What Are Writers Afraid of? Using Emotion To Create Compelling Characters

What’s anyone afraid of? Everyone is afraid of something whether they want to talk about it or not. It might be the dark, spiders and snakes, heights, guns, crowds…something! There is something that sets your nerves to jangling and teeth on edge, not to mention raises a cold sweat.  

Just thinking about whatever that is can make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, your heart pound and the breath hitch in your lungs if you get into the zone closely enough.

Reason. We all try to use it at such moments, but reason can be at war with that fight or flight we’ve all got so deeply embedded within us. The urge to run or do battle is something hard to deny. So what’s all this about?

The writer’s muse.

A writer’s best work can stem from connecting with that moment, getting inside yourself to pull out those deep-seated fears and expose them to daylight in the service of harnessing the power those emotions and channeling them onto the blank page.

Writers want to reach inside the reader’s head and feel things. The gamut of human emotions and dark thoughts. It’s so easy to ‘make it up when we go along’ when writing, but the fact is the best writing stems from the gut. The best writers reach deep to plumb their own experiences and inject that into characters. Remember and regurgitate those emotions in order to really bring a character to life.

 

Terrified of walking alone in the dark on a city street? Think of all the nuances as my mother did when she was a young woman and had the night shift at a switchboard. She walked home on the dark sidewalks of a Chicago night with every other street lamp blown out. She hugged the building side when a car came past and hugged the curb side when passing alleys. She walked fast…very fast. Sounds, common and unfamiliar were all around. Strangers on the street with her; were they as she, walking home from work…or a threat? Adrenaline. Inject the fear. Inject the urgency. Clip the sentences and paint a vivid picture. Hurry. Pause. Confront the dark fear of an unlit alley as a garbage can lid bangs within the blackness.

That was one reality. There are many others, and they aren’t always in the physical realm. A character doesn’t always have to worry about being stalked by a murderer. 

It can be much closer to the heart, much more emotional. Is there fear a marriage is failing? Is a student an outcast at school afraid of one more indignity? Will a friendship end with betrayal? Will a job be lost to a character charged with supporting siblings after their parents die? Nightmares. All of it. Emotional wrench and perhaps destruction.

Either way. Emotional or physical – what do you fear? What can you hand a character that will give him the cold sweats?

Think about it. Feel it. Write it.  

Writer's World - Characters and Skills

Writing is an interesting profession – you create people from scratch. Sort of build them from the ground up, or top down, whichever way you want to look at it. It’s fun, it’s easy, and it’s hard as hell.

In that quest to make characters real, unusual and fascinating to the reader writers look to imparting something special to that character. Something like a unique skill or an unusual talent, some ability that will set hero or heroine apart from the every day, and yet at the same time, keep that character identifiable, relatable. It could be as simple as being a chess master and using that talent in other ways or as high-profile as being a well-known newscaster, writer or movie star.

But it’s a fine line between giving that hero or heroine some special ability and going way over the top to the point where the audience (novel reader or film goer) disconnects. That can happen when the writer doesn’t match the personality of a character and that character’s past experiences and life lessons with the particular skill or unusual talent he or she’s been given. It becomes like a tag on instead of an integral part of the character.

Think about it. Some things are imparted simply by birth and who the parents are. A prodigy, perhaps with math, perhaps playing a piano, or something else, has received that particular gift through birth. On the other hand being a computer geek or maybe a martial arts master or a jewelry maker are all skills that are learned.

This gives the writer a wide range of possibilities – but also just as wide a range of things that won’t work well. A character who’s never had training or so much as seen a martial arts movie can’t suddenly become Jett Lei.

But, the fun of all this is choosing a talent or skill that fits with the character and the story. The kid raised on a farm working with farm machinery who can fix anything who, as an adult working in the city as an investor calls on those past skills to get a bus running before the train hits it. The chess master, so skilled at anticipating moves thwarts a terrorist attack by being one step ahead. The computer geek so geeky he figures out computer code from beyond the planet is actually a countdown to invasion and he figures it out before anyone else. The magician who commits the perfect crime via his prestidigitation.

The creativity behind these kinds of things is wonderfully exhilarating. Let yourself go and explore different possibilities. When you find something that strikes a chord unleash your muse, embrace the creative, go back and change other elements in the story to make sure it all fits and the special talent you’ve discovered for your character fits with the rest of your story.

There are few things more fun!

Comment below and let others know the kinds of ideas you’ve come up with and how it all came together.

Writers Drawing The Line For Their Characters

We, as people, have all kinds of values and codes we live by whether we’re fully aware of how we define them or not. There are things that just stick in our craws or rub us the wrong way. There are lines that can’t or won’t be crossed and places we don’t want to go. Beliefs we hold dear and of course reactions to those held by others.

So, how can we use all this in writing. 

Simple. 

Make your characters draw their lines in the sand. Think about the big issues in life and how your characters feel/react to them. How they can be integrated into your story and your characters to draw tension and create action.

For example. Where is the line drawn between a freedom fighter and a terrorist? Thinking of Snowden, just exactly who is a traitor or who is a whistle blower patriot? How do you decide when a character is out and out greedy or just very ambitious? At times how does your character determine the difference between murder and justice? Confronting a black-hearted, cold-blooded killer who’s just murdered one the hero loves is it murder to kill that person or is it justice? 

There are many lines to be drawn, many strongly held beliefs. An assassin kills without a second thought – but he/she won’t harm a child – no matter what.

Life is full of dichotomies; give some to your characters. Force the issues in their lives. Put them up against their own strongly held beliefs and moral codes.  Let the freedom fighter teeter dangerously close to becoming no more than a terrorist and find himself again. Is all great ambition no more than cloaked greed? Let your character sort that out.

And what about responsibility for our own actions? The hero or heroine’s actions? When is it a ‘child’ committing a crime (cold blooded murder by a twelve-year-old) and when should that ‘child’ be considered an adult? By his or her age? By his or her actions? By his or her understanding of right and wrong?

How about a criminal who performed a violent act that cost the lives of many? If he is a great person in prison, helping others find their way out of a life of crime and then proceeds to save the warden’s life during a prison break out does that make up for the past? Is he reformed ~ or not? Should he be granted his freedom? What about those he harmed so grievously in the past? Is one of them going to come after him with revenge in mind?

Yep, it’s worth thinking about. You can see it in many movie plots and novel threads and you see it every day around you. Just read the paper or listen to the news, or your friends chat.

Take those lines drawn, those beliefs and force your characters to make hard choices. Draw some lines and see where it leads.

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Open Learning

The UK has a way - of offering free learning on line.

Today I offer a link to their page, Start Writing Fiction. 

Here's their own blurb: Have you always wanted to write, but never quite had the courage to start? This unit will give you an insight into how authors create their characters and the settings for their work. You will also be able to look at the different genres for fiction.

It's in effect a 12 hour course, not just a few jottings online so be prepared to learn.

But don't stop there - they offer a whole lot of other courses that are just plain interesting and could have side-benefits for your writing (for the writers out there).

If you're a reader, there are courses for you as well.  Visit, check it out and sign up for the course you're interested in.

The Writer's Bane & Joy - Character Naming

Names = preconceptions. 

That's the way it is, you can't get away from it. You hear the name John or Cameron, Elizabeth or Carie and from somewhere deep inside you conjure.

Yes, you do.

Elizabeth can become Liz or Lizzie Bet or Betty.

Names can come from ethnic background, religious beliefs, or maybe a roll of the dice.

Think about it and you realize quickly enough how important the naming of your characters in script, novel or short story can be. Names can be a stumbling block or an inspiration. Easily remembered or a struggle. Give a character a wimpy or even just neutral name and you're liable to have a character who's unmotivated and doesn't do a whole lot.  Give that character a spunky name, a heroic name and weirdly it will even affect you as the writer. The right name fills a void and pumps life into that character.

Readers will tell you the same. A name that's right, for whatever reason, strikes a chord and draws the reader in.

What's in a name? A whole heckuva lot!

I still have a collection of name books on my shelf in hard copy.  Names are a must, they're important, they're character. When I'm stuck for a name it drives me crazy and I know it affects other writers the same way. There should be some magic method, but alas, there isn't.

But there are some things you can do, some places you can go.

Okay, simply, for starters, don't have your characters names all start with the same letter.  No Mary, Max, Megan, Melissa, Matt, Mike....you get it. It slows the reader down, makes him focus on which "M" character has taken the stage. I've mentioned this in another post, but it still holds.

When you pick a name, choose one that's realistic. When you're plowing through all the possibles it's easy to start reaching, you know, going for a  name that really stands out. Something flowery and expressive, or out of the medieval texts (that's okay  if you're writing a historical piece). But don't get carried away. Some characters are just "Bob" or "John" - really. The key is in how the character name fits - both the character and the story.

If what you're writing has a historic or geographic need to fulfill with the name, then do so.  The last thing you want to do is to insert a name so out of character with the time or place that you trip your reader right into a sudden dose of reality that drags them out of the dream world you created.

Another thought.  Is the name you've chosen gender-neutral?  Is it Lee or Tracy? If it is, make sure you make it plain from the get-go whether it's male or female.

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, don't hesitate to change a name when the first one you picked just isn't working.  That's why you have a global replace function.

So, where can you look for all these names.  Lots of places. The Character Naming Sourcebook 

There's the Social Security Administration's records of baby names

You can find Victorian Era names.  

Then there's The Random Name Generator 

 The Fantasy Name Generator  that has links to several generators.

The Random Title Generator  Ooops, but that's a whole 'nother thing.

The Elvish Name Generator 

The Fake name Generator  

Behind The Name - Baby name meanings of first names


Then there's the Victorian and Steampunk name generator 

and probably a whole lot more if you care to spend some more time searching.

Check them out, tell me what you think and comment on your own name selection struggles.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Baby Name Genie

Struggling to find the perfect name for your character? Baby Name Genie could be your solution.  He comes up with some great combinations. Only hitch is, you supply the last name - he focuses on first and middle. A great way to kickstart the thought process even if the genie doesn't come up with the exact name you're looking for.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Create A Character

Oh, this is way too cool and too fun for writers.  You can go to Monoface and create the characters you can see in your mind's eye, one you never thought of, or you can check out other faces folks before you have created.

Give yourself something you can focus on for descriptions and just have a lot of fun. Another great internet toy to help you out ~ and of course waste some time. Click on the eyes, the nose, the chin, the hair and see what you can come up with. 

Tell me what you think! I'd love to hear your comments.