I just got my daughter’s costume. She’s going to be a flower this year. Yes, I waited to the last minute to buy her costume. And yes, the lesson was learned- if you wait until the last minute you’ll get a poor selection of costumes, but you’ll get them at a great price.

What would your MC dress up as for Halloween? What is your MC’s favorite Halloween candy?

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Today I started writing my NaNo novel. I was only supposed to be planning it, but last night a perfect opening paragraph formed in my mind. So I spent the better part of today trying to remember exactly where my head was at the time to be able to reconstruct the beginning of the novel. After a while, I realized that was an impossible task as I’m not the one who writes my stories. My characters do.

The only reason I was even thinking about my NaNo book is because Alexis has clammed up on me. She’s being rather stubborn and is as bad of a procrastinator as I am. She does not want to move forward and deal with all the difficulties that are ahead of her. Her absence has allowed my new character, Kyle (whom I found and briefly talked about in a post a couple months ago), to move forward and start whispering her story in my ear. Kyle’s pretty much at the shouting point now, whereas Alexis seems to have been rendered mute, so I gave in earlier today and wrote the first chapter and part of the second of Kyle’s story.

Yes, Alexis is frustrating me, but I’m falling in love with Kyle. She’s a cool chick and I’m loving learning about her. And hey, maybe I’ll find out that Alexis is jealous and likes to be center stage and the fact that I’m paying attention to Kyle will light a fire under Alexis to move on with her life and do what she has to do. It won’t be pretty, but it needs to be done and her story is great. So I’m hoping to get two awesome books out of this.

My point . . . yes, I’m getting there. And yes, I know I might be making myself sound insane in the process, but it’s true that “writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia,” just as E.L. Doctorow said. Sometimes I feel rather insane, but I love it!
So, yes, my point — are you, the writer, in charge of your stories? Do you plan everything out and make your characters do what you think they should? If you’re not getting anywhere, can you pull out a gun on your MC and see how s/he reacts to get the story moving ahead?
Me, I can’t do that. I just work backstage. My characters dictate everything, and if they’re not talking, no writing is getting done. Which is why it’s taking me so dang long to finish this first book. I’m almost there, but not quite. I have a fighter on my hands who just will not give in to my demands. Her demands are what matter.

So, are you in charge? Or are your characters? How do you write?
(I’m really hoping I’m not the only crazy one who believes her characters to be real and in control…. Please tell me I’m not! )
I’m interested to see how y’all go about telling your stories to the world.

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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It doesn’t matter if you have the most unique and interesting story on the planet if your readers can’t connect with your characters. Think of the books you love most; the ones you gently stroke as you walk past your bookshelf. As I write this, one book in particular comes to mind – I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. When I finished reading this rather lengthy novel I felt as though I had lost a good friend. I lied awake missing him like he had just gone off to war and I might never see him again.

The character I’m referring to is a middle-aged man with anger issues and I’m… well, none of those things. It was the realness of this character; the raw truth of his story and the often brutally honest, sometimes vulgar soaked thoughts that brought his story to life and into my world, permanently etched into my memory. This effect is a major goal, but not one that’s always achieved so easily.

When I’m having trouble getting into the minds of my characters or struggling to picture them in my story, I go people watching. This is one of the most fun and enlightening writing exercises you can do. If you’re just starting out go anywhere, a coffee shop, a park or just take a ride on the bus. If you already have a character outline think of the places your character would go and the type of people they would associate with and go to those places, watch those people.

Wherever I go I notice little things about people that can lift characters off the page. I used to take the subway to work and somehow always ended up a few seats behind this guy with a buzzed haircut who always kept a short pencil behind his ear. He never carried anything with him except a black lunchbox and once or twice a trip he would take the pencil from behind his ear and twirl it between his fingers then put it right back. Every day I would try to figure out what this guy did for a living – I was intrigued. What an odd character I would think.

There are people who dance as they walk; the ones you always assume to be listening to music, but guess what – lots of them aren’t! Some people wear spandex when it’s obvious they’ve never worked out a day in their life; some feel that it’s perfectly acceptable to let a pregnant woman stand while they sit comfortably in handicapped seating. Some shake their foot out of nervousness while others read books with covers on them so no one can see what they’re reading (and yes this drives me crazy because I always want to know what people are reading!).

Sometimes a simple hand gesture or tattoo on someone’s shoulder can spark a whole new story idea or create a character that your story is missing.

I just read an interview with Jennifer Aniston in the newest issue of Elle and she says when she thinks about a character she thinks about the shoes. “What kind would she wear? How would she walk in them? If I’m going to put on a dress for a role – I don’t care if it’s the hardest dress to put on – I have to put the shoes on first”, she said.

This can be a great place to start with people watching. Find your character’s shoes and then look up to find your character.

Everywhere you go there will be interesting people in varying shapes, sizes and personalities, and by simply sitting back and watching sometimes, you can give your characters those true human elements that make people feel like they know them, relate to them and miss them once they’re gone.

Shelby Rachel

Shelby graduated with a degree in Media Studies and a diploma in Journalism from University of Guelph-Humber. She was trained in broadcast, radio and print media, and completed her internship as an Editorial Assistant at Outpost Magazine in Toronto.

As an Editorial Assistant she was responsible for copyediting, fact-checking, rewriting and writing small articles. Shelby had a number of articles published in Outpost and once her internship was finished she stayed on as a freelancer for a few issues.

She has taken on freelancing as a fulltime career and loves what she does more than she ever thought possible. The majority of her work has been ghostwriting blogs and articles for companies both small and large for the purpose of driving traffic to their business websites and expanding their clientele.

http://shelbyrachel.com/

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Sewing is a contact sport. You get hurt (uh…needle through the finger anyone?), you sweat up a storm (those tiny light bulbs are about 1,000 watts), and you end up wanting to break something (usually the bobbin). Oh…and men tend to cringe at the very thought of it.

Yes, sewing is not for wimps. And I am most definitely a wimp. 

But I’ve found myself sewing for hours during the past two weeks, making a  Quiet Book for my daughter. The balloons look deflated and the ladybug looks squashed and I am quite proud of it. I thought I’d donate my body to research before I ever said that last part. 

What has your character created that they are proud of?

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Do your characters brush their teeth before or after they shower? Is it shampoo first, then soap and condition or do they use the same soap for everything?  

Tell me your character’s personal hygiene regimen.

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If your characters could do anything they wanted for one day, what would it be? (Keep it PG, people!)

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