The Art of Character Crafting - Post #6: "Creating a Convincing 'Mood'"

Disclosure: Today's post will be super short; due to the amount of homework and classes that I have going today.

Sometimes, I just have that one character. You know... He/she causes me pain whilst writing, because I cannot for the life of me create a mood for them. It's quite frustrating.

First of all, every character has a mood. I'm not talking about emotional moods... I'm talking about the character traits that everyone identifies them with.

Examples:

Katniss Everdeen - Mysterious, survival-orientated, lost. Think about it. When you first read The Hunger Games, what did you think of its' main character? Definitely mysterious. Definitely survival-orientated. Definitely lost.

Ronald Weasley - Funny and often oblivious.

Samwise Gamgee - Extremely loyal.

Sometimes, these moods come easy to craft with the character you are creating. Other times, it's difficult.

'This dude is SUPPOSED to be dark and scary and mean but he's just sarcastic and creepy.'

I've pondered different techniques of this difficult task, but only one has ever worked for me. Go back and look at your sentences. Check your wording. If there's any place where you can change your wording, do it. If need be, go to your thesaurus. Look up synonyms of the word that you are going to change.

This post is veeerrryyyy short... But hey, why would I give you tips that I don't use? *cough*

Keep writing & happy homework (for those of you who are in my boat)!

<3

Patricia Rane

Blending Dialogue With Description - Post #3: "New Beginnings and Age Old Endings"

Once upon a time, a very long, long time ago; in a faraway land...

 

And they lived happily ever after... THE END.

 

Well, that's an interesting way to start this post. As you may have noticed, I began this post with possibly the most used lines in the history of writing. Fairytales always begin and end exactly like this. Disney movies do to, sometimes. Let's talk about fairytales, shall we?

 

 

 

Fairytales. Along with Bible stories, Fairytales are the classic stories that children hear first. They are tales of adventure, romance, self-despair, hatred, love, loyalty, kindness, courage, and many more traits. But what makes them so enchanting?

 

 

Why does Hollywood insist on making remake after remake? Why do desperate mothers turn to a good fairytale to soothe their jittery children? When certain words and phrases are said, why is it that a fairytale will instantly come to mind? Why have these simple tales of character building life lessons and fanciful longings been passed through centuries worth of generations? What makes them so enchanting?

First of all - because this is the internet after all, and we all are entitled to our own opinion ;) -, I am going to tell you all about my perspective on fairytales.

I adore fairytales. I absolutely adore them.

(this is me, thinking about fairytales, in case you were wondering)

 



Some of my fondest memories of my childhood learning stage was reading the original The Brother's Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. My mom went through the material with me, but I found myself sneaking the book off the shelf and reading the ones that we skipped. The discussion questions that she presented me with were amazing for my imagination, because it caused me to search deeper into the story. It made me ask questions like, What does the author REALLY mean in presenting this character in this particular way? Why is this character so kind to the other characters who are mean?

The bottom line is that Fairytales are unforgettably wonderful. Everyone loves them. I'm not just referring to the green and gold bound tales, which gather dust upon every library shelf. Think about it. How many successful movies/tv shows - just in the past year - have been based off of pure fairytale folklore? Several come to my mind. And they've all done beautifully well both in the theater and in dvd/merch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are just a few among a much greater number. The point is, it doesn't matter which form they take, fairytales somehow work their way into our lives. 

 

So... Back to the question. Why are they so enchanting?

 

This is the best answer I could come up with: 

 

"Fairytales are stories that are so simple, yet so elegant... Everything about them makes you want to read them over and over again... They have the perfect amount of everything. Just enough dialogue, just enough description... Along with morals and great writing, it all blends together perfectly... Making the perfect story." 

And that's it. They have a balance that's not distracting. There's not too much dialogue and there's not too much description. However, fairytales are very short compared to the (at least) 50k word novel that you are writing... This could be a thing to do chapter by chapter.

Lastly, I encourage you to study fairytales. Fairytales are some of the oldest tales that there are. Read them, watch them, study them. Believe me, it will help improve your writing in one way or another.

Keep writing, lovelies!

<3

Patricia Rane


Make Something - Post #4: "But Don't Make it Badly"

     So I was gone for a while. Yeah... well, as you already know, I was moving halfway across the United States, so you can't blame me. On the upside, I've been getting lots of awesome inspiration for a Make Something blogpost!

     There are many hard parts about writing. Inspiration is a huge part, along with characters, realisticness (the person who's supposed to be good at grammar just made up a new word!), and probably the biggest thing for me: editing. The problem with editing is that no one wants to do it. It's not hard, it's just annoying. Who has the time to go through a book and edit every single little mistake and weak spot when they could be writing more awesome stuff? 

     Okay, so maybe some of you like editing. That's great; you really don't need to read this, haha! But if you don't, here are some options that will make it easier. 

1. Edit as you go.

     If you haven't already figured this one out, then I am about to make your life a whole lot easier. It's so simple; edit as you go. When you finish a chapter, go back and edit it then and there. It'll take a load of stress off your back, believe me. Of course, this method only works if you're editing a work in progress. 

2. Get help from a friend.

     I have a few friends who actually took classes on editing so sometimes I'll just send them a few chapters of my book and they'll take care of it. They love doing it and it makes my life so much easier! I highly recommend asking someone to help.

3. Ice cream.

     Ice cream. The answer to everything. Just kidding... not really. What I mean by "ice cream" is just buckle down and do it. Get some ice cream and don't think about it. If you keep looking at all the material you have to edit, you'll get discouraged and never do it. Just take it one chapter at a time and give it all you have, because ultimately, the end product will be worth it.

Sorry for the short post, guys, but I'm still quite busy. Hopefully I'll be back soon with more posts! Love you all. <3

Keep writing!

~ Emilie