The Frustrating Thing about Characters

The other day I was playing Dungeons and Dragons with some friends (I also just had a dream about Captain America and still love the original Yu-Gi-Oh!  I'm proud of my nerd status).  It was the first time in a long time since I've played it, and in total it was only my third experience with it.  At one point in the game I said my character would tell a story while we journeyed to our next location, because my character likes telling stories and I thought it was something she would do to lighten the mood.  I didn't realize I would actually have to tell a story.  It makes sense, I guess.  But I had to come up with a story off the top of my head, and in the end it was super lame.  When I finished I thought, "If I were actually my character, I would have been able to tell a much better story."

That brings me to the focus of this blog post: in writing, your characters are only as smart, awesome, knowledgeable, etc. as you are.

I'm really good at coming up with impossibly hard situations.  The antagonist has all but won, the good guys are trapped or about to die, and it's all up to the main protagonist to come up with a brilliant plan to save everything.  Talk about a climax!  And then I realize that I have no idea how the main protagonist is going to get out of this one.  I stare at the screen, trying to think of a solution, but my bad guy is five steps ahead and there's really nothing to do.  Eventually, I'll re-write the scene so that something in the antagonist's preparations is flawed, or I'll write something absolutely ridiculous and unrealistic to save the day, or I'll go to a friend and ask them what I could do.  The last option usually works out the best.

But it's so frustrating to me that my character, who should be the greatest hero of the age, the brilliant mind who saves the day and ends up a legend, is only as smart as I am.  If I can't come up with a solution, they can't.  If I don't know the inner workings of the CIA, they don't.  If I don't understand what it's like to live in a third-world country, they don't.  That feels very restricting.

Obviously you can do some research to fix the knowledge problem, but that doesn't fix intellect and critical-thinking.  How do you create someone smarter or more talented than you?  Sometimes I wonder whether or not Eoin Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl series, is a genius like his main character, or if he just gathers enough information on a few subjects to fake his way through.  Maybe he has a brilliant friend whom he asks for help when he gets stuck.

And maybe that's the answer.  You have to ask for help.  Get a new brain to look at the problem and if their suggestions don't work, maybe something they say will spark another idea.

So, I guess that means your characters are only as smart as you and your connections combined.  Just make sure you mention those connections in an Acknowledgements page when the book gets published.

Split Personality Writing

During the last couple of weeks and months I've been working on several different stories and therefore thinking from several different points of view.  Every novel requires at least one main character, and as a writer, I should know enough about them to know how they think, how they view the world, how they'll react to events.  At least, that's ideal.

So that means every time I sit down to write something I have to have a split personality.

Lately, I've had an even greater sense of being double-minded when writing because, 1) I've been writing so many stories, and 2) I've been writing novels from more than one point of view.

For example, I started working on a novel about a woman whose husband doesn't remember her.  Every other chapter is written from her viewpoint and then his viewpoint.  It's been interesting to write through a man's eyes, first of all, and fascinating to consider how other people think and react to each other.  The wife knows everything that happened while the husband doesn't.  Not only do they have different personalities, they have different memories.  She loves him, and he thinks she's pretty but doesn't know her.  I have to be able to see things the way she does and the way he does.

You're going to have to think like
your protagonist and your antagonist.
(Picture by Monsters-Scare-You)

But that's how it is in every book.  Even if you're writing from a first-person perspective and you don't change from one character's mind to another, you still need to consider how each character thinks and how they would react to events.  Secondary characters might be offended or flattered by something your antagonist says based on their background and personality, while your antagonist was simply stating what they thought was obvious without regard to how it would be taken.

Writing requires that you get inside someone else's head.  In fact it requires that you get inside every one of your characters' heads.  You might start to see the world differently.

Revamp

I've been trying to think of something to post about for the last... while, and simply haven't been able to come up with more writing advice.  And then I realized, I've pretty much given all the advice I have on writing.

But I don't want to give up on this blog.  I started it because I wanted to have a place to post stuff that I've written, and because writing is my passion and I wanted to talk about it.

So, I think it's time for a revamp.  The point of this blog has always been to inspire other writers when they couldn't find inspiration.  Now I'm just going to do it in a slightly different way.  I'm going to blog about my own writing from now on.  That is, I'll talk about what I'm working on, how it's going, bumps in the road, insights I get from the process, and whatever else comes up along the way.  If I think of more advice to give, I'll give it, but otherwise you'll probably find a lot more posts about how my muse is out for the day and I'm working through it.

How to Take Criticism

Okay, this should be the last of the revision series.  Now that you've done some editing and sent your work off to friends for feedback, it's time for you to hear what your peer editors think of your work, and sometimes that can be a humbling experience.  So here's some advice for how to take criticism.

First, when you get bad feedback, if it's face-to-face just force a smile and ask for more.  No, really, ask for more.  If your friend/associate tells you you are horrible at characterization, ask for examples of what's bad, for further explanation, and for what you might do to improve.  Don't get defensive.  Sometimes your reader may not understand something, and in that case you may clarify, "I actually meant to do ____ with that character.  Knowing that, does that change anything in your critique?"  Say this in a kind, reserved way.  It's your fault if they didn't understand, not theirs.  This is a chance for your to learn, and if you get defensive or upset, your editor isn't going to want to help you in the future.  So just take it with a grin and ask for more.

Internally, however, or when you're alone in your room, you can allow yourself to go through the grievance process.  Deny every piece of negative criticism they gave you and hate your friend and vow never to speak to them again.  Call them bad names in your head and tell yourself that they could never write anything as good as you.  Then you can realize they may be right and spiral into depression and worry that you'll never amount to anything and think about giving up the whole endeavor to ever write again.

Do whatever you have to, and then pull yourself out of the fetal position on the floor and sit in front of your computer or writing notebook, take a deep breath, and try again.  Look at the sections your editors mentioned and think about what they said.  You asked for their help because you want the book to be better, so really consider their criticism, even if you disagree with it.  Do it for the sake of the story.  You don't have to listen to every piece of advice an editor gives you, but for at least a moment you need to think about how the story might be better if you did follow their advice.

So, be nice, be humble, have a private fit, then actually consider what your editors had to say.  Just because someone didn't like something you wrote, doesn't mean you can't become a great writer.  By listening to criticism, you improve your writing.  Don't be afraid of criticism.  It's good, even if you don't want to hear it.

Things to Ask Your Editors

This started as a post about people you should ask for help when editing, but after I wrote it I thought, "This is so redundant.  People know who to ask for help: friends who give constructive criticism; those who are kind but honest."  If you don't know that, I just summed up a whole blog post about it in one sentence.  You're welcome.

I realized it would be more helpful to you to know what you should tell your peer-editors.  When you ask a friend, acquaintance, or fellow writing club member to read your fiction, you should give them specific guidelines.  Tell them what you want to get out of them looking over your work.  Here are some suggestions for things to ask/tell them:

1) "I need to know if this is realistic."

2) "I'm not sure my descriptions make sense, or if I have enough."

3) "Is it too preachy?"

4) "Do you think the characters are realistic?"

5) "Could you tell me if the plot slows down anywhere or if I go too fast?"

6) "I want you to let me know if there's something that seems random or out of place, or doesn't add to the plot."

7) "Do these sentences flow well together?  How is the flow overall?"

8) "What do you think of this word-choice?"

9) "My main character seems a little unlikable.  How can I fix that?  Or do you think it's not a problem?"

10) "I love this section but I wonder if it's misplaced or unnecessary.  Should I cut it or move it?  Do you have another suggestion?"

11) "Originally I had this character die, but in this draft they survive to the end.  Which version do you like better?"

12) "I have no sense of spelling or grammar.  Could you do some copy editing for me?"

There are some general guidelines with asking these questions.  First of all, you can ask them for help on very detailed sections of the work, or broad ones.  For example, you can ask for help with a single word, with a few paragraphs, with a chapter, or with the work as a whole.  

Give questions along with your work.
(Photo by the Italian voice)

Second, you should be as specific as possible with your questions.  Don't ever say, "Tell me what you think," because you'll get a reply that's just as vague: "I liked it."  Also, when possible, give them options.  Instead of asking, "Do you think I should cut or move this section?" you might say, "I'm thinking of cutting this, but I really like this part because of ____.  Do you think if I moved it to Chapter 5 or 7 it would still work?"  People always respond to specifics, and generally you'll both be happier if your editor understands your thoughts on the matter.

Third, some people are better with certain things than others.  I have a friend who doesn't know much about writing, but he can tell when something isn't realistic, so I know I can go to him for that but not necessarily anything else.  I also have a friend who is really good with battle scenes since she's actually studied wars through history, so I go to her with help on those.  And another friend actually understands the English language, so I go to him when I'm nearly ready to publish.  Tell people exactly what their job is and they'll focus on it, even if they can't help you with anything else.

Finally, give your work to lots of people with different opinions.  You might give it to one friend and they'll tell you, "This section needs to be changed," and another will say, "This is my favorite part!"  In the end it's your decision what happens, but you'll want to hear several viewpoints before choosing what to do.

Revision... Ug

Editing has never been my favorite thing.
(Image by Talia Mark)

So, I just finished the fourth draft of a novel, and I thought it might be good to talk about revision, since I've been doing a lot of that lately.

First, when revising, find the spots you know need to be fixed most of all. Once you've finished a novel or even just a section of a novel or story, there might be some areas that you know are glaringly unrealistic, unnecessary, or no longer make sense within the larger context.  It's best to go to these first.  Usually when revising, each draft becomes successively more polished, so the second draft gets rid of the really horrible stuff, the third draft gets rid of the slightly less obvious problems, etc., until the next to final draft gets rid of spelling and grammar errors.  That's because there's little point in fixing something small until you're sure you're actually going to keep the section where those tiny mistakes are found.  So, first, get rid of the really terrible stuff.

Next, cut out whatever isn't necessary.  If it doesn't add to the plot or to characterization, it doesn't need to be there.  Another thing that might help is to understand the major dramatic question (MDQ).  This is the basic question the reader wants answered in the story.  In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the MDQ would be, "Will Indie stop the Nazis?"  In Jane Eyre, the MDQ is, "Will Jane get to be with Mr. Rochester?"  The answer doesn't always have to be "Yes," and in fact the reader may discover that they hope the answer is "No."  Find what the MDQ is, and focus every scene and paragraph on answering that question.

After that, if you haven't already, it's definitely time to bring in some outside readers.  At a certain point you just can't figure out what else is wrong.  I went through this with the novel I'm working on currently; although I knew the novel needed work, I had no idea what to fix next.  So I sent the manuscript to several friends who gave me some very helpful feedback.  Perhaps in another post I'll discuss the kind of people you should get to do this, but for now, seek out those you know will be honest but also not brutal.  Artists are sensitive by nature.

As a side note, I've discovered recently that it's very helpful to be in the same room with your reader, if possible.  In face, I sit next to my roommate and watch her read, and I get to see her reactions.  That way, I know whether or not my novel is having the desired effect on my audience.  If she doesn't understand something or isn't gasping at the right parts, I know that part needs some work.  It's been very beneficial, and amazingly not too awkward.

Anne Lamott says a novel is never really done.  At a certain point you have to say, "Okay, it's good enough, I need to move on."  Honestly, a book can go through a hundred drafts and still be improved, but you can't harp over one novel or story forever.  Revise it to the point that it's cohesive, that your readers get the theme you're trying to get across, and that you're basically satisfied, and then go through it one more time to make sure all the copy editing is fine, then get to work on publishing it (in whatever form you like).  And then start on something new.