| You Should Be a Film Writer |
 You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen! |
What type of writer should you be?
Writers, Check out this cool quiz. I took it and here are my results. While it might seem strange for a romance writer to get this result, this assessment holds mostly the truth for me. Though I'm not a screenwriter, I do see my stories clearly like a movie in my head and they often contain a lot of suspense and adventure, but mostly romance. Dialogue is a big thing for me too. Click the link below to take the quiz yourself.
Move Your Stuff, Make a Sale
Workshop Title: MOVE YOUR STUFF, MAKE A SALE: FENG SHUI FOR WRITERS
Presenter Name: Bella Andre
Date Feb. 15 - 28, 2007
Description: Erotic romance author and Feng Shui consultant, Bella Andre, has helped everyone from Fortune 500 companies to small business turn dreams into dollars. She will show you how to use Feng Shui to increase your chances of getting an agent, selling your book, and even having a better relationshipwith your editor! This workshop will provide clear, simple and inexpensive tools for transforming your workspace, whether you write in a private home office or in a corner of the kitchen table.
About the Presenter: Bella Andre, an erotic romance author with Pocket and Ellora’s Cave, has been a Feng Shui consultant for fiveyears. She is a graduate of the Western School of Feng Shui and Stanford University. Her recent novels include, TEMPT ME, TASTE ME,TOUCH ME (January 2, 2007) and RED-HOT REUNION (March 20, 2007.) Please visit her website at http://www.BellaAndre.com
Fee: $10 CHRW members; $15 nonmembers (RWA membership isn't required. Anyone can take our courses.) Deadline to sign up for this workshop: Feb 10, 2007
Click http://www.celtichearts.org/chwksp.html to sign up.
Presenter Name: Bella Andre
Date Feb. 15 - 28, 2007
Description: Erotic romance author and Feng Shui consultant, Bella Andre, has helped everyone from Fortune 500 companies to small business turn dreams into dollars. She will show you how to use Feng Shui to increase your chances of getting an agent, selling your book, and even having a better relationshipwith your editor! This workshop will provide clear, simple and inexpensive tools for transforming your workspace, whether you write in a private home office or in a corner of the kitchen table.
About the Presenter: Bella Andre, an erotic romance author with Pocket and Ellora’s Cave, has been a Feng Shui consultant for fiveyears. She is a graduate of the Western School of Feng Shui and Stanford University. Her recent novels include, TEMPT ME, TASTE ME,TOUCH ME (January 2, 2007) and RED-HOT REUNION (March 20, 2007.) Please visit her website at http://www.BellaAndre.com
Fee: $10 CHRW members; $15 nonmembers (RWA membership isn't required. Anyone can take our courses.) Deadline to sign up for this workshop: Feb 10, 2007
Click http://www.celtichearts.org/chwksp.html to sign up.
Flawed Character Study
The question from my previous post is: could we like characters who do things like committing murder, stealing, having a violent temper, assaulting people, torturing people. (By the way, please don't assume I like criminals just because of my opinions here. I don't. I simply find slightly edgy characters more interesting...in a book, movie or TV show. Not in real life. :-) Now back to the program...)
If you don't think you could like people or characters who do terrible, illegal, immoral things, I want to use examples from one of my favorite TV shows, Lost. Some of the most popular characters on the show have done bad things but we love them anyway. Why? The characters are so incredibly complex and multidimensional. They have good traits and bad, sometimes in equal proportion. They may have murdered someone in the past, but now they're saving someone's life. Redemption is an important theme here. Mr. Eko was probably the most extreme example of this. He was a sort of gang member who murdered countless people. He then posed as a priest. After this he felt he had become a real priest. Mostly he wanted to save his brother's life. The reason he became a killer in the first place, as a very young teenager, was so his younger brother wouldn't have to. In essence, he was giving up his soul to save his brother's.
Kate is the most likeable female on the show, yet she is a murderer too. Do you feel she had good motivation for the crime she committed? The law says it's not legal to kill someone who's physically and sexually abused you and your mother for years but how would you feel in that situation? What would you do?
Sayid is another interesting character. He is very helpful, appears to be gentle and caring in every way, but also strong, sexy and masculine. Yet in the past he was in the Iraqi Republican Guard, an expert at torturing people. And then we wonder how can I like someone who tortured people for a living? The conflict that can create within you, the viewer, can be disturbing.
I find Sawyer to be the most complex character on Lost. In essence, he's a con-man and a murderer. He smokes, drinks, steals, lies, cheats. He's greedy, selfish, promiscuous, manipulative. Carries a gun around and threatens people with it. We're talking bottom of the barrel. Yet, his character arc over the course of the seasons has been more dramatic than anyone's. What are his good qualities? Does he have any? Sure, and seeing them uncovered has been entertaining. For one thing he's sexy and very masculine. An honest-to-goodness bad boy that appeals to many women. Despite his image, he's also intelligent. He'd have to be in order to be such a successful confidence man and set up elaborate con jobs. Or to come up with those snappy, smart-alec comebacks so fast. He's funny and we like to laugh at the goofy predicaments he gets into, like when he thought a wild boar had it in for him. We also find out in the last season, that he might have a baby daughter. His ex-girlfriend (a con-woman) tells him about her while he's in prison, but there is no proof the child is his. Just on her word alone, he does something surprising--he works out a deal so that he rats out one of his peers, gets released from prison and receives a large sum of money as a reward. He doesn't keep this money, instead he sends it into an account for a little girl who might be his daughter. He has a soul after all.
These are extreme examples. But how do we, writing romance fiction, make our characters this complex, interesting and sympathetic? They don't need to be murderers. In fact, editors probably prefer that they're not. (Though I have read romance novels with heroes or heroines who are assassins, alcoholics, prostitutes, thieves, cheaters.) We can give them lesser flaws and make the reader love them in spite of these bad things. That's the challenge. How? Show their struggle. Their inner conflict and turmoil. Show them wanting to be a better person but failing, being miserable. Trying again. Use redemption as a theme. They grow from bad to good and we root for people like that. Bring out a strength to balance the weakness. Or vice versa. The problem with a lot of romance fiction is that there isn't enough "bad" in there. The characters are all good. Too good, bordering on perfect. I have some too-good characters myself that I need to mess up a little. So, don't be afraid of letting your character's dark side come out.
If you don't think you could like people or characters who do terrible, illegal, immoral things, I want to use examples from one of my favorite TV shows, Lost. Some of the most popular characters on the show have done bad things but we love them anyway. Why? The characters are so incredibly complex and multidimensional. They have good traits and bad, sometimes in equal proportion. They may have murdered someone in the past, but now they're saving someone's life. Redemption is an important theme here. Mr. Eko was probably the most extreme example of this. He was a sort of gang member who murdered countless people. He then posed as a priest. After this he felt he had become a real priest. Mostly he wanted to save his brother's life. The reason he became a killer in the first place, as a very young teenager, was so his younger brother wouldn't have to. In essence, he was giving up his soul to save his brother's.
Kate is the most likeable female on the show, yet she is a murderer too. Do you feel she had good motivation for the crime she committed? The law says it's not legal to kill someone who's physically and sexually abused you and your mother for years but how would you feel in that situation? What would you do?
Sayid is another interesting character. He is very helpful, appears to be gentle and caring in every way, but also strong, sexy and masculine. Yet in the past he was in the Iraqi Republican Guard, an expert at torturing people. And then we wonder how can I like someone who tortured people for a living? The conflict that can create within you, the viewer, can be disturbing.
I find Sawyer to be the most complex character on Lost. In essence, he's a con-man and a murderer. He smokes, drinks, steals, lies, cheats. He's greedy, selfish, promiscuous, manipulative. Carries a gun around and threatens people with it. We're talking bottom of the barrel. Yet, his character arc over the course of the seasons has been more dramatic than anyone's. What are his good qualities? Does he have any? Sure, and seeing them uncovered has been entertaining. For one thing he's sexy and very masculine. An honest-to-goodness bad boy that appeals to many women. Despite his image, he's also intelligent. He'd have to be in order to be such a successful confidence man and set up elaborate con jobs. Or to come up with those snappy, smart-alec comebacks so fast. He's funny and we like to laugh at the goofy predicaments he gets into, like when he thought a wild boar had it in for him. We also find out in the last season, that he might have a baby daughter. His ex-girlfriend (a con-woman) tells him about her while he's in prison, but there is no proof the child is his. Just on her word alone, he does something surprising--he works out a deal so that he rats out one of his peers, gets released from prison and receives a large sum of money as a reward. He doesn't keep this money, instead he sends it into an account for a little girl who might be his daughter. He has a soul after all.
These are extreme examples. But how do we, writing romance fiction, make our characters this complex, interesting and sympathetic? They don't need to be murderers. In fact, editors probably prefer that they're not. (Though I have read romance novels with heroes or heroines who are assassins, alcoholics, prostitutes, thieves, cheaters.) We can give them lesser flaws and make the reader love them in spite of these bad things. That's the challenge. How? Show their struggle. Their inner conflict and turmoil. Show them wanting to be a better person but failing, being miserable. Trying again. Use redemption as a theme. They grow from bad to good and we root for people like that. Bring out a strength to balance the weakness. Or vice versa. The problem with a lot of romance fiction is that there isn't enough "bad" in there. The characters are all good. Too good, bordering on perfect. I have some too-good characters myself that I need to mess up a little. So, don't be afraid of letting your character's dark side come out.
Character Flaws
I was talking to a friend about this new Silhouette Intimate Moments (Romantic Suspense) novel I'm reading and enjoying very much. In it, the heroine is a (former) cocaine addict fresh from 5 months of rehab. This in a "category" romance? It surprises me as much as you. In case you don't know, category romance (Silhouette, Harlequin) is usually very tame. But yes, I like this heroine. She's probably not a typical cocaine addict. She seems like she could actually recover and not use anymore, probably rare for real addicts but I'm sure some do recover completely. This heroine still craves the drug sometimes, in times of extreme stress. She's still fighting it. Still has that internal conflict. It makes me root for her and hope she comes out on top.
So this made me wonder a lot of things about characters. How flawed can they be and still be likable and sympathetic? Are they sympathetic because of their addictions/weaknesses/ flaws or in spite of them? Both, I think.
No one likes a perfect person, in real life or in books. One reason is that we can't identify. We are not perfect. We all have flaws and shortcomings. Ms. Perfect is more like a robot or android than a human. Ms. Perfect has no conflicts, issues, problems, nothing to learn. She would be boring to read about. And if she's always preaching her perfection to others, trying to get them to be like her, well, we would probably want to strangle her.
Now throw the weight of cocaine addiction onto Ms. Perfect's shoulders. That's a big load. It would weigh her down. She would probably want to hide her problem from others, feel unaccepted and weak because of it. Like an outcast, judged by others. This thing is beyond her control and she needs help with it. She is no longer perfect; she's human like the rest of us. She has already become more likable, hasn't she?
What are other weaknesses, flaws, and addictions people or characters could have? Things that on first glance would make us hate them, but once we get to know them, makes us like them instead? It can go either way, we can like them because they're not perfect and striving to overcome their flaw or problem. Or they have good points that make up for their shortcomings.
Smoking, excessive drinking, committing murder, stealing, lying, manipulating, unfaithfulness, violent temper, assaulting people, torturing people.
Could we like people or characters who do these things? Next time, I'll try and convince you that we can.
So this made me wonder a lot of things about characters. How flawed can they be and still be likable and sympathetic? Are they sympathetic because of their addictions/weaknesses/ flaws or in spite of them? Both, I think.
No one likes a perfect person, in real life or in books. One reason is that we can't identify. We are not perfect. We all have flaws and shortcomings. Ms. Perfect is more like a robot or android than a human. Ms. Perfect has no conflicts, issues, problems, nothing to learn. She would be boring to read about. And if she's always preaching her perfection to others, trying to get them to be like her, well, we would probably want to strangle her.
Now throw the weight of cocaine addiction onto Ms. Perfect's shoulders. That's a big load. It would weigh her down. She would probably want to hide her problem from others, feel unaccepted and weak because of it. Like an outcast, judged by others. This thing is beyond her control and she needs help with it. She is no longer perfect; she's human like the rest of us. She has already become more likable, hasn't she?
What are other weaknesses, flaws, and addictions people or characters could have? Things that on first glance would make us hate them, but once we get to know them, makes us like them instead? It can go either way, we can like them because they're not perfect and striving to overcome their flaw or problem. Or they have good points that make up for their shortcomings.
Smoking, excessive drinking, committing murder, stealing, lying, manipulating, unfaithfulness, violent temper, assaulting people, torturing people.
Could we like people or characters who do these things? Next time, I'll try and convince you that we can.
Happy Holidays
My friend and I have a Christmas tradition now of going to see the gingerbread house competition at Grove Park Inn every year. I took the above photos. The first one is a view of Asheville from GPI. Do you see why our mountains are called Blue Ridge? The next photo is an interesting view of Grove Park Inn from below. In photography that's a worm's eye view. The 3rd photo is reindeer and trees. Then a couple of the gingerbread house winners. The main 1st place winner wasn't there unfortunately. And the last photo is a view of the mountains.
To update you on my writing news, I sold another short story, "Truth or Dare" to True Experience magazine. And I'm working on my latest Scottish historical novel.
Happy Holidays!!!
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