CornerScribe

Archive for the ‘Series’ Category

These are often confused, possibly because two of them are relatively rarely used.

Cite means to refer to a source, as when you write a research paper.

Site refers to a specific place or location, as in a building site.

Sight refers to seeing, as in vision.

Examples:

• You need to cite more sources for your research.
• The accident caused him to lose his sight.
• We need to choose a site for the picnic.

These are some commonly confused words. I rarely hear them mixed up, but I see it in people’s writing all the time.

Breath and Breathe

Breathe is a verb. The ea sounds like eat or easy.

Breath is a noun. Here, the ea sounds like egg or death.

Examples:

He took a slow breath before answering.

She gasped, barely able to breathe.

Bath and Bathe

Bath and Bathe follow the same basic pattern.

Bathe is a verb. The a sounds like able or ate.

Bath is a noun. The a sounds like cat.

Examples:

I want to take a relaxing bubble bath.

Whew! You need to bathe.

I see that a several of the Writing Helper posts remain some of my most popular. Even though they’re short, I’m not surprised. When I taught English, my students usually appreciated this type of lesson much more than standard grammar.

Enjoy!

Character Worksheets

As promised, here’s the link to download the character building worksheets. These are based on the series I recently did. However, I turned the information into a some worksheets and added some new material that didn’t appear in the posts.

Please let me know if you find them useful.

I see these two words confused all the time, even though they’re very easy to get right.

It’s is a contraction for “it is” or even “it has.”

• It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. (It has…)
• It’s a mistake to buy that property. (It is…)

Its is a pronoun that means something “belongs to it.”

•  I wouldn’t buy that car; its paint job is awful.
• The dog hurt its foot on its walk last night.

If you’re unsure, simply substitute “it is” or “it has” in the sentence to see which version of its/it’s you have. If the substitution works, then you want the version, it’s. If not, then you want its.

It’s simple, right?

Writers often confuse poor and pour, simply because they sound alike.

Poor means to lack money. It also means to elicit sympathy. Pour means to pour liquid.

Examples:

• Poor Emily didn’t get the client.
• Michael considers himself poor because he can’t sell his novel.
• Pour me a cup of coffee, would you?

Many people confuse then and than in their writing. I think this is probably because they don’t make much of a distinction between the two in their speaking.

Then, refers to time. First one thing happened, and then another. Than, on the other hand, is used when making comparisons.

Examples:

• I published my first novel and then quit my day job.
• I would rather read horror than any other genre.

Try to avoid these common mistakes in your writing. Your editor will appreciate it!

Once upon a time, I taught first year college English. I also taught what my students not-so-fondly called “bonehead English,” which was a grammar and remedial writing class. I still chuckle over one particularly funny exchange with a student. Maybe it’s also a pretty good indication I wasn’t cut out to teach.

I had marked up her paper pretty badly, but it read like she wrote it in the car, while driving, running late for class. When she approached me after class, flapping the notebook paper at her side, I knew she was already ticked off.

“You marked something that wasn’t wrong.” She dropped the offending paper on the table between us and pointed to one of many marks. “See?”

I didn’t see. To tell the truth, I couldn’t figure out which of the marks she meant. “Where?”

“Here.” She pointed again, this time to the phrase, “I was thinking to myself.” I had marked out “to myself” and had written the word “redundant” in the margin.

I explained that it was, in fact, redundant to say that you think to yourself. You can’t think to anyone else, so it really isn’t necessary to specify you’re thinking to yourself.

She pointed out again how wrong I was, that she had really been thinking to herself in the situation in question.

I didn’t doubt that. Despite all the red marks, she seemed pretty thoughtful in general. I bet she did it several times a day.

I explained again why there’s no need to add “to myself.” I explained that if she could think to others too, then it might be necessary to be specific, but since any time she thinks, it must, by necessity, be “to herself,” there’s no need to say so.

We repeated this conversation until we were both out of patience. I finally asked. “Are you telepathic?”

That shut her up. She looked at me like I sprouted a third eye on my second head (thanks for the expression, Will!). “HUH?”

“Are you telepathic? If so, then yes, you should have written it as you did. If not, then you’re wrong. Okay?”

I think she left just to go look up “telepathic.”

By now, you’ve done a pretty good job of developing some characters. Maybe you’ve answered some questions or gotten some ideas for the story itself.

Now, it’s time to start putting all this together.

Who it the protaganist?

You may already know (or think you know) who your protaganist is, but don’t let that blind you to other possibilities. In my current novel, I thought I knew who the protaganist would be. Cheryl is smart, resourceful, and completely wrong as the lead character. I was surprised to learn that Fred not only turned out to be a decent guy, he stepped up and took charge of the novel too. If that happens, don’t resist it.

Getting along, or not

How do the characters get along? Who likes whom? Who can’t stand to be in a room together? These personality conflicts may play into the novel’s story line, or they may just provide fodder for sub-plots. Either way, letting your characters relate to each other naturally can make the novel much richer for your readers.

Remember, your novel needs conflict to keep readers turning pages. Will one of your characters be the antagonist, or will it be something outside of them? How do they relate to the person or force they’re up against?

As your characters struggle, you’ll be able to show how they react under stress. Doesn’t that often show what people are really made of.

Avoid repeating yourself

Watch out for things that can make your novel awkward. I started off with characters named Jen and Jan. Big mistake. How will readers tell them apart? If your heroine is named Paris, you’re going to be inviting your readers to make associations (with someone currently wearing an orange jumpsuit). Do you want that?

Don’t make your characters too much alike in other respects either, unless you’re aware you’re doing it, and you’re sure it’s right for the book. Think about their economic status, professions, religion, etc. In all likelihood, there should be some big differences between them. Those differences, and the conflicts they cause, can help build realistic characters and situations.

Avoid cliches like the plague

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. I like a crappy joke as much as the next person.

But to be serious, avoid cliched characters, unless you really mean to do it. See if you recognize this person.

• She’s extremely attractive. Large eyes, long hair. She’s very petite, probably around 5 feet and under 100 pounds.
• Although she’s quite sensual, she’s practically chaste. Maybe not a virgin, but chaste.
• She’s tough. Amazingly, unbelievably tough. Despite her size, she can kick butt. She can kick many, many butts, in high heels and a tight dress. Don’t mess with her.
• She has a talent that no one else has. Maybe it’s supernatural, maybe not, but she’s special.

If this sounds anything like your heroine, rethink her a bit. It’s been done. A lot.

Worksheets

I’ll try to get some worksheets together in PDF format later this week. They’ll recap what I’ve done in the series, and give you something to write on and keep for each character.

It’s time to name your character. You’ve spent a lot of time developing the character and making them as real to you, and your reader, as possible.

How much does the name matter?

Consider the following men’s names.

• Raoul
• Dirk
• Freddy
• Sam
• Alice

What does each name bring to mind? Maybe Alice is defensive about his name, or he could see it as a good story to break the ice. Dirk sounds like he belongs in a romance, or maybe an adventure novel. Freddy sounds positively normal, doesn’t he?

My point is, each name will bring with it certain impressions and assumptions in your readers. You can go with that, like making Sam a typical business man, or you can go against the grain. Maybe Alice is a mobster and Dirk is a coward!

Where to find names 

For ideas, check out one of the many name sites on the internet.

• Behind the name is a good, all-purpose name site that includes both first and last names.
• Medieval names galleria lists medieval names from several regions.
• The SSA lists the most popular names, by year.
• Here is a list of unique baby names if you still need inspiration.

Don’t forget other sources, such as the phone book, for ideas.

You’ve already worked on fleshing out your characters. Let’s start thinking a little more about their personality, goals, quirks, background, etc. In this case, I’d like to think about some of the extremes, that is, what your character likes most, least, etc.

For this part of the character building series, I thought a list of questions would be useful. You can print this out and use it for each of your characters. Just copy/paste the questions into your word processor. Answer as few or as many as you think helpful. In some cases, the question may lead you to more back story. That’s okay, just go with it.

• What is the accomplishment your character is most proud of?
• What is he most ashamed of?
• What is his biggest regret?
• What was his first love like?
• How old was he when he left home?
• What was high school/college like for him?
• What kind of work does he do?
• How did he get into that line of work?
• What are his hobbies?
• How does he dress? Describe a typical outfit.
• What’s his house like? Describe its size, decor, etc. Is it neat or messy?
• Is he an introvert or extrovert?
• Who’s his best friend?
• Who is his biggest rival or worst enemy?
• If he could do anything with no consequences, what would it be?
• Is he religious?
• What did he do last weekend?
• Who is he dating / married to now? Why are they together (or why is he not dating)?
• What does he want? This might be in the context of the story, or in general.
• What does he worry about?
• What is he afraid of? This might be something big (like dying of cancer like his dad) or small (spiders, the dark).
• Does he have any prejudices? Beware the character who has none. Do you know any real people who don’t?
• Would you want to work for him? Why?
• Would you want to marry him? Why?
• If he were someone you knew, what would you say his best qualities were? What are his biggest faults?

I wouldn’t spend more than a few minutes on each of these, unless it seems particularly fruitful. If one seems to lead you to an interesting trait, or to something that might explain his behavior in the story, then pursue that. If not, then don’t spend too much time (or skip the question altogether).

Most of this will never make it to your story, but you can certainly work in a few that will help your readers understand who he is and why he behaves as he does.

While you’re at it, see if you can come up with a few questions that would be useful to developing your character and post them below.

You’ve written one or a few diary entries for each major character, and you know your characters’ physical characteristics. So, what next.

You need to flesh out (I’ve seen some write it “flush” out, but let’s hope your characters don’t come to that) your characters’ backgrounds.  While most of this information will never make it into your book, it will help you know your characters a lot better. Maybe your heroine is terrified of spiders because her uncle used to tease her with them, or maybe your hero doesn’t trust anyone who reminds him of his mother because she left when he was ten and very sick. You get the idea.

Here are some prompts to get you started.

• Parents. Are they living or dead? Are there any family issues that relate to the character’s development? Is she used to a loving, stable family or a dysfunctional one?
• Siblings. How about some sibling rivalry? Do problems with siblings extend into his current life?
• Extended family. Here’s where you can think about the crazy uncle or the aunt who ran off with the trucker. What events with extended family shaped your character’s development.
• Childhood friends, teachers, neighbors. Does your character keep in touch with any of these people? Who was the biggest influence? Was your character bullied, betrayed, abused?
• Family traditions. Holidays are a great way to bring in some background material without making it seem too forced. Maybe your main character can drop everything to attend that yearly get-together, or do everything in his power to avoid it.
• Neighborhood. Where did your character live as a child? What was the neighborhood like? What did kids do outside all day in the summer or after school?
• Finances. Was she poor? Did she have to babysit to make enough to buy next year’s school clothes, or did her parents buy whatever she needed?
• Events that shape the character. Think about things that happened to your character, whether good or bad, that somehow shaped who he is now.

I think that’s enough to get started. I’m sure you’ll think of other things as you write. The point is, childhood profoundly affects who we are as adults, and the same is true of your characters. If your character is stingy, chances are something in his formative years gave him the tendency to be stingy.

While you won’t want to burden the reader with lots of backstory, a little here and there will make your character seem more real. After all, real people have a history, and so should your characters.