characters

Bad Decisions by Yvonne Erwin

A human being is a deciding human being – psychologist and philosopher Victor Frankl.

Not long ago, I was introduced to a new thought when someone said, “Without a Moment of Decision, this is just an anecdote.” In other words, the reader felt no real tension in the piece she was reading. This Moment of Decision idea seemed interesting to me so I decided to research it a little bit, and I want to share what I found with you.

As humans, we want to make the best decision on whatever it is we’re considering doing. However, our characters don’t get that luxury.  Our characters shouldn’t act as though they’ve had three weeks to consider their options in any given scene. The decision made in the heat of the moment isn’t the same as one made with weeks to consider. In fact, bad decisions often make the best stories.  Bad decisions will ratchet up the tension factor in your story, and keep your reader engrossed with the story line. How is he going to get out of THIS, THIS TIME?

How do we cause our characters to make bad decisions?

  1. Let them be impulsive. Let them jump in before thinking it through.
  2. Have them make decisions under pressure. A ticking clock is a reliable way to raise stakes and increase tension.
  3. Let he/she assume they know it all.  This can be particularly satisfying because the fall when reality trips them up will be particularly devastating.
  4. Don’t make a Plan B. An overconfident protagonist will get into more and more trouble as the world falls to pieces and starts snowballing. Make sure the worst can happen and make them dig their way out.

You want tension in your story, and you want the tension to mount. Otherwise, it is a slide show, like a resume. You want to keep your reader reading, so, blow it all up if you have to, but raise the stakes in your work and it will be more interesting and satisfying to your reader.

About Yvonne Erwin

Yvonne Erwin

Yvonne Erwin

Yvonne Erwin is a contemporary women's fiction writer, living in Springfield, Missouri. Her passions include reading, writing, gardening, cooking, traveling and experiencing new adventures. She seldom goes very far without her camera, which she's nicknamed her "mini-me."

Currently, Yvonne is serving as President of the Springfield Writers' Guild, a chapter of the Missouri Writers' Guild, and is a member of Ozarks Romance Authors. In 2012, Yvonne won second place in the prose-fiction category in the 19th Annual Springfield Writers' Contest Literacy Contest.

Yvonne's first novel, "The Discovery of Joy," was released February 2, 2015, in the women's fiction category. Her second novel, "The Sisters of Madelaine Street," was released September 27, 2016.

What Are Your Characters Doing?

A GUEST BLOG BY FOUNDING OZARKS ROMANCE AUTHORS MEMBER, KATHLEEN GARNSEY.

 

Okay, you are writing a fantastic story and you have fifty-seven characters in your book. My question is, “What purpose do they serve?” You may think this a silly question, but if you put a character in a book, they had better have a specific job to fulfill. If they do not—delete them!

You know the purpose of your hero and heroine, but it is time to examine your secondary characters. Of course, your protagonists do not live in a world all by themselves, they interact with others. The characters you add must contribute something to move the plot forward. You do not need to give every secondary character a name, especially if they have no purpose. Example, the waiter, the butler, the maid, etc. The exception is if the waiter, the butler or the maid play a part, like planting a clue, killing someone, stealing something, or adding poison to a drink, then name them since you will talk about them later.

 

 

Definition of Characterization

 

Characterization is the act of creating and describing characters in literature. Characterization includes both descriptions of a character’s physical attributes as well as the character’s personality. The way that characters act, think and speak can be presented to the reader either by direct or indirect characterization. Direct characterization is when the author tells the reader what the character is like, while indirect characterization is showing the reader through the character’s thoughts, words, and deeds. Note:  Showing is always better than telling.

You never want to be criticized for having stock characters, flat characters, characters with no dimensions, poorly drawn characters, and so on. Your characters must be believable, people your reader can identify with. That means they are either like that person, or have seen people who act in that manner. Saying that a book’s characters are unbelievable is one of the worst criticisms that can be made in this day in age. Authors use characterization to flesh out their characters, show the characters’ motivations, and make the reader have empathy with the characters.

 

If you are writing a book with a murderer or a real bad guy, think about having a few scenes with the villain/murder’s point of view. Depending on the length of your book, hold it to about three, and keep the scenes short. The most important point is if you are in the villain’s OIVthe hero/heroine cannot be in the scene—only the bad guy. If the protagonists are there, the scene belongs to one of them and you cannot use another POV.

Use your protagonists’ POV to show the reader everything in the story. It is through the hero/heroine that all the other characters come alive since it is their POV that makes the difference. They will tell/show the reader who the other characters are, what they look like, and what they are doing. The reader will learn everything from the protagonists.

Go through your manuscript and examine your characters and what they are doing. Secondary characters can add a lot to a story, just do not let them take over! There are times a side-kick, or a best friend are so dynamic they try to become the star of the story. If that is the case, give them their own book because this one belongs to someone else! 

Some of TV's favorite break-out characters (as examples)

 

Kathleen Garnsey - Member since 1988

ORACON 2013 - Save The Date

Save The Date

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Ozarks Romance Authors Annual Conference

Springfield, MO

Workshops - Pitch Sessions - Speakers - Headshots - Networking - Fun

We're putting together a fantastic lineup of speakers. Stay tuned for more details!

2011 Annual Conference

Make plans to attend the Ozarks Romance Authors Annual Conference Saturday, July 23, 2011 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The Clarion Hotel Conference Center, 3333 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield, Missouri

*** Conference site is just a few minutes' drive from the original Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store and Grizzly Tools, so make it a family weekend trip. Your hubby and kids will have plenty to do while you are at the conference. ***

TICKET INFORMATION:

Pre-registration through July 1, 2011 = $60.00 Pre-registration after July 1, 2011 (or at the door) = $65.00

Members of Ozarks Romance Authors (ORA) receive discounted tickets: ORA member pre-registration through July 1, 2011 = $50.00 ORA member registration after July 1, 2011 (or at the door) = $55.00

Once again, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Ozarks Literacy Council to help their mission of promoting literacy in our region.

PITCH SESSIONS WITH EDITOR / AGENT

Attendees who would like to schedule a 10-minute pitch session with either Literary Agent Louise Fury or Avalon Editor Lia Brown must register for the conference (below) and then contact the conference chairwoman, Cecily Cornelius-White, in advance via email to schedule your pitch session. professorcecily@yahoo.com

AGENDA:

-- Registration and Breakfast

-- Opening remarks and intros

-- Shannon Vannatter - Cut the Fluff: The Art of Revision and Self-editing

-- Shannon Butcher and Eliza Lloyd - Suspense Plotting and Making it Hot

-- Leigh Michaels - Things that Stump the Best of Us (Pacing, Backstory, and Transitions)

-– Lunch (catered lunch provided on-site)

-- Discussion with Publishing Panel - Making a Good First Impression.

-- Break for small group discussions

– Break-out Session #1

- Shannon Vannatter - Crafting Effective (and Gender Appropriate) Dialogue - Publishing Panel - Future Directions in Publishing - Small Group Discussion with Agent and Editor Panel

– Break-out Session #2

- Shannon Butcher & Eliza Lloyd - Crafting Heroes to Die For - Leigh Michaels - Playing Fair: When Characters Keep Secrets

– Break

-- Full Panel Q &A

Awards -- Presented for Weta Nichols Writing Contest

Closing remarks and Adjourn

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Shannon Vannatter Central Arkansas author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife/writer. She recently signed a three-book contract for her contemporary inspirational romance series set in Romance and Rose Bud, Arkansas.

Heartsong titles ship to a 10,000 member book club before releasing in stores. Vannatter*s titles: White Roses, White Doves, and White Pearls will be available through the book club and preorder in May 2010, October 2010, and January 2011 respectively and in stores six months later for each title.

It took Vannatter nine years to get published in the traditional market. Like Janette Oke, she views her work as a ministry and her books as paper missionaries. Vannatter hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as her characters struggle with real-life issues. Their journeys, from ordinary lives to extraordinary romance through Christ-centered relationships, demonstrate that love doesn’t conquer all, Jesus does.

Her short stories appeared in Mature Living and The Writers’ Journal, in 2009. Her first novel was Print On Demand published in 2001. She’s received several awards including 2nd place in RWA’s 2007 Touched By Love and 2008 Where the Magic Begins Contests, and a Honorable Mention in The 2007 Writer’s Journal Romance Contest. Her works have been displayed at Springfest’s Annual Artist & Author Exhibit.

Vannatter has taught fiction workshops for several writers’ groups including: Arkansas Inspirational Writers, Cleburne County Writers’ Guild, Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas, and White County Creative Writers. She’s contracted to teach workshops in 2010 at the Life Press Christian Writers’ Conference in Memphis, TN and the Ozark Creative Writers’ Conference in Eureka Springs, AR.

Vannatter is available for writers’ groups, workshops, conferences, schools, colleges, churches, book clubs, media appearances, print interviews, speaking engagements, and book signings.

Shannon Butcher

Since launching her career in 2007, award-winning author Shannon K. Butcher has penned more than eighteen titles, including the paranormal romance series, the Sentinel Wars; the action-romance series, the Edge; and a handful of romantic suspense novels and works of short fiction. Being a former engineer and current nerd, she frequently uses charts, graphs and tables to aid her in the mechanics of story design and to keep track of all those pesky characters and magical powers. An avid beader and glass artist, she spends her free time playing with colored glass and beads. You can find her online at http://shannonkbutcher.com/.

Leigh Michaels Leigh Michaels is the author of nearly 100 books, including 80 contemporary novels, three historical romance novels, and more than a dozen non-fiction books. More than 35 million copies of her romance novels have been published. Six of her books have been finalists for Best Traditional Romance novel in the RITA contest sponsored by Romance Writers of America. She has received two Reviewer's Choice awards from Romantic Times.

Her work has been translated and published in 120 countries in more than 25 languages, including Japanese, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian, Turkish, Hebrew, Greek, Swedish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Africaans, Arabic, Indonesian, and Chinese.

She is the 2003 recipient of the Johnson Brigham Award presented by the Iowa Library Association to an Iowa author for outstanding contributions to literature.

She is the author of On Writing Romance, published by Writers Digest Books.

She is the author of non-fiction books such as WRITING THE ROMANCE NOVEL, a step-by-step workbook, and CREATING ROMANTIC CHARACTERS. She is also the author of DEAR LEIGH MICHAELS: A Novelist Answers the Most-Asked Questions about Getting Published, and a cookbook, A TASTE OF LOVE. She has produced audio programs and written magazine articles on subjects of interest to writers in general.

She teaches romance writing on the Internet at Gotham Writers' Workshop. Men and women from around the world have participated in her workshops, and a number of them have gone on to publish their own romance novels with commercial publishers. She is currently an adjunct professor in the School of Communications at the University of Iowa.

She wrote her first romance novel when she was a teenager and burned it, then wrote and burned five more complete manuscripts before submitting to a publisher. Her first submission was accepted and published by Harlequin Books, the first publisher to look at it.

Eliza Lloyd Eliza Lloyd currently has three novels published with Ellora’s Cave in their 19th Century/Legend line of historicals. Eliza thinks romance writing is nearly as good as the real thing. Given her choice of professions, she would have preferred to be a 19th century archeologist, but she is perfectly happy living in the 21st century and comfortably writing about such romantic but inconceivably inconvenient times instead. She also writes contemporaries, romantic suspense and the occasional sci-fi when plotting and characterization don’t matter and invisibility does.

Eliza wrote her first romance novel after years of yearning. She finally woke up one day and asked, “Why the heck am I not writing?”

She enjoys traveling, movies, everyone else’s novels and a good meal out with friends on Saturday night. Her greatest flaw is that she believes there is such a thing as true love. Don’t tell her otherwise, please.

Louise Fury I am a Literary Agent, Marketing advocate and general lover of books. I work at the L. Perkins Agency and always on the lookout for fun pop culture books. I organize massive book groups for MG and YA Readers where kids can Meet, Greet and Eat with talented authors. I am also passionate about connecting with South African Authors. The rest of the time I network while navigating the slush pile.

 

 

Lia Brown

editor at Avalon Books, started her career in publishing at Starlog magazine as a high school intern, fell in love with editing and the creative process, and hasn’t wanted to do anything else since. During the last twenty years she has worked on a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction topics and genres at several publishing houses including, Marvel Comics, HarperCollins, St. Martin’s Press, Oxford University Press, and Random House Children’s Books.

At Avalon she acquires family-friendly contemporary and historical romances.

ORA Conference 2011

Pre Registration or Late Registration Member or Non-Member