Thursday, January 10, 2008

I wish I knew less...

Okay the big emotional snafu was for naught, I had a moment of name mistake and thought this critique was from someone I had met earlier and looked up to as a published author. Silly me. But I realized that I do live literally next door to a high school so I am going to see if an English teacher will help my “issues” in grammar and punct. I will get it figured out.

Any ways on to my topic. She brought up something that did make me think. She said I needed to give her more reason to like the characters. I didn’t panic about this but thought deeply…

Do I know Noble too well to write him effectively?

Think about it he has been in my head for almost 20 years in one form or another. I will blog about his evolution from David to Noble sometime.

The question still stands.
Do I know nobles favorite breakfast cereal? Yes Frosted flakes.
Favorite color? Green.
Favorite band? at the moment it is Fall Out Boy.
Favorite attire? Jeans black pointy toe cowboy boots and old rock band t shirts. But he wears white shirts and plaid over shirts for Lyris.
Favorite car? His prowler still but he likes his yellow 1932 Ford roadster too.

Case in point… I know too much about Noble to write him effectively for readers. I assume that you know him as well as I do. With my other main characters I write more internal dialogue and description and other things to give the reader an idea of who they are dealing with.

Not that I mind having him in my head. In fact… I love it. But for my reader, I wish I knew less.

Oh and By The Way... His favorite pajamas? Pink flannel with red hearts a gift from his best friend…

4 comments:

Pendragon Inman said...

i must totally agree. This is the same reason why i hate having a complete outline ready for an unwritten book. I love having a detailed one for what's already done, but not for the future. It impeeds my ability to fully write the tale. I think that's also why every time i do a "Re-Write" of my book, everything changes so dramatically because i don't enjoy writing about things i already know. I have to discover as i write, or i simply can't/won't do it. Also, if i rehearse the story or scene too many times (to friends) then, when i go to write it, i loose the magic in the details. It's just the way it seems to work-least for me. If the reader doesn't know something, it's because i don't either. :)

Anonymous said...

Interesting thought process. Since creating interesting characters is one of my weak points in writing, its something I study.

So while I may not be an expert, I do know that I don't really care what your character's favorite things are. I care more about his attributes (intelligence, wittiness, strength, talents, etc.) and these come out in the way they fix their problems.

Just my two cents. I'd be interested in seeing what you do to fix this problem.

Shanna Blythe said...

That is such a great thing to realize Michelle. I'm not sure if I noticed that, but I think that could be very true. How cool!

Anonymous said...

Well, why not use it? Why not write a list of all those sorts of things, including the reasons behind them if needed to explain, and then look for opportunities to slip them in among the events of the story.

I can just imagine a scene where his new wife sees his fave pajamas for the first time, throws herself on the bed in a fit of giggles, and he has to explain.

What kind of a grump would he be that day if there were no frosted flakes in the cupboard for breakfast and he had to settle for eggs and toast?

Don't get discouraged over it - use it to your advantage.