Writing A Novel: When Characters Come To Life

When outlining a story, I put a lot of thought into my main characters so that I can make them seem as realistic as possible. However, sometimes a secondary character will surprise by taking on a life of its own.

In BAND GEEK, this happened with the characters Ken and Lenny. Ken was originally meant to just be mentioned in passing and did something very bad to Lana, but ended up becoming a pivotal part of the story. He also turned out to be very likeable as time went on. Lenny was written as a comedic character, but he ended up having a lot of heart ... and he has one serious scene, which gives him a bit more depth.

In my latest novel, I'm really starting to like the character Rachael, who's one of Griffin's sisters. He has three younger sisters -- Rachael, Deborah and Judith, named for my cousin and two sisters-in-law, respectively -- and I originally intended for them to have very small roles in the book. As I wrote for Rachael, though, she developed more and more of a personality -- as is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

What I like about her is that she's strong, outspoken and opinionated, even though she's only 14. She's not the oldest sibling in her family, but she is the oldest girl and is extremely protective of her loved ones. She's a bit of an idealistic and will stand up for what she believes in.

Though I'm an only child, I have plenty of friends with siblings and in most cases, the oldest girl has a certain role in the family. The sister of my childhood friend, Lani, is seven years older than her and seemed like an adult to me when we were growing up. Now that I'm 38, a seven-year difference isn't that big of a deal, but at 15, she'd babysit for us and was so maternal. She was almost like a second mother to Lani and readily accepted the responsibility of looking out for her little sister.

One of my other friends has three sisters and though she's technically not the oldest in terms of age, she's the "oldest" in regards to attiude. My friend is the one who helps organize family dealings, handles family crises and has the shoulders that everyone cries on. Again, she's very maternal and take-charge, and is deeply protective of her siblings.

I guess I was thinking of these women as I wrote Rachael since she has some of their traits. I know that it may seem strange to say that a character "takes on a life" of her own; after all, she's my creation. But even your own writing can surprise you and go in a different direction than what you'd planned. Most writers have experienced this at some point and if you spend a lot of time writing, you probably will, as well.

I'm really pleased with how my recent chapter turned out because it covers a significant event in my novel. I just hope that I can find more motivation in the coming days so that I can continue!

Please read and review my first novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Writing A Novel: I'm Not The Only Writer In My Family

This blog is mainly about my writing and my projects, but I'm not the only author in my family. I'm surrounded by many talented people who challenge and inspire me.

My dad also has a science fiction/historical novel up on Amazon called The Lincoln Exchange. It's actually a two-part story, but is a quick read. I'm not a huge fan of alternative history, but read this because, well, he's my dad ... and ended up LOVING his story! Seriously, I was very impressed, both with his writing and with the execution of the plot. He includes so many details and everything ties together in the end. As you can see from the reviews on Amazon, others agree. Now he just has to put his book on Kindle and he'll be all set...

Speaking of alternative history, my husband Jon is working on a series of short stories about Haiti. I'm not going to list them all, but here's one that was published in Lacuna Magazine and here's another. He eventually plans to put them together in an anthology. Meanwhile, he's working on a full-length novel about ancient Minoans called THE BULL AND THE DOLPHIN. He's written a draft and is currently revising it, and will then decide where to place and market his work. Again, this isn't a genre I usually read, but Jon's writing pulls you right into the story.

As for actual history, my cousin Rachael is a personal historian who writes people's biographies. The books that she puts together for her clients are beautiful and her genuine care for her clients come through. You can read more about her work at Life Stories Today.

As you can see I have plenty of people to turn to when I need help with my own writing. I'm so proud to have such creative family members!

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, 4.5 stars on Amazon, now just 99 cents.

Family Drama

 

One of the most difficult things that I had to do while writing BAND GEEK was write adults who antagonized the kids, but were also sympathetic. Melinda, the narrator, has a very shaky relationship with her mother and Josh constantly clashes with the band's conductor, Mr. Francis. But while the teens see these adults as "villains" (though in some cases, Mr. Francis really is in the wrong), I also tried to portray the situation from the adults' point of view.

In real life, I sometimes argued with my parents as a teen and in my mind, they were always wrong. Now that I'm an adult, I can look back and see things a bit differently and understand why they did some things they did. When it came to Mel and her mom, I tried to write it from both sides. Melinda is hurt by her mom's comments about her weight and resents her parents for not being around often enough. Meanwhile, her mom is stressed because she's taking care of a sick parent and is concerned about her daughter's health. Her mom is not the enemy, but Mel sees her as that.

In Josh's case, he and Mr. Francis are both in the wrong. Josh hates the conductor's tyrannical method of teaching and likes to bug him until the teacher gets angry. Mr. Francis, on the other hand, is sick of having a student interrupt his class and doesn't know how to deal with it. Josh has a much bigger role than Mr. Francis in the story so you can see things more from his point of view, but the conductor does have valid reasons for why he acts the way he does.

When I began writing this book, I was still in my 20s and figured that I have an advantage when it came to writing young adult literature. After all, I was still close in age to my teen characters. But now that I'm in my 30s, I actually feel like I have more of an edge because I've lived through my teen years and have been an adult for much longer. I can now relate to the younger and older characters. Because of this, I think the adults are more realistic.

I attempted to give all of my characters depth and show how they do good and bad things -- and learn from their mistakes. I hope you think so, too.

Please check out my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.