Write a scene where your character encounters water. Describe how the water interacts with the environment and how it affects your character. Does it worry them? Terrify them? Soothe them?
Happy Writing!
~MJ
Tag: character development
Evolution of a Manuscript: Part 2 – Microsoft Word to PDF
In Evolution of a Manuscript part 1, we discussed scribbling your first draft on the go with gmail (or anything else handy), and then transferring it to your computer to beef it up in your designated writing space. Now, the next step is to take that piece and edit, edit, edit, and edit again.
In this article, I’m going to take you through my process of editing through Microsoft Word and Scrivener, and show you the final product in 6×9, 10 pt font pdf – the closest visually I’m going to get to printed book form. Which is psychologically very satisfying to see as an author–like a glimpse into the future (because my book (and yours) will be published).
Here it is in Word:
Immediately we see squiggly lines indicating bad grammar or misspellings. After fixing these, I was still highly unsatisfied with this opening. It doesn’t put me there enough, it’s too wordy, and I don’t feel like I am Gadnor the way that I want, and visually there is too much white space, it looks unfinished and it reads the same. Also, there are some disjointed sentences about Lithaneva–the “reaction was rooted in something far more complex than surprised guests”–just doesn’t seem very relevant, too vague and wordy and honestly, it doesn’t add to the story much, it doesn’t tell me anything about her. So, I go back to Scrivener, tweak, and here is what I came up with:
This is much better, less white space, there is more happening in the scene. Now, with the addition of audience actions I can get a sense of the room, whereas before I was only getting very wooden “she did, he said” type things and little substance. I still don’t like the first paragraph. “Perplexed” sounds complicated, too much to digest within the first two sentences, and I’m still not feeling as though I am Gadnor. There also seems to be a disjointed organization of people and paragraphs. So, back to Scrivener, and this is what I come up with:
There, now I feel like I have conveyed the awkward feeling well, you know the one where everyone in the room is waiting on someone to say something and they just don’t. I feel like I have captured that now, and I feel like I really am Gadnor. I have also (hopefully) managed to give the reader the sense that Gadnor feels partial to the Princess in a way that is natural, without having to actually state that.
There are some things I still don’t like. There is too much happening in the second paragraph, too many actions by too many people, and the “reveling in it” and “gloried at the spectacle” are rehashes of the same vibe. So, I tweak that a bit and call it good, and now here it is, edited to the point where I’m comfortable with a peer review, in 6×9 10pt font.
It’s very satisfying looking at how it might appear when published. Don’t you think? I encourage you to try this if you haven’t already. When you get your scene how you want it, format it like this and just see how it looks. Read it over, make a change if you feel it’s necessary, and then keep going with the next scene.
Use this visual as a reward for your hard work and a sneak peak at when it all pays off.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Feel free to post in the comments some of your own editing/motivational tricks.
Happy writing!
2020 – Week 6 “To Cut or Not to Cut”
I’ve made some excellent progress this week and exceeded my goal to fill in the missing pieces of the scene. The pieces are in and I’ve started my editing process. I’m currently on step 5.
Every step reveals something that needs changing, something that doesn’t look or sound right, or something that’s still missing or would sound better restructured, cut, or moved somewhere else. I cannot stress the importance of self-editing enough.
The original v12 version had a dream sequence before this particular scene I’m writing happens, and I’m seriously debating putting it back in. It might be important for character development…not necessarily for the plot at this point though, which is why I wanted to cut it. It’s a bit of a dilemma, but I think I’m going to add it back in. It does reveal to the reader a little something about this character, and also throws a little mystery in there too.
So my goal for this week is to finish up editing this scene and get it sent off to a peer for review, and also get the first paragraph of the dream sequence written. I won’t have a chance to write much this weekend so hopefully I’ll be able to accomplish this!
Happy writing!
Soul Searching for Character Development
One thing I’ve learned over the past several weeks is that life is full of surprises, excitements, and disappointments. Sometimes life seems dull, but others it’s like an emotional roller coaster. Those moments, the tough ones, the emotional ones, are an invaluable source of inspiration for your novel, in particular: character development.
I’m now several drafts into my novel, and looking back over my previous drafts I can see the stages my thought process went through, beginning with action scenes and quick dialogue to get to the next action sequence and move the story along. Stage 2 added a little more thought provoking dialogue, a little more backstory to help the reader understand why these action scenes were taking place and to give a little more substance to the wider story arc. Stage 3 was about tying up loose ends, embellishing certain scenes, smoothing out some rough edges and cutting out some redundancy. In these 3 stages though, the most fundamental aspect of a reader’s experience was missing or sorely lacking: character development. Sure, my characters did and said things and the reader usually knew why, but the feelings described were hollow or non-existent. They didn’t feel real. The human bond of emotional connection was missing between the reader and the character.
Character development truly makes or breaks a novel, and it can be tricky trying to figure out how to do it successfully. Loss, grief, fear, anxiety, love, desire, hatred, thrill: Real emotions which derive from real experiences and real relationships are paramount to character development. But MJ Pankey, you say, my character did experience loss, his best friend was just badly wounded in front of him! But as you read that scene, do you feel like your best friend was just badly wounded in front of you? Tap into your inner psychologist, and tell me what that really feels like.
The emotional struggles make us who we are as individuals. How we process those emotions, work through them, and overcome them is how we can connect with one another as human beings, and it’s also how we can connect and invest in fictional characters, even if their experiences aren’t real.
Every character who is important to a novel needs this internal struggle. While my heroine can’t necessarily experience being offered an amazing job and then it falling through a week later in exactly the same way (being a fantasy novel kind of messes that up), I can still incorporate the familiar feelings of excitement and hope for the future, and then the following disappointment when it does not go according to plan. I know what that feels like, and I can give that to my character.
Describing the internal conflict as actions happen and as scenes unfold is what character development means. How does this character become better by these experiences, by these scenes, how does this event impact them now to have such a marked influence on a future thought or action? And the best way to figure that out and get it on paper is to dig deep into your own experiences and describe how you feel/felt/would feel in a similar circumstance, and how did it change your expectations/circumstances/behaviors/beliefs moving forward?
To recap, a story is more than just events, places, things, and actions, it’s about people; real experiences, real emotions, and the kindred connection that a reader has with the character. To create character development in your novel, you need to do some serious soul searching from your own life experiences. When was a time you felt embarrassed? Describe it, give it to your character. When was a time you felt betrayed by someone? Describe it, give it to your character. You get the idea.
So if your novel is lacking some depth, look deep. Dig up the emotional moments and give your characters a small piece of yourself. Show your readers the raw humanity we all share between us as a species, and bring your characters to life.
Happy writing!