Lost Gems of Character Development

We writers and authors spend an exhaustive amount of time learning our craft. You have to do it. There are so many technical aspects about writing which must be studied. You must learn about plots, scene and sequel creation, dialogue, monologues, internal dialogue, Point of View (POV), deep POV, grammar, punctuation, formatting, vocabulary, character arcs, style, genre, trends, world-building. Good grief the list is endless! And there are dozens of checklists, reminders, rule books, handouts, programs, spellcheckers– Holy Info Overload, Batman!

The learning must happen if we want to produce a quality story, chapbook, or novel. I know for me, there is a constant review of certain lessons with every novel, checking style and format, always improving vocabulary, looking to reinvent a master plot or character trope and always striving to be original in the process.

One thing I recently noticed in my writing, and in so many other books, is the missed opportunities for deeper character development. Great care is taken to showcase the golden flecks in someone’s eyes, the blue-black sparkle of hair, the limp, the bushy eyebrows, or the curl of smoke from a pipe. Delicious details offer insights to the vampire’s desires, the streetwalkers boots, the royal throne or the courtier’s waistcoat. Even the most intimate scenes offer description of the silky sheets, the sweat that runs down the chest, the sound of flesh against flesh.

All of these details are ones we’ve been told to add. We know we need to cover all the senses, preferably in every scene. We want the readers to see the people as clearly as we do. To feel and hear the swish of a gown on the stairs, to taste the burning heat of a rye whisky tossed back without thinking, we need the readers to follow us as we dodge around trains who vent steam and blare horns. We go to a picnic and treasure the dappled sunlight, swat the flies over the potato salad and our mouth water when we smell the fried chicken. These details are what flesh out every scene and give depth to our tales. 

What if I told you that you can do more, that you are missing one of the best treasure troves for letting the reader learn about your characters through what THEY find in your stories?

Sometimes deeper character development, and therefore hidden meanings or careful foreshadowing, even character secrets, comes from what isn’t directly said or carefully described. What about what surrounds the character in your story? Are you taking advantage of the character’s personal items that never change, that are personally offered and perhaps never addressed?

Let’s use my house and me as an example for what I mean. In every story, your characters live somewhere, whether its a tent, a mansion, an RV, or a brick and mortar home. In my case, it’s a ranch house. I don’t like stairs anymore because I have a bad knee (have had since I was in my 30’s). This character information which the one story house emphasizes. We’ll mark that as “Fodder.” 

Next, my kitchen. A great many families hang out in the kitchen. Activity thrives there. Look around. Everyone plants their flag, so to speak, in their surroundings. What’s on the counter that never changes? The wall? How about the refrigerator? Fodder! Here’s a pic of my refrig. There are things that never change and others that change with moods. Fodder! Do you see personalities reflected here? Look at the gold magnet or the retro magnet. How about the apron? 

We speak of the roaring fire by the wingchair or the mantle clock. What about the walls? The unchanging, personally decorated walls? Ah, more secrets of likes and dislikes! Look at this picture of my dining room. I have a deep love for Egyptian art. Did you know? You can learn so much from what people hang on the wall for permanent decoration. Secrets to their likes, dislikes or personalities. Let them be noticed.

I know we all enjoy reading about a character in their library. Big old volumes of books, shelves upon shelves, a footstool, a ladder, a cuppa tea and a late night read. But wait! There are nik-nacs, maybe china? Maybe bronze? Let’s look at a portion of my library. Oh my! The oddities abound. Statues and photos and hints galore. Most of these things do not change and reveal so much about me. Do you see the vampires or the dragons? How about the moon or the variety? So much fodder for a tale that reveals personality.

A home also offers insights into hobbies. Do you show a character’s pottery? Artwork? Greenhouse, perhaps? Do you know I like to take photographs? On the spare bedroom wall you find this framed piece, showcasing several photos. Mine. It speaks of some of my deepest loves. More fodder.

There is also a boom in contemporary fiction about professionals like the military, the doctor, the fireman or the cowboy. These people surround themselves with items that represent them or pieces that show something in their past that represents this profession. In my case, there are retirement cases for my husband and me, that showcase our years of military service. These can be the most personal mementos available. Fodder awaits!

Details are the decoration that gives a story depth and richness. Don’t miss out on a chance to provide unique depth to your characters by using the details that may never change. Understand and flesh out the things that make the characters real and you define them in a way that readers will relate to on a deep personal level. Oh look, your reader will say, she puts her daughters drawings on the fridge too. And she uses the magnet of her trip to Boston Harbor to hold it up. You know, the place where she spent her summers so long ago…

Fodder.

These are the lost gems that make the difference between good and great character development. Set your work apart by giving your readers whole characters they can never forget because in the end, the readers want more than anything to be those characters. Make it happen for them.

Thanks for coming by. Let’s make this a great month!
I remain as ever, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

WHY WE MEMORIALIZE TODAY

Today is Memorial Day. For some, it will be just another holiday that includes swimming, picnics, grilling in the backyard, sports binging, or a lazy day with a cold drink and a good book.

Whatever your activity this year, please take a moment and reflect on the reason why you have the freedom to do as you please.

Today, we remember the men and women who sacrificed their lives in the military service of their country. Today, their shadow falls over us and protects us from the vilest forms of oppression, injustice, and slavery. Their deaths mean we live free.

I understand we are a suffering people. And socially, we have much to learn and need many adjustments to find better days. But the shadow I speak of allows you the ability to complain about a leader without going to jail. It allows you to wake up without having to put on a gas mask and sling a weapon on your shoulder before going outside. The shadow of spilt blood allows you to worship where you wish and with whom you wish. The shadow of many men and women are the security blanket to the life we live in this country, and with the greatest amount of protections and freedoms than enjoyed anywhere else in the world.

Wars were fought all over the world. Men died in the jungles, in the sands, in the streets, on the oceans and in the air, against many kinds of aggressors. And forgetting our political beliefs for the reason soldiers were deployed there, the point is they stayed and they fought and they were valiant and they died believing in one simple truth — that we, and this country, were worth it.

No, I’m not going to be naïve and say that we don’t have issues in this country. There are home grown and international terrorists who lurk in the very shadows that rest over us. We have “leadership” with questionable moral fiber and a systemic national misogyny thankfully but slowly going up in smoke under the #MeToo movement. We have African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American people who are fighting prejudice and wrongful deaths as well as cultural persecution. We have gangs and drugs and legal fighting over abortions and border walls and immigration.

We are not perfect.

Some would say certain among us aren’t truly free.

I say they are wrong. I’ve been to other countries and I’ve seen what happens to those who speak out, who step out of line, who dare to use the freedoms that Americans have and they don’t. I know the jails where the lead paint peels from walls, where the dirt floor hides the scorpion skeletons, and the threat of death is real in a worship-our-way-or-die country. The other side of the fence isn’t greener. It’s swampy and stinks and is filled with smothering terrorism, cultural and societal fetters, chains that will force people into a daily life on its knees.

We are not them.

So while you watch sports and debate with your family over whether or not to take a knee, if you think that teachers (the hardest working advocates for our children) should not get a pay raise, if you argue about feminism (not really understanding what it is), or why English and American Anglicans are not the same, then do so with an appreciation and a respect that your freedom to complain and debate allows to you.

Then be grateful for and protective of that freedom. You can say what you like (as long as it is respectful and appropriate to the situation), you can own a gun, you can watch whatever silly news media you like and read whatever book you wish. You can take pictures of your trip or write a blog and complain. You can file a lawsuit or be a man and marry your male lover. You can go to the pool or the bowling alley, or skating rink or whatever kind of parade you want, and you can check out a movie, eat meat or fish or drink alcohol or clean water. You can be a woman and shoot a gun or be a man and mother and father children.

You are free. And you are because of the continued sacrifices by the brave men and women in the military who died so you could freely complain about how miserable your life is. Please take a moment to enter the military section of your local graveyard and give a moment of silent respect to the fallen. Most of them died willingly for the only thing they clearly understood. that is freedom over tyranny. Each and every one of our fallen made us “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Let us cherish that which they died to provide.

Have a safe Memorial Day and God Bless America.

Proud to be a non-combat veteran, I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

What Mother’s Day Offers Writers

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. I lost my mom over a decade ago and the loss never truly goes away. I thought of her and deeply missed her. And, as I often do, I thought about writing and how my loss – and the emotions attached to that loss – could relate to my characters. Am I fully using my experiences? Do I include these emotions or tap into them for maximum impact in my writing?

The answer in this case is no, not really. In my poetry, I have written about and delved into loss, like this:

“Love isn’t only what we have while we’re alive.
It’s the strength we’re given to stay behind,
and say goodbye.”
-from “Last Lessons,” in Paper Bones by Sherry Rentschler (c) 2013 

But what have I done with my emotions that benefits my creative writing? I must respond by admitting that my fiction has not benefitted. Yet.

This then is the perfect time to examine what the loss of a mother (or any family member) brings to your writing repertoire and what you can do with your experience. It’s all about writing what you know, yes? This is the perfect holiday to take advantage.

In life, we have relationships with our mothers that go from blissfully solid to teenage terrible, from retrospective to lonely, to bordering on abuse or even murderous. Each person has within them a myriad of emotions that are useful, necessary, and invaluable to your writing. Do you use the “mother influence” to challenge or grow your character? Does the mother offer insight into the current state of being for your character? Does the holiday set your character up for laughter or sorrow? Are you a modern mother or a retro one?

Real examples can highlight the character emotions and moveyou from telling into showing. Baking together, learning to sew or cook, going to work with, sharing a business, teaching moments, playtime, each and every single experience adds depth to characters. Don’t forget simple things like making a lunch, giving a handmade gift, or simply sitting in the grass and watching the ants go by.

In the death of a mother, we can find regrets for things unsaid or undone, or worse, for things we did say or do. Death sadly provides an opportunity to discover unexplainable lost treasures in the home or in the mail. We discover secrets of personalities that never manifested when the mother was living. We know emptiness, frustration, fear, separation, as well as relief and joy. Our every sense is engaged. The lingering smell of perfume or stale flowers. The soft favorite sweater left on a chair. The many pictures lining the buffet or the dresser. Favorite movies highlighted in the TV guide. Homemade jam in the refrigerator.

Again, take the time to show character through activities related to the mother. Going through a jewelry box after a funeral, opening leftover mail, finding an old journal, speaking to siblings or other secondary family members, even neighbors offers insight. Use reality to spark life to the moment.

The how and why of each and all these various feelings are important to your writing. You can examine what you feel by giving your characters outlets to express them for you. You’ve heard the expression to “discover what scares you and write that.” Familial holidays set up this scenario perfectly.

In my case, I’ve realized that I have not used the mother influence to its best advantage. I am now writing fiction where my character became a mother and is facing a vault of new emotions. Though I am not a mother myself, I have a role model in my mom that gives me all the fodder I need. And I have the loss of my parent(s) to fill in the emotions I must experience for true-to-life drama. 

Yes, loss requires I go deep and refresh old, painful memories and feelings. Yes, it is going to hurt to go there. And I believe that doing so will give my writing a truth the readers will relate and respond to because I dared to write it. My daring will allow my readers to feel enabled to go with me and perhaps tap into their private emotions too.

On a lighter note, I hope you and your families all enjoyed a Happy Mother’s Day. I hope you had another chance to express your love, give a hug, share a token of affection. Take none of those free moments for granted lest they be gone forever and you lose your chance.

But if you spent the day in memory and reflection, if you wandered into a cemetery or visited a grave (even in your mind), I hope the emotions were touchable and brought you happy tears.

Please use what you have to give life and breath to your characters. Be bold, be honest, be real. Your characters have/had mothers too. Do not let an opportunity to understand them pass us by.

RESULTS OF THE FREE EDITING OFFER:

Last month during my Fireside with the Phoenix live chat, I offered viewers of the chat, receivers of my newsletter, and members of my street team, a chance to have free editing for any writing project. I was excited to be able to make this offer and I hoped to read some very wonderful pieces and forward something exciting to an editor/friend, maybe even discover a fresh, new writer.

Unfortunately not a single person participated in this free offer. Initially I was sad and dejected and then I had to shake my head. Never, ever in my years as a writer have I ever been offered a chance at FREE editing. Had I received the chance, you can bet your bottom dollar that I would have JUMPED on such an opportunity. 

I understand you may not have thought my offer worthy or even a good deal. I assure you that it was. My hope is that you may find another chance at a like gift in the future. Sadly, I will not be offering this giveaway again.

Finally, look for my next Facebook Live Chat on May 26. And the monthly newsletter will be headed out a few days after. Have you signed up yet? There’s a link on the right….

Thanks for stopping by!
I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry