Act Your Age

Recently, when I was showing off my recent novel attempt (mentioned in the post below), I got a comment that my eight-year old character sounded too mature for his age. This made me think about some of my own characters and how they have the tendency to act older than they really are. It was a reminder to myself that writers need to be careful when they create characters of a certain age and that they need to keep them realistic.

This character Greg is eight years old. He comes from an impoverished family (think Charles Dickins- era poor) and does have some education, though it would not be a lot because of the area of the city he lives in. He is a good artist for his age, though he still uses crayons and is no Da Vinci by any stretch of the imagination. Thinking about his situation made me think of how he would actually talk. Because of his situation and lack of good education, he would likely not have a wide vocabulary, which eight-year olds generally don't anyway. He wouldn't use big words, and he would probably have bad grammar. He wouldn't be very aware of the grave danger that he's in, but he does have some knowledge of what is right and wrong. This is shown in him drawing a disturbing picture and him freaking out because he doesn't know why he drew it. It will be tricky to make sure Greg is accurate for his age, and I'm thinking of using my seven-year old cousin as a model for age-appropriate behavior.

While I was thinking of how to write Greg more accurately, it made me think of how many other written characters today don't act their ages. I know of one fantasy where a seventeen-year old pair of twins act more like thirteen-year olds (i.e. the whole love-triangle and relationship jealousy, their recklessness, and their general naive behavior), and their peers act the same way too, despite the fact that these young characters are in situations that would require them to be more mature for their age. In Paolini's "Eldest," the elf queen Islanzadi is over a hundred years old, but she acts very foolishly and immaturely, which she herself admits at one point. I've never read the "Twilight" series, but from the movies I've gleaned some information that the Cullen vampires don't act their age; Edward acts like a love-sick teenager even though he's well over a hundred years old, and the other coven members don't give any indication that they have lived for a long time.

Now, there are exceptions to the general rule. Most three-year olds don't have a large vocabulary, but I know of two sisters (not twins) who started talking at a very young age and both of them talk in largely complete sentences that are more advanced for the norm, even though they're both under the age of five. But then I know of a five-year old who doesn't talk very well because her growth has been stunted due to a genetic disorder. There can be exceptions to where a five-year old may talk much better than others his or her own age or act more mature, but you have to offer an explanation for it, whether it be that this child grew up without TV or was well-disciplined from a young age. Another exception, sadly, is college students; most of them whom I've met still act like highschoolers and aren't very mature, though there are a few exceptions.

So, when you start writing down how your character's behavior, keep his or her age in mind. Make sure that they act their age, unless there are very special circumstances like some of the examples given above. This will keep your story realistic and will help define your characters better.

Looking for Critics

About a month ago, I finished the first draft of a new novel. Wanting to improve, I've been trying to find some people who can give me honest, constructive criticism. If you are interested, check out the story on figment. I'm only on chapter 16, and I'm adding new chapters as I finish them in the second draft. Constructive criticism is more than welcomed.

http://figment.com/books/130295-War-of-Magic

World Building Fun

I'm a history geek, though I occasionally dabble in other subjects like anthropology or geology, depending on my mood. When I create fantasy-esque stories or those not set in the real world, I really enjoy using those real-life topics to help build new worlds. Right now, I'm in the process of creating a new world that I used in a recently-finished novel of mine.

My story, unlike most others than I write, has a modern-esque, urban setting. I admit that I have little experience with cities, as I rarely visit Atlanta and I try to avoid it when I can. When I visited the northern part of the city last weekend, I took the opportunity to study what I could, looking at the streets, the apartments, and how entire areas were structured. Afterwards, I used google maps to look over the city and then wikipedia to discover the names of the city's different neighborhoods and regions. These things helped me get a better picture of how to structure my urban fantasy city. At some point, I will probably draw a rough map of the city's neighborhoods so that I will be able to track my characters' movements and figure out where certain events take place. Another thing that helped me with my city-building was a book called "Five Points" by Tyler Anbinder, which I read for a history class earlier this year. This book was very informative about that New York City neighborhood during the nineteenth century, and it gave me a detailed look of the poverty and developing culture within that small region; it helped me create the slummy areas of my city where my protagonist and her family live.

But my world-building can't just stop at the city, though it will become less detailed. Because my city is set on an island, I do a bit of wikipedia research on islands to see which one(s) may be the most like the island in my story. I may add a bit more details on the island because the story ends outside of the city (where 99% of the story takes place), and so I'll need to know more about what lies outside that area. I'm also doing a bit of history about the island at the moment so that I know a little more about it and perhaps find some more relevant facts needed in the story.

Because my island is run by an empire, next I will do some sparse world-building on the empire. It will not be in much detail, as I will focus more on the political, historical, economical, and social factors that could contribute to the specific city and to the story's plot. If I choose to go into more detail, then that information is more for my own geekiness and is unlikely to be divulged in the course of the story or anywhere else.

Not everyone has the same interests as myself, but I do believe that writers who do world-building for new worlds should try to get as in-depth in it as they can. This detail will help you keep your world's background details consistent, and it will make it seem more realistic. I'm reminded of George R.R. Martin's world in "Song of Fire and Ice," where he goes into great details about the cultures, origins of certain peoples, etc... and he does it well, even if some of the details aren't directly related to the plot.

Family Woes

Every story has some aspect or focus on one's family. Even if it's a background issue that is merely there to define a character or give them a back story, every story is about a family. However, recently in writing there have been various issues with families that have become overdone or are just plain unrealistic.

Brother- sister love

People often talk about the special bond between twin siblings that is different from that between normal siblings. However, this has become very twisted in recent literature in the form of incest or at least borderline incestuous relationships between a male and a female twin. George R.R. Martin has used this in "A Song of Fire and Ice" with Jamie Lannister fathering his twin sister Cersei's children; it's also shown up in the various ruling houses having marriage between a brother and a sister and then again in an implied abusive relationship between Viserys and Daenerys. But this is also showing up in other forms of literature. In one fantasy story I know, a seventeen year-old twin brother and sister share a bedroom (which I later discovered is actually illegal) and have a borderline incestuous relationship with each other. In the movie adaptation of Frank Herbert's "Children of Dune," the screenwriters created an implied incestuous relationship between the twins Leto and Ghanima which I do not recall being in the original novel (though admittedly it has been a while since I read the book). In one of the Dirk Pitt novels (the exact name escapes me at the moment), Dirk's twin kids Dirk Jr. and Summer have a few awkward moments that could imply some form of incest between the two.

Now, granted, twins do have a special bond, but I seriously doubt that it is incestuous. To avoid unintentional incest between the twins, do some actual research on fraternal twins and their bonds. Or, watch how other siblings interact and use that in your writing. Whatever the case, be careful when writing about siblings, especially those who are twins.

"Luke, I am your father"

A common thing that has happened in all forms of literature and has become popular to the point of being overused is someone discovering that their parentage is not what they originally thought. This is in more literary pieces than I could count, but TV Tropes.com has an extensive list of them. This has been overdone, but what really bothers me is generally how the character reacts to this realization. Like what happened in "Star Wars," these children are shocked by the revelation but then suddenly form a bond to this parent who has not been there for them. While I imagine that there might be some desire for the two to reconcile (depending on the situation), this is not entirely realistic. I know of a guy who was adopted when he was too young to remember but when he figured it out, he had no desire to know about his real father, as he considers his adopted father to be his only real one.

I am against using this story trope in writing because it has been overused to the point of being cliche.

Just One Night

Another story trope that has been overused and is also unrealistic is when a woman gets pregnant after a one-night stand. This is seen in the "Phantom of the Opera" sequel where Christine and the Phantom have a romantic encounter shortly before her wedding, and she gets pregnant as a result of it; the sequel to "Gone with the Wind" also has a similar situation. The "Count of Monte Christo" movie has Mercedes getting pregnant by Dantes after they have sex, and the movie "August Rush" has the protagonist being conceived during a one-night stand. Granted it does happen in real life, but this has been used way too many times in stories. It would seem more believable if the relationship has gone on for longer and if there has been more than one sexual encounter between the couple.

Torn families

Given high divorce rates in our modern society and the number of single parents raising their children, it is no surprise that in modern literature it is extremely hard to find stories where children have both parents and where there is no divorce in the family. In stories where the parents are divorced, I've noticed that generally the children tend to dislike their step-parent (including any step-siblings) or that the step-parent is not a likable character (or is evil). In a few cases, the divorce is amicable and the torn family still tends to get along, but this is not common. Even in stories where there is no divorce, I have seen tension-filled families where one of the parents is a jerk but the other one won't divorce him (or her), or where the kids may be abused or generally ignored.

All of the following have become very overused in story-writing, and some of them are plain unrealistic but occur commonly anyway. I would suggest staying away from these story tropes or at least reworking them in such a way that it becomes original; this will keep your story realistic and unique without you becoming cliched.

Uneven Partnerships

Some stories focus on two people who function as a duo and are important because of it. However, writers sadly often make these partnerships very uneven so that it's most of the focus placed on one person.

In some stories, the duo is meant to be important together but one of the members is held up as the most important while the other is more of a background character. In one fantasy story I've read, a twin brother and sister are supposed to save the world, but the boy ends up becoming the most important character while his sister is forgotten and left in the background as a minor character. This uneven partnership can also be shown in personalities. In most adaptations of "Sherlock Holmes," Watson is generally portrayed as the bumbling oaf who more or less tags along while Holmes is the real star of the show. Lately, in stories dealing with partners, there is the unfortunate tendency to make one partner really smart and the other really stupid.

While uneven partnership is not necessarily a bad thing, here are some suggestions on how to improve on it. Firstly, if you're going to elevate one of the two above the other, then at least give the lower one some dignity; make him more of a helper, whose talents compliment the more important one. This would make the lower one also important, even if he or she is not destined to do all the great things. Secondly, give the partners personalities and talents so that they compliment each other. For example, one partner is the physically stronger of the two but the other has more brains.

Here are a few examples of my favorite partners seen in stories (not just literature) today:

-Guy Ritchie's movie "Sherlock Holmes." I really enjoyed how the partnership between Holmes and Watson worked. Holmes was definitely the genius of the two, but he was also eccentric and had his head way out in space a good portion of the time. Watson was the more rational person who tried to keep his friend down on earth, but he was not a glorified babysitter.

-Clive Cussler's "Dirk Pitt" novels. I've only read two of the novels, but I enjoy the interactions between Dirk and Al. The two have been best friends, and this clearly shows in their humor and how they bounce off of each other. Dirk is definitely the head of the duo, but Al is important too; without his friend, Dirk would be nothing.

-The TV show "Law and Order: SVU." One reason (among others) why I really enjoy watching SVU is the partnership between Stabler and Benson. Even though they are a male-female partnership, the two share a very close platonic relationship that has no romance at all. Stabler and Benson both get emotional and angry over different cases, and sometimes they even clash on their viewpoints. However, their differences in beliefs and personalities only strengthen their relationship and make their partnership work.

-Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." One thing that the movie adaptations really messed up with was Frodo and Sam's relationship. In the book, Frodo is treated as the more important of the duo because of his aristocratic rank (in hobbit sense) and because he carries the One Ring, and Sam is merely his servant who accompanies him. Sam is very devoted to Frodo and looks after him, but he proves his own worth elsewhere, like when he fights off Shelob, rescues Frodo from Cirith Ungol, and carries him up Mount Doom. Despite their differences in social rankings, the two share a strong platonic relationship that makes it possible for them to complete the dangerous quest to destroy the Ring.

Partnerships can be even or uneven, like they are in real life, but they function the best when the two compliment each other in more ways than one, whether it be their different perspectives, personalities, or talents, and even if one of the two is meant to more important than the other.

Grow Up...

Another thing that bothers me in reading a lot of historical, epic, or fantasy stories nowadays is that the protagonists are teenagers. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, but it has become a very serious problem in literature. I've seen stories where kids ranging between the ages of fifteen and seventeen are completely immature and then are forced to grow up when they find themselves thrown into a particular situation. This is another history-inspired post, so just bear with me here.

The reason I have a problem with most teenagers in stories today is that, if they're in a historically-based or fantasy story, then they tend to be very immature and unlikable. This would not be true in history. Think about it. In historical times, girls were often married off as young as the age of twelve or thirteen. But, when they got married, they were not unsure what they were doing. These girls were mature, generally well-educated, and were trained to run a household at a young age. They were constantly busy and had absolutely no time to angst or complain about growing up too fast or too slow. This is especially true if your protagonist is a male and is an orphan or only one parent; he would have to grow up faster to take on a man's responsibilities to take care of the family. Teenagers would also have to grow up rapidly if they were poorer because they had to work hard to help support the family, like if they live on a farm. In other words, back then children had a very short transition period from child to adult, and that was the accepted norm.

Case in point: John Quincy Adams. The sixth president of the US and son of John Adams was only eleven when he accompanied his father overseas. He spent most of his teen years traveling all over Europe, including serving as a secretary to an American envoy to Russia when he was no more than thirteen or fourteen. By the time he was twenty years old, Adams had quite a career already under his belt, and so he had little difficulty in becoming a lawyer and later a foreign minister, all before the age of thirty. Not all children had the same opportunities as Adams, but they nonetheless became adults very early in life. This made them far more mature than most teenagers today, and this means that some literature focused on teenagers and young adults is inaccurate.

If you're writing a story set in modern times or after the 1950's, then you can largely ignore this post. But, if your story is a fantasy or historical, I think you should consider that not every teenager back then acted like teens do today. Instead, young people in the past were far more mature and capable than they are portrayed in literature today.

Arranged Marriages

I've always been something of a history geek, and this hasn't changed over the years. When I was younger, I had a great fascination with English royalty, evidenced by a book that detailed the lives and reigns of every king and queen from Alfred the Great to Elizabeth II.

A particular theme that I've noticed in literature, whether it be published or not, is that there is frequently an arranged marriage involved somehow. Generally, it happens to the girls of the story who also happen to be princesses or from a high-rank family. The parents try to encourage the girl to marry a certain man of great wealth or rank, and then she screams and refuses to do it, which leads her to run away, become the heroine, and then find true love with a man of a lower rank.

While this is all well and good, my historical research over the years, especially in regards to European royalty has led me to question whether or not this is an entirely accurate picture. I'm certain there were people who did not want to marry a complete stranger all for the sake of the family's honor and rank, and I'm sure that some arranged marriages were truly miserable. However, that being said, some arranged marriages actually produced true love, even if it wasn't under ideal circumstances. I'll give you a few historical examples.

- Edward I of England (if you've seen the movie "Braveheart," he was the wicked English king). In real life, Edward arranged to be married to a Spanish princess called Eleanor. The two had never met before, but the two deeply fell in love and were very attached to each other for many years (as evidenced by a legend that Eleanor sucked the poison out of one of her husband's wounds during the Crusades). After Eleanor died, Edward erected crosses all over England in her honor.

- Henry VII of England (the father of the infamous Henry VIII). He married Elizabeth of York solely for political reasons so that he could hold the throne, as the entire country had been undergoing the War of Roses for years. Even if they weren't in love, they were still very attached to one another throughout their lives.

-Charles I of England (the one beheaded by the Puritans in 1649). Charles arranged to marry the Catholic French princess Henrietta Maria, and the two had a very difficult first few years. However, they eventually warmed up to each other and fell in love, becoming very attached to one another.

- William and Mary of Orange. When the British Mary learned that she was arranged to marry her Dutch cousin William, she cried for several hours. However, the two became very close to one another over the course of their marriage.

- George III (the king during the American Revolution). He met his wife Charlotte for the first time on their wedding day, and they likely married only because George was desperate to find a wife. However, they were a truly happy couple, as evidenced by the fact they had fifteen children and that George never took a mistress like many men of his rank did at the time.

There are more historical examples, but generally in history arranged marriages were not completely miserable affairs. Some people, like Mary, did not want to go into them, but they ended up being happy with their new spouse. But, then again, men and women back then didn't have issues of angst like many people today do; they may not have liked what they were doing, but they did their required duty for the sake of something greater than their own feelings.

So, next time you think of writing how someone runs away from home to avoid an arranged marriage, think about this post.

Another Writing Blogger

An on-line friend of mine has started up his own wordpress, where he has been posting about writing. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading it. He's a good writer and brings up some excellent points that have gotten me thinking more about writing. Enjoy!

http://4lackofbetterwords.wordpress.com/

Meeting Your Characters

When I sit down to write a story, admittedly one of the hardest things I have to deal with is my characters. I personally find it difficult to give each character a voice or, in other words, to make them sound different from the others. Some are easier than others, like if I have a belligerent character or if I have one who is very sarcastic. Not only that, but it's difficult to make characters consistent, to make sure that they say and do things that aren't out of character for them; an example would be like making sure that a character who has a tendency to panic doesn't suddenly act calm when a situation goes bad or before a big event takes place.

This week, I went camping with my large, crazy family. When we weren't hiking, sitting around the campfire talking, or swimming in the lake, I began working on developing some important characters in my urban fantasy novel. I used the form on the following website:

http://www.elfwood.com/farp/thewriting/crissychar/crissychar.html

Even though the form seems more geared towards fantasy, it actually works for any genre. It asks pretty detailed questions about your characters, stuff like their relationship with their family, what their soft spots are, and how they perceive themselves.

I've found the form to be very helpful, as it as aided me in finding my characters' motives and what separates them from the others. In short, it helps me understand them better and give me a better picture of what they act and look like. If you're having trouble developing your characters, I suggest you give this form a shot.

Starting a Work

About four years ago this week (or next week, I don't have a precise date) I was goofing off with my new laptop and thinking of a new fantasy story to write. I didn't have anything particular in mind when I opened the chapter with a description of a forest at night, but the story drew me in and I went on, not knowing exactly what I was doing. About a month or two later, I had completed a first draft of a fantasy story, a story that has stuck with me for four whirlwind years.

Each writer varies, but at least each one has some form of a plan when they sit down to write the next literary masterpiece. Some people like to plan down to the tiny details of the plot, the characters, and whatnot, and some people just like to dive in. There's no one right way to plan a work in preparation for writing, as each writer is different, but I'll share what I often do.

For me personally, I discover that if I do minimum planning, then my story has a greater chance of surviving until the very end. It's what happened with my fantasy work-in-progress, and it's also what happened with my 2010 Nanowrimo story and with the urban fantasy/ superhero story that I started a few weeks ago. In the case of my 4 year WIP, I was trying to rewrite a previous fantasy story (which had taken over twenty forms in the period of five years); I started off thinking of one of the forms, but I unexpectedly deviated into a different form that became unique from the original failed idea. In that case, I knew who and what the protagonist knew, but I had absolutely no idea of what was going on in his world or what the plot would be. Without really thinking, I just wrote, and the details came to me. I discovered that he was a military captain, the son of a deposed king, and that his homeland was being conquered by a foreign people. The same thing happened when I did my most recent nanowrimo. I knew it would be a murder-mystery, and I had a few ideas for scenes in my head, but I did minimal planning for it, outside of drastically altering the beginning of the story, which I had previously written. Much to my surprise, the story just developed itself, and I reached my 50 K goal early.

I can't explain why my creative part functions better without details, but when I start, I try to keep such things to a minimum. I may have a few scenes and probably the ending in mind, and I occasionally may define one aspect of a character's personality (for example, for nanowrimo 2010, I knew that my protagonist would be a sarcastic skeptic, but I knew nothing else about what she was like). Otherwise, I largely dive into a story blind and let it develop on its own. I personally find that characters, their back stories, and sometimes even the plot just appear on their own without me doing any extensive planning. Besides, I think it also helps me to have a bare skeleton, which allows me to add and alter details much later, filling up the story over time.

But, as I said, not everyone can function that way. We all plan and begin our stories in different ways. But, ultimately it's not how we begin writing a story; what matters is how we complete it, what our finished product looks like.