Image by MsAnthea
What your character uses to get around really says a lot about them.
Does he ride a motorcycle? A Vespa? A bicycle?
Does she walk everywhere she can? Why?
What color is his car? The make? The year? Does he take care of it?
Just thinking about how the main characters from Supernatural are always with their ’67 Chevy Impala in my mind.
The mistake was one out of my control–I went to view a movie for class, and Netflix shipped the wrong one. Instead of viewing L’Ultimo Bacio, I had to watch The Last Kiss.
My assessment of the movie was that the characters were poorly created. It seemed like they all had two emotions: angry and angrier.
Perhaps this movie presents the emotional crisis of turning thirty accurately. The main male characters all strive for freedom from their various relationships, but they lack enough redeeming qualities to make them likeable. The female characters are even less dimensional. There’s the exhausted mother. The mother-to-be who is an emotional wreck.
Out of this rather bland and all-together easy to forget movie (even though I watched this mere hours ago, all I can think of was, “my God, I hate Zack Braff even more now” and “At least Casey Affleck was entertaining enough”), I got one little bit of insight:
To have a watchable/readable story, you need a decent enough conflict. To have a very entertaining story, you need well developed characters.
The Character’s Mind
1. Would you describe the character as smart, dumb, or naïve?
He’s very intelligent.
2. Do they think quickly? Slowly? Are they quick-witted? Dull?
He thinks quickly (though never quickly enough for a good comeback), and is quick-witted.
3. What kind of education do they have?
He just completed his freshman year of college.
4. Does the character possess a knowledge or expertise in a particular field?
Not really. Jack of all trades, master of none. His passion is music.
5. Is the character impulsive or deliberate in reaching conclusions? Would you describe them as being logical, rational, or emotional?
He’s very deliberate and thinks everything over. He’s emotional with a touch of logic.
6. Do they think things out before they speak or blurt out the first thought?
He tries to think before he speaks, but sometimes feels like his foot perpetually resides in his mouth.
7. Are they contemplative at times? What occupies their mind when alone?
He is often contemplative, and finds himself thinking about philosophy when he’s alone.
8. Would they be considered an idealist? A pragmatist? A dreamer? An idea person? An action person?
An idealistic, dreaming idea guy.
9. Are they motivated chiefly by abstract ideals or practical rewards?
Ideals and dreams, mostly.
10. Can your character tell a joke?
Not very well. He makes jokes on obscure subjects, and finds that he has to explain them.
Grammar is your friend.
Really. Seriously. It’s that kind of friend who you sometimes ignore, but always understands what the hell you’re talking about, or at least attempting to.
I’m not out to write a how-to guide for grammar. That’s already been done by people who are more knowledgeable in the area than I am (in the process of typing this post, I made and caught three grammatical errors).
I would like to point out that good grammar is key, but quite a few people already know that.
Instead, a story.
When I was younger, I was involved in a creative writing group. One member thought that she was above using proper grammar–and that if she got her story published, her editor would figure it out.
I refused to read her story beyond the first paragraph.
While it may seem that grammar can be fixed by others, people should take the initiative to learn it themselves. Stop making excuses. Do it.
A little over a week ago, I posted about starting my second draft.
I have a page and a half.
I had so much energy going into the first draft, but with the second…I can’t seem to get myself motivated.
Any suggestions on beating this bug?
Pretty much, Pete Townshend is a lyrical god.
That said, a lot of inspiration can be pulled from music. Inspiration for writing and visual arts, and other music as well.
One of my biggest inspirations is the album Quadrophenia. This was a major influence (along with All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes) on my first novel. I found the ideas expressed on the album weaving their ways through my writing. In the case of the latter, it could have been because I had that album on perpetual repeat during the drafting process.
Quadrophenia in particular provided a lot of ideas because what the main character in the album, Jimmy, goes through similar emotional and personal revelations that my character Will goes through. Isolation, alienation, and, of course, the difficulties of progressing into adulthood.
Sometimes I’ll listen to an instrumental or a foreign language piece to get into a different mood. If I’m writing a particularly emotional bit, I might switch to listening to a track from the Atonement soundtrack (possibly “Elegy for Dunkirk”) or “The Galapagos” from the Master and Commander soundtrack.
Music takes a completely different route in my mind. The different sounds influence how I feel at a moment, or bring back memories.
Ned Wolfe 