Staying True to Your Characters

Spolier Alert! If you have not seen the season 6 finale of Castle, skip this post. There are some spoilers. 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your book is having your character make a decision that is totally uncharacteristic. This is most evident when you're writing a series.
After seven books with Harry Potter as the headliner, we would all say we know Harry pretty well. We've been with him through the good, the bad, and the ugly. If Harry had suddenly decided to abandon the wizarding world,  go back to London, and settle into a perfectly Muggle life, we would all have been pretty upset. If he had surrendered to Voldemort and become a Death Eater, the world would be furious. There probably wouldn't be eight fantastic movies, and J.K. would not, most likely, be a millionaire.

We think we know characters on TV shows pretty well, too, and that's why I was so bothered by the season finale of Castle, "For Better or For Worse". The writers created a situation that I think would never happen. In the episode, Castle and Beckett go to get their marriage license, and find out that Kate is married.
To a guy she dated in college. Who she married at a drive-thru wedding chapel in Vegas "for fun".
"I didn't think it was legal," says Beckett, with a shrug.

Let's get real. This is Kate Beckett. She dated three guys in six years, she solves crimes on a whiteboard, and ruthlessly interrogates people. She wouldn't get married on a whim, and even if she did, she definitely wouldn't write it off as not being legal. She's smart, she's sharp, and there's no way she would do anything like this.

Now Castle, on the other hand, this is totally something he would do.

But the point is this: it is really easy to have your characters do something that they wouldn't normally do to add conflict to the story. And sometimes it is good for a character do something slightly out of character so they don't get too predictable, but you have to know when they are getting too far away from themselves.
You should know your characters well enough to know what they would and wouldn't do.
Some little inconsistent things are fine, but something huge like being married for fifteen years and not knowing it is a pretty big deal. This is not a decision I would have made in my writing. *

The readers of your book should be totally immersed in your world. They shouldn't be thinking about the fact that all of these characters are the products of someone else's imagination. When something happens in a story that makes the reader think, "That character would never do that." it takes the away the reality of the story. It causes us to remember that someone wrote all this, and it's not actually a true story.

There are a few ways to avoid this happening in your writing. One way is just coming up with another option. Make a list of  things that could happen instead of whatever it is that you feel like your character wouldn't do. And don't just write down five other options. Write twenty or thirty. Some of them will be absolutely ridiculous, but one will be just right.
In the case of Castle, the writers could have just switched characters. Obviously, it wouldn't have helped it Esposito suddenly discovered that he was married, but it would have worked if it was Castle. This feels much more believable and the conflict would have worked just about as well.


Have you seen or read anything lately where you felt like a character was making a decision that they wouldn't make? Have you struggled with staying true to your characters?


*So, if you have seen this episode of Castle and the first episode of season 7, you know that Castle disappears. This was a little strained plot-wise, but still I thought the writers handled it very well. So, the whole thing with Kate being married could have something to do with this. I don't know. I doubt it.  Just saying. Any other Castle-watchers feel free to share your thoughts on this. 

5 Things I Learned from NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo starts in a week and a half, and I would like to wish good luck to all those participating. Last year was my first time to do the program, and I love the novel I wrote.  This year I won't be officially participating, but I will be trying to write 1,666 words a day. So since NaNoWriMo is about to start and everyone participating should be trying to get some sort of a plan together, I decided to share with you a few things that I learned last year while working on my NaNo novel.

It doesn't hurt to plan before you start writing. 

In NaNoWriMo, if you don't at least have some sort of idea of the events that happen in your story, you're in trouble. If you have to spend the first week of November hammering out the plot, then you're seriously behind in hitting your 50,000 word goal. You might not do this when you're working on something normally, but it's not likely that when you're writing the other 11 months of the year, you have such strict deadlines, so having an idea of where you're headed is always a good idea. 

Before I did NaNo, I thought that a was a pantser. I was sure that I didn't need a scene list, or even need to know how my story was going to end. I could just pluck along writing whatever I wanted to come next, and then sort everything out later if there were any gaping plot holes. When I finished the last book I wrote with that philosophy, I found so many problems. The characters weren't consistent, the plot dragged, and the ending wasn't emotionally satisfying. I had to scrap the whole draft and start over. I'm currently re-writing the whole book, and I'm doing lots of planning.  

If you know your characters as well as you know yourself, and you know everything that happens in the story, if you're sure of the subplots and the character arcs and everything else in your story, then you won't have nearly as many stops and bumps in the road. NaNo forces you to do a lot of planning beforehand, because you can't write the words: "Chapter One" until November 1.  

It's not as hard as it sounds to find the time to hit your daily word quota. 

I can write 400 words in twenty minutes. Sometimes I'm even quicker than that. For the sake of this illustration, let's just assume that you type at an average speed every time you sit down in front of your computer. That's 20 words a minute, 1,800 words in an hour and a half. That's your whole day's quota. In a hour and a half. What if you don't have that extra time every day? 

I think you do. 

Studies have said that the average American spends 3 hours on social media a day. So if you divert 1/2 of the time you spend reading tweets, you can easily hit the amount of words you need. Now, I know that most people don't sit down and spend three successive hours on social media, it's usually five minutes here, fifteen there, that adds up to three hours. Still, you can use the same process for writing. Any time you have a spare minute, use it to write. Write while you're waiting for a meeting to start, or when you're on the subway. Write during the commercials of your favorite TV show. Even of you just found four times during the day when you had fifteen minutes to write, that should give you the words you need, or close to it. And any catching up you need to do can be done on the weekends. 

Tell your friends and family what you're doing. 

When I first started writing, I would tell anyone who would listen about my book, and let them read it, even though it was nowhere near finished and nowhere publishing ready. Then I switched and didn't let anyone read my writing until it was completely finished and edited. I didn't even tell most people I was even writing. 

Neither of those approaches is really the best way to go. Since NaNoWriMo is going to kind of cut out some of your free time, your family and friends might wonder what's happened to you. Explain to them what you're doing, and tell them a little about your book. That way they don't feel like you're ditching them or being rude. They will understand when you don't respond to calls or texts right away, because they will know that you are busy writing! 

It also doesn't hurt to have some encouragement. Writing a novel is a huge accomplishment, and you deserve to be congratulated if you complete the challenge. Treating yourself is okay, but celebrating with your friends is even better. On December 1st, you can celebrate having your free time back by throwing a "I'm a Novelist" party. 

Don't forget to have fun. 

If you get a great idea for a scene that doesn't really seem to fit anywhere, don't toss it aside. Write it, and put it in a folder for scene pieces. I have a folder for each of my WIPs called 'bits' where I toss any scenes that I can't find a place for, but still really love. The point is,  NaNoWriMo isn't about crossing scenes off of a list until you have a novel, it's about exploring yourself and your imagination and your abilities. It's about seeing what you can do, and having fun with it. The book doesn't have to be perfect at the end, so if, halfway through the month, the book does a 180 and starts heading in a completely different direction that it did when you planned it out, don't stress. Go with it, and have fun. Getting the words out is all that matters, it doesn't matter if things aren't going exactly according to plan. 

Practice makes perfect. 

When I finished my NaNo novel, I read it and realized it was the best thing I had ever written. That's proof that writing isn't just a special talent awarded to some and that the others that don't appear to have the knack are just left out forever. 

Writing is like any other activity. Repetition makes you better. If this is your first time trying NaNoWriMo, don't expect Gone Girl to be sitting in your word file at the end of the month. No one hits the jackpot their first time, and you probably won't either. You might not even finish the challenge. But you will be better for your effort. And if this year isn't your year, next year will be. So get planning guys! You got this! (I'm getting started on the 'I'm a Novelist' party a little early, aren't I?)

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? What have you learned from it before, and what do you hope to get out of it this year? 

3 Ways to Create Memorable Characters

Downton Abbey has made a name for itself, in so many ways.  The drama is hard to look away from and easy to love.  The setting, the costumes, the characters, the plot, everything is virtually flawless.    The show will have you sobbing one minute and yelling at the TV the next. 

 But, what keeps us watching is not the rapid-fire action scenes (because there aren't any) or the unsolved mystery (though there have been one or two murders), it's the characters. 

Downton has an ensemble cast.  And Julian Fellowes crafted all of his characters beautifully (as of the fourth season there have been over 60 of them).  Not even in the first episode, did I ever feel like they were being thrown at me, or have trouble remembering which character was which. 

 Thats because not one single character is forettable.  You either love, or love to hate, every single one.  These people are real, they're flawed, and they're funny.  And not a single one of them is cliché.  

I've noticed a few things that all of the Downton characters have in common.  So here we go, 3 ways to create memorable characters.  

Flaws

Mary is almost always rude, Daisy has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, Lord Grantham is stubborn, Thomas is just plain nasty, Sybil speaks before she thinks, and Mrs. Patmore-let's get real, Mrs. Patmore is fabulous.  Just like no person is perfect, every character should have obvious flaws.  If you ever meet a person that you think is flawless, then they're obviously very skilled at deceit.  Aha!  They're deceitful.  That is a flaw.  

If it's a little difficult to come up with a different flaw for every single character, check out this article.  It's a really interesting look at character flaws. The website is not a writing website, but still an interesting read. 

Voice

You would never mistake one of the Dowager Countess' lines with Williams', or Mr. Carson.   Every one of your characters should have a distinctive way of speaking.  Make sure you don't confuse this with an accent.  Just because you might decide to make a character from the south doesn't mean you have to use overly obvious abbreviations and "southern" words in every sentence that comes out of their mouth.  Saying that the character has a southern accent once and using a few words that the other characters from up north wouldn't use is enough. 

But what I'm really talking about here is the words that a character uses, and the attitude the character has.  The Countess is sassy, Mr. Carson is abrupt, and Anna is sweet (most of the time).  Make sure this comes out in your character's lines. It's easier than it sounds.  You could make a list of character traits, and then add something about the character's background or personality that might impact their word choice. 

A character that's from England would use different words to describe things than someone who's from Maine.  Overly sarcastic people speak differently than straight-forward people do.  Someone who is well read is not going to use the same words as someone who hates to read. 

Unexpected Decisions

Don't be afraid to have your character do something out of the ordinary for them.  We all do things that surprise ourselves sometimes.  Not everyone is going to be nasty or nice all the time.  Remember the time the Dowager let Mr. Moseley win the flower competition?   Her storyline through the whole episode was just building up how much she wanted to win and how the judges picked her every single time.  Then, when she was standing in front of everyone, looking at her name under first place, she called out Mr. Moseley's name instead.  She surprised herself, and everyone else. 

So have your character do something he wouldn't normally do. This is what keeps us interested in him. If we always predicted everything Mary was going to do, what would be the fun of watching anymore? Of course, we have some idea of what she will do, because we know her pretty well, but every so often she does something that surprises us. 

This goes for your antagonists as well.  Have your bad guy make a nice act. It doesn't have to be anything big, just something that makes us see that he's not a total meanie.  

I hope this gives you some ideas for your characters!  Who's your favorite Downton character?  What is it that you makes you like (or dislike) him?


Also, sidenote, if you live near Nashville, TN you should check out the Southern Festival of Books this weekend.  It starts on Friday and goes through Sunday. Tons of fantastic authors will be there, including Lauren Oliver, Kat Zhang, Tamera Alexander, and Natalie Lloyd. If you're interested, you can find more information here.

Updates and New Things Coming!

Hello all!

So, ever since I started this blog almost a year ago, I have not been very religious with my posting schedule. I apologize very sincerely for that. Every week I knew I needed to post something, but I struggled to come up with an interesting post that was something that I actually knew about, and something that would be helpful to all you other writers out there. 

Thankfully, I think I have found a solution to my lack of inspiration! 

It started last week with the season premieres of most of the TV shows I watch. I was analyzing every episode, trying to figure out what would happen. And I greatly annoyed my parents with comments like, 

"That's too much character development for one episode. Something's going to happen to him." 

"Character X killed him." 

"Character Y would never do that. That's soooo out of character." 

And because I noticed these things, I noticed things that could be fixed in my own writing. Then I realized that I officially have a reason to watch TV! It's research! WATCH ALL THE TV SHOWS!! *ahem* 

Anyway, back to business. 

It was when I was having a conversation with one of my writer buddies, that all this clicked for me. I was telling her that in the midst of one of my rants about a TV show, my dad had remarked that I was like a "plot therapist". 

She excitedly said, "That sounds so cool! That would make a good blog post." 

And, because I have a flair for the dramatics and all things bigger, I immediately thought, No, that would make a good blog. 

So, if you've noticed that things have changed a little around here, let me explain what's happpening. I was never completely satisfied with my url, so I have changed it to plottherapy.blogspot.com. Originally I wanted theplottherapist but that is a tad hard to read and it also looks like plot the rapist, so that wasn't going to work. Soooo.....*drumroll* the new official name of this blog is The Plot Therapist! Here's the new header becasue I just can't stop looking at it.

I will also be changing the content of my posts. Mainly, each post will consist of me discussing a particular area of a TV show episode, movie, or book. Whatever jumped out as a teachable moment while I was watching it. This could mean something I thought the writers could have handled differently, or something they handled well. I'll do my best to switch up the formula to keep it from getting too monotonous. But this doesn't mean I will exclude any other kind of post. I will throw in the occasional post that doesn't have anything to do with me dissecting other people's plots. 

I'll also try to exclude as many spoilers as possible, and I won't be posting anything about a particular episode the morning after it airs, so if you haven't seen it, you'll probably have a week or two to get caught up. But, if I do have to discuss a spoiler, I will tell you before I start the post. 

I will mainly be dealing with TV episodes, because episodes tend to have a full plot arc in 40 minutes, which makes it easier to write about, because everything is so condensed. 

I'll also try do some older (aired a few years ago) shows instead of newer ones to keep from having a lot of spoilers, because even if you haven't watched the show, you probably have heard about it or have already had it spoiled for you. 

I hope this is something you guys will be interested in! I'm really excited about this, and this should mean I will be posting a lot more regularly. I will be sticking to my new-posts-go-up-on-thursdays mantra, unless it's something that just absolutely has to be shared before then (like this post)! 

Let me know what you guys think about this idea. Does it sound good? Not so much? Do you annoy your family by guessing the endings of movies?