#TipfulTuesday: Steven James and Characters

#TipfulTuesday

Today on the Writer's Alley, we focus on character. No matter the genre or the age of the audience, these tips will benefit any writer.

Author Steven James teaches this principle:

To initiate your story, your protagonist will either

1. lose something vital and try to regain it

2. see something desirable and try to obtain it.

3. experience something traumatic and try to overcome it.

Any of these scenarios will set up tension for your story. Whether you write a love story, a mystery, a historical, a children's book, whatever, your main character MUST have tension. A problem to solve. A period in his or her life that we the reader are compelled to turn pages to see what happens next.

When a book's opening pages draws readers into the story and compels them to feel an understanding, a compassion for the Main Character facing the tension, questions are asked. Pages are turned to find out if the character will be safe. Not just physically, but in all manner: emotionally, mentally, spiritually, etc. Will she find their true love? Will he escape? Will she overcome her barrier and get a job? Will the kids at his new school like him? Will she find love, joy, peace, etc?

To put this on a simple scale, think of children's book, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." A staple for all home libraries. The title alone draws readers to open the cover. And yes, Alexander's day does not get any better for many pages. Tension mounts as we read. Our compassion grows for a little boy who is having one of "those days". The kind we've all experienced. We even laugh, because, yes, we completely understand what he is going through. I won't spoil the ending. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens.

Other great character tension examples can be found in: Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind". Joseph's story in the book of Genesis. Frank Peretti's "Monster". Across the board. Every genre. Every age audience. A great book can be defined by the tension the character experiences and the compassion a reader can't help but feel.

So, test your manuscript. Ask a beta reader these questions:

Do you love/are drawn to the main character?

Do you feel compassion for the character?

What caused you to feel this compassion?
(If the answer to the last question indicates a moment of tension, then you have done your job.)

Mystery/suspense, Christian Fiction author, Steven James taught several classes and spoke as the keynote for one night at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer's Conference #BRMCWC last week. He will also be the keynote at #ACFW this year. This is a speaker you will not want to miss.

~Mary Vee (photo by Mary Vee)
#TipfulTuesday #TheWritersAlley

Your thoughts?

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Mary Vee -  Mary Vee - Rock climbing, white-water rafting, and hiking top Mary’s list of ways to enjoy a day. She was homeless for a time, earned her MA in Counseling, and married an Air Force vet.  Mary has been a finalist in several writing contests and writes for her King.

Visit Mary at her website, blog, and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION 

Mary's new release, Daring to Live, is a new release on Amazon.

Meet Me at the Movies: Plotting with Indiana Jones

Welcome to the Movies!!!!

Put on your brown Fedora, pick up your whip, don your best sarcasm, and watch out for snakes, because we’re going to look at Plotting Tips from Indiana Jones.

Not your typical movie for plot points, but I like being unique - and I'm a big Indie-fan. I particularly want to focus on movies 1 and 3 (the other two weren’t all that great IMO) – but Indie’s premiere movie and especially The Last Crusade have some great plotpoints to teach.

So why do we like Indiana Jones? (besides the obvious ;-) or at least, why do we find Indiana memorable?

I think there are lots of reasons: Indy is a strong character. He has a sense of humor, is confident, an expert in something, and he’s quick to risk himself to save others – he’s also vulnerable and flawed. Which make this ‘larger than life’ character more believable. But another reason why I LOVE the Indiana Jones movies is because of the plot - (the action, adventure, suspense, and world travel ;-)

Let's start from the beginning - How do we meet him? In the opening scenes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, our whip wielding hero is walking through a jungle in search of a cave with a golden idol, a historical artifact. There is a feeling of danger. Uncertainty. Forboding.

 Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, Indy is nearly shot with a pistol, jabbed with a poisonous dart, dropped into a deep cavern, flattened by a rock wall, and squashed by a giant boulder. He’s had to use his expertise in archeology to get through booby traps, save treacherous guide’s life twice, outwit his nemesis, while sporting his sense of humor. Whew...what a beginning!

Most stories don’t start off with this much action – except maybe Mary Connealy, Brandilyn Collins or Steven James’ stories. Many novels begin with proposing a sense of uncertainty to the reader - whether it is by peril, attraction, or change.

But action alone doesn’t make a great story. Or perhaps I should rephrase this statement-
meaningful action makes a great story (and action can take both external and internal forms)

Most people will say that fabulous characters drive a plot line. Yes – that’s true. Fabulous characters are the heartbeat to a good story, but plot is the pathways by which the characters give life to the story.

In fact, I like to refer to plot as the character of the story.

Is your plot an aggressive character? Furious? Serious? Funny? Suspenseful?

Does it grow and expand like any good character should?

So how do we string meaningful action together to make a lingering plot?

1.       Begin with a BANG. HOOK the reader.

Indie movies have no trouble offering a beginning ‘hook’. All stories need to be 'caught' by the story from the very beginning. Sherrinda had a great post on this recently that you can read here. I also wrote one a while back that you can read here.

2.       Don’t just keep the reader on his/her toes, but give the characters a purpose that drives the story.

A plot is usually built around a bigger story. In Indiana Jones, the overarching problem is that Adolph Hitler wants to rule the world and one of the ways in which he’s seeking world domination is through the collection of religious artifacts. His hunt is the catalyst that initiates Raiders of the Lost Ark.

It's true for most stories. There is an overarching event driving the plotline.
In Ruth Logan Herne's newest novel, Small Town Hearts, the overarching external goal was establish a candy store - but this goal drove the plotline throughout the story.

The reason I like Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade more than any other Indie movie is because (along with the hooks, cliffhangers, plot turns and such) there is a deeper character development. A deeper story of healing between Indie and his father, as well as a deeper growth inside Indiana. It's almost like a discovery of what true 'worth' really is.

3.       Enhance your characters through a perfectly placed plot

Plots usually bring out a characters past wounds for them to battle or reconcile. For Indie, it’s either his past with Marion or his hurt with his father.

Plots initially ask questions that we answer throughout the story. First questions: Who is this guy?

 What’s he doing? Why is he doing it?

Then the questions become more complex – how will he solve this external goal? The internal one?

A good plot keeps the viewer/reader constantly asking new questions.

How will he get out of this? Will Marion and Indie survive, let alone be together? How will he save his father’s life? Who is the traitor? What will Indy choose, the grail or his life?

As long as the questions keep popping in the reader/viewer’s brain – they’ll stay engaged in the story.

Plots stretch our characters into someone new and better.

Good plots put your characters in places that challenge who they are, what they believe, and maybe even their physical stamina. There are lots of life-threatening situations that take place in Indiana Jones movies such as gunfights, fistfights, boat fights, car fights, burning Scottish castles…you know, the regular stuff ;-) But even if you don’t use such action-packed situations in your novel, you can still place your characters in plot situations that stretch them.

When our characters are challenged, we watch them grow.

Plotpoints to remember:

1.       Frame your scenes (or chapters) with hooks. Catch your reader with a hook at the beginning and then leave them wanting more at the end. (I love trying to do this for EVERY chapter. So much fun)

2.       Shove your characters out of their nice, predictable lives into a new adventure, discovery, opportunity, or trial. (in the Last Crusade it’s when Indie finds out his father has ‘disappeared’ and he’s forced to make a decision to rescue him)

3.       Build the conflict as the story grows. The best stories have both internal and external conflict building at the same time and meet at the climax of the novel. In the Last Crusade, it’s when Indy’s father is shot and Indie must test himself and his faith to save him.

4.       Embrace the unexpected – unexpected turns in the story increase interest and tension. Most authors will tell you to send your characters in places they would never choose to go – or to make choices they would never make on their own.

5.      Character is built through trial - Your plotline has to place your characters in situations where their personalities go deeper than the superficial. Remember, most times we’re only shooting for a happy ENDING – the rest of the story needs to stretch those characters to their limits and beyond. The most memorable characters were forced into change and self-reflection due to circumstances.

And for fun - I found a great blog post called The Indiana Jones Guild to Achieving Your Goals.

And you can purchase your very own Indiana Jones hat at www.shoebuy.com or

Share a part of your plots in your WIP to let us know how you’re doing one of the above things in your story

I just finished reading Mary Connealy’s newest book, Out of Control, and it sets the stage for some wild action (both internally and externally). What is one of your favorite page turners?

Popcorn, a soda of your choice, plus a fruit salad are out. Enjoy the show! J

pictures courtesy of http://movie-wallpapers.org

Questions to Ask about Your Novel from Steven James

Well, it’s one thing to meet an author in the halls of ACFW, or in a workshop, but it’s a whole lot nicer to join an author for lunch. No surprise there. One on one attention and good food too.


Well last Wednesday I had the opportunity to join thriller writer, Steven James, for lunch at a nearby café. We don’t live too far away from each other, and though he’s in the middle of a deadline, he set up a lunch meeting at a wonderful little coffee house just down the street from where I live.

If you don’t know…

Steven James is a prolific writer of all sorts of books, both fiction and nonfiction, but he’s most well-known for his Patrick Bowers Files thriller novels. INTENSE. Books like The Pawn, The Rook, The Knight…all leading up to his most recent one, The Bishop. AHHHH! That book kept me up at night. Whew.

Besides that record, he’s also a charismatic presenter at Christian Writers conferences, as well as churches, universities, schools, and storytelling festivals. This guy stays busy. He has a great sense of humor and a heart for teaching. You can find out more about him at http://www.stevenjames.net/

So…back to MY story.

During our conversation, Steven gave me a few pointers. I thought you guys might benefit from them too. Questions to ask yourself while you create and write your novels. Here are a few of the first tips:

- In the beginning of your novel you are making promises – promises to alter the lives of your characters in some way.

- During the middle and end of your novel, you’re fulfilling those promises.

What does that mean? Well, what you set up in the first few chapters are your promises to the reader about ‘what’ is at stake, what do your characters want, what might keep them from getting what they want…those sorts of things.

Through the middle and the end of the book, we make those promises become reality.

Keeping that in mind, each scene should be a minor ‘alteration’…or altercation :-)

Scenes should not be written JUST to take up space in the book. For example, let’s take a REALLY popular movie scene…hmm….

Okay, sorry, but I’m going to use Pride and Prejudice. (STEVEN JAMES DID NOT USE THIS EXAMPLE) LOL.

And let’s take the ‘movie’ version – Kiera Knightley and Matthew McFadyen.

First scene: New neighbors, a rich, male, and (happily) single neighbor- of COURSE in want of a wife.

- Alteration? Sure. Women who had no prospects, suddenly DO.

A later scene – Lizzie and Mr. Darcy’s first meeting –

- Alteration? Oh yea! Lizzie’s somewhat indifference to Mr. Darcy turns into complete annoyance when he ‘slights’ her.

Readers want promises of danger and anticipation. Promises of CHANGE, and that’s what needs ot happen in each scene. A change inwardly or outwardly – but change that moves the story forward.

So what are some questions to ask yourself while you plot or write?

Here are a few Steven tossed out at lunch:

1. What is the reader thinking, hoping for, questioning, or feeling at this point in your story?

2. Have you ended the scene in a way that is unexpected but also inevitable?

3. Does your chapter/scene move the story forward?

4. Are the characters acting in a way that is believable for them?

5. Is there a way you can make your characters situation worse?

Last thing.

Steven made a GREAT point about NOT writing too many similar scenes. For example, since he writes thrillers, his books are filled with action – but too much of the ‘same’ type of scene will cause the reader to mentally yawn. So he doesn't overdo chase-scenes, because he wants the scene to really COUNT.

For us romance writers, we have to be careful not to have the SAME type of kissing scene, or ‘near’ kiss scene.

It’s kind of like this:

The first bite of chocolate is always the best – each consecutive one is more expected and less tantalizing – but the FIRST is the one that tingles the senses.

Same thing applies for scenes.

Have you made promises in the beginning of your novel?

Do things start out well, but then your characters’ lives alter?

Do you have some ‘screensaver’ scenes in your novel? Pretty to look at, but just take up empty space?

What's Up the Street For Next Week?

Characters!

Seen very many this weekend? Okay, I’m not talking about the ones who live in your house on a daily basis, I mean the ones coming to the door in the autumn ritual of peddling for candy :-)

It’s nothing new to me – and if you’re around kids, dressing up is a daily affair. I mean, where would little boys be without capes? Where would little girls be without tiara’s and ‘clappy’ shoes?

Oh, and let me just tell you, kids aren’t the ONLY ones who love ‘becoming someone else.’ Adults can have just as much fun – putting on their own disguises.

Isn’t that one of the things we do as authors? ‘Become’ other people? We may or may not use masks, but the heart of it still applies. We ‘dress up’ as our characters, so to speak, and travel about imaginary worlds – then come back to describe them to people in this world. :-)

Around my house costumes, cardboard, and capes are daily essentials….as you can probably see.

And why not?

Creativity breeds inspiration, and visa versa :-)

Of course, as authors, we know that sometimes our characters do things we don’t expect…just like kids do. So – what’s been your favorite costume? Do you have one?

Leave a comment and we’ll place you in the drawing for Steven James’ newest thriller, The Bishop…page turner and MAJORLY intense.

Winner of Wanda Brunstetter’s novel, Betsy’s Return is Mosi Esme. Congrats – send your snail mail to pepperbasham(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Now, what’s going on next week?

Monday – A picture’s worth a thousand words? Hmmm…Start the week off with Angie as she talks about Creating Word Pictures

Tuesday – Ready to learn more about Storyboarding…and affordable storyboarding at that?!? Stop by for Julia’s post called Storyboarding on a Shoestring: FREE & Cheap Software Options

Wednesday – Step into Sarah’s world with her post How a CPA Writes a Novel (Because I Know You're DYING to Know!)

Thursday - Bad guys? You want talk about bad guys? Well, Wendy isn’t afraid. Join her today for her post called Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf

Friday - Cindy's post for next week is about Secondary Characters - Side-Kicks, Friends/Family, and Recipes for Conflict

Did anyone else see the Followers count? 190!!! 10 more and it’s PARTY TIME!!!

Speaking of parties – The Alley ShopKeepers have a birthday today. Give a shout out to Wendy!!! Happy Birthday, Wendy. In honor of your birthday, we’re serving your choice of German Chocolate Cake, Chocolate swirl Cheesecake, or Chocolate Chip Cookie Pizza.

Any or all can be served with ice cream…and a smile.

Newstand

Oh boy, check out Mary’s news.
Mondays during the month of Novelmber, Mary has some special guests on her blog. Check out her wonderful lineup!
Paul McCusker, 11/8,
Lori Scott, 11/15,
Chris Fabry, 11/22;
Bryan Davis, 11/29.
Come read their Thanksgiving stories.

Also, Cindy has a giveaway of a contemporary Christian romance novel (a choice of one of three) on her blog, Stop over by Thursday for your chance to win.

Pepper’s blog, Words Seasoned With Salt, features authors Margaret Daley, Erica Vetsch, and Siri Mitchell. Stop by and find out what they have to say about ‘Falling in Love’.

Enjoy creating and being a character! We are all certainly created for a purpose.

As Hazeem from Robin Hood: Prince of Theives says, “God likes great variety.”

The Big 4 - Genre Options in Christian Fiction

On Friday, Krista had a fantastic post about the differences between Inspirational Fiction and Christian Fiction. If you want to read about it, go here.



Genre is a tricky thing anyway, I think. There are SO MANY possibilities. And so many ways to mix them together. I’ve been trying to figure them out for a while now, so I wanted to share some of the basics I’ve learned.

Here is a list of the BIG FOUR genres in Christian Fiction, and I’ll try to break some of these down into subcategories.

One of the MOST popular genre in Christian circles is Historical Fiction. Usually the ‘line’ for historical is WWII or maybe even the 1950s. I say ‘historical’ a bit loosely because there are basically two different camps of historical writers.

- People who give great historical detail, including true historical events and even historical figures (such as Nancy Moser’s historical books)

- Others use a historical period as a backdrop for their stories, but use purely fictional characters throughout.

Romance can be a part of these stories, but it usually isn’t the MAIN part of the story. Not if it’s a pure historical. For those of you who write romance in a historical setting, then the next genre is for you ;-)

THE MOST POPULAR Genre in Christian fiction is ROMANCE. Which means, the stories are about love, but that’s about all they could have in common. There are so many subgenre, it’s one of the easiest for first-time writers to enter. MANY of my favorite authors fit into here, of course. Mary Connealy, Julie Lessman, Laura Frantz, Siri Mitchell, Deeanne Gist… you get the point :-)

Historical romance

Romantic Suspense

Prairie Romance

Amish Romance

Fantasy Romance

Romantic Comedy

Those are just a few of the possibilities. We could add various combinations to romance and get another sub-genre, but remember some (BASIC) rules apply to romance. Most publishers want the hero and heroine meeting in the first chapter. The relationship between the hero and heroine is the ‘heart’ of the story and usually the story takes place over a relatively short period of time. There can be some pretty important stereotypes placed on the hero and heroine as well – so researching is an important starting point. :-)

Another BIG Genre is Christian Contemporary Fiction – which is really the ‘catch all’ of novels set in a contemporary world. Christian Women’s Fiction is usually placed within this genre. Chick-lit and Mom-lit would have fit in here, or any character driven novel. Angela Hunt comes to mind and some of Deb Raney and DiAnn Mills novels as well.

The fourth BIG genre (and one of the newest) is Christian Suspense and Mystery. The ‘who done it’ stories as well as the ‘thrillers’. The three main subgenre here are:

Romantic mystery

Romantic suspense

Cozy Mystery – these are your ‘sweet’ mysteries, without the graphic violence.

(Legal suspense novels and the new Christian ‘thrillers’ are becoming a larger subgenre here – Steven James, as an example)

A few other subgenres are – Christian Biblical Fiction (The Centurion’s Wife, Abigail), SciFi & Fantasy, Westerns, Adventure (House of Wolves is a VERY good example here), and even Horror – I might be tempted to put some of Ted Dekker’s books here)

So, when it comes to you – what genre do you read? AND what genre do you write?

Can you narrow it down to a subgenre, or do you get stuck in the gray sometimes like me? I have a historical novel that has a strong romantic element, but the heroine’s journey is as strong by itself as the romantic journey. So what do I do? Is it historical or is it romance?

Do you guys ever get a little lost in the genre fog?