Tell Me About Yourself

Have you ever been on the other side of a job interview? Recently, I was invited to sit on a committee to interview candidates for a position open in my organization. It was a surprise, but they wanted my input for some bizarre reason. It was an interesting experience, and, of course, I translated it into something related to writing. After the interviews, I kept thinking things like, “What if I interviewed my characters? What would happen then?”

Perhaps I should interview the myriad of fictional creatures who end up carrying my stories. Myabe I should ask them that standard interview question, "Tell me about yourself." As a writer, maybe that’s the best way to determine where they need to be. Sometimes I think the heroes and heroines end up in the wrong places, perhaps even mismatched. Other times, they seem to fit perfectly. Maybe if I did a mock interview, the odds would be in my favor that I’d connect two characters who really wanted to be together.

But what kinds of questions do you ask your characters? For some reason, I keep thinking that no matter what I ask my male characters, I would somehow hire them. A hunk is a hunk, after all. My female characters, however, would have to work for it. I hate a romance with a whiny or TSTL heroine, so I think I’d be biased from the git go. I don’t want a whiny or TSTL hero, either, but usually with the male leads that’s not the problem. The problem is whether the male is an alpha or beta hero. Both have their charms and their place in literature, but if I only need one at the time, it can be tricky to pick between two hunks, regardless of their place in the food chain.

What would you do? Pick a character from a book and think about interviewing him/her for his position in that novel. Would Katniss Everdeen have made the cut in Hunger Games if she’d had to have gone through an interview first? Would Bella or Edward or Jacob been considered for the leads in Twilight if they’d had to sit down one-on-one with the author and tell her about themselves or elaborate on their skills at being a protagonist? What about Harry Potter?

A job interview for characters…hmmm.

Happy Reading!

Instinctive Characterization

How do you create characters? Some people do interviews or questionnaires, others just sit down and write, letting the story unfold. Some people use astrology or other methods.

Often, the first time I see one of my characters is in a scene playing out in my head. Action is taking place, characters are talking, certain emotions are involved. I have a vague idea of setting and atmosphere. I’m usually able to catch a glimpse of the character at least. Perhaps I can’t even see the color of his eyes yet, but I sense his mood and facial expression. This is like the germ of a story idea and character.

When you do something instinctively, you do it naturally. It’s something that comes from within you. It isn’t something you force with your autocratic rational side. I’ve tried to force my characters to come into existence or to be a certain thing, and I know it doesn’t work. (At least for me it doesn’t.) In my experience, a stubborn character will only become more stubborn if you try to force him into a mold he can’t fit into. Like your mom trying to make you take piano lessons when you hate piano.

A character comes from your own psyche. Likely there will be some tiny trait from your personality in your character. In many ways, a character is an extension of you. And you need to understand your character from the inside out. You need to know your character down to his soul. The only way to dig down that deeply is to let things unfold naturally, instinctively. Your subconscious needs to get in on the process. That’s when your character and your story will “feel” right. That’s when your character will feel real.

How do you develop your characters and get to know them? Do you have a specific method or technique? Do all of them pop into your head fully formed or are some of them stubborn? If so what do you do to coax them out?

The above post is an excerpt from a workshop I’ll be teaching on characterization starting June 1.

Workshop - Instinctive Characterization: How to Create Sexy Heroes and the Strong Heroines Who Love Them
Instructor: Nicole North

Date: June 1 - 30

Fee: $25

The romance genre is primarily character driven and those characters need to feel as real as you or I. How do you create characters the reader will fall in love with? If characters don't magically pop into your head fully-formed and three-dimensional, how do you help them come to life without forcing them to be someone they're not? We'll use several tools and methods to develop characters instinctively including:

How to use GMC (goals, motivation and conflict) to create active characters
Discovering and using our character’s backstory
How do you make characters empathetic and likable?
What is a great (real life) personality test to use for character development?
How do you use archetypes?
What is a fatal flaw?
Characters and conflict
Characters and deep POV
What makes a hero sexy and a heroine strong?
Describing and naming characters
Villains
...and more

This is a new, interactive online workshop with exercises and critique/ feedback from the instructor. It is a private workshop held in a yahoo group. The lessons will come to your email inbox.

To register or read past student testimonials about my other workshops please visit my website and click on "workshops" on the menu:
http://www.nicolenorth.com/

About the presenter: Nicole North writes sensual and erotic romance novels and novellas. She is the author of paranormal erotic romance novellas Beast in a Kilt, Red Sage Secrets Volume 29, Indulge Your Fantasies, July 2010; Devil in a Kilt, Red Sage Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures, July 2009; and Kilted Lover, Red Sage, November 2009. She has finaled in over a dozen writing competitions and won several awards. Reviewers have said her stories contain "heart and heat, killer love scenes, magic and extraordinary characters." She has a BA degree in psychology but writing romance is her first love.

To register, please visit http://www.nicolenorth.com/ and click on "workshops."
Or email: nicole (at) nicolenorth.com
Thank you!!
Nicole

P.S. I donated a copy of each of my anthologies to Brenda Novak's Online Auction to Benefit Diabetes Research. Please click to check them out or bid:

Secrets Volume 27

Secrets Volume 29 (due out July 1)

Thanks!

Writing the Male Character

Men are not just women with more hair and a …

Men take up more space in the world. In general, they behave in ways to enlarge their presence. They use larger arm gestures, laugh more heartily. When seeking female attention, they will try to stand taller, to throw back their shoulders and to appear stronger and more fit. They know instinctively, they need to be seen as a capable provider. Watch men bonding at a sports game. They pound each other on the back, jump in the air. They make active, assertive gestures to show their approval of each other. (Think of women bonding. They’ll sit close together and talk quietly over a cup of tea.)

When mating and dating, then, men don’t try to be subtle. They will sit or stand with their arms and legs spread wide when trying to attract a potential mate’s attention. They may separate a bit from the crowd so you see them. They will use their eyes aggressively. If they let you catch them checking you out, they are sexually interested. Of course, the man has to be careful not to be buffoonish with his loud jokes and attention seeking moves.

Their active natures mean that men fight differently than women. Men will engage in a fight more easily than a woman, will take more abuse while fighting, and can be proud of the fact they’ve been fighting. When the fight is over, it can be easily forgotten. Watch young boys, who are always roughhousing. Young girls don’t do that. Men also fight to establish who is the winner and who is the loser.

Men are more focused and linear in their thinking. Whatever their object, they focus on achieving it, not on noticing what goes on around it. So if sex is their object, they notice and enjoy a short skirt because it shows off the long legs they like, or the tight butt, or whatever. They don’t think about the color or the designer of the skirt. Unless your male character is a cop or a designer who needs to notice specific details, don’t have him noticing the sunset red color of your heroine’s blouse. If they are in danger, he can notice that the red color might make them more visible. If he’s sizing her up for a pickup, make him notice the way that blouse shows a hint of cleavage. The details he notices should only relate to the track his thinking is on right now.

This linear focus also explains why the dialogue of your male characters is shorter and more to the point. A guy won’t wander around with detailed explanations, descriptions of his motivation, etc. Women seek shared understanding; men want to transmit the necessary information and move on.

Their linear way of thinking means that men gravitate to hierarchical forms of social grouping. They enjoy an established pecking order (think military, large corporation, etc.) Any organization made up of men will possess a well-marked ladder to get from bottom to top. Women organize naturally in more cooperative ways. Female groups can be exclusive; women enjoy status as much as men, but the major question is are you in or out of their group, not how do you climb the ladder of this group.

These statements are all generalizations. There are quiet men and boisterous women. But in writing believable characters, make sure you understand the natural differences between men and women. I’m sure you can all think of other ways in which you differentiate your male characters from your female characters. Share if you'd like.