• I started this blog on the 2nd of the month. Woo hoo!
• I talked about over description and actually managed to keep it pretty short.
• We had a guest post from CCGaylord about the Roles your characters play.
• I pathetically under posted.

Not that blogging isn't fun...

At My Writing Desk

• I did CampNaNo this month!!
• I rewrote the first half or so of my YA sci-fi novel, "Splitting Atoms".
• I set a 20,000 word writing goal and am a little more than 4,000 words behind schedule (hopefully I'll catch up today.)
• I planned and plotted 5 or 6 new story ideas which I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR.
• I neglected my fan fiction writing. Again.

In the Books

• I read a measly 7 books this month.
• But that's a lot for me and I'm proud of myself. :)
• I took an unchartered adventure into the huge and foreboding YA genre and was not impressed.

On the Web

• Aimee@To the Barricade wrote a great post on why Cinderella is a "Strong Female Protagonist"
• CCGaylord@The Authorist put together and blogged about the Essential Space Traveler Kit
• The Antman trailer is out (sorry I can't link it, stupid internet issues) and I'm actually pretty excited about it.

• I worked hard to catch up on my school before summer break.
• I spent a lot of time outside.
• I got sick about a week ago and have been that way ever since.
• I became obsessed with Merlin. I don't need another fandom! I didn't ask for this! Oh well-- I would have if I had known what I was missing. *runs off to watch Merlin*

• I'll review "Maximum Ride" and ask why popular teen fiction is so bad.
• I'll spill my tips for creating characters you love.
• I hope to eventually write a post about Extrovert-Introvert relationships.
• I may put up a page to house my current projects, so you can look at my awful covers and worse summaries.

Hey y'all. I've got a special treat in store for you today. I begged my super talented friend, C. C. Gaylord, to do a ghost post for me, and being way too nice for her own good, she acquiesced. For better or for worse. Only definitely for better.

Over to you, C.C.

Original image courtesy of all-free-download.com.

My biggest frustration when reading a book with multiple main characters is trying to keep everyone straight. Granted, I have a terrible memory. Plus, I’m always rushing through the book to find out what happens. My common reaction to a character is, “Brent? Who’s Brent, again?” And I’m not likely to flip back several chapters to find out.

In movies, on the other hand, I usually have no problem remembering who’s who. This isn’t just because I can see what the characters look like, but because the characters usually slide into well-defined roles. Each character has a particular function within the team. You can do this just as easily in a book and get the same great results.

The Lord of the Rings, for example, has a main cast of nine characters. That’s a lot of people to keep straight and Tolkien didn’t do a lot to help the reader out with this in his book. The movie, however, did a great job, not just because each character had his own unique personality and quirks which made him unforgettable even long after the movie was over, but also because each character had a specific role.

Gandalf’s role is that of protector, mentor, and guide (that useful character who gives everyone--particularly the audience--important information about what’s going on or how things work in the story world). Mentors often die so that the hero has to face the bad guys on his own and discover he has what it takes. What does Gandalf do? He dies so Aragorn has to take over.

Aragorn is at first a guide and becomes the default leader after Gandalf dies, besides becoming personally responsible for Frodo, the fellowship’s biggest liability. The leader is usually a strong, responsible character who thinks of his followers before thinking of himself.

Legolas is a guide (there’s a lot of guides so far) and the-person-who’s-there-to-be-really-awesome-and-make-the-audience-say-wow. He also functions as a sidekick/friend for Aragorn--the person who gives him pep talks. Add to this his role as the one-man army. This is the “strong man” character who ends up saving the day quite a lot by basically taking out bad-guy armies on his own.

Gimli serves as comic relief and very little else (we’re going by the movies here), although he’s also the little-guy-who-overcomes-great-odds and he fills an important function by teaching Legolas (and learning himself) not to judge people by their race. Let me just say that it’s usually NOT a good idea to make a character comic relief and nothing else *cough* like the character below *cough*

Frodo is the attack magnet. (They’re useful to have around.) He’s also the “chosen one” who has to destroy the ring, so he becomes the most important member of the fellowship. He’s the person everyone else has to look after--in a lot of stories this role is taken by the baby brother/sister.

Sidekick

Sam fills the servant/sidekick role--he’s there to get Frodo to Mordor. But he becomes a hero in his own right later on in the story. Sidekicks often do. In fact, sidekicks are way too often the most popular character in the story. Ask anyone who’s his favourite character from The Lord of the Rings--it’ll probably be Sam.

Dynamic Duo

Merry and Pippin together make up a dynamic duo who usually do things in company. They spend most of the time getting themselves and other people into trouble, but they liven up the story quite a bit. Lots of stories will include a duo or even a trio. They’re usually immature. They’re often siblings. Sometimes they’re even twins.

Boromir is the Judas figure. There’s usually one in every mix and you can often tell right at the outset who it is. He just looks dark, or brooding, or compromised. The traitor is generally in the story to add an element of menace--how else to explain how the whole audience knows who’s the bad egg while everyone in the movie has no clue? But the traitor isn’t always wholly evil--he’s often a tragic character who falls but then redeems himself, though at the cost of his life. A lot of villains fall into this category as well (Darth Vader, for example).

Believe me, there are LOTS more roles out there than just these eight, but you’ll find most characters fall into these common ones.

Think of your favourite movies--especially those with more than one main character--and list some of the roles the characters play in them. What about The Avengers? Ocean’s Eleven? Maze Runner?

So, what are some of the roles you thought of? What are some of the roles characters fill in your stories? Is anyone here and Avengers, Ocean's Eleven, or Maze Runner fan? Tell us in the comments!

So how do you know when you're telling too much?

I'm glad you asked.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but I have read so many lengthy, flowery, descriptive passages about things that aren't even important to the story. And it's super boring. So if it doesn't help the story along, cut it. (This includes most setting descriptions and most physical character descriptions, but not all, so evaluate any information carefully before cutting or leaving it.)

Sometimes authors try to tell the reader something very important that they need to know, but they do it in the wrong place. They take time to tell us that the economy of the country is failing while we're all holding our breath to see whether the hero is going to win the sword fight. They describe the girl who is to become the hero's girlfriend in minute detail, when we just want to know if he's going to save her or not. Make sure you're not getting in the way of the story with the "important" information. Move it, or give it to us in tiny, subtle bites.

It should ring a warning bell when you've spent an entire page (or more) describing the protagonist's house, or telling about the political system in your story world. Because even if your protagonist's house is super cool, or the political system is incredibly fascinating, it may be you're obsessed with old houses, or that you're a politics geek, and I can pretty much guarantee you that some people, at least, are going to be bored when they try and read it.
So keep it short. Try to tell me in as few words possible. If it really does take a lot of time to explain, break it up, and feed it to me bite by bite, interspersed with lots of action and dialogue. Don't make me eat too much at one time.

Don't force what you want to say onto the page. If there isn't an easy, natural moment for you to mention the romantic interest's violet eyes, don't mention it. (In fact, if your romantic interest has violet eyes, don't mention it at all. I don't want to know. :P) Forced writing sounds, well, forced. Wait until it comes easily.

The information is only there to show off your knowledge.

You've spent two hours researching trains. Or maybe I'm underestimating it. You probably stayed up until three in the morning researching trains just for this one stupid scene. You now know basically everything the internet could tell you about trains. And so when you write that stupid scene where your protagonist is climbing around on the train roof, trying to find a way to stop the train, you might as well put all that research to good use and tell your readers just how much you know about trains. Right? Wrong. Don't do it. I know it's tempting. Just don't.

Still don't info dump, but if there's something I need to know, I need to know it. Readers won't be happy if you don't tell them it's winter, and then make the protagonist knock out the villain with a snowball at the climactic moment. (Not that you'd do that, I hope.)

To continue with the snow idea, telling us that the protagonist's footsteps crunched in the soft snow might help us feel the suspense as he goes to turn off the computer that's set to destroy the world. Describing the protagonist's grandfather might give a sense of security and comfort. Wording is key here.

If you find yourself mentioning a character's blonde hair without even thinking about it, chances are the readers won't get distracted by it either (unless it's late in the story and they already have drawn up the ultimate picture of the character in their minds as having brown hair). If it happens--unless it sound stupid (like "...running a gentle hand through his curly blonde hair...")--let it happen.

Seriously, you can ignore all the rules I've already laid out, so long as it's funny. I'm currently reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and he disobeys every single one of those "Don't Tell Me" rules. And you know what? I don't mind. Because it's hilarious! He can be as random, off the wall, and long winded as he likes, as long as he makes me laugh, and I'll keep reading.

I don't ship tenrose. This gif was just too accurate not to use.

So don't stress too much. When it comes down to it, each reader has a different interpretation of over description, and you can't please everyone. A passage here and there which tells too much won't necessarily kill the book for your reader. It will probably just annoy them slightly.

Still, you don't want to do that.

It happens to me all the time.

I’m reading a book or watching a movie or TV show, and a random somebody walks into the room. Maybe he stays there a minute, maybe he stays there 30. Maybe he has ten lines, maybe he has zero. Maybe he’s only in the background, standing around unobtrusively while the main characters are having a huge argument.

And suddenly I fall in love.

Someone who the author/director never gave a second thought just became my favourite character!!

Today I’m going to talk about how everyone’s a hero, and I’ll probably digress a lot and go on a whole bunch of rabbit trails and generally take a long time to get to the point, so be prepared, and bear with me.

To start out with though, let’s do what I love to do when it comes to writing. Let’s take a look at real life.

Your life is a story. It’s got a plot, a message, dialogue, setting, and characters. You’re the main character. And unless you’re super messed up and have huge insecurity issues, you’re the hero of the particular story that is your life.

Now think about everyone else’s life. This may be difficult and may make your head ache, but step out of your brain and into someone else’s. Everybody has a story that only he’s reading, and he’s the main character of that story. Usually the hero.

So we’re talking about writing. You’re a writer (I’m assuming), and you’ve written a story. You’ve got a plot, a message, dialogue, setting, and characters (oooh, those lovely characters). Now you’re probably spending a lot of time thinking and planning about those couple amazing main characters. You’ve got character maps, character questionnaires, and pictures of your characters on Pinterest (maybe you even drew them).

If you’re like me, you’ve also spent a lot of time squealing and thinking and crying over several of your favourite secondary and even tertiary characters. But let’s face it. They’re just supporting characters. They’re just there to make your main character’s story work.

Or are they?

So where am I going with this? A lot of places (‘cause I can never stay on just one topic I’m cool like dat). So let’s get to the point(s).

What's the difference between you and me? We want our stories to be realistic (though a paranormal novel where everything is out of whack and everything goes against nature, human and otherwise, could be quite interesting and would go on my reading list). Well then, first rule of realism: it’s not about you. Let’s change that just a bit to work with our story and let’s say, “It’s not about him." Ooooh...that’s hard. That amazingly funny and beautiful and amazing and brilliant character that you’ve come to love so much...it isn’t about him! No one in your world sees you as the main character of his story, and no one within the world of your book sees your main character that way either. Everyone has his own story, and he’s the hero of it.

Even when you’re writing about someone else’s story.

So when you’re unbelievably awesome main character who ought to just be the sun of everyone’s universe walks into a room full of people, every single person in that room sees him as nothing more than a supporting character.

No, seriously. To some people in that room, he’s a primary character, someone who’s really important in their life story. To some, he’s a secondary character, a recurring person who hasn’t affected their lives in a huge way. To some, he’s a tertiary character, someone who they’ve only met a few times. And to some, he’s a ghost or background character. He’s simply there. They know nothing about him.

To each person in the room, they are only interested in your main character’s entrance inasmuch as it affects their life story (as seen from their limited point of view). They aren’t interested in the fact that he needs to talk his best friend on the other side of the room into lending him twenty dollars so he can go save the world. That girl over there is more concerned by the fact that he’s blocking the way out of the room as he stands in the doorway, looking around for his friend, and she’s too shy to say, “Excuse me.”

So what you’ve really got in your story, in every single character down to that gentleman in the hat you mention in passing and who never comes into play again during the entire book or even series...they’ve got their own stories. They’re their own heroes.

(If this point bothers you, ccgaylord@theauthorist wrote an amazing post about Mary Sues that you should totally check out. It's awesome.)

Know your characters' stories.

The school bully whom your MC runs into in the third chapter...what's going on at his home? What insecurities make him want to beat up those smaller than him? Does he feel the need to be accepted? Is he used to being mistreated, and simply wants to pass the pain along? Why does he do what he does?

-Tom Hiddleston

The girl waiting for you MC to move out of the doorway...why is she so scared to say just a simple "Excuse me?" Does she talk with a stutter, and doesn't want to make a fool of herself? Does she have a crush on your MC and simply can't get up the nerve to talk to him? Why?

Know their stories.

Somewhere, that person's a hero. It's your job to know where that somewhere is. And if you know, it adds depth and realism to the story.

Not even Santa. That character who you don’t like much? Someone’s going to like him. Maybe not most people, but someone.

Adam Mitchell (Doctor Who)

Sooooooo many people hate Adam, and the writers for Doctor Who made it pretty clear they didn’t care much for him either. The Doctor takes him along in the Tardis merely because Rose wants him too, and then kicks him out in the next episode, after he tries to transmit information from the future back to the 21st century.

People really hate Adam. There’s a good chance that 99% of the Whovians who will ever read this post hate Adam. But there is the remaining 1%.

I loved Adam, and I will not apologize. My heart was broken when he got kicked out. He’s fairly well-meaning, slightly selfish and cowardly, inept, impulsive, curious, clueless, just a little ditzy, and a bit of a genius: in other words, he’s exactly like me, leaving out the genius bit. (And yes, now you know if I ever meet the Doctor, I will be kicked out after the first episode. Cruel Doctor.) He’s got his flaws, but he’s still likable, believable, and very easy to relate to. And need I mention Bruno Langley is way too good looking?

Point is, use every character to his full potential and don’t overlook anyone or think, “Everyone’s going to hate that guy.” Characters are one of the biggest things that hook readers, and if you’ve got a secondary character in there who you use to full potential and make it worth a reader’s while to like, whether or not you think anyone will end up liking him. Somebody almost certainly will.

Now obviously, every character can’t be completely likable, and you can’t make every character a primary character. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is, recognise the potential in every one of your characters and don’t show favouritism (not saying you can’t have favourites, just don’t show it). That character who only makes one appearance isn’t the hero of your story, but there’s another story out there he is the hero of. In that story, he’s interesting, brave, and smart, and the main character you love so much might be boring, villainous, or just a ghost character.

Don’t rob anyone of his potential. If people want to love him, give them something to back up their unexplainable love. Is it difficult? No.

It could be as simple as taking that character who walks in for five seconds and has just one line and making him stutter. It could be making that taxi driver have the radio on at full blast and be belting along while gyrating and keeping time by pounding on the steering wheel. It could be taking that girl who’s waiting for your hero to move out of the doorway and showing her taking a step forward, then a step back, showing her chewing her lip and trying to summon her courage, showing her struggle.

Everyone’s a hero.

Everyone needs a chance to shine.

If you don’t want to give them that chance, just cut them out.

What’s that girl in there for in the first place? Why did you ever mention that gentleman in the hat? If there’s a reason they’re there, give us a reason to like them. If there’s not a reason, leave them out. They don’t need to be there.

Example!

The Blonde Dude

This guy is so obscure that, as far as I know, his only name is “The Blonde Dude”. In case you need a little memory jogging, or haven’t seen the Avengers (in the latter case, go watch it...now), The Blonde Dude appears in the scene where Loki initially gets zapped to earth and steals the tesseract. Loki compromises Selvig and Barton/Hawkeye by touching them over the heart with his spear (cheese!!! Me loves cheese!!!), and then he does the same to a random blonde dude who happens to be standing around...the same blonde dude who’s standing on the far right of the picture above, with bright blue eyes.

This dude is compromised, stands around, walks out with Loki, Barton, and Selvig, and from then on is never heard of again. Even when Fury refers to the incident later in the movie, he says he wonders how  Loki used the spear “to turn two of the brightest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.” (emphasis mine) This also implies that either The Blonde Dude wasn’t all that bright, or else Fury didn’t know him.

Maybe he will return in one of the later movies, but otherwise, he served absolutely no purpose. Perhaps he was a character from the comics whom they decided to give a cameo? I have no idea. But I would really like to know why on earth he was in there, and whether he’s still running around as Loki’s little minion.

So unless you have some cool plans for that nobody character later, or unless he serves some real purpose, you may as well leave him out in the first place. Otherwise you’ll have me knocking on your door and going “Who’s the blonde dude?”