Yeah, Still All About the Characters
First, the skinny on my current contest:
I'm going to leave this open 9:00 PM EST Saturday, November 10. Okay, here's the deal:
1) Visit my author page at Samhain (http://www.samhainpublishing.com/authors/linda-winfree).
2) Peruse the blurbs and/or excerpts for my current releases (What Mattered Most, Truth and Consequences and His Ordinary Life).
3) Drop me an email with SAMHAIN CONTEST in the subject line to linda_winfree at yahoo dot com (you know what to do). In the email, tell me which title you would like if your name is drawn, along with 1-2 sentences telling me why you're interested in this particular title.
4) Saturday night, I'll draw for two winners and announce them at the Samhain Cafe as well as my blog.
***
Today, the Spanish II class gifted us with the annual Spanish play. These are always an excercise in hilarity and this year was no exception. Our Spanish students chose to translate Napoleon Dynamite. Yes, you read that correctly.
Now, let me preface this by saying I didn't make it through one entire viewing of Napoleon Dynamite. My students are always horrified to hear this because, you know, "Oh, man, Ms. Winfree, that's the funniest movie ever!"
Yeah. Sure it is.
But watching the play today and watching the audience reaction, I could somewhat see the appeal of the non-funniest movie ever.
It's the characters. The kids fall in love with Napoleon, Kip, Pedro . . .
I'm a plotter all the way, but I've been reminded again lately of how important character consistency is. I'm doing some minor revisions on my spring release, Anything But Mine, before my editor and I begin the major editing process. This book is closely tied to another in my Hearts of the South series, Hold On to Me. Over the summer, I rewrote Hold On to Me, changing the backstory to up the conflict and further focus the heroine's character. But it's not the heroine who changes the character layers in Anything But Mine.
It's all Tick.
He, of course, is the hero in Hold On to Me. The hero in Anything But Mine is his close friend and colleague. There's a minor backstory issue in HOTM that affects their relationship in ABM. It's not a major point, but no way is Tick going to be all smiling and happy in Stanton's presence in ABM. He's resentful, a little angry, that some of the pain he and the heroine suffered could have been alleviated if not for one act of Stanton's. So, even though my revisions aren't major, there's quite a bit of character layering to be done to keep the characters consistent.
Have you had to revise for character consistency before? Any tips you'd care to share? Or books where you think the characters should have been more consistent?
I'm going to leave this open 9:00 PM EST Saturday, November 10. Okay, here's the deal:
1) Visit my author page at Samhain (http://www.samhainpublishing.com/authors/linda-winfree).
2) Peruse the blurbs and/or excerpts for my current releases (What Mattered Most, Truth and Consequences and His Ordinary Life).
3) Drop me an email with SAMHAIN CONTEST in the subject line to linda_winfree at yahoo dot com (you know what to do). In the email, tell me which title you would like if your name is drawn, along with 1-2 sentences telling me why you're interested in this particular title.
4) Saturday night, I'll draw for two winners and announce them at the Samhain Cafe as well as my blog.
***
Today, the Spanish II class gifted us with the annual Spanish play. These are always an excercise in hilarity and this year was no exception. Our Spanish students chose to translate Napoleon Dynamite. Yes, you read that correctly.
Now, let me preface this by saying I didn't make it through one entire viewing of Napoleon Dynamite. My students are always horrified to hear this because, you know, "Oh, man, Ms. Winfree, that's the funniest movie ever!"
Yeah. Sure it is.
But watching the play today and watching the audience reaction, I could somewhat see the appeal of the non-funniest movie ever.
It's the characters. The kids fall in love with Napoleon, Kip, Pedro . . .
I'm a plotter all the way, but I've been reminded again lately of how important character consistency is. I'm doing some minor revisions on my spring release, Anything But Mine, before my editor and I begin the major editing process. This book is closely tied to another in my Hearts of the South series, Hold On to Me. Over the summer, I rewrote Hold On to Me, changing the backstory to up the conflict and further focus the heroine's character. But it's not the heroine who changes the character layers in Anything But Mine.
It's all Tick.
He, of course, is the hero in Hold On to Me. The hero in Anything But Mine is his close friend and colleague. There's a minor backstory issue in HOTM that affects their relationship in ABM. It's not a major point, but no way is Tick going to be all smiling and happy in Stanton's presence in ABM. He's resentful, a little angry, that some of the pain he and the heroine suffered could have been alleviated if not for one act of Stanton's. So, even though my revisions aren't major, there's quite a bit of character layering to be done to keep the characters consistent.
Have you had to revise for character consistency before? Any tips you'd care to share? Or books where you think the characters should have been more consistent?
Labels: Linda's Posts
posted by Linda Winfree at 11:36 AM
4Comments:
I haven't had to do this yet, but it's something I think about. As I was writing my last book (which my agent is reading now) I kept mulling this over because the hero in this one was a secondary character in the last. Staying true to character from one to the other was harder than I thought it would be.
Susan Elizabeth Phillips does a good job keeping characters consistent in her Stars Series. While the books don't have to be read in chronological order, it's fun to read them and see how consistent she keeps the characters.
On the flip side, I recently read a new release in a series I've so far loved, but the inconsistency in the characters this time from past books left my head spinning. It was almost as if the author was so rushed to get the book out, she didn't go back and do those final edits for character consistency. As one reader pointed out in a review, it was like all the characters were on crack or something, acting totally different than they had in other books. After reading it myself, I have to admit, that's sort of how I felt.
I can't wait to read HOTM and ABM again and see what small edits you're talking about. I've been wracking my brain since reading your post and can't figure out what Stan did, so it must have been an edit. ;)
Oh, and John Heder grew up in my town. His father's a doctor at the family practice clinic where I go. My hubby knows him (the father)through work and says he's great. Napolean Dynamite is HUGE here.
See? And characters on crack make me nuts.
I think if you're writing connected books, the characters overall have to be consistent. They can change and grow, but the underlying core cannot change.
So far, tweaking Tick's character for this book has been pretty easy. It's a matter of dropping a facial expression like a grin, and maybe changing his dialogue slightly. There are a couple of small scenes I want to add, but I haven't figured out where yet.
Oh, I'm figuring, too, that after tomorrow's ND play, I'm going to have to watch the movie all the way through. My nearly-thirteen-year-old hasn't seen it yet, but now he's enthralled.
Oh, yeah...characters.
As you know, I did a lot of research on character development last year.
Regarding consistency...one thing you can do is go through the work and highlight--highlight every section that relates to their motivation one color, all their dialogue another, their gestures another, elements relating to their character arc another.
I know...tedious. But after taking Margie Lawson's deep edits class, I bow to the highlighter.
Good luck! I know you'll do a bang-up job.
Oh, yeah...characters.
As you know, I did a lot of research on character development last year.
Regarding consistency...one thing you can do is go through the work and highlight--highlight every section that relates to their motivation one color, all their dialogue another, their gestures another, elements relating to their character arc another.
I know...tedious. But after taking Margie Lawson's deep edits class, I bow to the highlighter.
Good luck! I know you'll do a bang-up job.
Post a Comment
<< Home