My daughter had her doctor appointment today. The doctor poked and prodded and then poked some more. She did really well with not crying as he listened to what looked like every organ in her body. She had that look of “I’m too scared to cry” and I’m sure the fake cheerfulness on my face scared her every bit as much as the stethoscope in the doctor’s hand. But it was the feeling of the teeth that finally put her over the edge into all-out wailing. She cried more from that than from the shots – of course, who doesn’t cry when there are needles around….err, yeah, me neither.

What puts your characters “over the edge” of anger, fear, or tears?

Bookmark This

After three years of work on my first novel, I was pretty exhausted. I’d written the initial draft of WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW in third person,  then another version in the first person voices of the three main characters. The third year found me back in the third person for another round.  I was starting to resent my characters, wondering why they were taking so long to tell their story, and hoping they didn’t plan to drag it into a Michener-length piece of fiction.

My editor advised a detour from the novel to explore the backroads. She suggested I take background situations and build short stories around them. The result would be a better understanding of the characters, finished work for literary journals and contest submissions, and . . . a needed break from the tedium of the novel.

In the next six months I crafted over ten stories. Several pieces were flash fiction of between 250 & 1,000 words.  The others were in the 2,500 – 3,000 word range. They were sent to journals and contests, and because there was a variety of material, I had the ability to send out a new story if I received a positive rejection that turned down the submission but invited future work.

I went back to the novel with a renewed interest and fresh ideas about structure. Certain character traits came to light as I wrote the short pieces, leading me to approach the novel-length story from a different angle. It developed a beginning, middle, and end that made sense in under 90,000 words. I had a finished, polished manuscript within the year.

That’s the “writing life” part of the story. Now for the “marketing” part. After a few of the stories were accepted for publication, I added to my agent query, “Stories based on the lead characters have been published online and in anthologies,” giving credibility to my writing and my characters .

At a recent conference, an agent suggested that I post the unpublished stories on my website and then do promotion to drive readers to the site. She noted a recent client who did this. The traffic numbers helped to build a selling point for the publisher pitch, showing that readers were already familiar with the characters and would be inclined to buy the book for more of their story.

The first of my RITA & SYLVIE stories posted last month at www.gingerbcollins.com. It’s the initial step in a campaign that began as a detour and will hopefully serve as the path to agent representation and publication of my first novel.

BIO

Ginger B. Collins writes short fiction and creative non-fiction. Her work appears online and has been published in Freckles to Wrinkles, Silver Boomers, and the newly released Scratch Anthology of Short Fiction. She recently completed her first novel. Read excerpts at www.gingerbcollins.com.

In her blog, OFF THE TOP OF MY RED HEAD, Ginger applies a past career in sales, marketing, and PR to her new role as author, sharing links and writer resources while exploring subjects like social media, agent search, and writer platforms. All writers are invited to follow the blog and share experiences. http://coppertopcollins.blogspot.com.

Ginger and her husband, Melvin, are avid sailors, and would be content to spend life onboard, cruising coastal waters and exploring land from the shoreline in. Until then, they winter in the Southeast and summer in Atlantic Canada.

Bookmark This

I just completed the semi-annual clean-out of the fridge (can you tell it’s on of my least favorite things to do?). I discovered some Tupperware that I’d forgotten I owned jammed at the back of the fridge behind the parmesan cheese and bacon bits. I also swiped off the caramel from the bottom shelf that by some scientific marvel was solid and gooey at the same time.

I could not quite force myself to rummage through the piles of condiments that have multiply faster than an alien force taking over the world. So we still have teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, A-1, Worcestershire, Dijon mustard, spicy brown mustard, yellow French’s mustard, ketchup, mayo, and green hot sauce jumbled together.

What’s in your character’s refrigerator?

Bookmark This

When I started writing, I admit, I knew little about narrative styles. I simply started telling the story from the voice in my head–that of my seventeen year old narrator, Grace Ann Miller.

When I submitted my manuscript to my pre-editor at The Editorial Department for editing, I learned something I had never considered or expected. My narrator, Grace is unreliable–and that is a professional term. Apparently, writing in first person is difficult enough without adding the point of view of an ‘unreliable narrator’ on top of it.

To paraphrase the more than forty-five minute discussion I had with my pre-editor, an unreliable narrator is someone who cannot be relied upon to recall the true or best version of events. This can be for any number of reasons and will depend, of course, on your story. In my case, Grace is confused, somewhat incoherent, unaware of her surroundings and suffering from a wicked headache. Thus she cannot possibly be considered a reliable narrator–yet, there she is, filling us all in on her version of rather important events.

Being thrust into the mind of an unreliable narrator can be jarring for a reader. As such it is important to stabilize the reader to ensure that (s)he is not lost in the mind of the narrator and eventually trust the narrator’s version of events. OR, even if the reader never comes to trust the narrator’s version of events, (s)he can learn to trust her own instincts about what is happening because you the writer has grounded her and made her feel as if she can in fact trust her own instincts about what she is experiencing.

By doing so, you make it easier for the reader to believe in the story they are being told and in many cases, believe in and root for the character. Without that very important piece, your reader will not feel a connection to the story or the main character thus limiting her ability to fully engage with your book.

Remember, you know what you’re talking about, your narrator knows but you don’t want your readers scratching their heads. Below are some tips you can use to make your unreliable narration easier on your reader.

1. Let your readers know upfront that your protag is an unreliable narrator as early in the story as possible by making sure they know that not everything that comes from the person’s mouth is to be trusted. This creates a sense of trust between the author and the reader. Remember, your narrator may consider her/himself completely reliable.
2. Use creative methods to confirm or deny the unreliable’s accounting of what is happening for the reader when something is in question. This can be done using dialogue (other characters), epilogues, journal entries, flashbacks, flashforwards, etc. Sometimes simply describing a character’s physical response to the unreliable narrator can do the trick.
3. Whatever you do, don’t take the easy way out and say, “it was all a dream.”

Have fun with your unreliable narrator. Don’t be afraid to experiment with her/his POV.

Good luck!

www.georgiamcbridebooks.com

www.facebook.com/georgiamcbride

www.twitter.com/Georgia_McBride

Georgia used to produce websites for a living. Then she quit that job to follow her passion and manage rock bands and market music.

She is an avid music lover, a songwriter and singer. So, when she writes, music finds a way in her stories.

She did lot’s of freelance work feeling completely out of sorts and utterly without direction. So in August 2008–Praefatio was conceived and her official life as a young adult author began. Now, she writes urban fantasy/paranormal books for teenagers.

NOT OFFICIAL COVER

photo credit: Mariana Britto

Bookmark This

photo credit: .susanne

She cried.  She cries.  She was crying.  The tears steamed down her cheeks.  Tears streaming down her cheeks.

The word emotion has two words in it.  Emote and motion.  To emote is to act, play or represent. Motion is to move.  How do we show emotion in a way that our readers can FEEL it coming off the page?  Fear, loathing, uncertainty, insecurity, sadness, pain, joy, bliss, passion, love.  How can we make sure we are getting those feeling across?

Here is my trick.  Use movement.  Use reality.  Conjure up the feeling for yourself and put those words into the description.

When I cry my throat closes up first and my head begins to throb and my eyes burn.  After a good cry I get a good headache.  I always make sure that my characters feel that way.  They “are swallowing down tears” or “feeling sticky with runny mascara” there are so many real ways we can show emotion, but so often we fall into the trap of “She wept” (Which by the way is fine, some of the time)

How about you?  Any tricks you use to get emotion across in your writing?

Bookmark This

No story from me this week.

Instead, I’d like to hear how your characters met each other. What were the first words they spoke?

Bookmark This