Death by Times New Roman

I once had a creative writing teacher tell me:

Kill a character your reader knows and it's a tragedy,

Kill a character your reader doesn't and it's a mystery.

For whatever reason, it's something that has stuck in my mind. I was thinking about writing my novel this weekend, and I say thinking because that's pretty much as far as I got with it. My novel is an action piece and as such, several stranger characters have already died. Really, they should have heeded the warning signs.

Anyway, I'm quickly coming to the point in my novel when one or two of the primary characters must bite the dust. They must be torn to pieces (yup, literally).

I find killing stranger characters easy and surprisingly satisfying. Nothing is quite so stress-relieving as writing someone's death by the teeth of a crazed jungle creature. And if the helpless victim resembles the jerk at work - all the better to make things more realistic, eh?

It's the build up to killing them off that's causing some obstacles for me. I don't want to suddenly pay too much attention to the character, but I also don't want the death to catch the reader completely by surprise. It's that balance...

So, how do you cope with the death of your characters? Do you go with a slow build or more of the direct approach with suspense? Do you treat death more as a tragedy or more as a mystery?

How does Inspiration find you?

Writing is a mentally challenging hobby. Nothing stimulates the brain quite like creating an entire new world and people to interact with it. It is a dynamic field, of that, there can be no doubt.

As I sit here on this beautiful and sunny Monday morning. The energy of my mind is high and I feel my fingers twitching in response. Unfortunately, I need to work... but I did wonder, what is it that has me inspired today? Could it be the relaxing weekend? Perhaps the bright and sunny day?

Have you found any trends that seem to influence your creativity and inspiration? When is your creativity highest? First thing in the morning or late into the night?

From the realm of superstitions

The folk tales, myths and superstitions of our human kind present endless possibilities for story creation and development. They are particularly useful with fantasy, scifi, and paranormal stories. I thought I'd share a new form of divination with you all.

Alectromancy

Method of divination, in which a white Rooster is placed in a circle divided into twenty-six segments, each containing a grain of wheat. The order in which the cock eats the grains as a magic incantation is delivered will spell out the answer to any question perviously posed, be it an unknown lover's name of the indentity of the next ruler. A cock thus employed predicted the coming to power of the Roman Emperor Theodorus in ancient times, and over the centuries the practice has been resurrected for various purposes in many countries.

I am destined to rule the world!!

You Are Destined to Rule the World

You have the makings of a very evil dictator... Which is both kind of cool and kind of scary! Will you rule the world? Maybe. Maybe not. But at least you know that you could.

Are You Destined For World Domination?

And when I accept my position of ultimate power, I will follow the ever important evil overlord guidelines...

-->My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

-->My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

-->My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

-->Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

-->The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

-->I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

-->When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."

-->After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

-->I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.

-->I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.

-->I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

-->One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

-->All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

-->The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

-->I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

-->I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

-->When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

-->I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

-->I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.

-->Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

Every time I read the evil overlord list I just chuckle. So, if you were an evil overlord - what would you do? I think I'll use that as a little writing prompt for the day.

Monday's Writing Inspiration

The Flu


I have the flu. Yes, it sucks. My brain is a quivering glob of grey matter, the synapses are not firing. So, instead of writing something witty, informative or clever... I've decided to let you do it for me. Here you go, a writing prompt to get creative!

Write a 200 to 500 word post that matches one of the following ideas:

1. The REAL history of the Flu
2. A fabricated news release of the newest Flu strand and it's potential to kill, save, cure, mutate(or whatever strikes your fancy) the human, pet, fish, mammal(you get the idea) species
3. Someone just created the cure for the flu - how'd they do it
4. The steps and remedies someone might take to cure themself of the flu (make em up, search old wives tales, share the secrets of your Uncle Lu - whatever)

Post them in my comments, post it on your blog... whatever you like. If you participate, let me know. I'll link my favorites here for others to read.

Maybe the one I like the most will get a prize or something.

I'm going back to bed now!

Cheers.

Preparing to write: your tools of research

I've been a little busy with life and the Debut a Debut contest. That means I've had limited time to focus on my novel. I'm about 10 chapters into it and now more than ever, the research of my novel is critical. At this point in my novel the characters are all in place and the plot is speeding up. It's time to begin that uphill climb to the climactic moments. I need technology, science, locale, culture and all the other tidbits that make my story feel "alive" to come together to create a tense, action-packed sequence of events. I want my reader to be in the jungle with my characters. I want the science behind the events to make sense and be believable. I won't bore you with all the research I've done (at least not yet)... but it got me thinking, how do you start researching your plot or characters?

What is your primary tool when you start researching?

• 
  Travel & culture guides


• 
  Reference (encyclopedia, etc)


• 
  The Internet


• 
  Local library


• 
  Interviews, personal accounts, diaries


• 
  Google


• 
  I can't tell you or you might steal my idea

view results

Getting to know your character. #1 Results

Yesterday I made a post on a character prompt.

As promised, here are the thoughts on each character response:

Strengths:

Courage: Manifesting courage is consistent with a character who takes pride in standing up and in not failing himself or, alternatively, with a socialized character who falls into step with the norms of society, which includes acting a certain way in emergencies.

Presence of Mind: Manifesting presence of mind is consistent with a character who is a natural leader in emergencies, knows useful skills like first aid and CPR, and can be expected to think through - and then make - any hard choices that may confront her.

Resolve: Manifesting resolve is consistent with a character who has persevered through a lifetime of hard knocks and who has the self-awareness to recognize that in any situation, even the roughest, how she will react is in her control.

Calmness: Manifesting calmness is consistent with a phlegmatic character with a low heart rate, slow movements, and a calculating nature who likes to think before he acts and prefers quiet to bustle.

Self Control: Manifesting self-control is consistent with a character who has learned to manage anxiety through strictness and who knows how to ration scarce resources, denies herself treats, and is likely a fan of corporal punishment and of children being seen but not heard.

Weaknesses

Self-Pity: Manifesting self-pity is consistent with a self-indulgent, pampered character who is likely to whine, blame others, love material things, and lack empahy.

Cowardice: Manifesting cowardice is consistent with a secretive, grandiose character who feels both frightened and superior, and whose approach to danger is to hide and to let other inferior, disposable human beings do the dirty work and take the risks.

Lack of resolve: Manifesting lack of resolve is consistent with a blustery character who appears self-confident and can talk a good game but who is more anxious and frightened than she appears and who consequently falters in crunch time.

Mental confusion: Manifesting mental confusion is consistent with a character who lacks real autonomy and independence, who likely thinks of himself as dumb, silly or addled, and who leaves the decision-making process to others - like a mate or parents - while internally criticizing those decisions.

High anxiety: Manifesting high anxiety is consistent with a generally anxious character whose anxiety escalates in emergencies, reaching phobic proportions, and culminating in panic and hysteria.

Getting to know your character. #1

While I'm reading the First Five Pages, I'm also flipping through another book I picked up recently: What would your character do? It's a neat little book that has some good advice on building a character and then it presents many scenarios and answers... little character prompts really. I thought I'd share a prompt with you and see how your character responds.

A MOMENT OF HIGH DRAMA

Out of the blue, your character is confronted by a moment of high drama. Depending on the nature of your character and your novel, choose one of the following dramatic moments: (1) caught in a major earthquake; (2) unjustly arrested for murder; (3) tailing the kidnapper of a child; or (4) watching a loved one die unexpectedly.

Get the incident clearly in mind. What was your character doing before the moment of high drama commenced? What was she feeling? Picture the drama unfolding: the building beginning to shake, your character feeling the handcuffs going on, your character noticing a man snatching a child, your character hearing the loved one's death rattle. Once you have the incident clearly in mind, proceed to the following questions.

***************

1. What strength of character does your character manifest in this moment?

A) Courage?
B) Presence of Mind?
C) Resolve?
D) Calmness?
E) Self-control?

2. What weakness of character does your character manifest in this moment?

A) Self-pity?
B) Cowardice
C) Lack of resolve?
D) Mental confusion?
E) High Anxiety?

Think about your character. Pick a characteristic for each question. Tune in tomorrow. I'll list the descriptions of the different traits as detailed in the book.