Damaged people live in Milan

Damaged people live in Milan

What's a warm up?

"A young musician ..."

Writing inspiration

Prompted by a suggestion in a writing book to search the internet for images to inspire characters and Winter's face in The heart of Winter post, I created collections of intriguing faces and places, unusual dwellings and curious curiosities at Pinterest. I went nuts yesterday so there's already quite a few ;-)

Source: dummr.wordpress.com via Dragon on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Dragon on Pinterest

Source: lexphoto.co.uk via Dragon on Pinterest

Source: redwhite...brown.tumblr.com via Dragon on Pinterest

Bleed for the gods

Bleed for the gods

What's a warm up?

The heart of Winter

Winter weather reflects Winter's state of mind and heart. If it's cold with a typical amount of cold and bluster she's having a grand season. If it's unseasonably warm, not enough snow, too cold it means something has upset her.

Think back on the winter we've had so far (well, okay, it's still fall but it is December!) and come up with a story that explains it. Is she upset with someone, perhaps one of the previous seasons? Does she depend on others to create winter effects? Clouds? Wind? The snow fairies? The frost elves? Are they not cooperating? Why?

Forgotten sons

Forgotten sons

What's a warm up?

"Don't explain why ..."

Life is a long song

Life is a long song

What's a warm up?

The wedding cake in the middle of the road

The wedding cake in the middle of the road.

Take it from there. :-)

---

The original challenge was given to 6 writers to come up with a story to be told on NPR radio based around a wedding cake in the middle of the road. It was extended to 17 more to create The Wedding Cake in the Middle of the Road: 23 Variations on a Theme.

World circus

World circus

What's a warm up?

"The only thing ..."

More human than human

More human than human

What's a warm up?

Story Sculptor

This is what has gotten me behind on everything.

No, not the gargoyle! Or even the picture of the gargoyle. (Look at that constipated face being so cute as he tries to squeeze out a story.)

It's what he links to that has kept me busy ...

Story Sculptor

It's sort of a MadLibs-type spreadsheet for your novel's overview. Sort of.

Fill in your main character, his or her goals, adversary and several other tidbits into the spreadsheet. From those it assembles loglines (story summaries). By reading through them you get to see if your ideas flow and play nicely together. Like:

The naive, impetuous farm boy battles to stop the Empire against the ruthless, technology-loving Empire supporter who wants to crush the rebels.

And,

On the verge of another season of moisture farming in the middle of nowhere the naive, impetuous farm boy enters the conflict between the Empire and the rebels; but when the Death Star is finally revealed, he must answer 'Is faith or technology stronger?' before Obi-Wan is killed.

Plus many more. Once you've tweaked your ideas, you can read through a breakdown of a novel with your elements inserted like this overview of Act 1:

Meet Luke from Tatooine, a planet beyond the edge of the Empire being his naive, impetuous self.

Luke's life is stalled facing another season of moisture farming in the middle of nowhere. It may even be a good life but he, in essence, is dying since he's stopped growing. Luke either doesn't recognize that he has a problem or is confused why technology and what he has accomplished so far leaves him discontent. His values have gotten him what he wanted so far. (But can't get him what he really needs.) Luke's life may feel like armor protecting him or a comfortable rut. (Explore at home, work or play.)

And a bajillion more that lay out your whole story right up to the final dramatic finish.

Story Sculptor might be helpful when planning a novel to keep you focused on the elements a good story needs. I've definitely found it useful for editing finished novels. The spreadsheet highlighted where the novel's weak areas were, let me know the person I thought was the villain really wasn't, and generally helped me pull wild ideas into line so it didn't read like a mashup of five different stories.

Give it a try. There's more explanation at the website. It's free for now. (Maybe free forever, with donations gratefully and graciously accepted :-) (And do encourage updates and expansions.)  It can look overwhelming at first, though I think the first page of the spreadsheet does a good job of directing you.

(It's for Numbers '09 (Mac and iPad) and Excel 2007 (and later) (PC and Mac).)

Let me know if you find it helpful. Also problems and improvements. All constructive feedback is welcome. :-)

---

The original idea came from  Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder. (Even he didn't believe it was the last since he wrote two sequels ;-)

What's wonderful about his book is the detailed breakdown of great stories (not just screenplays) he explores. As I read through his structure using "hero" and "villain" I really wanted a way to fill those in with a story's characters. Which gave me the idea for a spreadsheet. Then I stumbled across My Story Can Beat Up Your Story by Jeffrey Alan Schechter and The Anatomy of Story by John Truby which added more ways of viewing story structure. (The first two are very easy reads.)

Then I went kind of crazy adding more ideas in. And it seemed a shame not to share it. :-)

Chains around Heaven

Chains around Heaven

What's a warm up?

"Story is to human beings ..."

We who are not as others

We who are not as others

What's a warm up?

Thrown together

Cut up the following, creating three piles. Randomly match them up. Rearrange them until you have five combinations you like. Hint: look for unconventional combinations.

Use them individually for inspiration or strand them all together after a transportation failure (crash, storm, driver's death.) They can be stranded at a layover. It doesn't need to be a deserted island or planet unless you want it to be.

profession	clothing	hobby
professional mourner	hawaiian shirts	pigeons
demon hunter	hat with feathers	telescope
university librarian	bright red nails	comic book collection
celebrity bodyguard	unconventional piercings	gourmet cookware
beachside bartender	tattooed sayings	scrapbook of newspaper clippings
private eye	dragon slippers	Japanese weapon collection
investigative news reporter	religion-related jewelry	ukelele
brain surgeon	black clothing	taxidermy
high priestess	dreadlocks	china tea cup collection

Pain and pleasure

Pain and pleasure

What's a warm up?

"If you are ever ..."

Under a glass moon

Under a glass moon

What's a warm up?

Exorcist exercises

The exorcist and his or her partner, sometime lover and long-time friend receive a request from the ruler to handle a delicate situation.

The exorcist accepts with some concern. Ever since returning from the funeral of a relative, the exorcist's partner has been behaving out of character. Though feeling foolishly paranoid, the exorcist performed several tests to reveal possession but nothing showed up.

They accompany the messenger to a remote villa where the ruler's sister greets them. They are led to the heir apparent. A possession is clear even without tests. But that's the last thing that is clear.

Take it from there.

My immortal

My immortal

What's a warm up?

"For me, writing ..."

Death don't dance with me

Death don't dance with me

What's a warm up?

A character's random beginning

Historic LOLs

This is part of an exercise we did at a NaNoWriMo planning party. I tried to get it done before NaNo started but obvious failure.

First, we generated a random job. Which is the part that bogged me down for this post. But someone else has done a much better job using the data I was going to use:

Modern Job Title/Occupation Selector and Random Generator. You can go directly to Option #2 to generate random occupations.

There's also the Bullshit Job Title generator.

If those are a bit too real world for you, Seventh Sanctum has a Skills, Abilities and Traits generator. (As well as a billion other speculative fiction friendly generators.)

Second, generate one or more personal interests. More is not necessarily better! One or two is enough to provide character without feeling crowded. You can choose them from the same generator or different ones.

General hobby

Collection hobby

Competitive hobby

Observation hobby

Third, generate the first letter of first and last names. (Or whatever number of names you'd like to give your character.

Letter

Letter

Now, come up with a name that relates in some way to the occupation or hobby.

Fourth, quiz your character. In general, I think character questionnaires can lead you to the false conclusion that the more details, the richer the character.

What helped with this questionnaire is it was done as an interview with a partner. The advantage is you're put on the spot to come up with an answer that somewhat makes sense but you can't think about it too much! What it can yield are some unexpected contrasts and connections.

Get your mom to ask. Skype with your NaNo buddy. Or imagine a reporter asking you these questions. The goal is to do them quickly with a bit of thought. The quiz is from the Gotham Writer's Workshop.

Character Questionnaire 1

This questionnaire is found in Gotham Writers’ Workshop’s Writing Fiction.

You might start with questions that address the basics about a character:

• What is your character’s name? Does the character have a nickname?

• What is your character’s hair color? Eye color?

• What kind of distinguishing facial features does your character have?

• Does your character have a birthmark? Where is it? What about scars? How did he get them?

• Who are your character’s friends and family? Who does she surround herself with? Who are the people your character is closest to? Who does he wish he were closest to?

• Where was your character born? Where has she lived since then? Where does she call home?

• Where does your character go when he’s angry?

• What is her biggest fear? Who has she told this to? Who would she never tell this to? Why?

• Does she have a secret?

• What makes your character laugh out loud?

• When has your character been in love? Had a broken heart?

Then dig deeper by asking more unconventional questions:

• What is in your character’s refrigerator right now? On her bedroom floor? On her nightstand? In her garbage can?

• Look at your character’s feet. Describe what you see there. Does he wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Is he in socks that are ratty and full of holes? Or is he wearing a pair of blue and gold slippers knitted by his grandmother?

• When your character thinks of her childhood kitchen, what smell does she associate with it? Sauerkraut? Oatmeal cookies? Paint? Why is that smell so resonant for her?

• Your character is doing intense spring cleaning. What is easy for her to throw out? What is difficult for her to part with? Why?

• It’s Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. If he’s eating breakfast, what exactly does he eat? If she’s stretching out in her backyard to sun, what kind of blanket or towel does she lie on?

• What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?

• Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where is she going? What does she wear? Who will she be with?


Character Questionnaire 2

This questionnaire was invented by the noted French author Marcel Proust. These questions are frequently used in interviews so you may want to pretend you’re interviewing your characters.

• What do you consider your greatest achievement?

• What is your idea of perfect happiness?

• What is your current state of mind?

• What is your favorite occupation?

• What is your most treasured possession?

• What or who is the greatest love of your life?

• What is your favorite journey?

• What is your most marked characteristic?

• When and where were you the happiest?

• What is it that you most dislike?

• What is your greatest fear?

• What is your greatest extravagance?

• Which living person do you most despise?

• What is your greatest regret?

• Which talent would you most like to have?

• Where would you like to live?

• What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

• What is the quality you most like in a man?

• What is the quality you most like in a woman?

• What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

• What is the trait you most deplore in others?

• What do you most value in your friends?

• Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

• Whose are your heroes in real life?

• Which living person do you most admire?

• What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

• On what occasions do you lie?

• Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

• What are your favorite names?

• How would you like to die?

• If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

• What is your motto?

Goliath and the vampires

Goliath and the vampires

What's a warm up?

"I set myself 600 words ..."

600 words wouldn't cut it for National Novel Writing Month where the minimum is 1667 words a day if you want t o make it to 50,000 by the end of November, but Arthur Hailey did manage to write some pretty big books on just a minimum of 600 words a day.

Looks that kill

Looks that kill

What's a warm up?

Leading articles

Use each pair of phrases in a paragraph or sentence. The sentences don't need to connect with each other, but if you wish a bigger challenge you can use them all in a story or poem.

Under attack

Under a tack

Love affair

Love a fair

Upon arrival

Upon a rival

Checking account

Checking a count

Evening attire

Evening a tire

Return address

Return a dress

From the New York Times crossword puzzle "Leading Articles", November 7, 2010. (Wordplay, the Crossword Blog of the New York Times.)

At the time of this blog posting, you can see the full puzzle at Donald's Weblog, Leading Articles.

Hell march and Flight to paradise

Hell march
Flight to paradise

What's a warm up?

"You can't try ..."

If crimson was your color

If crimson was your color

What's a warm up?

Symbolically speaking

Scissor Spiders (from confiscated scissors) by Christopher Locke

I doubt I'm the only writer who avoids including symbols in her writing for fear they'll read heavy handed.

The first trick is to include them as a natural part of the character's actions, just as you might mention a morning cup of coffee. The second trick is to look beyond the obvious purpose of the object to the symbolic functions they can perform. AND to look beyond the obvious action of the character to an overarching pattern of behavior. A break up with a boyfriend may be cutting someone from her life, but where might she also be cutting things from her life?

Look around your room and pick 5 of your own objects. Then pick 5 from the list here. For each, write down actions, emotions, motivations, personalities the objects could represent.

For example: Scissors: cut unwanted things away, cut wanted things out, sever ties, destroy, create, sculpt. They can also stab.

Ceiling fan
Cell phone charms
Pass card
Ticket
Cast iron skillet
Silver spoon
Child's wooden block
Foreign coin
Composition notebook
Crossword puzzle

and no list of symbolic objects is complete without:

Water
Fire

Mrs. God

Mrs. God

What's a warm up?

"Young writers shouldn't ..."

Disturbing the priest

Disturbing the priest

What's a warm up?

Playing against type

Take your favorite characters (2 or 3 should do it, your own or someone else's) and cast them in a scene from a very atmospheric genre. Then pick another. Do 3 all together.

Do the characters adapt themselves well or do they feel awkward?

Some ideas for genres:

noir detective
pirates
wizards
British period piece
alien invasion
monster in the house
buddy cops
zombie apocalypse
high school drama
space explorers
bodice buster
superhero or superhero team
Disney fairy tale
Christmas story

Be as florid as you wish :-)

Perfect gentleman

Perfect gentleman

What's a warm up?

"But words are things ..."

Ministry of saints

Ministry of saints

What's a warm up?

Lost antiquities

Sad Herakles before he was returned home to Turkey :-(

"Artifacts, just like people, animals or plants, have souls and historical memories," said Turkey’s culture minister, Ertugrul Gunay."When they are repatriated to their countries, the balance of nature will be restored." (Actual quote.)

So what happens if the antiquities don't get to go home? Can the antiquities influence people? Their environment? Do the other antiquities around them that are in their home lands feel for them?

Does time pass slowly for them or at the same rate as for humans?

What if their "historical memory" isn't a pleasant one?

What if the home they are returned to no longer feels like home?

If they have souls, do they have their own gods?

Don't stop being crazy

Don't stop being crazy

What's a warm up?

"Let's get one thing clear ..."

The Healer

The Healer

What's a warm up?

Marriage Survives a Decapitation

Marriage Survives a Decapitation ...

Before you scroll down take a minute to brainstorm some ideas on what the story is behind that headline. Unlike the New York Times, you're not limited to reality. It opens up all sorts of possibilities.

And yet ... if you are limited to reality, what could the story be? Limitations can create even greater exercise for the brain.

Done?

If you're ready for the teaser intro to the article, scroll past the Black Knight Kitty, who managed to lose everything but his head.

"She is a retired New York City correction officer with a job at a security firm. He is a convicted drug dealer from Brooklyn who has admitted and denied — in that order — cutting off a stranger’s head with a chain saw. Nobody said marriage would be easy."

The rest of the article is at Marriage Survives Decapitation. The article brings the headline down into the realm of possible and yet still maintains that level of, "You can't make this stuff up!"

Master of shadows

Master of shadows

What's a warm up?

"The muscles of writing ..."

Foreclosure of a dream

Foreclosure of a dream

What's a warm up?

Jar Jar Re-Jarred

Imagine you could replace Jar Jar in Star Wars with another comic relief character. Write the scene where Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi first meet him or her. Then their escape from the Federation troops up through meeting with Queen Amidala in Theed.

Dweller in the cellar

Dweller in the cellar

What's a warm up?

"The cat sat on the mat ..."

12 Tips on Creating an Engaging Flawed Hero

Stock by cherrybomb-81

12 Tips on Creating an Engaging Flawed Hero

1. Flawed — But not just any flaw. A flaw that the reader can see prevents her from getting what she needs to be a better person. Instantly you've created a problem the reader hopes the Hero will be able to solve.
   
   
2. Passionate about what they do — It's often why villains are so appealing: they love what they do! Even if he's selfishly motivated to solve a problem, if he's passionate, he's engaging. Like Sherlock and House.

   
   
3. An admirable value — Duty, honor, dedication to family. There's something to admire amidst the thorns.
   
   
4. Compassion towards those weaker — also called "Save the cat" or "Pet the dog."
   
   
5. Important to someone or something else — a flower in an abandoned lot, a broken winged bird, a dying language, a small child.
   
   
6. "Grit" — no matter the obstacle, she's determined.
   
   
7. "Wit" — Humor that, though barbed, is insightful not mean spirited.
   
   
8. "It"* — sex appeal, charm.
   
   
9. Undeserved misfortune** — Not just misfortune but undeserved. The Hero isn't as bad as life is treating him.
   
   
10. Vulnerable but determined not to let others see weakness — Others may mistake this as pretense, until the Hero's handicap or misfortune is revealed.
    
    
11. Circumstances that make unpleasant behavior understandable — Release from prison, death of a loved one.
    
    
12. Quirk — What is it about quirks that humanizes people? It also makes the character more memorable.

© Joyce Fetteroll 2012

* "Grit, wit and it." James Scott Bell, The Art of War for Writers.
** "Undeserved misfortune." Jeffrey Alan Schechter, My Story Can Beat Up Your Story!

Royal death

Royal death

What's a warm up?

Voices from the past

Picture your character growing up hearing one of these phrases until it has become truth to them. Holding this truth has allowed them to get what they wanted in life, but now it feels like there's something missing. They need something more, but don't know what it is.

How has it shaped their life? Their choice of profession? Friends? Spouse?

Where and what has it gotten them in life?

What is missing? What opportunity might spark their interest to step out of their comfortable life?"

Write the opening scene. (It doesn't, of course, need to be contemporary. Any genre you want.)

"Bigger is better."
"You are just like your (brother, mother, etc)."
"Why can't you be smart like .."
"Don't fight."
"It's all just luck."
"Only weak people forgive."
"Work hard and you deserve the best."
"Quitters never win and winners never quit."
"Don't waste money on frivolous things."
"Don't show your pain."
"Family comes first."
"You won't have any friends if you are different."
"For a smart person you have no common sense."
"We are all sinners."

Angel witch

Angel witch

What's a warm up?

"Brave, strong people ..."

Space eater

Space eater

What's a warm up?

Dead end

Celesta is the first vampire to rise to fame for real talent, not just for being a vampire. But now she's famous for being dead. Again. For reals this time.

But who did it? Was she killed for being the person she is or for being a vampire?

Was it her manager who was in love with her?

Was it her mother who never could accept her becoming a vampire?

Was it her brother who wanted her to turn him into a vampire?

Was it the fan who had been sending her increasingly disturbing messages and packages.

Was it someone else?

Black magic woman

Black magic woman

What's a warm up?

"Everything in life ..."