop. I know, Joe, but it’s got a bad starter. Have you ever thought of getting it fixed, Sam?”

Have fun with your dialogue. Let your characters say what they really want to say. And then, let the fireworks begin!

“It’s Noble land. But, Maggy, this isn’t about you.”
“This is completely about me, Nick. I know that! I’m not an idiot.”
“Of course you’re not. It’s just that . . . this is between me and Cole.”
“You think I don’t know why you left? Why you haven’t come back for ten years? You’re really a piece of work, Noble. Well, for your information, Cole is twice the man you are. He’s kind and honorable and patient, and he keeps his promises. He deserves that land your father gave him. And you, of all people, should know that.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Maggy, but you got this all wrong.”
“You turned out exactly as my mother predicted. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to her sooner.”

Excerpted from Reclaiming Nick*

We’re going to do some house calls at MBT this week – send us a small dialogue passage you may be having trouble on, tell us the goals of the scene for the people who are talking, and MBT will see what we can do to help. Also – tomorrow well talk about INTERNAL monologue…to italic or not to italic, that is the question! And Thursday I’m going to give you my biggest secret to adding spice to your dialogue.

Of course those brave Voices who share their work on MBT will receive a preview copy of Wiser than Serpents… So – send us your troublespots! www.booktherapy@susanmaywarren.com

Let's Talk!

Voices of Reason and Passion!

The voice of Passion lives in my house. She’s dressed like my teenage daughter (on any given day that might be a pair of jeans, topped with a skirt, with a tank top under a short sleeved sweatshirt, and a pair of what my husband calls, her Wonder Woman arm protectors). Now, to be fair, my daughter has long moments of what I call sanity, where reason prevails, when I can convince her that no, her brothers aren’t trying to drive her crazy, even though they insist on leaving the bathroom…well, you know.

And then there are the moments when passion takes over. When, despite our best efforts, life is simply too much, when she must play her music at the top of the allowed decibel levels, when, to put into GreySpeak, she has to dance it out. When, that inner wild thing must be heard, and set free, just for a moment. Only then can she breathe deeply, restore her sanity.

Sadly, or perhaps comfortingly, I see so much of myself in her. So, I know, someday, this too shall pass. (Or not, according to my husband).

So, the point is, we all have two sides to ourselves…a voice of reason, and a voice of passion. All my characters, when I develop them, have said voices, and I use them in various plot points throughout the book.

However, when dealing with SECONDARY characters – especially the kind who may or may not play a Supernatural Role in our hero’s journey, giving them their own particular VOICE in is a great way to illustrate the THEME of the story.

For example…let’s say our theme is forgiveness, like it was in my book Happily Ever After. Joe is grappling with forgiveness, and doesn’t know how to forgive someone for something that happened to him. He has a brother who acts as a voice of REASON, the voice that has perspective and grace and found the right answer.

Also in the story is a villain, someone who is out to sabotague my heroine, Mona. The villain is acting out of unforgiveness, and his anger is causing him to lose his morals, and eventually his freedom. Hmm….sounds like passion out of control to me.

Another example is…and here I go again, but the Hunt for Red October. The central character in the theme is Jack Ryan…and the theme is loyalty and trust. Of course, our voice of REASON is Sean Connery, who has looked at his life and this silent war and decided to aim for the US Eastern Seaboard. And, in the end, decides to trust someone he’s never met. The voice of PASSION is the OTHER Russian sub commander, who decides NOT to trust his own countrymen, and in fact kill them. (which of course, makes perfect sense, if you’re a Russian sub commander). But its two sides to the same theme…how much should you trust someone?

The Voice of Reason and the Voice of Passion are great ways to utilize your secondary characters. Look for ways you can accentuate the theme, to give it different points of view, and then apply them to your secondary characters. Suddenly, they’ll have their own voice and meaning on the page. And you’ll have a story with body, (and maybe one you can dance to!)

MBT won’t be posting tomorrow, but we’ll be back on Thursday with some POV issues…

In the meantime, drop me a line at booktherapy@susanmaywarren.com and tell me who YOUR voice of REASON and your voice of PASSION are in your story. We’ll be showcasing a few on Friday, and the top three will be in line for a preview copy of Wiser than Serpents, my brand new book (out next month!)

Digging for Treasure: The Backstory

So here’s the deal. I was teaching all day Saturday at the MN Christian Writer’s Guild spring seminar, and then again on Monday night, at their monthly meeting, then I drove home on Tuesday, 6 hours, only to arrive just in time to pick up my oldest son and another son’s bike, return to town, drop off my packages, then hang around until another son got done with track practice, only to pick them (sons and bikes) all back up and return home, drag in my suitcases and drop into a heap.

That’s the backstory to why I didn’t blog yesterday. Now, I’m thinking you didn’t need all that. A simple….life washed over me and swept me away, and I was unable to blog would have been sufficient. Yes, it might have been slightly interesting that I did all that running, and with whom, and why, but…well, not enough to make you all read through it to get to the point which is…

Backstory is for the author, not the reader. It’s important for YOU, the author, to develop the story, but really, the reader just wants to know the OUTCOME of the backstory, and how it affected your character.

This week we’re going to be talking about BACKSTORY in MBT, how to develop it, how and when to weave it in, what to weave in, etc. First, however, let’s address the biggest issue with backstory: How much should you develop?

Answer: Enough to know your characters motivations for why he/she does the things they do in your story.

If your character loved to draw as a child, and always dreamed of being an artist, that’s only important if it has something to do with the plot. If he’s a detective solving a murder, it might not have anything to do with the story. However, if he is asked to draw the suspect, and discovers the rusty talent he had, then perhaps it is slightly important. If, even better, he loved to draw, and had talent, but his father told him he was a terrible artist (in order to discourage such a “frivolous” career), and the story is about a policeman who discovers that he has the ability to see the crimes in the pictures he draws, (and thus was always meant to use this God-given gift) well, suddenly this backstory takes on relevance.

As the author, you always want to figure out what elements of their past molded them into the people they are today. Mostly because you’re going to use the fears and dreams, the secrets and mistakes from their past to construct their story.

Ask your character: What is your darkest secret, and how has that affected you today? What nightmare have you carried with you, and what do you fear because of it? What was your happiest moment as a child? Why? These answers create the backstory that counts.

I’ve read countless books where the character seems to have been born on page one. They’re flat, uninteresting, even unbelievable. Even worse, however, is when the character’s entire life history is fleshed out in the first three chapters. I’m not going to remember (as a reader) what college he/she went to. But tell me that he witnessed a murder as a ten year old, and yes, that I’ll remember.

We talked a lot in the beginning months of our journey about sitting your character down and chatting with him about why he is who he is. This is the backstory, and is essential for a well-rounded, three-dimensional, living breathing character, and the key to creating a hero/heroine that your reader will root for. (Mostly because hopefully, he’ll have elements about his past that most people can relate to).

Rachel and I were talking about how to develop a new series, how working on the backstory, really fleshing it out is essential. Not only will it give characters depth but here’s the REAL gem – it will generate future story ideas, also. If our characters had a childhood friend who died, or went missing, although it might not be the biggest event in her life, it’s an element authors can use to develop a future storyline. Backstory gives you material to work with.

And material gives you options for your story. Take the time to flesh out the backstory. It’s a little like digging for treasure….you’ll never know what priceless artifacts you might fine.

Okay, so now that you have your backstory, how much do you tell? What tidbits do you drop, and how thick?

Stop by tomorrow and we’ll talk about Dropping the Breadcrumbs that entice your reader to follow…

Off to unpack!

Stakes not Steaks

So, I say to Rachel, hey, we're going to talk about Stakes this week on MBT, and she says, Nummy, I like mine rare!

Ha ha, very funny.

No, I’m not talking about a T-bone, or Sirloin. Stakes are those things that make us see what we could lose. It helps us stand at the precipice and say, is it worth it to step over into the unknown? (Reminds me a lot of that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy has to step out in FAITH. What a great scene!)

Stakes are those things that drive the story, that make the reader say, hey, I care about this story, I want to know what happens. They might not even be as big as we know starting out, but by the end of the book, they should be worth all the effort the hero (and the reader) have put in to get there.

There are two kinds of Stakes: Public stakes and Private Stakes. Public Stakes are those stakes that we embrace as a corporate body. As Americans, or as human beings. Stopping nuclear war, for example. Or protecting our country from a terrorist attack. Even, protecting a people from genocide. These are big issues that the public can get behind, root for. They are also bound in time. For example, a story set in WW2 would have issues of patriotism and fighting the great war, while cold war era stories would be about loyalty, and fighting the Russians. Stories set during Vietnam might be about freedoms. Public stakes can be found by asking: What is important to our community, and what would I stand up for? What would I go to the mats for?

Private stakes, on the other hand, are the things close to our hearts. They are the stakes that attack our values, and challenge us in our roles as mothers, fathers, sisters, daughters…as people at large. They’re issues of integrity, or honest, issues of protecting our children, or standing up for what is right. Even a movie as cute as How to Lose a Guy in 10 days has private stakes…her career versus her heart. Private stakes are found by asking what matters most to me in my personal life? What would I bleed to make sure did or didn’t happen? What would I put my life on the line for?

It’s like saying: People go to war for their country. (Public Stakes) They die for the people they care about. (Or the guy next to them). (Private Stakes).

And the great stories have both. Saving Private Ryan is one I often refer to when talking about Stakes. Public Stakes are fighting the battle against Germany, and even, to some extent, finding Private Ryan. Private Stakes are the values Tom Hanks is willing to sacrifice for someone he doesn’t know, and more, for the soldiers under his command.

So, how does this affect our hero? As he stands there, refusing his call, he needs to look out and see what is at stake. Maybe he won’t glimpse the entire picture, but he’ll know, at least, a little of what is looming, what he has to fight for or against. When Frodo took off with the ring, all he knew was that darkness was headed for the shire and he needed to get the ring away, and protect his hamlet. The bigger picture came later, and in pieces (certainly as he realized just the evil he was up against as the Nasgould’s horses breathed on him as he and his friends hid in the forest! That scene still gives me the shivers!) The stakes need to loom over him, and touch him in some way, enough to shake him. Scare him. Make him shrink back. Make him refuse, at least for the moment....the call to journey.

I’m headed to Minneapolis this week to teach at the MN Christian Writer’s Guild – Basic Novel Writing, and then on Monday, advanced plotting and characterization techniques. Next week, we’re going to talk about the dreaded BACKSTORY – how to work it in (and how not to!). Rach and I will be stopping by Voices as we can over the weekend, and giving input on your Public and Private stakes…

Oh, and I like mine medium rare. Wtih a little A-1, and some garlic salt. Num!
Have a great weekend (and here's to a couple of steaks on the grill. Oh, great, now I'm getting hungry...)

Refusing the Call!

I know I didn’t blog yesterday. It wasn’t because I didn’t WANT to, or didn’t THINK about it. In fact, the reason sorta…tiptoed up to me, and grabbed me and pulled me in before I realized what was happening…

Sort of like an…INCITING INCIDENT!

I was just standing there in the parking lot, watching my son ride his bike, and my girlfriend said, “Hey, I’m going to tap class, wanna join me?”

Yes, I said TAP class. Like Ginger Rogers and the clippity clop shoes. And, just like that, something grabbed me. I thought…cool! Fun! (forgetting completely that I have the knees of a 97 year old, thanks to years of aggressive skiing!)

So, I went. Tapped my little heart out.

Today I’m sitting on the sofa, icing my knees, wondering what possessed me. Where did my common sense run off to?

This is exactly where we find our hero today on the journey. At that place right after the inciting incident when he looks ahead (to 8 more weeks of tap classes!) and says…why? How did I get myself into this mess?

This week we’re going to be taking the NEXT step in our heroes journey: The Refusal of the Call. To sum up, we’ve had: Home Culture, then the Call to Adventure, and now we’re, just briefly, stopping at the Refusal of the Call.

What? I thought a hero wasn’t supposed to refuse his calling! Nope, he’s not (or he wouldn’t be heroic), but he does need to take stock in his options, figure out if he should really go down that path, brandishing a sword into the cave of the dragon.

To put a finer definition on it, the refusal of the call is where the hero, however briefly, decides not to move forward on the journey, knowing that it will cost him his reputation, or power, or ideals, or goals….basically life as he knows it. It’s often based on the fear of what is out there, versus what is known that he is leaving behind. Often, this refusal is also supported by some sort of secondary character.

A secondary character like my son, who occasionally walks by me and shakes his head in pity. (not the kind of pity that will bring me a cup of tea, however!)

What makes a character pull back from the journey and take this little self-reflective pause? The answer: STAKES.

If it had been, say, bagel and coffee class, methinks I wouldn’t be having this “should I continue with the journey” issue. But because there are stakes involved – ie, the continuing working condition of my knees and my desire to walk – it makes our hero pause, consider whether the fight is worth it.

Tomorrow and the next day we’ll be talking about the STAKES of a story. Specifically Public Stakes and Private Stakes. You may have already heard me talking about this, but if not, stop back, and we’ll go through it tomorrow and see how it affects your hero on this leg of his journey! And, stop over at Voices where your fellow voices will help you find your stakes!

Meanwhile, I’m just going to go change this ice pack….