Affected by Books?

It's no secret that I'm a complete Twihard. Hey, there's no shame in admitting it (unless you ask my husband) From the moment I first read Twilight I was hooked. Every time I would close the book I had to get another immediately. (Luckily for me, I started late and didn't have to wait for each book to be published) When I wasn't reading the books I was thinking about the characters, dreaming about the characters.

 

I was so infatuated with Edward, mesmerized by Jacob, and highly respected Charlie. These characters were real to me.

 

This kind of fictional reality doesn't happen often for me. There are only two other authors who have roped me in so intensely that I had remind myself the books weren't autobiographies, and the characters were never going to cross my path.

 

Rachel Vincent was one such author who sucked me in so much I had to take a couple days away from the books or I would have been committed into a nut house (joking, of course). If you haven't yet, definitely check out her Shifters series.

 

 

The world of Faythe, Marc, and Jace was addictive, sexy, dangerous, and did I say addictive? Yeah, I did but seriously worth repeating!

 

The third author to suck me into their fictional world is Stephanie Rowe. Holy cow! Her Calydons are beyond hot in the Order of the Blade books! She's what is referred to as a hybrid author as she is both Indie and traditionally published. I'll admit I have a major crush on Calydon Gideon!!!!

 

 

I can't be the only reader who gets so engrossed in a book they forget about reality for a time. Who is the author who changed the way you read? What book have you been obsessed over? I can tell you when I hear certain songs, specifically songs from the Twilight soundtracks, I feel the same way I did while reading the books. That is a fabulous feeling if you ask me. So tell me, I want to hear your naughty little confession!

 



Show Vs Tell - The neverending discussion

Anyone who has ever written a book and had it reviewed by someone other than their dog has been told at one point or the other to show, not tell. For the last few days I was reading a book in the paranormal romance genre. Now, it usually only takes me a day or two to read a novel (depending on what is going on at night, as that's the only time I have to read), but I was constantly pulled from the story. Why? Because instead of showing me what was going on, the author constantly told me.

Ex. "I felt the grass beneath me."
     "I saw him do x, y, z."
     "I heard x, y, z."

How does one show instead of tell?

Let's take the first example above.

"I felt the grass beneath me."

The author has told us what the character felt. But, if the character were allowed to show us what she was feeling, it may look a little like this:

"As I woke, something tickled against my bare skin, the ground was soft beneath me. I opened my eyes to see the stars bright above me."

Sure, that last sentence used a lot more words, and may not have been the best example, but you get the point, right? Let's try another one.

"Tenna was angry." (For those of you who have read She Who Hunts know Tenna can get pissy sometimes)

How does this look?

"Tenna jumped to her feet, stomped across the room, and slammed the door shut behind Jason."

Does the latter say the same as the former? Is it more interesting?

One of my problems with the show/tell thing is when an author "tells" me how a character feels, or sees, or whatever they don't trust me enough to come to the correct conclusion by what is going on in the story. If you tell me a character swipes their hands down their jeans before turning a doorknob, I will conclude that her nerves have caused her hands to sweat. You don't need to tell me "Jane was nervous. Her hands were sweating."

Here are five techniques you can use to avoid telling a reader:

1. Write from POV (point of view)
2. Dialogue is a fabulous way to show me what is going on
3. Use action verbs and picture nouns
4. Be sure to use all your senses. You know, smell, sight, sound, touch, taste (yes, even taste)
5. Write in scenes

Marta V Snyder has a great blog post going further into the five techniques. If you want to read further, feel free to head over and check her post out.

Do you have problems with telling instead of showing? Have you been drug out of a story because the author had a problem telling you everything?

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?