Tag Archives: characterization

Tell Me What You Want, What You Really Really Want

by kamikinard

piboidmo2013-slogan-490x301Tis the season of people writing like mad. Of sky-rocketing coffee consumption. Of letters being worn off of keyboards, and carpal tunnel flare-ups. Tis the season of NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo! If you’re a children’s writer, you’re familiar with both National Novel Writing Month and Picture Book Idea Month.

Non writers call this month November.

And because today is the first day of this celebrated month, I’m going to ask you a question important to every writer, nay, every PERSON.

What do you want?

Knowing what you want is the first step toward getting it. (Here ends my advice for the non writers… probably.)

For writers, remember that the same is true of your characters. Whether you are embarking on a fifty thousand word journey, or an idea forNaNoWriMo text to cover thirty two pages, you need to know what your character wants from the very first word!

Take a moment to think about it. Maybe make a space for it on each page of your PiBoIdMo journal. For novelists, write what your MC wants on a post-it note and stick it to your screen. Remember that your main character’s wants will drive your story. You will build your plot around this, and create obstacles for your character because of it.

A great example of a character whose desires drive the story is Mo Willems’s Pigeon.  No character in literature does a better job of letting us know what he wants. Aren’t familiar with this famous (and successful) bird? You can find out what he wants right here:

Do you know what YOUR main character wants?

Yes? Well, here’s to a successful month, no matter what you’re writing (or not writing)!

Now. Tell me what you want!  I won’t see who enters what, but depending on what you all share, it could make for a really interesting post.

Pssst: Sudipta and I will both be guest bloggers over at PiBoIdMo founder Tara Lazar’s blog this month.

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The Quotable Nerdy Character

by sudiptabq

A few weeks ago, I did a workshop on creating believable contemporary characters, and in the research process, I found a lot of inspirational quotes for writers — and readers. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

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“When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.”

― Ernest Hemingway

“Your source material is the people you know, not those you don’t know, but every character is an extension of the author’s own personality.”

― Edward Albee

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

― Mark Twain

“Characterization is an accident that flows out of action and dialogue.”

― Jack Woodford

Picture1“When you’re with your wife, you don’t say I love you to your wife every day but the ways you look at her and your actions are another way to communicate. Don’t focus on dialogue, only focus on what you’re expressing.”

― Michel Hazanavicius

“I tend to relate to a character in terms of the arc: what’s interesting is where he starts versus where he ends up .”

― Edward Norton

“If you’re writing about a character, if he’s a powerful character, unless you give him vulnerability I don’t think he’ll be as interesting to the reader.”

—Stan Lee

What do you think? Are you ready to pick up your pencil (or open up your laptop) and get creating?

 

REMINDER

If you haven’t already, please remember to check out The Busy Librarian’s podcast featuring ME and enter the newest Nerdy Chicks GIVEAWAY!