“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” 

                                                                                                  — Orson Scott

Things You Didn't Know About Your Books: Part 3

                                                                              

Where Almost Every Hero Comes From 

 

Thus far I have covered the topics of who or what our main protagonists and villains can unintentionally be founded on when we write. The last character I want to address in this three-part series, is the hero. This is an incredibly important person in any novel, and can be incredibly diverse depending on the genre and plot that you are writing. 

 

In my years of writing I have discovered that hero's almost instantaneously sprout from two sources. Of course, as I have progressed in my writing I have learned to avoid these two common pitfalls while constructing my heroes. Without even knowing it, the heroes in our novels will usually be the product of two things. Number one: a writer can often create their manuscript's hero to be like someone in their life whom they personally admire. Second, writer's can also have the tendency to form a hero from who they wish would rescue them from the brutalities of life.

 

Both of these tenancies are unhealthy, but before I can discuss how to avoid them, let me define these two common mistakes in more detail. Pitfall #1 is one of the easiest to fall into. Almost without thinking, when we go to form our heroes, we write them out to resemble someone whom we view to be our hero in our personal lives. This is very dangerous and can put your writing and career as a writer in jeopardy. For example, if you make the hero in your book your boyfriend and then you later find out that he was cheating on you and the two of you break up, chances are you won't even want to look at your novel because the hero shares the same characteristics as the man who betrayed you. This could have as heavy a side effect as making you quite your writing altogether. And yes, this is another form of getting far too personal in your writing. Never found characters to resemble people in your personal life, good or bad.  

 

The second tendency is a little easier to catch. Often if we find ourselves trapped in a life or circumstances that are unfavorable, we instantly dream of the person (man or woman) who is to rescue us from the injustices we have been oppressed by. And since writing is often the way to pour out our frustrations and emotions, we might go and craft a hero in our novel who is the exact image of who we wish would come to rescue us in our real lives. This might seem like a harmless tendency at first glance, but it too is not healthy. You are allowing yourself to get personal again. You could unconsciously be writing your own sob story in your book when you make the hero the conqueror you wish would save you. It sets the stage for you to pour out your life story and perhaps even change the protagonist to someone more like yourself. Putting your lionheart in a book is the gait way to a manuscript that might as well be the story of your life. 

So how can we, as writers, make sure we don't fall into these common and almost thoughtless mistakes? Well, to prevent Pitfall #1, after you have completed the construction of your hero's character, give that character sheet to someone you trust and ask them what they think of he/she. If they are a close friend, then they will be able to tell if you based your hero on someone whom you admire in your personal life. It doesn't hurt to be honest with yourself either and force yourself to take an objective view of your hero and make sure he/she is not a carbon copy of a personal hero.

 

To avoid Pitfall #2 (and I have probably used this solution multiple times by now) be sure to write  any emotions or loneliness that you are feeling towards someone or something down in your journal, go to your therapy session, spend your hour in prayer...essentially rid yourself of unhealthy emotions respectively before you sit down to construct your hero or write.  That way, your characters won't immediately be molded from the someone who you wish would intervene in your life. 

 

Why not look back at some past novels? Have you unintentionally formed heroes from the lionheart in your own life? Or maybe you just concocted a hero for your novels that was meant to save you instead of your protagonist from the storms of life? You might be surprised at what you find. 

 

~ Lydia Sherren  

Quote For The Week

                                                      

 

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
                                                      ― Toni Morrison

Things You Didn't Know About Your Books Part 2

                                                                         

                                 Where Almost Every Villain Comes From

 

We've dealt with the making of your main protagonist, so let's move on to the character who puts you on the edge of your seat...the villain. Similar to how our protagonists evolve sometimes (especially if you are a novice writer) your villain can unintentionally be formed in two ways - both of them being ones you should avoid.

 

First, your villain might accidentally be composed of your actual nemesis, it could be someone who has dealt harshly with you in your past or it can be a villain who shares attributes with your "inner struggles". For example, you may struggle with identity, fear, self-confidence, etc. so you concoct a villain that exercises those negative voices on your protagonist.

 

The second pitfall when crafting a villain mostly occurs with writers who love to compose thrillers - or love reading them. If you love adventure, mystery, thriller, drama, etc. then your villain might just be composed as the most evil person on earth with dark secrets, a hidden path, and so on and so forth. You create your villain to the most mysterious, evil, juiciest person that you can. 

 

Well, the problem with Type 1 is that when your villain represents either your conflicting inner voices or a personal nemesis in real life, the plot is affected. You might accidentally get so caught up expressing the person who has wronged you and how terrible they are or how stressful it is to fight against darkness, that you don't pay attention to the real plot of your manuscript. Also, when you are writing about a nemesis in your personal life, you become biased, possibly leaving no room for reconciliation or a change in the villain's personality. When you write, your book's content must be devoid of personal feelings about or towards the characters as much as possible so that your personal preference doesn't override the plot or the authenticity of the story. 

 

What might prevent you from letting your own nemesis work his/her way into your writing is to force yourself to look over the attributes of your villain and compare them to any people who you might have had a conflict with - because sometimes we aren't aware of our bias perspective. You might also want to confront a mentor or even your personal journal so you can get out all the bad juices about your adversaries before you begin crafting your villain.

The second pitfall is one of the hardest to overcome once you get into it - or if you simply love a good villain, thriller, and gothic appeal. When constructing your villain it is easy to put all the worst-best things the antagonist could have - all the way down to the super-sonic hearing, a closet full of skeletons, a secret half-sister, and a tendancy to murder. Can you see the issue? If you're writing fantasy, the super-sonic hearing might be acceptable, but let's push that aside. Not only are you using all the possible traits a villain could have, making he/she out to be the worst, relentless person on earth with a million secret connections, but it also makes it difficult to follow plots. By doing this, the villain also appears unrealistic and far too dark. By making your antagonist to be the "juiciest of all time" you might loose focus on other things like inner conflicts, motives, true self, etc.

 

So how can you remedy the tenancy to make your villain a little too...villainous? Sit down and write a chart. Make up categories like "motives", "past", and "evil tenancies", this will make sure that you cover every aspect of your villain so that they will be balanced. And make a rule not to favor one category over the other, as that defeats the entire purpose of the chart. You also might want to consider having someone look at the chart to hold you accountable and give you an unbiased opinion of how realistic your villain appears. 

 

Hopefully this was helpful! Look back at your past work and read about the villains you have created in your past writing - were they the result of a personal nemesis or maybe just your overzealous imagination? You might be surprised. 

 

 ~Lydia Sherren

Quote For The Week

                                                     

“If you wait for inspiration to write you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.”                        

                           ~ Dan Poynter.

Things You Didn't Know About Your Books Pt. 1

 Where Almost Every Main Protagonist Comes From

     Have you ever wondered where you're main protagonist comes from? Just how did he/she evolve? What was the basis for their traits, likes, dislikes, flaws, etc.? Maybe you have never taken the time to answer this question...but you should. Because it's incredibly easy for writers to fall into a trap that they aren't even aware of. Let me explain. 

     

    This is probably more geared to those who are just starting their writing career so please keep that in mind. Though I find the alleged "trap" I have referred to is also one that professional writers can fall into themselves. 

 

     When you are making your main protagonist it usually goes one of two ways (especially if you're a novice writer). The first way, is that you build your main character to possess the attributes that you wish you had. You might be timid and easily frightened so you make your female lead a sanguine, fearless, independent young woman. Or you might try and craft your main character so that they resemble you. Your flaws are their flaws, you're thoughts their thoughts.

    While this might seem like a harmless happenstance for some writers it can cause more harm than good. When we try and make characters like Type 1 (the ones that represent who you wish you were), it is so easy for the writer to get caught up in - you guessed it - hero worship. Since your protagonist has molded into the epitome of perfection you can easily make your writing unrealistic. Instead of the main character having struggles they are a role model that came from an alternate universe. Because as we know, no one is perfect. So in a simple sentence, never make your character into the person you wished you were, because before you know it your writing will be entirely centered upon making that hero stand out - and nothing else. 

    

    Let's move on to Type 2. This is probably the most common of downfalls when it comes to writing - and also the trickiest to detect. Let's say (and this is entirely fictitious) you just had a breakup. You are feeling dejected, unlovable, and like no body in the world understands. Without even being aware of it, the next day when you go to start plotting out your main protagonist, you make him/her a person going through depression, someone who's had numerous relationships that fail every time. Congratulations! You just turned yourself into the leading lady/man of your new book. At first, this may seem fine. After all, it isn't hurting anyone and it's a great way to express your emotions right? Wrong. If you make your problems the protagonist's problems the reader is probably going to put the book down after the first chapter. Why? Because they might as well be reading your diary. The reader wants to read, not take on all your emotional baggage.

 

    Now, how can you make sure you avoid making these slips with your writing? Type 1 takes a bit of discipline - like anything worth doing - and might take some time to get used to. In order to overcome the hero-worship issue, I suggest forcing yourself to write out a chart with an equal list of pros and cons in the character. It might be hard at first, but it's worth it.  Type 2 isn't as hard as you might think. If you have a lot of emotional baggage weighting you down there are a few things you can do. You can try listening to relaxing music to get your mind into a more objective view, or perhaps you might want to journal all your thoughts out in your diary before you sit down to write and get all the negativity out. Maybe, if you're feeling creative, write a separate story just for that particular purpose so that you can pour all your emotions into that protagonist. 

    Why not take a look at some of your first work? You might be surprised to discover just how much your main protagonist is like - or totally unlike - your own character. 😉

~Lydia Sherren

 

     

 

                                                                        

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”            

                                                                          ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce