What I Think Donald Maass Said

I attended a workshop a couple of years ago conducted by Donald Maass (author of Writing the Breakout Novel and The Fire in Fiction and "more than sixteen novels" which he's rumored to have written using a pseudonym). I took pages and pages of notes, mostly exercises using the manuscript I'd completed at the time.

Looking through those notes this morning, I couldn't actually find this, but I swear he said it:

"If it isn't on the page, it doesn't exist."

So, I've decided he said it. And since this is my blog, I've decided he said it more than once.

Apparently, for me, it might have been a good idea to say it One. More. Time.

A few wonderful authors reviewed my First Fifty pages recently, and one catch (among many great catches) revolved around my minimal use of physical description and other personal detail. Wow. True.

I know my characters so well, see them in such a highlighted and defined way when I tell their stories, that I made the fatal assumption everyone else could see them as well. I neglected to put their descriptions on the page.

The trick is to find a balance. I do not want to become the Tom Clancy of characterization. I want to give just enough detail that my readers can take it from there, and enjoy their own mental images of my characters.

Have you ever read a book and half-way through you're told the brown-haired protagonist is blonde? Not only does it take me out of the story, it kind of ticks me off.

I recently read a wonderful series of books featuring the same protagonist. Unless I missed it, no description appeared in the first few books. So, in my mind, he bore a strong resemblance to Brian Dennehy—a kind of gentle giant. Imagine my shock when I read that he was small and wiry? I shook my head and decided to stick with Brian.

So, part of my First Fifty revisions include a bit more description. Hopefully, just enough.

For those of you who are much like me, here it is, One. More. Time:

"If it isn't on the page, it doesn't exist."

Today is also my blogging day at Crime Fiction Collective. I'm tackling my need to be perfect and would love you to stop by there as well.

CR: You're Next by Gregg Hurwitz. I'm loving this book and at about half-way through, feel like I can highly recommend it. It's such a pleasure to be reading something I enjoy.

It's all better with friends.

Kelley Armstrong: What Keeps Them Coming Back

Some terrific advice concerning characterization and what you should do after your first book is published from Kelley Armstrong.

How do you keep your characters from being two dimensional?











CR: The Burning Wire by Jeffery Deaver.

It's all better with friends.

Timothy Hallinan's Poke Rafferty Series

I finished Timothy Hallinan's The Queen of Patpong this morning. Well, twice this morning.

Forced to stop reading a little after 1 a.m. because my vision was going wonky (I'm usually lights-out by 11 at the latest) I got up this morning, pushed the button for my French Roast and continued until the end.

For those reading this series (and everyone should), here's my tip for Queen: Do not read chapter 19 thinking you'll go to sleep afterward. Ain't gonna happen.

But there's more from a writer's view. It is totally interfering with my own work at this point. Until I get it out of my system (thank goodness for blogs) it's in the way. I try to focus on the story I'm writing (which I totally adore, and has some potential in its own right) but this unseen element keeps punching me in the shoulder. So. In the interest of me getting back to my cadaver dogs and foolish humans, here's what I want to expound on.

The Poke Rafferty series in general: The second one is the weakest of the four, but still good. Don't skip it. They all hang together like some delicate lace. Read them in order. Read them all.

Hallinan's characterization:They are rich and complex. They live in a rich and complex society (Bangkok) and one bleeds into the other. They both will rip your heart out. Heroes abound in the most unlikely places. And no one, no one, has given me an eight or nine or ten-year old girl better than Timothy Hallinan.

Chapter Length: I haven't checked this, but my impression was that somehow they got longer in the last two books. There were scene breaks, but personally, I miss the shorter chapters. Could have been an editorial/publisher/cost thing. (So, in reference to my tip, Chapter 19 in Queen is long. And intense. Just sayin'.)

Third Person Present: This is awesome. I don't know how long it took him to find his voice there, but you have got to check it out. I don't know if it's operator error or truth, but on my Kindle edition of the first book in the series, A Nail Through the Heart, I did a search for the word "was". Guess what, it showed up a grand total of . . . . ZERO times.

Action scenes: We've been taught that short, bullet-type sentences help convey the speed and urgency of a situation. I get that. It's true. The problem I've seen with this technique in the past is that an action scene can come out sounding like a To-Do list. Hallinan conveys intensity using a zillion commas. Here's one sentence (if I can choose just one—okay, I picked three in succession) from page 256 of The Queen of Patpong :

She's emitting a high, earsplitting squeal, as even and unvarying as an electronic alarm. Her assailant brings up a hand and hits her with a heavy slap that rocks her head and loosens her grip, and she pitches forward onto her stomach. The man brings back a foot to kick her.

I just sat back and said, "Oh, wow."



CR: Think I'll begin a Jeffery Deaver tonight. One I bought at the Writer's Police Academy. Sorry, can't think of the name right now.

It's all better with friends.

Character as a Seasoning

Developing strong, memorable characters who have an impact on readers is an aspiration for every novelist.

For a new suspense novelist, getting there can be a trick.

If my name were Stephen King or Dean Koontz or Mary Higgins Clark, I could lay some characterization down in the beginning pages of my novel. My manuscript would be one of those that agents and editors would grab off the pile and have all of their calls held while they gave it their undivided attention. For as long as it took.

And they would love every word.

But the name Peg Brantley doesn't have the same effect. I don't have the luxury to let readers get a sense of my terrific characters before something gripping happens.

In suspense, by a new author, the grip is more likely to seal the deal than the gripper.

It's important in every genre to thoroughly know your characters. In suspense, because I don't have the luxury of 'growing' them, it's even more important that they be fully realized characters from before the beginning. I know more about my guys than will ever make the final cut.

Find the secret strength in your main character, and it won't matter whether you are working with a hero or an anti-hero. Your readers will bond with both.

~DONALD MAASS, THE FIRE IN FICTION

And something else to consider: Take your character's greatest weakness and tie it inexorably to the plot.

The trick for a suspense novelist, is to sprinkle in characterization when no one is looking.

CR: I'm about 1/2 way through the T.L. Hines. Sometimes woo-woo is fun. And he is definitely keeping me guessing. The book is called The Dead Whisper On.

It's all better with friends.

Writing The Bad Guy

As a suspense novelist, my favorite characters to write have been the antagonists. There's something intriguing about writing evil. And writing evil that has depth? Even more so.

But guess what occurred to me last night while I was working in the kitchen? (Other than that we were running low on the pasta I thought we'd be leaving to family members in our will.)

As a reader, in most books, I don't much like reading the chapters/scenes in the antagonist's POV.

I can think of several that have been flat and predictable. They're boring and other than the fact they they're doing something nefarious to the good guys, they don't add anything to the story.

Just as readers need to connect with my protagonists, they also need to find something—some kernel—of similarity or empathy or something in the bad guy they can relate to, as weird as that sounds. This is especially important if I'm going to give them a POV role.

Or I need to write the character so twisted that their story is as intriguing as the protagonist's story. (Think Silence of the Lambs.)

Of course, I'm trying to do both. Because there's a side of me that's pretty scary, and I've learned not to be afraid to go there.

CR: Black Water Rising by Attica Locke.

It's all better with friends.

Finding Character

Plot makes a story interesting and page-turning, but characters make readers care about that plot.

Suspense novelists need to set a fast paced story, and so to be successful at character development, we had better know how to nail them fast. This post isn't about character arcs where events alter our creations for better or worse, this is about beginning the story with fully formed, four-dimensional (at least), human beings. You can't take the time to "build" them, and your story is what changes them.

Think of the thought and planning a pilot needs to go through when landing on an aircraft carrier at sea. There's no room for error, and no way to mosey down the runway until he feels like stopping. And because he's gone over and over the process (backstory) he doesn't need to think much about why he's taking the various steps and making his decisions. Everything is automatic. Everything makes sense. Everything works.

In order to land on the "character" carrier sure-footed and ready to role out the plot, the novelist has got to know their characters intimately before introducing them to readers. What are some of the ways to do this?

Character charts abound. Most of them leave me feeling like I've created a cardboard cutout of some dull, predictable clod. Not even near as interesting as Flat Stanley. Occasionally I'll run into a question or two that opens doors for additional insight, but more often, they make me get bored with a character before I've even found a way to care about them. And these are my characters! Sheesh.

A young writer friend asked about character charts and I told her I didn't use them. And I told her why. But then later, it dawned on me that she writes paranormal, fantasy kinds of things, and builds a rather unique storyworld. So, for her, figuring out what her strange creature eats for breakfast might be kind of fun. Sometimes the minutiae can really get a writer juiced, as long as it's unique.

There are two things that work best for me (and I'd love to hear what works for you).

The first is writing a first person character study. Free-form. Just let myself go. What I'm looking for in the process are the defining moments (thanks, Dr. Phil) of my character's life. What made them the people they are today? This exercise lets me get into the skin of the person I'm writing about and keep them real and true to character.

The second thing sort of happens while I'm doing the free-form first person character study. I keep asking them questions. The main one is "Why?" It's kind of working backward. Rather than constructing a character, I'm deconstructing one. Let me get to the crux/core/heart of the matter.

When I think of favorite books, the plot might be a sharp point of remembrance, but it's the characters who invade my psyche and hold on that truly make a story memorable. That's what I strive for with every paragraph I write.

Resources:

Most writers have pages on their websites for other writers. Many times, you can find character charts on those. Pick an author whose characters grab you, and see what they've got available.

Getting Into Character by Brandilyn Collins is an excellent book on character development.

Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card is one that comes highly recommended.

45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt is also one that is recommended.

Heroes & Heroines by Cowden, LaFever and Viders is another option.

Fiction never exceeds the reach of the writer's courage.

~DOROTHY ALLISON

JF: Fire and Ice by J.A. Jance. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Look for it on sale July 21st.

CR: Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen. So far, this one isn't doing much for me. That's why I put it down for the Jance, but have picked it up again. I'm forever hopeful.

Next, I'm thinking I'd like to give J.D. Rhoades a try.

It's all better with friends.

Character Development

Creating sympathetic characters is a key element in novel construction. Readers need to empathize and care about the people they're reading about--otherwise, why bother?

One of my favorite ways is to do some "First Thought" writing about each major character. Write in first person, and--taking a page from Dr. Phil--let the defining moments flow. What were the events that altered the course her life was following up until then? I generally type 2-3 single-spaced pages. I'm usually always surprised.

Once that's done, answering the following questions is easy, and only rounds out the edges of my character. Don't worry. I'm not going to suggest you write down what she had for breakfast. But, in the end, that would be an easy--if mundane--question to answer.

(For the sake of brevity, I'm only asking some questions that I don't see on every Character Sheet, or that are very important to answer.)

1. How do they move?

2. What do they smell like?

3. Do they have any striking or identifying feature?

4. What secrets do they hide?

5. What is the trait they hate the most in themselves?

6. Where are their favorite places? Least favorite?

7. What do they fear?

8. What don't they fear, but should?

9. What sort of habits do they have?

10. Do they have any hobbies?

11. What is the most important thing in the world to them? Can you take that away?

I need to really think about my main characters. If I don't like them very much, no one else will either. Keep in mind the traits you're attracted to, and the ones you're not. It took me a while to go back and do rewrites (on an earlier effort) to make my protag less wimpy and more macho.

And don't forget to do this with your antagonist. I may have KNOWN that my current bad guy had a lot of layers, but I didn't know that "a quick whiff and Lawes smells like nice cologne. But if he gets too close you can smell a strange mix of honey and rotting meat." He also has a couple of unusual hobbies.


If you don't have time to do something right, where are you going to find the time to fix it? ~Stephen King




CR: The Sudoku Puzzle Murders by Parnell Hall.

It's all better with friends.

Phobias, Hobbies & Quirks

Part of character development has to include eccentricities and things on which my characters enjoy spending both time and money.

I have trouble with heights. Strike that. I have a lot of trouble with heights. That's one reason why our upper deck is pretty much the domain of my husband. I'm okay as long as I'm looking out at the mountains, but looking down? Three stories? It's like a magnetic spiral with deadly appeal.

If my character has this same phobia, giving her a hobby of rock climbing would not be a very smart move on my part. But I definitely want to consider the possibility of having her out on a girder of a high rise under construction with a menacing something, or someone, right behind her. Wowzer. Terrific conflict.

Same thing if my character is afraid of closed-in places. I will want to have him stuck in a tiny cave at some point.

Quirks, used well, can be tools of endearment. The trick is to not stretch them to the point they seem contrived. A quirk for the sake of a quirk doesn't come off well.

Let's take lipstick for example. (Yes, the current news is bombarding my brain.) It's not whack-o to have my character have a need to reapply lipstick whenever she feels anxious. It would be whack-o for her to break out her entire makeup bag and do the same thing. Not only whack-o, but action stopping.

One of my favorite television programs is Monk. Here is a character who is filled with phobias and quirks and yet remains lovable. But Monk falls more under the label of "cozy" as opposed to suspense.

As a suspense novelist, I need to be selective. It may even be the I have the information (with my background character studies) and these personality traits never meet the light of day. Nothing wrong with that.

Phobias, hobbies and quirks can help to round out a character. And provide fodder for conflict, the spice of life. Well, the spice of fiction.




Still reading Kill Me. It's a good book, I've just been busy with anniversaries and entertaining and getting ready for special company.

It's all better with friends.

Secrets

In the Writer's Digest book, Writing Mysteries, edited by Sue Grafton, with Jan Burke and Barry Zeman, Phyllis Whitney talks about pacing and suspense. (Anything attributed to Phyllis Whitney gets my attention.)

. . . give every character a secret. As a writer you need to know about the hidden goals, the past guilts of every character. Such secrets can be used to make your story people behave in mysterious and suspense-building ways. As we think about and develop these secrets, the characters become more real to us, as writers, and thus to our readers. Conflict is likely to grow out of these concealed matters, and of course, this is a main weapon in our suspense arsenal.

I'm an old snoop from way back. My desire to know usually outranks my desire for decorum. I want to know the secrets of all of my characters. Even the secrets they've forgotten about. I want to know what they've got locked away in a trunk somewhere.

Heck, I want to know your secrets. I consider this desire a result of being a student of the human condition. My husband considers it a sickness. I'm counting on more than one reader being similarly afflicted.

Secrets are tantalizing. They can drive characters to do amazing things. If those amazing things create conflict? Well, then . . .


Still reading Kill Me.

It's all better with friends.

Bogged Down

This morning I started developing a deliciously wicked character. I knew there was a chance he would pop my plot, but his wild absurdities fell over me like a cloak I couldn't shake off. He stood there, wearing an evil smirk and holding an enormous pin, the better with which to pop plots.

And he succeeded.

So now I have a confession to make. Part of my plan to analyze my manuscript (I didn't know it at the time) was to hold on to as much as possible. Twist it and make it work. Flip it and make it work. Punch it up and make it work. Look like I knew what I was doing and . . . well, it didn't work.

Broken Bones is morphing. The premise is still there (black market body parts) but the plot line is shifting. It could be a bit darker (darker than black market body parts? yep.) and it continues to deviate into more of something a student of Donald Maass might write. I can only hope. From my keyboard to God's inbox.

It dawned on me a few minutes ago that I'm looking at a major overhaul, and I'm not sure where to start. I'm like that mule in the picture. "I'm stuck. I'm not going anywhere and you can't make me. Can't you see all of this mud? What in the world was I thinking letting you lead me into this?"

My co-protagonists are waiting patiently while I do some scheming with the dastardly Volisus Lawes. Isn't that a perfectly grizzly name?



Currently reading: Deadly Beautiful by Sam Baker. I just started it today, and it's showing great promise. Look for it on sale August 19th.

Working on: Getting the mud out of my eyes.

It's all better with friends.

Characters We Care About

We don't need to love them, but we do need to feel like we know them. We need to understand what makes them tick, and we need to identify with them enough to care about what happens to them.

Think about the characters in the book you're reading right now. Do they have imperfections to add dimension and make them real? Can you imagine what they're doing when you close the cover of the book and clean the kitchen?

Are there lines you don't want to cross that might take a character from fabulously flawed to pompously pathetic?

We know we want our protagonists to be strong, but strength without vulnerability is tyrannical. And a character without weakness is hard to cheer for. After all, they can't lose.

And in fiction, they have to be able to lose.

Here are a couple of ideas on ways to flesh out a two-dimensional character into something a bit more memorable (I'm sure there are more and I'd love to hear them):

· Vulnerability Know the physical or emotional soft spot that is intimately tied to your character. You don't need to go into it ad nauseam with backstory, but showing vulnerable sides will help make your character more human. Think about fear, regret, guilt, sadness, failures, etc.

· Desire Your character has to have something at stake. The more they want something, the more we like them. Desperate desire is even more compelling than whether or not they ever achieve what they're after. A specific, tangible, understandable goal keeps a reader engaged . . . especially when they're thwarted time after time.

· First Person Take your main characters and write a first person character study. Phillip McGraw (Dr. Phil) wrote a book called Self Matters, and although I admit to never finishing this bestseller, it does provide some interesting character development ideas. What are the ten most defining moments of your character's life? What have (up until now) been the seven most critical choices they've made to get them where they are? Who are the five most important people in their life and how have they been shaped by those five people?

· Quirk Be careful not to go overboard with this one, but do they have a favorite phrase? A funny habit? An object to which they attach great emotion? And odd hobby or a physical reaction to stress?

· Pressure Apply powerful pressure and don't let up. The ticking clock gets louder and they have no choice but to take action, even if that's the last thing they'd ever want to do.

These are just a few ideas. What sorts of things connect you to a character? Are they universal?

It's all better with friends.

Hang 'em High

The term "suspense" comes from the Latin word, suspendere, which means "to hang." (Yes, that's an elephant up a tree. Not exactly "hanging", but I do sense a certain amount of suspense, don't you?)

Readers of suspense enjoy the feeling of anxiety and apprehension they experience from the genre. How do they get there? Uncertainty.

The worst thing you can do as a suspense novelist is to bore your reader. Heck, the worst thing you can do as any kind of novelist is to bore your reader. And there are so many ways in which to bore . . .

Some ideas to keep your readers hanging:

Delete areas where you are supplying too much information. This often comes disguised as the internal thoughts of your POV character. Give your readers the opportunity to wonder and worry.

Foreshadowing is a wonderful tool, but remember it's a shadow and not a detailed picture. Don't be obvious.

Create characters your reader will care about. Then threaten them with something. It can be physical, psychological or emotional. Oh heck, why not all three?

Give your protagonist intense motivation. Connect to their basic human needs and understand what drives them. Your protagonist should be strong, not wussy. Their desire should be powerful, overwhelming, and completely believable.

Repeat the above for your antagonist. The more chance you give your villain to win, the more chance you have to build suspense.

Keep raising the stakes. Don't let up. Remember that elephant up a tree? Imagine a sleeping baby lying under the tree. And then, a poacher who sees some easy prey in an unlikely spot. And then . . . you get the drift. Never make things easy. (For more, see my post on the science of scenes.)

Give the reader more information than you give your hero. This is done by using multiple points of view. Your reader will have the sublime pleasure of worrying about things even more.

Build the momentum by winding up the ticking clock. Urgency fuels suspense. Make sure your reader understands the race and everything that's at stake.

Did you hear that limb crack?

It's all better with friends.

To Dialogue or Not to Dialogue

I'm reading along, happy as a pup getting its first ear rub. The story is pulling me in, the characters not only personalized but also personal . . . and then I turn the page. No dialogue. There's a sea of narrative swarming before my eyes. I'm perplexed. I'm disappointed. I'm vexed. I begin to skim ahead and surreptitiously flip the next page just to see if there's some dialogue a-comin'. Some relief. Interest. Story. People-building. Know what I mean?

Truthfully, it doesn't matter much to me if this narrative is regarding the new daffodil blooms, or an action packed dogfight. Although an action sequence can be fab, it's still narrative. Can I last until someone talks again?

Having made the point that dialogue is one of the keys to pacing, I should also point out that all dialogue and no narrative is equally stinky. Balance is important.

When you're writing dialogue, keep it intense and fresh. If you were to record a real conversation between two people word for word, it would be dull reading. Make certain your characters move the scene forward when they talk. Every word must build characterization, conflict, or lead to meaningful interaction. Otherwise, the delete key is called for.

Know to your core what each character would say and how they'd say it. Your heroine who has lived wild in the woods since the age of two is not going to emerge reciting Shakespeare any more than she would have the manners of Emily Post.

Treat dialect, accents and speech differences with kid gloves. Unless you're personally steeped in those nuances, you run the risk of offending someone else who lives them. Once again, balance is important. Your character who stutters will pull your reader out of the story if every other word is sh-shown as a stu-stutter. Less is more.

In a later post, I'll share my opinion of dialogue tags and beats.

It's all better with friends.