Molly O'Neill, an editor at Harper Collins, blogged about certain beliefs we might have. You'll want to read the whole post, but here are her questions for how we might enrich our characters by understanding their beliefs.Here's part of the post:So if you're in the mood for a writing exercise, take the main character(s) in... Continue Reading →
A bit on the science of character
David Brooks at the New York Times has a piece on the Where the Wild Things Are movie. Don't read it if you haven't seen the movie. He gives the whole thing away (fume, fume).In light of Cheryl Klein's brief discussion of literary depth, though, I wanted to combine these two ideas.Here's what Cheryl says:The... Continue Reading →
A fun way to make your character more annoying
You know, here's a link to a poll that claims nearly half of all Americans find "whatever" to be, like, the most annoying word ever. It is what it is, you know. Anyway, here's the link. Whatever.
A sort of scientific way to name your characters
You know how it can sometimes feel like you're pulling character names out of a dark, unmentionable space (I'm talking about the kitchen junk drawer, sicko).The Shelftalker blog at Publishers Weekly has a great find: a book and website called The Baby Name Wizard.Check out Shelftalker to get the links and see how it all... Continue Reading →
Cheryl Klein on characters
Cheryl's blog has a great list of things we need to think about when we're building characters. It comes from Joan Bauer, and includes: ESSENCE1. Facts-- Gender-- Age-- Ethnicity-- Sexuality-- Basic family situation+ Who's in the immediate family+ Their socioeconomic status?-- Where they live+ Rural, suburban, urban?+ Region and country2. Internal Qualities-- Personality traits-- Ethics/morals/values--... Continue Reading →
Book recommendation
I've been reading I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears, a collection of idioms and their origins by Jag Bhalla (published by National Geographic). It struck me that this is a useful little thing for writers.Bhalla's premise is that "languages make visible what's important to their users."The same goes for our characters. What expressions reveal... Continue Reading →