Archive for the tag 'Writing'

A Question of Character

Anatis January 5th, 2008

So I’m doing the First Draft in 30 Days at the moment and it got me to thinking…

My heroine sucks. No, really, she does. I have no sense of her at all and she’s very shallow and uninspiring. Something has to be done, she needs to get a life.
And that’s where the Question of Character comes into it.
If Tia were real and I wanted to know things about her… I’d ask her questions.
So here is a list of questions to ask a character, whether you use any of it or not in the story, I still feel they (you) should be able (and required) to answer, because it gives the character depth. You just never know what you might slip into a conversation that gives the reader a sense of “oh she’s real”.

So here are the questions, in no particular order. Feel free to use them, and any additions you could suggest - please do. I will add any I receive to the list for easy copy/pasting. (I’ll also “Article” this post, so it’s easy to find later)

  1. Who are you?
  2. Where did you grow up?
  3. Are both your parents still alive?
  4. Do you have brothers or sisters?
  5. Where do you live now?
  6. What do you do for a living?
  7. Do you like traveling?
  8. What is your favorite TV Show?
  9. What is your favorite movie?
  10. What is your favorite song / music?
  11. Which music don’t you like?
  12. Who would you like to meet?
  13. Do you have a pet?
  14. Are you promiscuous?
  15. Are you shy?
  16. Are you cautious?
  17. What are you afraid of emotionally?
  18. What are you afraid of physically?
  19. What makes you happy?
  20. Do you believe in love?
  21. Are you in love?
  22. Do you dislike anyone?
  23. Who brings out the worst in you?
  24. What kind of weapons do you prefer?
  25. Are you fit?
  26. Healthy?
  27. Do you have any phobias?
  28. Do you suffer from allergies?
  29. What makes you cry?
  30. What makes you angry?
  31. What kinds of vehicles can you drive?
  32. Can you ride a horse?
  33. Do you know any first aid?
  34. Do you know any herbal remedies?
  35. Do you have any artistic talent?
  36. Are you interested in sport?
  37. Do you partake in any sport?
  38. Do you play games?
  39. Are you computer literate?
  40. How many languages do you speak?
  41. Do you take risks?
  42. Did/Do your parents have a good marriage?
  43. How would you react if I insulted you?
  44. What would you do if I confronted you over a mistake you made?
  45. How do you react to compliments, praises?
  46. Who is your best friend?
  47. Who was your best friend in school / childhood?
  48. How many boyfriends/girlfriends have you had?
  49. Who broke up with who?
  50. How do you feel you fit your “mold” in life?
  51. How do you break it?
  52. How do you like to dress?
  53. How do you actually dress?
  54. What makes you relax?
  55. What makes you tense?
  56. Are you racist?
  57. Are you interested in politics?
  58. How is your general knowledge?
  59. Do you read?
  60. What’s your favorite book?
  61. What car do you drive?
  62. What kind of dwelling do you live in?
  63. Where would you like to live?
  64. Have you ever been in hospital?
  65. Any scars, identifying marks?
  66. Were you popular in school?
  67. Are you popular now?
  68. How do other people see you?
  69. Are you a loner?
  70. Are you a vigilante?
  71. How do you deal with authority?
  72. Are you a leader or a follower?
  73. Do you like children?
  74. Do you want children?
  75. Do you have children?
  76. Were you ever married?
  77. Who do you trust with your life?
  78. What hobbies do you have?
  79. Do you have any bad habits?
  80. Are you tidy or messy?
  81. Is your place of residence presentable at all times?
  82. Are you afraid of anyone?

More to come as I go along. Hope this list is of some help to some people out there.

Tags: , , ,

Revision, revision…

Anatis November 25th, 2007

Todays blog visit was to Annie’s Blog at http://unfinishnovel.blogspot.com/

And boy… do I know what she’s talking about. Been there. Done that. Got the stack of paper to prove it.

Right now I’m revising because I found out some 56,000 words into the story that… the heroine is wishy washy and has no goal. No life. She’s BORING.
Gotta fix that. :)

So I made it my goal to give her a goal. Poor Tia doesn’t know what hit her, she’s being revised to pieces. That’s my 70 Days challenge, and actually… I find it much harder to do than a simple wordcount. I can write a lot of words, no problem. But writing words that make sense and will enhance my characters… that’s another story.

I’m at 9/20 at the moment. I’ve read ahead to chapter 14 and it’s damned hard to revise from 9 onward at the moment.

Tags: , ,

Beware! Maniac Typist on the loose!

Anatis July 31st, 2007

So I went and “signed up” for the “70 days of sweat” in order to keep going.

Because… I stop a lot.
I’ve got 28k words now, hoping to finish it around 80-100k, depending how it goes.
It’s the brutal first draft where 50% (at least) is total drivel and needs to be cut.
It’s the stuff that is missing description, flavor, details.
But at least I’m typing!

I’m hoping to get at least another 5 - 6 pages done tomorrow, 1,500 - 2000 words or so. At LEAST.

So from now on, I will get up, get my coffee, check mail - and then write for 2hrs before I do *anything* else.

Cross my heart!

P.s. If anyone is wondering how the smoking thing is going:

Tags: , ,

What’s in a name.

Anatis July 19th, 2007

Seeing as I’m writing, I’m always in need of names, place names, feature names… you uh… name it.

So, in the interest of science, I give you… Name Generators!

Seventh Sanctum — The one I use mostly, because there is just soo much on that site. :) Check it out.
Pseudo Elizabethan Place Name Generator — I’m going to call my house “Smythewhystle” or something I think lol

Alchemist Name Generator

Place Name Generator

Planet Generator

Rinkworks - One of the best Fantasy Name generators out there

Of course, then you have a ton of other name sites, but these are the ones I use the most:

Names by Chinaroad — Huuuuuuge amount of names there.

Norwegian / Danish / Swedish Surnames - Genealogy site

20,000 Names - Another really big site with some great categories

Dig in and enjoy! :)

Tags: ,

Sweating

Anatis July 9th, 2007

Sven Says Sweat

So…

70 days of sweat.

I figured I needed a kick up the rear, and this is it.

Will post the goal / title etc - as well as a meter - in a day or so.

And since I’m a day behind… I better get cracking! (Though I might use Naiche here…)

Tags: , ,

Most hated traits.

Anatis May 19th, 2007

I was looking for traits my hero has, or rather traits the heroine can accuse him of, and came across this list.

Figured it was so good… I’ll reproduce it. :)

The ten most hated traits

  1. Arrogant– (Meaning = unpleasantly proud and behaving as if you are more important than, or know more than, other people).
    We’ve all come across people like this. When I think of the arrogant people I have met it seems to be mainly men that display this trait. I have also noticed that it seems to be a class trait i.e. people who are in the ‘upper class’ can be arrogant with the ‘lower classes’ (yes the class system is still very much embedded in UK culture).
  2. Rudeness – (Meaning = not polite; offensive or embarrassing)When I think of people who are rude I tend to think of shop sales assistants. I know in America they are much more customer focused but in the UK customer service in shops can be terrible. It’s especially annoying when someone is serving you and they are talking to their friend about what happened last night.
  3. Domineering – (Meaning = inclined to rule arbitrarily or despotically; overbearing; tyrannical: domineering parents.People who try to control others are not a good trait at all. Again this can often be seen in the office and at home. It is a form of abuse and can be hard to spot sometimes. Of course some people like to be dominated (stop that!!) but that is a choice, which is different altogether.
  4. Dishonesty – (Meaning = not honest)The trait that I abhor the most in people! Everybody lies whether it be a white lie or a big ‘honestly I didn’t kill him’ lie. However when someone lies constantly it is very irritating and annoying especially after you have pointed out that you know they are lying and they continue with it. I am teaching my boys that honesty is always always always the best way even if it feels difficult. If you are honest all the time it will lead to people trusting you more and valuing your opinion more.
  5. Temperamental – (Meaning = describes someone whose mood tends to change very suddenly)Sorry ladies, but I have found the most temperamental people tend to be female, especially if you’ve ever worked in an office. I don’t know if it’s the office air or sick building syndrome but people change as soon as they enter their office of work. I have seen me standing chatting to someone outside and then when I see them again in the office their eyes have turned blood red, little horns have sprouted from their heads and they talk like they’ve just smoked 100 cigarettes “ what the F%*& are you talking to me for”, at that point I’m outta there.
  6. Conceited – (Meaning = Holding a high opinion of yourself)Much like arrogance and just as annoying. It great to have a good opinion of yourself but when it is displayed to others in a manner as to make others feel small it can be very unpleasant.
  7. Unreliable – (Meaning = cannot be relied or depended upon)Another trait that can extremely annoying. Again we’ve all come across people like this at work, at school, at university, in fact every area of life. We also know, very quickly, not to rely on that person for anything. When reliability is not there we tend to think they have other traits related to this such as lazy, disorganised, selfish etc.
  8. Dependent – (Meaning = relying on someone or something else for aid, support, etc).I am talking here about people who are overly dependent especially in relationships. There is no bigger turn off for a person than the man or woman who seems to depend on your relationship to survive.
  9. Pessimism –(Meaning = the tendency to see, anticipate, or emphasize only bad or undesirable outcomes, results, conditions, problems, etc)How to lose friends quickly = be pessimistic all the time. It’s quite funny when you get the grumpy guy in the office who moans about everything but deep down you know he likes the world. However when you get the person who moans about their job, their house, their life, their children, the world and are serious about it– how quickly do you run away from them? It can be very draining being around people like this they literally sap your energy.
  10. Condescending – (Meaning = showing or implying a usually patronizing descent from dignity or superiority).This is another trait which riles me. Of course this is open to interpretation in many cases. On a few occasions I have asked people if they are meaning to sound condescending and often they are embarrassed and explain that it was not their intention, so it can be a tricky one.

The source is here Steven Aitchinson’s blog

:) You don’t know me, but… Thanks Steven.

Tags: , , ,

Book Promotion

Anatis February 1st, 2007

I need to add a caveat here - this was written several years ago, but it is still as true now as it was then, and it doesn’t just apply to ebooks either. :)

Promotion

Or:

“Aw moo-ooom, do I have to?!”

By: Silke Juppenlatz

“Yes, dear, you do. You will wear that t-shirt to school, proclaiming that your mother is a successful author. And I won’t have any arguments about it, is that understood?”

Now, I don’t want to advocate that you torture your children. (They will see it that way, trust me.) I’m simply trying to make a point.

Use everything at your disposal, even your kids, husbands, friends, dogs, cats, bumper stickers on the mayor’s car… you name it. If you can get your hands on it, slap a sticker on it, cover it in a t-shirt bearing a likeness of your book, stamp it, make it wear placards, tattoo it on foreheads if need be. (Remember to use reverse letters, for when they look in the mirror.)

Just don’t get caught.

That nice neighborhood cop you just stickered? Well, he will probably object. So, use caution: Sneak up on them and run away real fast.

I’m kidding, of course.

Well, okay, maybe not entirely, but please don’t run out and offend your local sheriff now. It’s hard to promote a book from the county lock-up, remember?
(Family members, pets, relatives and friends chose to be near you. They knew what they let themselves in for, so all is fair…)
All jokes aside, here are the things you could do:

Walk into the offices of the local paper and hand them a copy of the book for review, with a couple of signed disks / copies of the book for a “Give Away”. Drop off a nice printed bio and let them know that you are available for interviews. Someone asks you for raffle prizes? Hey, I have just the thing… Promote it. You won’t regret it.

Get out there and put the word out any way you can. One free book will probably garner sales because the person who reads it will talk about this “electronic book I just read…” with their friends, who may well buy it for themselves. It’s new. People are starting to hear about electronic books, but they just don’t know what to make of them yet. The best way to educate them is to make them read one.

Leave those nice bookmarks you made liberally strewn all over the library. Any library, that is. One can never have too many bookmarks. People will pick them up.

How about speaking to the local librarian about giving an informal talk about electronic books and writing? They often look for something to offer to their visitors and may well take you up on it.

Offer to show how easy it is to read an electronic book. Most libraries have computers and they will probably let you use it for that purpose.

Go to conventions and offer to do signings.

If you have business cards, print the book title and the URL on it.

Use a tag line in your email, alerting people to the fact that the book is available - and where they can get it.

Enter contests. Yes, I really mean that. Not every award is barred to ebooks. And if you win, accept the award graciously. Don’t gloat over all the printed books you’ve just beaten. Be nice.

Make a noise, don’t be shy. Join other authors in combined advertisements if you can. It brings down the cost for all concerned.

Submit the book for reviews. Contrary to common belief, a book often gets reviewed faster if the author sends it, than when the publisher sends it. They will submit them everywhere they can, but if you find a place that is not on their list - submit.

Did I mention radio stations? Go get ‘em, tiger! These guys want to talk to people. They want to beat TV to the punch. You have something that’s on everyone’s lips these days. An ebook. They’ll probably be happy to have you there.

Those are just a few of the things you can do, the possibilities are virtually endless. Do get out there and promote, don’t rely on your publisher to do it all. It’s usually a joint effort and it really works.

So, get that T-shirt on your kid, no matter how hard he struggles.

And if he cries “But they’ll laugh at me!” remember:

Kids have memories like elephants… but they will eventually forgive you.

See you on the bestseller lists!

Tags: , ,