Today’s Writers’ Tip: Creating Infallible Characters

Sept. 29, 2014

Twelve Common Mistakes Found in Fiction Manuscripts

Mistake Number Four: Infallible or Underdeveloped Characters

This is the fourth blog discussing some common mistakes found in fiction manuscripts from early readers and chapter books to adult novels of all kinds of subgenres. Several weeks ago, we started this list and will continue until we’ve done all of what I believe are the most important “common” mistakes. Today we’ll look at “Infallible or Underdeveloped Characters.”

Too much description and narration

Switching viewpoints in the same scene

A negative tone throughout the story

Infallible or underdeveloped characters

Stilted or unnatural dialogue

No significant conflict

Weak transitions between paragraphs

Impossible resolutions

Redundancy

Passive verbs instead of active verbs

Lack of sensory detail

Lack of emotion or action

We’ll define infallible characters this time then move on to a more in-depth study of underdeveloped characters in the next blog. So let’s look at our first character type.

It’s quite the temptation to create a character who is infallible, reasoning that every reader will love your hero and, thus, love the book. However, it’s also quite impossible to write an exciting story arc with a breath-taking climax and resolution if you don’t build in any tension or conflict that your main character sees through his/her eyes and even might have been caused by one of your hero’s flaws or his/her flawed reaction to the crisis. We’re all aware that the definition of “infallible” is incapable of making a mistake. So, if we create infallible characters, we are creating impossible characters…unless we’re writing about God.

A clever author will work hard to plug in something irritating, a little quirk or a bad reputation from his past or whatever, just to make the person human. Your readers will enjoy your story much more. Why? Because they’ll identify with that character’s weakness in some way, possibly even feel sorry for him, and root for him to get the upper hand at the end of the book.

Let’s look at a few super heroes (in books or movies) and see if we can identify at least one weakness in their characters. Remember the weaknesses are evident; yet, the authors cleverly imbed them into the characters’ personalities so the readers still have a sense of pity or good will for the heroes, hoping that “all will be well” at the end of the book or movie.

What most evident weakness or flaw do you recognize in these characters? Or can you name more than one flaw but you still liked them or rooted for them all the way through the book or movie?

Captain Ahab in MOBY DICK

King Arthur in CAMELOT

Judah Ben-Hur in BEN-HUR

Scarlett O’Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND

George Bailey in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Indiana Jones in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Kevin in HOME ALONE

Professor Higgins in MY FAIR LADY

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

Okay, let’s see if any of your flaws match my choices:

Captain Ahab – has a big-time bitterness problem (against an animal, no less!) that turns into a hatred onto death (unfortunately, his own death)

King Arthur – violates his own code of righteousness with indecision and concealing his wife and his best friend’s infidelity

Ben-Hur – another man with a root of bitterness that drives him to kill…that is, until God impacts his life

Scarlett O’Hara – yes, dear Scarlett, the conniver who schemes her way through every facet of her life

George Bailey – has a stroke of cowardice that almost costs him his life and almost destroys his family and business

Indiana Jones – an impatient thrill seeker who endangers the lives of friends around him

Kevin – disobedient and impertinent that causes unparalleled angst for his family and does untold damage to his home (Yes, I agree; it is a funny movie. We’re just “analyzing” here.)

Professor Higgins – arrogant as all get out and is blind to the emotional needs of others

So, how’d we do on our flaw matches? Remember, I only named one or two flaws for these characters. Some of them, like Captain Ahab and Scarlett O’Hara, probably have a list of flaws longer than their redeeming qualities; yet, we have read or watched on the edge of our seats, hoping the heroes or heroines would win in the end.

It would be worth our while to study the authors’ techniques that created these fascinating characters and take special note of how they so cleverly incorporated flaws and shortcomings as well as the characters’ “good side” that made all of them unforgettable. Of such, best-selling classics are made.

Next time, we’ll take a look at stilted or unnatural dialogue. Happy writing!

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Today’s Writers’ Tip: Another Common Fiction Mistake

Sept. 22, 2014

Twelve Common Mistakes Found in Fiction Manuscripts

Mistake Number Three: Writing a Negative Tone throughout the Story

This is the third blog discussing these common mistakes found in fiction manuscripts from early readers and chapter books to adult novels of all kinds of subgenres:

Too much description and narration

Switching viewpoints in the same scene

A negative tone throughout the story

Infallible or underdeveloped characters

Stilted or unnatural dialogue

No significant conflict

Weak transitions between paragraphs

Impossible resolutions

Redundancy

Passive verbs instead of active verbs

Lack of sensory detail

Lack of emotion or action

Of the twelve common mistakes we are reviewing on this list, the negative tone or mood is probably the one that needs the least explanation. It’s quite the simple matter.

Developing your own tone or mood in your manuscript really involves your careful choice of words, mostly adjectives. If your goal is to create an antagonist as a main character, then you’ll have to take care to use numerous negative adjectives in your description of that character. You will also have to develop some positive quality in that main character that will make your reader like or, at least, tolerate him/her, or your reader won’t finish your book.

Think of some excellent books you’ve read or movies you’ve seen where the main character is hateful, murderous, or just downright nasty. How about Scarlet O’Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND? KING KONG? GODZILLA? THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME? As much as we disliked these main characters when we met them, there was something, if only one quality, that made them endearing so that deep down in the recesses of our hearts, we were hoping they’d win in the end. Now, analyze why we as readers or movie viewers felt like that.

The reason we had not written these characters off in the first scene and either threw the book away or walked out on the movie is because of the clever writing by the authors or playwrights. We don’t have the time or the space to take excerpts from these writings and study them. But if you do your own research in any books you read, you’ll soon find either clever writing that wins you over or flat writing that fails to develop a character’s full “character.” If you fail to insert, even in the least bit, something positive about your main protagonist or antagonist, you’re also going to fail to arouse the desired emotion you are seeking, possibly compassion for the Scarlet O’Hara in your book. If you want your reader to hate your main character, then trash your main character, but be careful. Many fans of fiction are not fond of hateful characters with no redeeming qualities.

Now, if your hero is fighting against a hateful, murderous antagonist, and your hero must win, then you need not present any positive qualities for that antagonist. In plots like this, make your antagonist as hateful as you can. That only adds to the positive qualities your hero will portray in his quest to defeat his hated foe.

Concerning plots and story endings, again, choosing the proper words will set the tone or mood for your world.

In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in “dark” characters and plots in both books and movies. I don’t care for that genre, so I can’t comment on any such as THE HUNGER GAMES or all the vampire books and movies like TWILIGHT. But, if you’re a fan of such, again, analyze how the main characters are portrayed. Do you develop a fondness for them even though they are evil or do you hate them to the death and cheer when they meet their end?

It all depends on the choice of words the authors have used to describe them.

So, do some analyzing of best sellers then spend some time on your own works. Decide what kind of mood or tone you want and dig out your thesaurus.

P.S. For a list of positive and negative mood and tone words, check out this website. It might just give you some fuel for the fire you’re setting under your next hateful antagonist.

http://ourenglishclass.net/class-notes/writing/the-writing-process/craft/tone-and-mood/

 

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Today’s Writer’s Tip: Switching Viewpoints in the Same Scene

September 15, 2014

Twelve Common Mistakes Found in Fiction Manuscripts

Mistake Number Two: Switching Viewpoints in the Same Scene

 

In this series of blogs, we’re going to make our way through all twelve of these common mistakes us writers of fiction must tackle to perfect our writing and get our manuscript publishing ready. In my last blog we discussed Mistake Number One in writing fiction, Too Much Description and Narration. So let’s have a look at Switching Viewpoints in the Same Scene.

Point of view is a technique all fiction writers must master to write effectively. The point of view choices when writing any genre and the difficulty involved in writing the P.O.V. correctly are directly correlated to the “person” in which the author decides to write:

First person – fiction and nonfiction (including “how-to” books and devotionals)

Example: In reading the book of Job, I found that God is ready to console me through my troubles.

Second person – nonfiction (including helps books, “how-to” books, and devotionals)

Example: When baking a cake, you must remember to turn the oven on and allow it to pre-heat before you put the cake batter in to bake.

Third person – most fiction is written in this P.O.V.

Example: Cyrus entered his dog Hunter in a dog show in the Obstacle Course event. Cyrus has won all kinds of blue ribbons with that amazing Scottie. “I love working with this dog,” he told a newspaper reporter in a recent interview. He’s really special.” And he’s special to me even if he hadn’t won any ribbons.

Omniscient – fiction in which the author presents the P.O.V. as though the reader is watching everything happening, but no characters’ P.O.V. is ever presented.

Example: Betty, Jean, Mary, and Sally decided to take a trip to Florida. Betty decided to drive, Jean collected coupons for restaurants, Mary reserved hotel rooms, and Sally chipped in a few hundred bucks for gas. (No thoughts of any character ever appear in the story.)

Because much fiction is written in the third person, we’re going to concentrate on that P.O.V. and how to avoid “messing up” by writing two different P.O.V.’s in the same scene. Let’s look at a few samples of writing P.O.V. incorrectly:

Example One:

Fred came home late from work on Thursday, hoping beyond hope that Chloe would have supper still warm for him. But I wouldn’t blame her if it’s all put away. I forgot to call her, he remembered as he went in the front door. “Hi, honey! I’m home!” he said.

Chloe came trudging into the living room, her hair disheveled, her clothes covered with dirt and grass stains. “What a day I had! The washer broke, Sammy fell and got a bloody lip, and I just slipped and fell out back when I tried to chase the neighbor’s dog out of the yard.” And Fred, you better not say a word about no supper on the table!

Can you analyze this little excerpt and see two points of view? There’s nothing more confusing to a reader than to try to get inside two or three different characters’ heads in the same scene. So how do we fix this point of view problem in this excerpt? Easy! Just delete one of the characters’ thoughts and concentrate on getting into the head of only one character per scene.

Here’s the same scene in the correct P.O.V.:

Fred came home late from work on Thursday, hoping beyond hope that Chloe would have supper still warm for him. But I wouldn’t blame her if it’s all put away. I forgot to call her, he remembered as he went in the front door. “Hi, honey! I’m home!” he said.

Chloe came trudging into the living room, her hair disheveled, her clothes covered with dirt and grass stains. “What a day I had! The washer broke, Sammy fell and got a bloody lip, and I just slipped and fell out back when I tried to chase the neighbor’s dog out of the yard.”

Oh, brother! Fred thought. I better not say a word about any supper, or I’ll be in the neighbors’ dog house!

Let’s look at another example:

Example Two:

Bruce always thought Tammy, the sophomore gal who sat next to him in chemistry class, was the most beautiful girl he had ever met. His heart raced like a horse to the finish line whenever he smelled her sweet perfume and looked into her baby blues. Yes, Bruce was lovesick.

But Tammy, on the other hand, found Bruce to be just another ordinary guy and no one she’d ever want to date. Oh, sure, he was cute, but she never really thought of him as “her type.”

Now, in this example, we’ve not “gotten into the head” of either character to see his or her direct thoughts; however, the way the passage is written portrays to us Bruce’s thoughts and Tammy’s thoughts without direct quotes. Again, we have two P.O.V.s in the same scene, which only cause confusion to the reader.

Now let’s look at how we fixed this P.O.V. problem here:

Bruce always thought Tammy, the sophomore gal who sat next to him in chemistry class, was the most beautiful girl he had ever met. His heart raced like a horse to the finish line whenever he smelled her sweet perfume and looked into her baby blues. Yes, Bruce was lovesick.

But Bruce felt, just from her vibes, that Tammy probably thought of him as just another ordinary guy and no one she’d ever want to date. Did she think he was cute? Bruce could only hope, but he had the feeling that she believed he wasn’t “her type.”

Okay, writer friends, there you have it. The pesky P.O.V. problem and how to fix it in a very, very short lesson. Hopefully, you’ve already mastered the P.O.V. technique. If not, I hope this blog has been of some help to you.

Next time, we’ll look at Common Fiction Mistake Number Three: A Negative Tone Throughout the Story.

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From an Editor’s Viewpoint: Common Fiction Mistakes

Sept. 1, 2014:

From an Editor’s Viewpoint

Twelve Common Mistakes Found in Fiction Manuscripts

If you’re serious about having your fiction published, there are several important points to remember as you create your masterpiece. An editor can usually read the first page or two of a work and know whether the author is an experienced writer or a newbie. Believe it or not, many of the problems I’ve listed below will actually surface on the first few pages of a poorly written story.

Although the tell-tale signs are many (probably two or three dozen), I decided to concentrate on what I feel are the twelve most important problems that appear frequently in fiction manuscripts. Even experienced and published authors, including me, must be careful not to get sloppy and fall into a “newbie mode” of writing.

So, let’s take a look at some of these tell-tale signs that flash like a neon sign BEGINNER on the pages of an author’s manuscript. I’ve listed the twelve points in this post, and we’ll look at the first one in detail. In the next few posts, we’ll discuss the others and sometimes give examples.

Twelve Common Mistakes Found in Fiction Manuscripts

Too much description and narration

Switching viewpoints in the same scene

A negative tone throughout the story

Infallible or underdeveloped characters

Stilted or unnatural dialogue

No significant conflict

Weak transitions between paragraphs

Impossible resolutions

Redundancy

Passive verbs instead of active verbs

Lack of sensory detail

Lack of emotion or action

Too Much Description and Narration

Classics from days gone by were notorious for pages and pages of description and narration. Perhaps you’re a fan of those old books that detailed everything, including how many feathers were on Aunt Millie’s new hat. However, today’s readers, including me, don’t have the patience to wade through all the gold and glitter of background, scenery, characteristics of the main characters, and colors and shades of the setting sun. Today’s readers want a quick read, one that they often can knock off in an afternoon or evening.

I remember several years ago I went to the local library and got Jules Verne’s MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, a book that was made into a movie, probably 30-some years ago, with lots of action, including monster lizards running around eating people. Well, I sat down to enjoy this exciting book, and about 80 pages into it, I threw up my hands and gave up. Why? The book went on and on to describe the island, the cave the fellows lived in, the garden they planted, blah, blah, blah. In fact, those first 80 pages seemed completely isolated from the main plot of the story IF the movie had followed the main plot line when the book was transposed into a movie script. I also tried reading book one of LORD OF THE RINGS with the same result. The first hundred pages or so described all the different worlds and characters, and I got bored out of my tree. I gave up. I’d rather watch the movies.

When I contracted with Zonderkidz to write the KEYSTONE STABLES SERIES, I had kind of a culture shock when my editor returned my first few chapters with this message attached, “I want dialogue on every page.”

I swallowed hard, took a good look at my manuscript, and decided I had a major revision on my hands. It’s important to note the books in my series are for tweens, so the action MUST be fast-moving, which includes frequent dialogue. However, in studying today’s published books for adults, I find practically the same principle. Dialogue constitutes probably at least 60% of most pages, sometimes a higher percentage.

Remember, readers today want a quick read. The definition for a “classic” or “best-seller” has changed drastically over the last several decades. So work on including more dialogue and deleting a lot of the “fluff.”

The editor just might be totally impressed and send you a contract!

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