Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rhiannon Hopkins on January 24, 2012 at 3:31pm

HI Suan, thanks for the reply. Trevolution, I love it, wish I had thought of it.  I learned the difference between writing and editing last year by completing NANOWRIMO with two days to spare, and like you say it is all about getting to the end, just write don't cnesor or think, just go for it. I shall lookout for Trevor!

Permalink Reply by Rebecca Forster on January 24, 2012 at 2:48pm

I just published the fourth book in a series (Expert Witness). People are loving it. The question they ask is 'why did you kill that character at the end? She was fabulous. She could have been a series." I knew it but her death worked on a lot of levels. Now I'm sorry I didn't listen to my gut! Good for you for recognizing the importance of this character early on. PS another author friend had a great idea - do a prequel series with that character. Last book in that series will be when she meets the characters in this series and dies. Now that is a brilliant thinker!

Permalink Reply by Rhiannon Hopkins on January 24, 2012 at 3:32pm

Briillant and slightly sneaky, in the best possible way!

Permalink Reply by Rebecca Forster on January 24, 2012 at 3:39pm

I was pretty impressed with her thought process, too. I guess that's why authors need to keep talking to each other :)

Permalink Reply by Marilyn Bostick on January 24, 2012 at 9:44pm

@Rebecca, or you could find some fantastical way to bring her back! But the prequel is the better idea. :)

Permalink Reply by Marilyn Bostick on January 24, 2012 at 9:28pm

@Susan Wow how terrific! I have several short stories I want to turn into novels, and I'm currently working on a horror. What I've decided to do is to write a Nancy Drew type series, but the Main character will be my oldest granddaughter with her sister being a sidekick. Their names are Madison and Katie. I just have to come up with a catchy series title. This will be a totally new type of writing for me. Challenged but excited :)

Permalink Reply by Marilyn Bostick on January 24, 2012 at 9:49pm

How much detail on characters descriptions is too much? Is it too little detail to let the reader imagine what they want?

Permalink Reply by Susan Helene Gottfried on January 25, 2012 at 5:06am

You could paint some readers a picture (often called cover art) and they will still get upset because that's not how THEY envisioned  your character.

The key to characterization is to do it right -- don't hit the reader over the head with strings of adjectives and other descriptors. Find one thing that sets your character apart from the others, and use that as your reference point. (You'll edit a lot of these out)

And then use your betas or a content editor to help you hone in on the character. Remember: the goal is to make your character seem alive to your reader.

Permalink Reply by Marilyn Bostick on January 25, 2012 at 7:10am

Great information! Truly very helpful.

Permalink Reply by Rebecca Forster on January 25, 2012 at 3:17pm

Marilyn, That is an interesting question on 'how much  is too much'. I don't think it's a matter of drawing a line but a matter of your personal style. I tend to give enough for the reader to get a picture of the people I'm writing about but that's about it. If your style is to go into deep description and you do it well then it can never be too much as long as it doesn't bore the reader. That's all we do, after all. Keep the reader turning those pages :)

Permalink Reply by Marilyn Bostick on January 25, 2012 at 11:06pm

Thank you! Wonderful reply :)

Permalink Reply by Michelle Gwynn Jones on January 27, 2012 at 11:30pm

My novel is about a missing child.  When I wrote the first draft we followed two women, the biological mother and the women raising the child.  Towards the end of the book is a legal battle with an attorney.  THEN I rewrote the book making the attorney the MC helping the biological mother out of a legal battle she didn't even have in the first draft.  THEN one reader suggested a fling with the detective and another reader suggested someone try to kill her.  I THOUGHT THEY WERE BOTH NUTS... THEN I THOUGHT AGAIN.  NOW a book about two mothers, one searching for a child and one keeping her child's true identy a secreat has turned into a whodunit romance.  Besides the names, nothing is the same.  And it is so much better then it was before and as an added bonus, it can be a series.

 

I give very limited descriptions of my characters and they are spread throughout the book. In fact now that I think about it, the reader knows more about the MC's assistant and the two detectives then they do about the MC.  It is her POV and she doesn't really describe herself.  I have told the reader a lot about her personality though.

 

I agree with Susan about not hitting the reader of the head.  I was in a writing group and one reading was the first chapter of a book.  The MC got in an elevator and looking at her reflection in the elevator door she described herself from hair, eye and skin color to exactly what she was wearing... talk about a self absorbed character...and bored readers.

 

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