SEDUCING THE STORY...FROM THE CHARACTER

MUSE MONDAY

The characters who populate my fictional world always guide me from idea to page. What has changed over the years is how well I get to know them before I put their story into novel form. I keep a tight rein on them now, or at least they let me think so.  

I considered myself a pantser when I first started writing. Authors are either pantsers (writing by the seat of their pants) or plotters (organized and thought out). I didn’t write an outline or synopsis beforehand. I usually knew the names of my two main characters, what they looked like, and a bit about their personalities. I knew where the story began and where it would end, but none of that stuff in between. 

And as a pantser, characters could deceive me or get feisty and hold back important details, dropping them on me right in the middle of a plot line. Give them an inch… 

When I entered the world of series writing with true villains capable of murder, writing by the seat of my pants didn’t work so well. But let’s leave plotting for another day. I’m still on characters right now. 

Before I write that opening scene, a Character Sketch is created for the players…or at least all of the

ones I know of. As the story progresses, new characters will pop into the story I had no idea even existed. For those I know of, I record their full name, birth date and place, race, eye color, hair color and style, height, weight, build, skin tone, how they dress, and if they have any distinguishing physical traits or mannerisms. Once I get past the visual, I need to know their personality traits, what their background is, their education, and their occupation. Keep in mind, not all of this will be used in the book. But I have to know it in order to write their stories. 

Then comes the real crux of the person: GMC or goal, motivation, and conflict. These three things drive the character and create the story. In my early days, I wasn’t always sure of all three when I’d begin writing. Even now, my characters will throw me a curve at times, but I’m much stricter with them and insist on knowing just why and where we’re going with this adventure. 

This week, I’m at the character stage in The Deep Well of Love and Murder, book five in the series. There’s a larger cast of characters involved in this story, and I’ll bring back some from books one through four. Should be fun. Next week, I’ll begin plotting. Oh yes, I now plot. 

An inside look for you for book five from the Character Sketch file: remember Laura from book one? She had a very minor role as the wife of Clark Katz. And from book two, do you remember the Meadowlark Range foreman, Randy? His role was even smaller. They’re up front and center in book five. I just found out Randy comes from a colorful ancestry of Brazilian Gauchos on his father’s side, and Laura had to flee her childhood of a dysfunctional family when she was young. 

I’ve been writing, with the purpose of becoming an author, for about nine years. I landed my first contract in 2009 and held a copy of my first published novel in my hands in the summer of 2010. Every time I hold the latest published novel, the thrill is the same. Wish me luck in cajoling all of the details out of the characters for manuscript number eleven this week.

TIPS FOR THE NON-PLOTTER by Mary Gillgannon

MUSE MONDAY

Please join me in welcoming Mary Gillgannon to Discover Yourself. It's always fun to read how an author works! 

I am what I call an “into the mist” writer. I don’t really plot, but come up with an opening, characters or story idea and start writing. I do it this way not by choice, but because if I try to plot out my story, the creative part of my brain refuses to cooperate.

My theory is that in order to write, the two sides of my brain have to work together. The creative side comes up with story, but the rational/organized side then has to find the words and structure to describe it. It’s as if my consciousness has to jump back and forth between the two sides in order to write.

Over time, I’ve learned some things that facilitate this process. The first one is that basic physical activity increases this connection between the two sides of my brain. If I’m totally stuck and get up from the computer and do something—make tea, use the bathroom, walk downstairs—any one of those very mundane activities seems to unlock something and make the words flow.

Along with walking comes driving, another activity where part of my brain is engaged. While the rational part of my brain is calculating distance and speed and helping me make the decisions of when to pass and when to slow down, another part of my brain is making creative connections and furthering my story.

I’ve also discovered that dreaming and daydreaming both represent a state where the creative part of my brain works best. I’m not a morning person. I’m basically dysfunctional until about 10 a.m. And yet, I can get up in the wee hours and write. It works because the dream state you experience while sleeping is related to the state where the creative part of the brain is most accessible. I’ve learned that if I get stuck in a story, if I think about the story while I’m trying to fall asleep and when I first awake, my unconscious will often tell me where to take it.

The third thing that seems to help me is simply telling someone about my plot. It has to be live and in the moment. And it has to be an oral description/explanation. But something about the physical act of verbalizing my story seems to free the creative half of my brain. Again, the physical process apparently fires the neurons I use to create the story.

For me, the process of writing is mysterious and magical. And incredibly messy and wasteful. For my few books, I probably wrote an extra 30,000 words for every 100,000 that ended up in the finished book. I’ve gotten better over the years. I don’t get quite as off track as I used to. I’ve learned to recognize when I’m headed down a blind alley and stop and figure out where my plot needs to go. My muse is stubborn and independent, but she will listen to reason occasionally.

But the true test of my getting better at this is whether I can manage a mystery plot. My current work in progress has a murder, and there may be more deaths. (I don’t know yet. Which probably seems odd, but it’s true. I won’t know until my characters find another dead body.) When writing a mystery, everything has to make sense and tie together at the end, and yet keep the reader guessing throughout the book. You have to set up the clues and also throw in some red herrings to misdirect and confuse. This is real plotting and it takes more logic than instinct and intuition, which is how my romances evolve. But I’m determined to master this. Because someday I’d like to write a real mystery. And that’s a bit daunting when you don’t plot.

Blurb and buy links for Wicked Wager:

When hardened gamester Marcus Revington wins Horngate Manor in a card game, he is delighted to finally own property. Even discovering he must marry the heiress of the estate doesn’t deter him. The heiress, Penny Montgomery, is happy with her life raising horses at Horngate and has no desire to wed anyone. When she learns about her guardian’s Wicked Wager, she schemes to convince Marcus she’s unsuitable as a wife so he’ll forget his plan to marry her. Who will win this battle of wits and wills? Or will they both discover the name of the game is love?

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VU8L64K

Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wicked-wager-mary-gillgannon/1121799505?ean=2940151266314

The Wild Rose Press:  http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=6209