It's All In The Details!

As writers, we want our stories to hold together well, and to make sense. Keeping track of all of the pertinent details about storyline, protagonist, and supporting characters for a stand alone book is one thing, doing the same for a series of books is even more difficult. We don't want something that we have a character say or do in book five be at odds with something they said or did in book one!

There is more to the details than we think. We not ony have to keep track of what our characters are saying and doing, we have to keep track of how we are presenting their environment, and how they are reacting to their environment. If we reference something from another era, we need to make sure that it reflects that era. Historical events need to be reflected as they happened, not as however we feel they fit into our storyline.

If we do something as simple as moving a paragraph, or an entire chapter, to another location in our story, we need to make sure the information fits, and makes sense. We also need to make sure that it is not repititious, and that the information we are moving is not needed in any of the chapters coming before it. (i.e. If we move Chapter Six to Chapter Ten, we need to make sure that Chapters Seven and Eight do not depend on any of the information from Chapter Six.)

The way that I track information in my writing is through the use of a Book Bible. Everything can be noted here - character history, storyline, what happens when - you name it, it can go into your Book Bible.

Writing is a joy, but if we want to sell our writing, and develop a following, we need to pay attention to the details!

September 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

I Am Coming To Life!

Note: This was written by the protagonist in my WIP.

My name is Amanda Bentley, and this is my story. Wow! How powerful is that! Bonnie is telling my story! I have to keep an eye on her, because she can get carried away, but she is telling my story. I had to insist that she go back to the book bible and change some things - I was starting to sound too much like her, and that will never do!

I have spent my professional life working for a clandestine organzation whose mission is to preserve the wisdom of the world, in all of its many forms (written, musical, artistic). This organization was founded and continues to be funded by a group of uber wealthy men and women. Dan Brown on steroids, if you will.

It works entirely underground, and has its tentacles all over the world. For the most part, we work behind the scenes in a very quiet manner. We make things happen (and stop other things from happening). We are part "Matrix", and part "Black Hat". I am part of the "Matrix" group, even at the age of seventy. (Yes, I still get called in to do things - especially things with roots in the past.) I have seen the "Black Hat" people in action a few times - and that was enough for me. 

In this book I am being taken back to one of my first assignments - one in whch I almost died. This time I am dealing with the son of the individual involved in that assignment. The son never knew his father - he was raised by his mother until she died, and then by her family. His family knows him as an important, successful businessman. They truly believe that. They know he is ruthless, but they have no clue how dangerous he is. What he really is ... well, that is very scary. With no training by anyone, he has powers that can make him disappear at will. He can read minds, and he can control the minds of others. It is power over others, and not money, that motivates him. He is after the same information that his father was after, except that with his father it was a painting, and with him is is an item in that painting. 

I love coming to life, and hope that you will enjoy reading about me!

(c) July 2018 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written consent of the author.

Developing Supporting Charcters

How far do we want to develop supporting characters? The first thing to note here is whether this is going to be a continuing character. If your character is part of a series of stories/books, then they need to be fairly well developed. Readers will want to know at least some of their background (back story), what is important to them, and what makes them tick.

Decide what the relationship between your supporting character and the main character (protagonist) is, and how it should play out. Is there friction there? Is there a sense of trust? How do they intract, and why? This may be a supporting character, but it has its own role in the story - an important role. This will be especially true if this character is used to more the story forward, or if it is used to create conflict/tension.

Make sure that your character carries a name that is compatable with their actions. Both names and nicknames should remind the reader of who this character is, and the part that they play in the story.

Whatever your supporting characters say or do, they should make an impression. Think of Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Lestrade, or Batman and Robin. Think abut how the supporting characters add authenticity to the story, how they make it "real", how they make it come alive!

You should be keeping a bible for each story, and your bible should include pertinent information on minor/supporting characters as well as your main characters. You need this for continuity, and, quite frankly, just to keep evrything straight!

In my next blog, I will be talking in the voice of the protagonist from my WIP, and how she feels about the development of her story.

(c) June 2018 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author. 

  

Creating A Character - Oh, My!

Whether I am creating a major character, or a minor character that moves the story along, I look at the storyline, and the setting, to see what type of character I want. Am I looking for a protagonist (the good guy), an antagonist the bad guy), a secondary character that will be recurring (as in a series), or a one time secondary character that is used to deliver information, or in some way move the story along. 

Then I think about the character's background - where do they live, what do they do for a living, what do they believe in. You want your character to be as specific s possible, so that they interact in a reasonable manner with other characters, an so that they serve a purpose in your story. They need to be fairly well defined - male or female, age, body type, eye and hair color, how they speak, how they dress, educational background. Are they calm by nature, do they have a temper, are they shy, are they aggressive? Your characters need to come across as vibrant and real - people that your readers can connect with!

We can also be very creative and make animals into characters. Rita Mae Brown does this very well in two of her series: "The Sneaky Pie Brown" and "Sister Jane". Her animals (cats, dogs, horses, birds, foxes etc) talk to each other and to the humans. It is all very real, and each animal is kept in character. We don't have to go that far - in most books we have humans talking to their pets, and the pets reacting. This can be a very strong component for any story. 

Once you have created your character, document the information in your book's bible, so that you can refer back to it as you write. Readers will note characters that don't always follow who they "should" be. And they will put that info in their review of your book!  

In my next blog, I will be discussing how to develope a character.

(c) June 2018 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited with out written consent of the author.

Creating A Fictional Character

I am in the process of building a bible for my WIP. Since this is the first book in what will be a series, I am starting small - the main character, two ancillary characters, and a bit of background. What I would like to discuss today is how I am defining my characters - what information I feel that  I need to know about them, so that they will come across as real/believable.

Some of the information that I include is:

1. Character's full name and birth date.
2. Physical description of the character.
3. Physical location of the character.
4. Physical description of their home.
5. Background information: Where they were born, where they went to school, where they have worked, who their parents are, who their siblings are.
6.  What are their goals - what is important to them?
7. What is their moral compass?
8. What are their strong points?
9. What are their weak points?
10. What is this character's relationship with the other characters in the story?

When we are building our characters, we need to keep in mind whether they are meant to be a: protagonist, antagonist, background person, background person that moves the story along.

Above all - know the purpose of your character to your story. Without purpose, the character will be ill defined, and your story will flounder.

If you would like to sign up for my (recently birthed) author's newsletter, you will find the form on my site.

(c) August 2017 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.

First Chapters

 

I have spent a fair amount of time lately thinking about entering a writing contest ... a specific writing contest. In the end, I decided not to. This lead me to thinking about taking my mystery novel out, sharpening my pencils (or learning to work with Dragon Speak!)  and getting a first draft written. For me, the first chapter can be a difficult one. What do I need it to do? Introduce my main character, for one thing. Establish my "voice" for another. My voice for my fiction writing will be a bit different than my voice for other writing that I do. Or perhaps not ... perhaps I am always me.

In my mind, I need to make the main character a strong one ... one that readers will identify with, and that I feel comfortable with. Rather like the person that I would want to be. I want my readers to be drawn into this person's world, to want to walk with her, to want to finish the story! I want to show my character's strengths, and perhaps hint at what her weaknesses might be.

The first chapter is also where I set the tone for the story,where my readers decide if they want to read the rest of the book. Am I going to be uber serious? Am I going to inject a bit (but not too much!) humor? Is there a lot of blood and gore to follow? And by the way ... what is the theme? Perhaps I should sneak that into the first chapter too! Is it romance? Is it theft? Is it family secrets? Is it cyberspace? Is it addictions? Fess up ... let the reader know!

I know exactly where my mystery is going to take place ... in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is important to me as a reader to know what country, and what part of that country, a story that I am reading is taking place in. I will give my readers that same courtesy ... to know where the story is taking place. And the places will change, as I have great hopes on making this a mystery series.

The bad guy (antagonist) will need to show up in my first chapter too ... or at least a hint of who they are, why they are in that position (perhaps a bit of back story), and what the tension is between my main character and the antagonist. Hint ... the antagonist does not need to be all bad (none of us are all good or all bad).

Lots of stuff that I am finding out needs to be in my first chapter! That's okay - I am ready. I have my outline, and I have my characters sketched out in profiles. Who they are, where they live, what they do for a living, where they went to school, what their preferences and dislikes are. It's all written out! To be honest, I did that for reference for myself, so that I can keep my characters straight!

One least thought,  that doesn't belong in this article, but is too good to keep quiet about! When you take out a phrase, or even a whole section, or chapter (this is called editing), don't throw it away. Keep it ... you may be able to use some of it in later chapters, or even in other books or articles. Waste not, want not!   

(c) 2000-2013 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited in all  venues without written permission from the author.

Writing Believable Characters

This is really a continuation on last weeks blog about creating characters. One thing that we need to see in characters, as well as in the story line, is believability. If a character does not seem believable, even in a fiction story, then you are not going to retain the reader's interest, and you are not going to be able to build your story. if you try to do so, your characters themselves will simply refuse to fit together the way that you want them to.

Start with their name. Names are everything! They reflect our cultural background, our family background, and the times that we were born into. Our name, in a sense, IS who we are. So give your characters names that reflect who they are, and where they came from. If you like their name, but they don't ... change the name! Characters are powerful people! Your characters names need to have a rhythm, a cadence of their own. And it probably is not a good idea to have different characters int he same book with the same name. This ends up somewhere between boring and confusing for the reader. Remember ... both the reader and your character have to be able to accept and relate to the character's name! As I revise my first attempt at a mystery, I decided to start over again on both location and character names. The story line will remain basically the same, but tweaked to remain in the area of possible/plausible.

One thing that I had to remember is that some of the characters from my first book will be carried forward, as I want this to be a series. As the series grows, my characters will grow. To do that, they need a firm foundation, and viable connections to each other. They have to be able to function through varying story lines, which is making me stop and think about what I want them to say and do. My main character I have firmly in mind. I know who she is, how she thinks, how she acts/reacts. The protagonist is another thing. The protagonist in my first story may be my main character ... that seems to work for me. The role of the hero (the person who saves the day) is not relegated to one person in my book. it is a group of friends that function well together. My antagonist - the ultimate "bad guy", is a combination of a single person and the group behind him. The obstacle is not a character, but a belief. it is something that affects all of the characters in some manner. Logic and emotion find their balance in my character's world. The archetype of sidekick for the series I am writing doesn't seem relevant, as the main character works to solve the issues of the story with other people.

Taking all of this into consideration - as well as the story bible that I discussed last week, I feel that I am well on my way to creating a viable story line!

(c) June 2012 Bonnie Cehovet