Tag Archives: characters

Dimensions of Setting

28 Saturday Sep 2013

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At some point, early on in the creative process, you settle on a setting for your story. Great. You can check that off the list. But is setting more than just a time and place? How important is it to shaping your characters, the plot, types of conflict, or themes of your literary endeavor? Are you overlooking the emotional environment of the story? If you’re unfamiliar with this term it is basically how elements of the setting help to shape and give emotional weight and complexity to your characters. Emotional (sometimes called social environment) also plays into shaping the tone and mood of your work.

Let’s examine this concept by picking a setting: a bedroom.

Make the details you present about your setting count for the story, for the characters, and for your readers. First, we want to give the reader a physical sense of the place without overburdening them with too many unimportant details like how many walls it has (we can assume four) or if the light switch is flipped up or down. Focus instead on giving dimension to the character by making the room feel lived in by the character who inhabits it.

Do certain colors or objects stand out or play an important role, either directly or symbolically? Can we gauge what they value by what they include or fail to include in their room (family pictures, religious icons, art, etc.)? What is the lighting like? Do they have a window? If so what view of the world greets them when they look outside? Has the view/environment shaped them as a person or do they exist to defy their surroundings thanks to their strong personality? Are they connect or cut off from nature or natural elements in this bedroom? What is the temperature or atmosphere (humidity, noises, smells, silence) of the bedroom like? Is their life a jumble like the pile of dirty laundry in the corner or are they so uptight the room feels sterile? Are your characters renovating it, discussing doing so, or does it look the same as it did 40 years ago? What does that say about them and where they’re at as a person or in their relationship? Are they holding on too tight to the past, rushing too quickly into the future, living a balanced and pleasant existence?

The main feature of any bedroom is typically the bed itself and can symbolically be used to represent a host of information about your characters. What comes to mind if I mention the only bed in the room is an infant’s crib that has never been used? How does that empty crib play into the story or how the characters interact with one another because of it?

A bed could be a symbol of passion, romance, fear, peace, sexual independence or confusion, joy, faith, infidelity, escape, imprisonment (if a character is sick, suffering from a disability, or even directly restrained to it) just to name a few. You could switch out one bed for another during the story if say it’s a coming-of-age tale or a person is forced to move because of choices they’ve made (or failed to make) and are forced to move or deal with the absence of another character.

Consider what your bedroom (or house) conveys about you to others. Who interacts in this place? Is this a room that the character shuts themselves off from the world in as they seek solace in isolation, a place where they can truly be themselves, a safe environment that allows them time to reflect or connect with another?

Whether you do so initially or during the editing phase of your story, you should work to make the setting an integral part of adding dimension and complexity to your characters, plot, and themes. Remember that setting is more than just a time and place.

5 easy writing exercises

17 Saturday Aug 2013

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Stuck without a muse?  Creative spirit gone on vacation?

At times all writers experience moments of doubt, laziness, or disinterest in their efforts.  We make excuses as to why we’re not working on a story but some times, lets face it, we need a break.  Other projects catch our eye; we want to go on that vacation; we need to get away from the computer before our eyes fall out from staring too long at the screen.  So how do we get back to form when we’ve been away for a while or feel stuck or uninspired?  Sometimes the best way is just to get back to the basics and do some simple writing exercises.

Through these exercises we can hone our skills, boost our self-confidence, and cast away nagging problems. So if you’ve suffered a summertime slump or just want some ideas for a rainy day, here are a few suggestions you might try:

1. Find the muse with music- Some people love to write using music for inspiration but not everyone shares this sentiment.  No problem.  While it might not work for the novel or script you’re working on music can be a fun place to reconnect with your creative impulses.  Find something new that you aren’t overly familiar with and let your mind wander through the piece.  See if it takes you to some new setting or allows you to envision interesting characters.  Maybe it will free your mind to create something totally unanticipated – a story or poem you never had in you.  Maybe this is your big chance to try your hand at creating some original lyrics for the song.  Go with the flow. Discover new artists or soundtracks, let the tone influence what you create, and have fun.

2. The nonfiction cure – What?  I’m a fiction writer.  How is nonfiction helpful?  Life and art are hopelessly intertwined.  A good dose of nonfiction might be just what you need to get some creative ideas rekindled.  Not in the mood to read?  There are some great documentaries available on about any subject or person you can think of so don’t limit yourself to the gospel of print alone.  Just like fiction, nonfiction can put you into new realities, present interesting characters, and get you to look at an idea or subject in a new way. Nonfiction can put fiction writers onto any number of interesting and unforeseen paths so get moving.

3. Embrace the love-hate relationship – Often writers gravitate to creating characters they can relate to or feel compassion for but what if you cast that aside?  Try to image a character you wouldn’t normally feel comfortable writing.  Why?  It will get you to leave your comfort zone, allow you to play with point of view, and possibly help put you in touch with a side of your creative self that you never knew existed.  You might create a character you love to hate. Play 🙂

4. Single purpose pieces – It’s easy when you’re working on a longer piece to forget all the smaller literary tools that make the whole more interesting.  Create short pieces that have a single goal.  For example, a short story that only works to establish a specific tone, explores symbolism, is centered on a single type of conflict, or explores a highly focused theme.  Brevity is the soul of wit.  

 5. New medium of storytelling – If you’re feeling in a writing rut don’t get down; instead, use it as an opportunity to try creating something in another storytelling format.  You might be a novelist but have you ever really tried to work on poetry?  Artistic?  Why not try making a short graphic novel?  Ever tried to write a screenplay?  Well, why not today?  

Bonus: Revisit a story or storyteller who inspires you – Don’t measure yourself against these stories or artists, especially if you’re already feeling down about your own creative efforts.  Enjoy what they have to offer.  Remember what drew you to them.  They are a part of your creative journey and sometimes it’s just nice to “go home” and see a familiar face.  

Diagnosing Dialogue Disasters

12 Sunday May 2013

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Writers don’t set out to create bad dialogue for their characters; in fact, most of us try to edit our way out of potential dialogue disasters but let’s face it, we’ve all read or heard some pretty cringe worthy examples.  Bad dialogue can undermine your story, make your characters look boring or stupid, and even alienate your audience. So the question is how do you create effective, engrossing dialogue?

Consider the following about the dialogue in your story either as you’re writing your draft or editing it:

  • What is the purpose?

If your dialogue is not advancing the plot, adding depth to characters, helping to develop theme(s), or relevant it’s time to put on the brakes and reconsider what you’re trying to accomplish.

  • Is this how human beings really interact?

Overly harsh? Maybe but easy trap that a lot of writers fall into is an over reliance of characters constantly saying each others names.    Titanic anyone?

  • Tone?

Have you ever quickly written an email or text that in your head sounded one way but its tone was interpreted another way by the person who received it?  This can turn awkward in a hurry.   The same applies when you’re crafting dialogue for your characters.  Much like a bad line reading in a film, if the tone your dialogue conveys doesn’t match a character’s actions or motivations you’re likely to leave your audience wondering.

  •   Is this clunky sounding or is it just me?

Is your dialogue concise and to the point or overly wordy and repetitious?  It doesn’t always sound that way on the page but try to speak it or record you reading the lines.

  • Flow?

As human beings we expect a certain order and flow to our conversations.  We don’t tend to go back and summarize what two people are already mutually aware of, so why do we make our characters do so?  Organically reminding the audience about important information is one thing but interrupting the flow of a conversation between characters to do so is lazy and will make them sound as if they’ve suffered sudden memory loss.

  • Do you know how to K.I.S.S. ?

Keep it simple, seriously.  Throwing in a bunch of unnecessary jargon or showing that you know how to use the Thesaurus to find big words might sound impressive to you but it can often lead to poor dialogue and characterization.

Aside from asking these questions here are a few more tips to help you become more confident about writing dialogue:

1. Write a play or screenplay – What? I’m a novelist.  Yes, but both play and screenplay writers specialize (or should) in creating concise, purpose driven dialogue.  They must advance the story and characters through the dialogue on the page and they can’t take two hundred pages to do it.  Even if you’re not an aspiring playwright it is worth your time as a creative exercise.

2. Find examples – Seek out the good, the bad, and the ugly (written or spoken) when it comes to scenes of dialogue.  Writers have their own styles.  The more examples you investigate the larger knowledge base you have to work off of when you’re creating your own. 

3. Is there a class for that? – There are numerous writing programs, workshops, and classes both online, at colleges, or hosted local organizations that focus specifically on helping authors create solid dialogue.  Many also give you the opportunity to share material you’ve already created so you can receive feedback.  Be proactive and see what is available either in your area or online.