Flesh Out

Here's a term that makes me cringe when I hear it.  "Fleshing out" a character gets thrown around quite a bit these days.  I don't object to the idea of layering a character, as much as the terminology.  We are creating fictional characters - they have no flesh.  They can have characteristics heaped upon them aplenty but they are fleshless.

When I read, I take the bits and pieces given to me by the author and mold my own character.  It's more of a wisp of air than flesh.  It's an interpretation of features, actions and observations from other characters.  I have to admit that I often rewrite a character in my head.  The author may have described the MC as a tall blond bombshell with bravado to spare.  If I like the story but object to a character, I very easily substitute my own imagined description.  When I was a teenager and devoured romance novels, I usually changed the heroine to better fit my own characteristics.  (She never was blond or tall in my mind.)

A writer can describe a character with witty and precise words.  But, in the end, it's the imagination of the reader that defines the character.  Your perfectly "fleshed" out character may end up resembling someone from their childhood or bagger at the grocery store that put a can on top of their bread.

Terms that make you cringe, twitch or gag?
  

I'm Sorry Mr. Grogan

My apologies to Mr. Grogan for using his touching and beautiful novel to finally see my name in print.

The running column "Rejected" gave me the opportunity to play editor and dish out criticism liberally.  It was a hoot to play editor and hand out my misguided suggestions to an aspiring author.  Secretly, it made me feel better to remind myself that many wonderful books have been overlooked or jeered. 

My only qualification for this was having received rejection letters and an odd sense of humor.

Check it out in the January edition of Writer's Digest.

A Strange Package Arrives

I've been waiting for the promised copies of my first published article to arrive.  Every large envelope that has arrived has made me hold my breath until I can scan the return address.

Another arrived this past week but sadly was addressed to someone I did not know.  A wrong address?  But wait, my heart fluttered seeing the return address.  It was from the magazine!  Right return - wrong addressee.  Did that mean that they had published my article with the wrong name?  Oh, cruel fate.  My first article and it would not bear my name! 

Hands shaking, I tore it open, flipping to find my article.  My words were there for the world to see.  Huge sigh of relief...my name printed correctly, in bold no less.

The rest of the afternoon was spent rereading my words aloud to the dogs.  They were the only ones around to appreciate my good fortune and share in a realized dream.

Ready to Go...Almost

Back to reality.  Laundry, groceries, mail - the drudgery of ordinary life that I escaped for a week as I soaked up books and sunshine.

My brain continued to buzz with ideas for my current manuscript but I tried to quiet the humming.  Concentrating on others' writings is so important.  Seeing what works and what doesn't.  Finding phrases you love.  Looking at structure and grammar.  Noticing character details and viewpoints.  (Yes, I know these are all fragments.  My eighth grade grammar teacher would be ashamed.)

It spurs on creativity.  Now, if I could just reach the bottom of the laundry pile so I could let my fingers fly across the keyboard after drinking in all that creativity.  (Maybe a few pina coladas mingled with the creativity but I won't tell.)

Onward!

Goodbye Cruel World

I'll be blog-free for a short while.  It's off to a beach, dig my toes in the sand and read the books I've downloaded to my heart's content.  I've already peeked at a few and can't wait to begin my vacation.

My hubby, sunshine, margaritas and good books!  Life is good.

Painting Words

After reading the latest YA novel that was recommended to me, I feel awful.  And wonderful.  And determined. 

I realized that writing is like painting.  Stay with me on this one.  First, you sketch and then add colors layer by layer to make it something beautiful.  With writing, an author throws if down and stands back to see the missing colors.  Will the reader feel and breathe the world created?

The author whose book I'm reading is a master at bringing to life the details that make a reader feel like they know the place!  The imagery is spot on.  A bridge that appears skeletal at night, the black outline in the distance.

While I was captured by the words, I also felt a moment of panic.  My latest manuscript wasn't doing that!  Deep breath, count to ten, close my eyes.  I realized that I was still sketching...the colors will come.



 

Outline S.O.S.

I've never written an outline when I'm working on a manuscript.  It's proving to be difficult.  I change it after I've written a few chapters.  I guess I'm an "organic" writer.  Things flow better when they rattle around in my brain for awhile.  Suggestions?