Meet Annie Jones

Remember ages ago (way back in October!) when I introduced y'all to Una, one of the main characters in the next book that I want to write? Today, I want to introduce you to another one of my old ladies (a.k.a. the main characters).

1. How old is she mentally and physically? 
Annie is 69 when the book begins, but she feels about 80. Annie is an old-fashioned broad made even older by her conservative upbringing. She's also not in the best of health (so she thinks) and complains (though she wouldn't call it that) about her joints and her bones and her skin all day every day. 

2. Did she have a happy childhood? Why/why not?

Not particularly, by today's standards. Her parents were very strict and didn't allow their children to have much fun. Annie's childhood consisted of working hard in school, working hard at home, and going to church. 

3. Past/present relationships? How did they affect her?

-Annie grew up with both of her parents, a younger brother, and a great-aunt in the house. Her great-aunt and father were the ones inspiring a good work ethic and unwavering devotion to church into the other members of the family. While Annie appreciates these things, they did cause her to grow up a bit judgmental with a low tolerance for nonsense and imagination. They've also caused her to be grumpy and easily-annoyed because, somewhere, deep down, she is under the impression that fun=laziness. You'd be grumpy, too, I suppose, if you thought you could never have fun. 
-Annie is married to Herbert, who is also traditional and stuck in his ways. He doesn't usually take other's feelings into account and under-appreciates everything Annie does for him. Although he is not mean, he believes that force is a good way to accomplish things. As a result of being married to Herbert, Annie has become a bitter old lady and a bit spiteful. 
-Una and Mae are Annie's best friends from forty years previous when they met working in a factory during World War II. They remain the only people who can get Annie to have fun and not feel guilty, belly laugh until she cries, and be nice instead of stingy to strangers. 

4. What does she care about?

The loves of Annie's life are her four sons, three daughter-in-laws, and six grandchildren. Annie despises coffee with the other old ladies at church, she hates small talk with grocery store clerks, and she can't stand conversation with her husband, but she has all the time in the world for her children and grandbabies. 

5. What is she obsessed with?

See above question. Also, she's obsessed with knitting her grandchildren clothes while their mothers look on, horrified. 

6. Biggest fear?

Annie worries a lot about her grandchildren and their health and safety. Her biggest fear is that one of them will fall ill, or fall over, or fall in love with the band Queen (whom she thinks is the spawn of the devil himself [*cough cough* a view that the author does NOT share]).

7. What is the best thing that ever happened to her? The worst?

The best thing that has ever happened to Annie is meeting Una and Mae. Without them in her life, Annie would be even MORE crotchety than she already is! I dread to think of an Annie with her Una and Mae. The worst thing to happen to Annie was losing her first baby, a girl. She doesn't talk about it. 

8. Most embarrassing thing that ever happened to her?

One time, Annie and Herbert were having an argument about who should clean up the kitchen and Annie's mother-in-law came into the room and not only heard them fighting, but also saw Annie's messy kitchen. Annie, who prides herself on being a proper hostess and a good housewife, was mortified. 

9. Biggest secret?

Annie's biggest secret is that, occasionally, with Una and Mae, she enjoys a glass of whisky. The three of them would sometimes drink a glass after walking back from the factory together on cold, winter nights. It's the most rebellious thing that Annie has ever done, but when she tries to drink a glass by herself, it just isn't the same. 

10. What is the one word you would use to define her?
Stubborn. 

So, there's a small look into Annie! I'm looking forward to writing her. I think she'll be an entertaining character. 

Meet Una Van Allan

A few months ago, I introduced my next writing project, She's Leaving Home, which is about three friends who go on a road trip around the United States together. I thought it would be fun to introduce you to the main characters, so I found this questionnaire. First up in Una! 

1. How old is she mentally and physically? 
Una is 64 years old both in physical age and mental age. She was called an "old soul" as a child and has finally grown into her age. 

2. Did she have a happy childhood? Why/why not?

Una would say yes, but everyone else would say no. Una was born in 1920, and she is the youngest child in a large family. She doesn't remember her father because he died from World War I related injuries when she was three. Her mother and brothers worked hard to feed and clothe the family, but when the stock market crashed in 1929, Una's family first lost their jobs and then their house. While her oldest three brothers and sister traveled West à la The Grapes of Wrath, Una, her mother, two sisters, and one brother moved into a Hooverville. Despite bad circumstances, Una remained happy. Her mother taught her at an early age to be content and joyful in all circumstances. Una remembers her childhood as an adventure, even though she didn't always have enough food to eat or any toys to play with. 

3. Past/present relationships? How did they affect her?

-Una has a close relationship with her family because they relied on each other so much when they were growing up. They taught Una how to trust, how to be grateful, and how to be joyful.
-In 1941, a young man named Dirk Van Allan began courting Una. After World War II, they married. Dirk has had the biggest effect on Una. He taught her about unconditional love and bravery. He also watches out for her well-being because, sometimes, Una is so busy taking care of other people that she forgets that she's a human with needs, too. 
-Una's two best friends are Annie and Maebeline. She met them during World War II when they all worked in a factory together. Annie taught Una about selfless service and hard work, and Maebeline taught Una that it's good to let go of logic and propriety sometimes in order to have fun. 

4. What does she care about?

Una cares deeply for disabled and discarded children. Because of this, she and Dirk have adopted several orphans. Additionally, Una cares about parents who have had their children taken away due to neglect or improper treatment. Una cares so much about parents and children that she started a program within her church to equip parents with the skills needed to take care of their children.

5. What is she obsessed with?

Helping people. In fact, Una is so other-focused that she forgets to take care of herself.

6. Biggest fear?

Deep down, Una worries that she is not good enough. Although she genuinely loves to help people, she sometimes goes too far because she is worried that if she doesn't take every opportunity to help people, God, her family, and her friends will leave her. 

7. What is the best thing that ever happened to her? The worst?

The best thing that ever happened to Una was marrying Dirk. The worst thing that ever happened to her is a spoiler. :)

8. Most embarrassing thing that ever happened to her?

Once, Una, Annie, and Maebeline decided to rebel against the men running the factory where they worked, so they didn't wear their hair turbans to work. They wore their hair long and luscious... and Una got her hair caught in the machinery! It didn't hurt her beyond a sharp tug, but Una had to wait for her male overseer to come and set her free. So much for asserting her femininity! 

9. Biggest secret?

Una's biggest secret is that she is tired. She is tired of always giving 110% of herself to the service of others. She is tired of the worry that comes with caring for so many people at once. And she is scared that this tiredness is selfishness. 

10. What is the one word you would use to define her?
Selfless. 

What do you think of Una? Come back in a few weeks to meet the next of my travelling old ladies: Annie! 

The Long and Winding Editing Road—Finn

~I've been inspired by Katie at Spiral-Bound's "Editing Diaries" posts to do my own editing series. Currently, I'm in the process of editing a fairytale-fantasy novel I wrote in 2014, and I want you to join me on this journey! Maybe, together, we can learn a few things about writing along The Long and Winding Editing Road.~

Finn, oh, Finn, oh, Finn, oh, Finn! Where to begin?
My novel has two point-of-views. One is Rozella, whom you met in my last Editing Road post. The other point-of-view is Finn, and he has given me trouble almost since Day One. I wanted him to be a mysterious, private, slightly brooding hero that makes fangirls swoon, but he ended up being too secretive, slightly whiney, and a know-it-all. It didn't help that I wasn't secure in his past or in his present situation.
Because I was uncomfortable with the original background I had created for Finn, I focused on that instead of Finn as a character. I decided to change his past and he became so much easier to write!
But then I started focusing on the present... What had Finn been doing for twenty years in the dungeon of the king? Why hadn't he tried to escape? I decided to change twenty years to five years and, again, Finn became so much easier to write!
After writing out his character profile, I figured that it would be easy to write Finn in the third draft. And it has been... until I realized two night's ago that it isn't.

Rozella is easy to write. She has a lot of the same insecurities that I do, so it's easy for me make her relatable by writing her thoughts for the reader's to see. To me, she feels like a real character because we see her inner struggles and her decision-making process. Her chapters are usually longer than Finn's and full of character development, while Finn's chapters usually advance the plot. I suppose that should have alerted me that something was wrong. I want to have balanced chapters, or else my readers will get bored with one of the points-of-view.
What made my chapters unbalanced? I thought it was that Finn wasn't getting as much character development as Rozella, so I started adding some. I used the same stream-of-consciousness approach that I had used for Rozella, but it felt wrong for two reasons:

1. If I'm writing both Rozella and Finn's character development the same, they will cease to have separate voices and will meld into the same person.
2. Men don't think the same way as women.

My dad was telling me about THIS video and I realized my problem. I was trying to make Finn think the same way as Rozella, because I knew that method worked. Well, it worked for Rozella, but it wasn't working for Finn, because he's not a woman!
How do I write male characters? I didn't know, so I asked my dad what he would do and what he would think about if he were the main character in my Fantasy Novel. He gave me some helpful comments and also a book to read on how guys think. I read the first chapter this morning and I'm already full of ideas on how to make Finn into a better character. Hopefully, this change will make Finn a lot easier to write! At least, until the next problem pops up.

There's only one last problem... Should I go back to the beginning of the story and work on Finn's character from there, or should I continue on from where I am now? Maybe I need to do some additional research before I mess around with Finn's character. Maybe I should experiment and see what happens. Maybe I need to rewrite his profile. I can't decide, and it's halted my editing, which is too bad because I was really enjoying this draft!
Maybe I'll go fix myself lunch. That sounds like a good idea.

The Long and Winding Editing Road—Characters II

I've been inspired by Katie at Spiral-Bound's "Editing Diaries" posts to do my own editing series. Currently, I'm in the process of editing a fairytale-fantasy novel I wrote in 2014, and I want you to join me on this journey! Maybe, together, we can learn a few things about writing along The Long and Winding Editing Road.

In my last post, I talked about how two of the characters in my fantasy novel were giving me trouble because I didn't know who they were. One thing that helped me get to know them better was to write outlines of what happened to them before they entered my story.
Just like it's important for nonfiction writers to know background information on their topic, it's important for fiction writers to know the history of their characters. Past experiences make people into their present selves. If you don't know where your character has come from, how can you know where your character will go? (Please tell me that I'm not the only one singing "Cotton Eye Joe" after that last sentence.) If you don't know what has molded your character's worldview, how can you know how your character will react to the events in the story?

After finishing the second draft of my novel last November, I took December off. In January, I began working on my character arcs. A character arc is a character's "inner journey" (says Google) within the main storyline of a book.
So, on note cards (I like note cards, okay?) I wrote who each character was at the beginning of the novel, their transformation, and who they are at the end of the story. Here's an example using a character from Star Wars The Force Awakens:

Finn
Who he was at the beginning: Scared, unhappy with his life choices, wishing he were somewhere else.
Transformation: Finn takes the first opportunity to escape life as a stormtrooper and keeps running away until he realizes there is something worth fighting for in the galaxy. He sets aside his selfishness and helps his friends.
Who he is in the end: Willing to sacrifice himself for his friends, loyal to friends, in a much better place than where he was at the beginning:

For minor characters I wrote out their purpose in the narrative and a summary of their character arc.
Here's an example using another Force Awakens character.

C-3PO
Purpose in narrative: Comic relief, information.
Character arc: Originally created by Anakin Skywalker. He and his counterpart, R2-D2, helped defeat the Empire. When Luke Skywalker went missing, R2-D2 shut down, but C-3PO continued to serve Princess Leia. Somehow got a red arm. No character growth because he's a droid.

At the beginning of February I decided that I should probably add physical description, personality, and motivation to my character profiles. So, rather than write new cards for everyone, I typed what I had already written into the computer along with a few additions.
For an example, it is my pleasure to introduce you to my female protagonist, Rozella:

   Rozella

   Appearance: 5’4”. Rib-cage length dark brown curly hair. Blue eyes. Oval face. A little bigger boned/thicker, but not fat. Curvy. Inspired by Barbara Kent and Lucy Griffiths.

I'm not great at seeing my characters (or anyone else's, for that matter) in my mind's eye, but I was inspired by another blogger to make an effort to describe my characters better. It's easy to decide hair and eye color, but what about height, body type, face shape, and type of hair? It's important to know these things for, if you're writing a character with long hair, long hair is less likely to do this:

and more likely to do this:

Pictures courtesy of this Buzzfeed article.

If you want to be realistic while writing, remember that your character's hair won't be perfect all the time, especially if they are adventuring. It's also helpful to know your character's height (can they reach the tomato soup on the top shelf at the store? Does their height give them back problems?) and body type (are they self-conscious or confidant in their body? How does that effect how they interact with other characters?).

Personality: Predisposed to be timid and worry if she’s doing something right or wrong, but when she knows what she’s doing, she’s very confidant. Sweet. Kind.

I wrote three or four basics for each character's personality. When I'm working on the story, I try to keep these basics in my head so that I can ask myself, "Is Rozella too confidant here or should she be more worried? Is Rozella too mean? How can she say that in a nicer way?"

History: Kidnapped by Witch and raised by Witch.

As you can see, I didn't expound on Rozella's history much. This is because most of it is described in the first few chapters of the novel. Other characters have fuller histories.

Growth: Starts out afraid and timid and nervous. Ends confidant, knows she’s loved. Smart and optimistic.

I'm just about to start the second third of my novel, which is where a lot of Rozella's character growth happens. From this point on, I have to watch her very carefully to see if she is gradually becoming confidant, or if it's an instant change. I want it to be gradual, but I'm worried that what I have now is instantaneous change. I guess I'll find out as I continue to write!

Motivation: She wants to belong and feel loved. Also, her natural tendency to care (for animals and, later, people, too).

Just like it's important to know your character's appearance, history, and worldview, it's important to know what motivates your character. Why are they trying to achieve their goal? What motivated them to go on a quest, or to sign up for an online dating service, or start a prank war with their neighbor? Did the prank war spawn from a happy-go-lucky sense of humor, or from the childhood need to prove themselves better than their prank-master father, or from the desire to escape adulthood and regress back to childhood?
Rozella's actions nearly all come from either her compassion for others or from her desire to be loved. She was kidnapped by a Wicked Witch when she was a baby and endured the Witch's torments until she was thirteen. The Witch never loved her, so Rozella longs to be loved and accepted by someone. Her desire to belong makes her worry if people are judging her for her actions.

For each of my characters, I described appearance, personality, history, growth, and motivation. As I've gone through the first third of my novel over the past month, I've been pleasantly surprised with how well I was able to incorporate characterization in the second draft. It's way better than I expected and I haven't had to do much. The next two thirds, on the other hand, I'm expecting to be a mess. Which is why I'm writing this blog post instead of working on my story.

If you're a writer, what kind of character profiling do you do? If you're a reader, do you notice character development, description, and motivation?

The Long and Winding Editing Road—Characters

I've been inspired by Katie at Spiral-Bound's "Editing Diaries" posts to do my own editing series. Currently, I'm in the process of editing a fairytale-fantasy novel I wrote in 2014, and I want you to join me on this journey! Maybe, together, we can learn a few things about writing along The Long and Winding Editing Road.

In my last editing post, I talked about how I outlined my novel and then rewrote it, focusing on the plot.
Now, I'm working on the third draft of the story. This time, I'm focusing on character development, which is something I've never focused on before.
In my novel After the Twelfth Night, I don't remember doing any character edits, and the extent of my character-building was to write out my character's names, ages, descriptions, and one or two random facts about their personalities and hobbies on a piece of paper.

In the first draft of my fantasy novel, I didn't write anything down about my characters. I had a few vague ideas in my head about who they were, but mostly let them develop on their own. Surprisingly, this worked rather well. By the time I finished, I knew who most of my characters were, and they've stayed relatively the same since then.
There were exceptions, of course. Namely, my main male protagonist and a random character named Timone who showed up halfway through the story and decided to stick around.

Finn, my main male protagonist has gone through the most changes since the beginning of the story. I intended for him to be a mysterious and brooding hero, but he ended up being a secretive and slightly-annoying know-it-all.
He started the story in the king's dungeon and had been there for twenty years, which made me ask, "What has he been doing in the dungeon for twenty years? He's best friends with his guard. Why doesn't he use that to his advantage and escape?" I couldn't answer these questions, and it caused Finn's whole character to crumble under my fingertips. His motivation and personality didn't match his past. I had no idea how to write him.
It wasn't until I was at least halfway through the second draft that I came up with a solution. Why did he have to be in the dungeon for twenty years? Wouldn't five years be better?
"I've made an executive decision," I declared to my parents. "Finn has been in the dungeon for five years, not twenty."
"Okay," they probably replied, unsure what I was talking about, but used to my random outbursts.
Suddenly, Finn was much easier to write.
Funny how one tiny detail can change the way one writes a character.

Timone also gave me a lot of trouble in the beginning. Here is an excerpt from a post I wrote on NaNoWriMo's forums, shortly after Timone first showed up in my story:

"...instead of saying 'Guard, take them to their cell,' like any normal leader, he said, 'Timone, take them to their cell.'

I know, I know... once you name something you get attached... I wasn't going to get attached, but now Timone wants to join my two main characters on their quest and I don't know what to do! I have no clue who this character is! What's his background? What's his personality? What are his motives? Is his name even Timone? I don't know!

What do I do? Should I let him tag along and see if he reveals himself to me later on? Should I tell him to 'stay!' and hope he doesn't follow me home? Should I kill him?

Sincerely,

Someone-Who-Doesn't-Do-Well-With-Unexpected-Characters-Showing-Up-Halfway-Through-The-Novel."

During outlining, Timone decided to reveal his secrets to me. Knowing who he was made him easier to write.

Something else that helped me to understand Finn and Timone was to outline what happened to them prior to my novel. I wrote out their childhoods, teen years, and adult years in chapter synopses [side note: I just found out that "synopses" is the plural of "synopsis"! Who knew]. Now, I have outlines of their pasts so, if I want to, I can write novellas about them to complement my novel.

After writing the second draft, I knew I needed to develop my characters outside of the novel, so I decided to write character profiles.

But I'll save that for the next post.