I created you, you brat! Now behave!!!!!

Last night I was busy plotting some aspects of the next book in my Hunters series. I had a character in mind who would be a minor secondary character. What I decided originally was she would be about 40-50 years old. Apparently, this character found this amusing. She decided she's only 17. Okay, fine, you're a blonde goth/punk sassy teen. "Nope, I'm extremely shy, prefer to blend in, and I have mousy brown hair."

How the hell did this happen? I'm the creator. I made her. How is she calling the shots now?

Oh, it gets better. I had planned on her making only a few short appearances, then disappearing. Once again, she spoke up. This time she just busted out laughing. She ain't going nowhere! She has decided she wants to be in a couple of the books. Let me say this again, HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?!

All of this seems a little wacky to my non-writer friends and family, but when I posted this little "issue" my writer friends chuckled. Every writer, apparently, has gone through this at one time or another. But, how is this possible? That's what I really want to know. These characters are make believe. Can you imagine if when you were a kid your imaginary friend suddenly decided they were someone else? Talk about causing some major trauma to your adolescent psyche!

I've heard other writers talk about fleshing out their characters, and deciding things for them. But, how much control did they really have? I mean, I write things out, usually on my dry erase board, then transfer the information to some index cards assigned to that specific character. I'm what they call a plotser, as I only plot to a certain point, then let the story develop on its own. But, my characters usually decide who they are with no help from me. Even the names are rarely assigned by me.

Do we writers suffer from a form of multiple personalities, or do we just have extremely overactive imaginations? Is there a pill, and would you take it if there were? *laughs*

Tell me, do you control your characters, or do they have constant control over the reigns?

You asked, I answered. This is how I write...

Dozens of people have asked me over the past year how to write a book. Normally, I say...just write. That doesn't always go over well, but I don't always know how to tell someone who's never written a short story how to write a novel. While trying to go to sleep last night, an analogy I heard once on one of the writing boards I stalk started playing through my head. I just added a little to it....

When starting a book, you have to think of Adam and Eve.

Want a bite?

 Yep, that's what I said-Adam and Eve. Everything has to start with the bones. Not everyone does this part the same, but all stories end up the same way - the skeletal form of a novel. Some choose to outline. Some choose to wing it. I'm a little of both. Sometimes I have a fabulous idea, but have to sit down and type out a few things to see if I can make it work. Other times, I outline nothing more than the character or world building. When I write a story I want to know where the characters went to school, their favorite colors, their fave food and drink, why they act the way they do, even if they've ever had an ingrown toe nail. Now, of course a majority of this never makes it into the book, but it helps me get to know the characters better.

Other times, I know what I want to happen, but I'm not sure which order, so I outline the approximate events. A lot of times this will tell me if I even want to include certain events, or eliminate them completely.

The next part is adding the meat. Obviously, we can't walk around as nothing but skeletons. It would cause mass panic, and people would try to hunt us thinking we were zombies.

Gr. I'm a zombie..

This is where after planning what I want to happen, or maybe even after doing the mad dash to get the story out of my head, I'll go back and add details. Maybe I need to add more description of the room which will play a huge part in a scene. Maybe I need to add more description to a fight scene to make it more intense. Or maybe I need to do a little more research about a certain species of creature, or illness someone is inflicted with. The story is now resembling a real novel.

Now, at times, we women (and some men) want perfection. Therefore, we have to go through the book and remove the moles, warts, blemishes, and all imperfections. Beauty marks may look good on a woman, but they don't in a novel. Well, at least not a lot of beauty marks. You don't want to send a novel into the universe covered in zits!

I'm sexy and I know it...

What I mean by imperfections is all those repeat words, the excessive 'that's, and all of those annoying adverbs! Kill them! Kill them all!!!! Okay, not all. But adverbs should be like any seasoning...used in moderation.

There. Hopefully this short description helped someone. How do you write? Do you have some advice for those who are finally sitting down to write the book they've always dreamed of?

A Rose by Any Other Name....

Wouldn't be a rose now, would it?! Seriously, though, what is in a name? At least, what's in a character's name? I've written and completed four novels, all of whom have names that I'm very happy with. Each of the characters came by their names in different ways; a name of a friend, heard the name on TV, or (my favorite) derived from a candy bar. However, recently one of my characters decided that he no longer wanted to be a Choctaw with long black hair and black eyes. Nope, now he wants to be a white male with short brown hair and dark blue eyes (think Sam Worthington). What?! I made you, you can't change your mind. Oh no, it doesn't stop there. Nope, he no longer wants the name Jason.

So here's the point of the story....I'm having a hell of a time naming him. I posed the question on Facebook and have received over thirty names. Yet none of them are good enough for the hero of my book. Christy, the characters aren't real, honey. They're just a figment of your imagination. Oh, yeah, try telling that to them.

How do you come up with names for your characters? Do you have a list of your favorites? Do you pick from baby name books? Maybe the websites? Or do you let them tell you their name? I'm dying to know how other authors "develop" their characters. And not just the main ones, but the secondary ones, as well.

Do Opposites Really Attract?

When creating my characters, I tend to rely on my favorite past-time...people watching. Sometimes, my characters are random strangers I observed on a certain day. Others, and most often, I use characteristics of people I know. In other words, you may very well share a specific trait with a character, or perhaps read a conversation you recognize.

My main characters tend to have some form of a relationships, be it romantic, or purely platonic. I tend to use my own marriage when writing the 'romantic' aspects. But, the question really is, do opposites attract? My husband is a very laid back man. He rarely tells me no, and will eat anything I put in front of him. He couldn't care less if I wear makeup or designer clothes. Therefore, most of my males tend to be more laid back, and live to make their ladies happy.

I, on the other hand, tend to be a little high strung. I'm constantly full of energy, and anxious. I can hardly sit still more than thirty minutes at a time without getting restless (not a good trait for a writer). Therefore, my females tend to be high strung and energetic.

But, is this a normal phenomenon? Do attracts truly attract? I've seen many couples (both in my personal life and through general observations) who don't compliment each other's 'flaws'. Rather, they seem more like oil and water, bouncing painfully off each other, never melding or mixing, always pulling away from each other.

So, are my characters so far from he norm as to not be realistic? Of course, in fantasy, realistic is not really necessary. But, can you possibly care about a character who seems so far out of right field?

No, I'm not weird. I'm just an author!

"Hello, CL."
After reading through a bunch of conversations on various links I'm a member of, I've come to realize, we're an odd bunch. At least to those around us.
Someone recently asked if our family members and friends think we're weird. That was hard for me to answer. I mean, I've always been weird, writing has nothing to do with it. Come on, I prefer the color black, including in my eyeliner, I dye my hair a different color every couple of months, and I own lizards as pets. One of them is over five feet long, and I refer to him as my baby. While that may seem weird to others, it's completely normal for me. Did I mention I put my big green baby on a leash and take him outside to sun during the summer? Again, completely normal for me. Hey, the baby needs sun sometimes.

I think what people truly think is weird about writers is what comes out of our heads. My current work in progress, for instance, is about a petite red head who just happens to hunt and kill demons. "But, Christy, doesn't that sound a little dark? I mean, why are you thinking about demons?" My answer, I'm not thinking about demons, Tena is. Who's Tena? The red headed demon hunter...duh.

I also tend to talk to my characters, as well as talking about my characters as if they're real people. They do become real, at least to the creators. Ask any author about her/his characters and they'll tell you, once we're done with a book it's like telling an old friend good-bye. It hurts in a way. Seriously, I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Think about it this way...if you worked at a job for, say six months, became close to your coworkers, knew everything about them (and I do mean everything), wouldn't you be sad when you had to walk away, never to talk to them again? Of course you would. That's how it is for us. We're getting to know someone, albeit someone we created, then we kill them/marry them off/end the story, never to look back at their lives again. See, now you're sad, aren't you?

For those of you authors out there, feel free to chime in and explain to the non-authors how very NOT crazy we really are.

Obsessed with my characters lately!

I've already posted two prior blogs about characters, and character building, but I got to thinking...where do they come from?

I've heard so many authors discuss this topic. Several are like myself; they let the characters tell about themselves. Well, now that sounds pretty skitzophrenic when you think about it. After all, how does an imaginary being (I say being because they're not always human) tell about themselves?

This is how it works for me.

I sit down with an idea. As Florence Fois says, an idea that pops in my head from...wherever. Sometimes I see a person and think of a what if?. Other times it may be from a dream. Either way, as Fois says, it's an idea that must be loved and cultivated.

Great, now I've got this idea for purple people eater from the city of Christy. Now what? Well, obviously, the story needs characters, not just the problem and city.

So, I start writing. At this point, I've yet to plot. I do it backwards most of the time.

The first page will usually be trashed eventually, but it gets my brain moving as to what I want to happen, and who I want it to happen to. Okay, so a strong willed, kick ass, moon eyed female will be the heroine. Great. But what about the hero? Will there be one in this story? Of course...what can I say, I'm a sucker for romance. Or maybe it's just really great sex scenes.

So, my male character turns out to be a medium height man, lean but muscular, with a bicycle mustache. How do I know this? Because when I'm writing I can picture the people.

I will literally close my eyes and see the scene play out in my head as I begin typing. The people I see in my head become my major players. When I first started twenty something years ago with just short stories, all the females resembled me, and all the males resembled a boy from New Kids on the Block. What can I say? My world hadn't quite evolved at that point in my life.

My current book started a little differently. My heroine was inspired by one of my close friends, Sharon. She's a tall, beautiful woman with long, curly red hair, and blue eyes. Now, my character is actually tiny - she's barely five foot two - but you get the gist.

Each and every single writer comes up with their characters in both a similar, yet different manor. I usually know starting the book approximately what kind of personality I want my key players to have. But, sometimes they surprise me and do something I'd never think them capable. My current heroine actually had a little meltdown recently. Being as she's hardcore and deadly with knives and swords, it kind shocked me. Guess even my characters are as flawed as myself.

Wow, that seemed a little rambling, but you get the point. Anyone want to tell us how you start with your characters? Or maybe you can explain better how the characters "tell" us about themselves.

For the love of my characters....

Going to bed last night I was bombarded with images of my various characters. Which, of course, got me thinking about the whole character building aspect of writing.

I've heard of writers basing their stories around characters, while others base them on the plot. Others will base their stories on a specific 'what-if', while others will base them on a very specific scene. I tend to combine it all.

I usually know approximately what I want to happen, whether in the middle, beginning or end. Then, I close my eyes and picture the scene, and whoever plays it out becomes my characters. Sometimes, they 'tell' me their names, while other times I have to conjure up a name, even if temporarily, to fit the need at the time.

In Repeated Life I couldn't come up with suitable names, so I just inserted generic names for the time being. By the end of the story, though, I knew exactly what their names would be. Well, great, but what about the characters themselves...not just their names? Good question.

When I'm writing a book, just like with the scenery, I close my eyes and see who pops in there. With Repeated Life, the heroine is a petite, but not short, dark haired woman, with brown eyes and lots of flaws. She's insecure, neurotic (in a good way), indecisive, emotional, and can't seem to make up her mind. The male, well, let's just say Kevin Durand. When I picture the hero in Repeated Life I picture a tall, muscular, masculine, grey eyed man. Kevin Duran continuously pops in my head when reading the scenes. In my newest book, yet to be named, a tiny, thin woman with long curly hair and blue eyes popped in my head. She's flawed, yet gifted beyond belief. Hey, how many people can feel and see people's energies and auras?! The hero, Jason, is a six foot tall Choctaw Indian man who has a secret...he's a Skinwalker.

So, there's my little blurb on my characters. How do you build yours? Do you have a pattern or a formula? Or do you, like myself, let them tell you about themselves?