Loving A Great Character

It's the day of love. I love to read, I love to write, and I have a secret crush!

First, let me announce my “Celebrating the Love” Giveaway winners. Even though we didn’t make it to 66 Followers, I decided to give away two prizes.

1.)    Amazon Gift Card – Fred

2.)    John Grisham’s The Broker – Jess

Congratulations to you both. If you will email me your address, I will get those to you.

Now, smell the beautiful flowers, get out the chocolates and Champagne (diet Root Beer for me) and dish on your secret crushes. I mean those characters from a novel you just can’t forget. I know you have one.

There are so many unforgettable men for me: Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird – possibly the world’s best father and defender of the innocent, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights – we’d all like to believe a man will continue to love us no matter what we do or how long we’ve been deceased, and both Edward Cullen and Jacob Black of the Twilight series (no explanation necessary ;-).

However, if I had to pick just one character from any of the novels I've read, it must be Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice – at first he appears rude, arrogant, and anti-social. Yet we see him struggle with his conscience, emotions and reason. He is in truth a kind and good natured man. Who wouldn’t want to be the one to challenge a man harboring a secret crush on them?

What about you? If you could date/marry any character from a book, who would it be and why?

Show, Don’t Tell

How many times have you been told “Show, Don’t Tell” your audience what’s happening and what your characters are feeling? Many of us don’t know exactly what this means.

You have the power to make people think of something or believe they saw/read something they did not. Let’s try an exercise. Get a piece of paper and something to write with. This will only take a minute or two if you are honest and don’t cheat.

Below is a list of 12 words, you can take just a few seconds to read them to yourself or out loud to someone else. Read them at the same rate you read when you are enjoying a book or magazine article. When you are finished, and without looking back at them, take 30 seconds to write as many of them as you can remember. No cheating! Then, read the paragraph below the list before you check your answers. Ready? Go:

Bed, rest, night, pillow, dream, blanket, alarm, tired, pajamas, yawn, nap, and snore.

Did you get the word Sleep? Sleep is not one of the words, but many will include it in their list because of inferences (making people think or believe something without outright telling them). The average person will only accurately remember about five of them.

This is what authors mean by show, don’t tell. The truth is, a great writer knows how and when to do both: show and tell. When I taught high school, I used this exercise as well as the following one to help students acquaint themselves with details, actions and expressions.

Christopher Vogler, Hollywood screenwriter and author of The Writer’s Journey, suggested this exercise to me called “reverse engineering”. You watch a movie and after each scene stop the video and write what happened. Describe the events, copy dialogue; describe the setting, clothing, characters involved etc.

Whether you are writing a book, short story or screenplay, this is a great way to work on new ways to “show and tell”.

Side note: Don’t forget to enter the giveaway contest in the previous post. You only have a few days left. Happy writing!

“Celebrating the Love” Giveaway

I’ve never posted more than once in a day before, but I wanted to tell you about a giveaway I’m hosting. Valentine’s Day is in a week and I want to celebrate the love we’ve all shared for blogging, reading and writing.

For every 33 (because that’s how old I am) followers on this blog, I’ll give away a prize. Ex. 33 followers = one prize, 66 followers = two prizes, 99 followers = three prizes and so on.  To win:

1.)    Add yourself as a follower if you are not already = one entry.

2.)    Leave a comment telling me which of the prizes listed below you are interested in winning = one entry

3.)    Post an announcement/link to this giveaway on your webpage, blog, twitter, facebook etc. and leave me a link in the comments below = one entry for EACH announcement/link.

4.)    Add a second announcement/link to my “Space Tales” Contest (see the sidebar) on your webpage, blog, twitter, facebook etc. and leave me a link in the comments below = one entry for EACH announcement/link.

5.)    Check back on Valentine’s Day to see if you’ve won!

Isn’t that easy? Good luck!

Possible prizes:

1.)     $25 Amazon Gift Card

2.)      Hardback John Grisham

3.)      Hardback Virginia Woolf

4.)     Hardback Michael Crichton

5.)     Hardback Jude Deveraux

6.)      Hardback Jacki Lyden

7.)     Hardback James Patterson

Trademarked Words in Writing

Did your book’s character play with Silly Putty or modeling clay? Does his father sit in a La-Z-Boy or a reclining chair? Does his mother use Febreze or a fabric deodorizer?

Many of the terms we use are actually trademarked brand names. They have become common household terms we use interchangeably with their generic counterparts.

Trademarked words may not be completely off-limits for writers, but some are legally restricted. Below is a list of 30 words and their generic counterparts. The 30 words on the left are still legally trademarked and cannot be used by competitors. These terms are actively enforced by their trademark owners.

Astro Turf                           Artificial Turf

Band-Aid                            Adhesive Bandage

Bubble Wrap                      Inflated Cushioning

Clorox                                  Bleach

ChapStick                            Lip Balm

Cheez Whiz                        Processed cheese spread

Coke                                      Cola, Soft Drink, Pop, Soda

Crock-Pot                            Slow Cooker

Dumpster                            Front loader waste container

Frisbee                                 Flying Disc

Glad Wrap                           Cling-film

Google                                 Search Engine

Hoover                                 Vacuum Cleaner

Hula Hoop                           Toy Hoop

Jacuzzi                                  Hot Tub

Jeep                                      Compact Sport Utility Vehicle

Jell-O                                     Gelatin, Pudding

Kleenex                                Facial Tissue

Polaroid                               Instant Film

Post-its                                 Sticky Notes

Q-tips                                    Cotton Swabs

Rollerblade                         Inline Skates

Saran Wrap                         Plastic Wrap, Cling Film

Sharpie                                 Permanent Marker

Styrofoam                           Extruded Polystyrene Foam

Taser                                     Electroshock Weapon

Vaseline                               Petroleum Jelly

Velcro                                   Hook-and-Loop Fastener

Windex                                 Glass and Surface Cleaner

Xerox                                    Photocopier

This is only a small sample of trademarks many of us use in a generic connotation. Writing guides such as the AP Stylebook advise writers to "use a generic equivalent unless the trademark is essential to the story."

 If you want a more detailed and up-to-date list of trademarked words and phrases, you can visit the International Trademark Association at www.inta.org.  You can also use Google, I mean an internet search engine to query further examples.

Joyce Carol Oates - On Writing Characters

I often hear writers argue whether plot or characters are more important in writing a book. I believe they are equally valuable.  I'm currently working on a story and while I have a basic plot, I have yet to decide EXACTLY who my characters are going to become. I came across this six minute video by Joyce Carol Oates and thought I would share. I hope you all have a great weekend - Happy Writing!

Dulci and New Links

This is my miniature daschund when she was only a few months old. She's not so miniature anymore because she loves to eat and I have two toddlers who love to feed her. Her name is Dulcinea (I'm a Don Quixote fan) - we call her Dulci. She's a great snuggle partner, especially in cold weather like today.

She's been admiring the new buttons/links in my sidebar this week. The first, is a "Writing tip of the day". The second, of course, for the writing contest I'm offering. 

The last is for a Bernard Pivot blogfest hosted by Nicole Ducleroir. I have enjoyed the Pivot questions utilized by James Lipton for many years now. If you've never had the pleasure of hearing Pivot, maybe you've seen the questionairre used on Inside the Actor's Studio.

In the spirit of fun, here are Dulci's answers to those ten famous questions:

1.    What is your favorite word? Food

2.    What is your least favorite word? No

3.    What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Food

4.    What turns you off? No Food

5.    What is your favorite curse word? Bark

6.    What sound or noise do you love? Food hitting my bowl.

7.    What sound or noise do you hate? An empty bowl scraping the floor.

8.    What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Rottweiler guard dog.

9.    What profession would you not like to do? Poodle Show Dog– the haircuts are just wrong!

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? We have an unlimited supply of food here.  

Keep warm and Happy Writing!

Adding to My Reading List

I seem to be on a biography kick lately. I'm updating my "Must Read" list to include a few more.

1.      Decision Points – George W. Bush

2.      Known and Unknown – Donald Rumsfeld

3.      On Writing – Stephen King

4.      An American Life – Ronald Reagan

5.      Catherine the Great – Henri Troyat

6.      Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life – Joan D. Hedrick

7.      Mary Queen of Scots – Antonia Fraser

8.      We – Charles A. Lindbergh and and Myron T. Herrick

I'd love to hear some suggestions for "must reads". They don't have to be a biography, just tell me some of your favorites.

Also, don't forget there are only 22 more days to enter the "Space Tales" Contest. See: http://writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/2011/01/space-tales-writing-contest.html