Corralling the Wayward Character

Corralling the Wayward Character—or what to do when a character writes his own story?

Many writers say that their books write themselves. Sometimes that happens to me and as long as I agree with what my characters do, well, that just makes my job easier. But what do you do when a character will not keep on the path you’ve created for him?

There are many conflicting views on the subject. Here are two of them:

Toni Morrison Dispenses Writing Wisdom in 1993 Paris Review: As for keeping control of her characters, Morrison says, “They have nothing on their minds but themselves and aren’t interested in anything but themselves. So you can’t let them write your book for you.

In Steven King’s On Writing he states, “I have never demanded of a set of characters that they do things my way. On the contrary, I want them to do things their way. In some instances, the outcome is what I visualized. In most, however, it’s something I never expected. For a suspense novelist, this is a great thing. I am, after all, not just the novel’s creator but it’s first reader. And if I’m not able to guess with any accuracy how the dammed thing is going to turn out, even with my inside knowledge of coming events, I can be pretty sure of keeping the reader in a stage of page-turning anxiety.

Maybe it’s best to compromise between these views, but how? I have been contemplating this since 2013 and have come to a conclusion. As long as the character pleasantly surprises me and moves the story forward along the lines I have in mind then I’ll let them keep surprising me and keep developing the story. But when a character tries to make the story about him/herself instead of about the protagonist’s conflict then I need to delete the wayward activity by nipping it in the bud.

In my upcoming novel, ALL THE VOICES IN MY HEAD, Parker Allen wrote the first part of the story well then began to wander down a whole different path. I didn’t realize what was happening until I didn’t want to write anymore. I thought I had writer’s block, but it wasn’t that at all. I didn’t like the story and I hated Parker for ruining my protagonist’s life. I’d written 57,000 words and 22,500 of them were Parker’s wayward life.

Recently, with my husband’s advice, I realized that I had to either dump the entire story or kill off Parker. I couldn’t do either. So I cut out all of Parker’s bad behavior, and unwanted wanderings, fried his brain, and forced him into an irreversible coma. 

It hurt me to cut that many words. It’s always difficult for a writer to cut chunks out of a beloved manuscript, but then that’s what good writing is about. So now that I’m back on track I expect ALL THE VOICES IN MY HEAD to be released later this year.

All the Voices in My Head blurb: 

Gloria Webber’s college sweetheart and fiancé mysteriously disappears from her life in 1987. The next year she recklessly enters into a stormy marriage with Parker Allen, a would be rock star. Years later, with Parker in a protracted coma caused by drugs and alcohol, Gloria has an opportunity to turn her life around. However, she would have to divorce Parker and forsake her wedding vows to do so.

A few cover ideas. What do you think?

Visit my All lthe Voices in My Head story board on Pintrest 

Why Do Writers Write?

To tell a story? To tell a story for profit? To tell a story to garner fame? To write a story to win a prize? Or maybe writers write because they have to, because they have a passion so deep that it won’t let them do anything else.

Last month I was inspired to write a memoir for a contest titled HARD TIMES (sponsored by NC Writers’ Network). This hard times story of mine had been buried within me for years. It isn’t a pleasant story and it doesn’t have that happy conclusion I make sure all my novels possess. I didn’t write it or enter it into the contest to win. I wrote a story that has plagued my life since 1991. I wrote the story because I had to. Because it wasn’t just my story; it was my husband’s as well. We had suffered in silence long enough.

This husband of mine, Bud Rudesill, is a scientist…a geologist to be specific. But in his heart of hearts, he’s an artist. He’s an artist because he has to be one. If he can’t create something he will die.

From a young age Bud valued the work of his Great-grand Uncle Jack and was inspired to follow in his footsteps. Jack Wilkinson Smith is arguably the father of plein air impressionism and one of California’s most important painters.

Bud’s done just about everything: ceramics, sculpture, bronze casting, silver and goldsmithing for jewelry, carpentry, watercolor and oil painting and teaching it all at a variety of colleges and art schools. While working on his Master’s Degree he taught undergrad art students THE ART OF POTTERY and his master’s thesis is NATIVE MATERIALS FOR ART CERAMICS. He also taught at Arcosanti (Paolo Soleri’s architectural experiment), The University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Central Wyoming Community College, The Art School in Carrboro, NC, and The Penland School for Arts and Crafts in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. (For a short bio of Bud click here.)

The year after my first novel was published, Bud accompanied me to Gardenia Press’ annual writers conference. He thought he might offer his services as a book cover artist but was inspired to write instead. When we returned home he began writing a novel. He worked diligently for a couple of weeks before he completed the first draft of a 135,000 word novel of pure gibberish titled IF GOD IS ON OUR SIDE. Since then he’s honed his writing skills and written at least twenty novels, novells, and short stories, most of which are published on Amazon/Kindle. Just like his jack-of-all-trades art, his writing genres include historical fiction of the American West, mainstream fiction involving love stories, espionage, the one percent, and time travel.

Because Bud Rudesill is my hero and because today is his birthday, I’m dedicating this blog post to him and his lifelong passion to create beautiful things.

           

Writing: A Very Expensive Hobby

Very is one of my VERY favorite words yet I’ve been told, too many times to count, by teachers and professors that it’s a lazy word. John Keating stated that a man is not very tired, he’s exhausted and that a woman is not very sad, she’s morose. I can’t deny that he is correct.

Mark Twain said, “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” I found this quote on a webpage in South Africa: Writer’s Write. This particular blog titled, “45 waysto avoid using the word very” goes on to quote Florence King: Very is the most useless word in the English language and can always come out. More than useless, it is treacherous because it invariably weakens what it is intended to strengthen.  The blog goes on to list 45 examples that bewilder me.

My writing is to inspire, to make the reader feel the pain in the world, and to realize how many, many people overcome the hardships they’ve been delivered.

In what I consider to be my best work, TRANSMUTARE, I found the word ‘very’ twenty-four times. But let’s go back a few years. When I finished the novel, I felt it was worth a hefty edit. So a writing professor edited it for about a thousand dollars and told me it was as good as anything out there and I shouldn’t have a problem getting it picked up by a publishing company. What inspiration! I set out to look for an agent or publisher and after two years of rejection letters I decided it might need another look so I sent it to a prestigious agency in Iowa who corrected a few grammatical errors and made a few suggestions about the story line—another hefty edit and another hefty thousand dollars. After this second re-write I once again sent it out to over 100 agents and publishers and finally one agent accepted it. A year went by and nothing…not even a nibble. By this time I really wanted to get the story out there so I paid almost three thousand dollars for yet another comprehensive edit and a line edit. What I’m getting to is this: not one of these “professional” people noticed, mentioned, or suggested I correct all the ‘verys’. Not one!

There’s a scene in the movie MEET JOE BLACK when Death’s (Joe Black’s) spirit leaves an acquaintance of Susan’s, he says, “You told me you liked me.” She responds slowly, “No. I told you I liked you very much.” That scene would not have left goosebumps and tears had Susan answered, “Yes. I did.”

To be honest and not stubborn I replaced almost all of the ‘verys’ in TRANSMUTARE with VERY strong verbs. And the novel is better for it. But this doesn’t work all the time for me, at least. The words ‘very’, ‘extremely’, ‘really’, and ‘quite’ are adjectives that modify verbs in a strong manner. Here’s an article with a little food for thought from “English Language & Usage.

And I thank you VERY much for reading my somewhat sporadic blog and sticking by me.  I appreciate all of you!

Miami Memories: Sea Creatures

Sea Creatures by Susanna Daniel is a story about Georgia and Graham Quillian’s and Charlie Hick’s tumultuous relationships in the summer of 1992, mostly in Miami—my hometown. Maybe I love this story because I’ve been away from Miami since 1977 with only two visits in 2002 and 2007 to show my husband where I grew up. In Sea Creatures, Susanna Daniel’s colorful descriptions of Miami made me feel at home; I could smell the sultry air and feel the sweat dribble from the crown of my head soaking my neck and back.

I never had a child but if I did I’m sure I would’ve behaved like Georgia did with her son, Frankie—overprotective, over-supportive, afraid to let him out of her sight except that eerie night on the eve of Hurricane Andrew. I would have taken my eyes off him exactly like Georgia did… at the worst possible time and for the worst possible reason.

Let me start at the beginning. The focus of Sea Creatures is a disintegrating marriage and the adversities faced by the protagonist, Georgia Quillian.

What once began as a promising life together slowly begins to unravel when Georgia's husband, Graham's rare sleeping disorder (parasomnia) scuttles his chances for receiving tenure at Northwestern where he is a professor. Parasomnia causes Graham to sleepwalk--occasionally into the outside world. All of this is more than unsettling but Georgia does not realize that he might not only be a threat to himself but to her and Frankie, their three-year-old son who stopped speaking at eighteen months. 

At the same time that Graham's tenure is denied Georgia's consulting business goes belly up. However, an old associate soon offers Graham a job at the Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Georgia's hometown of Miami. 

Georgia takes a part-time job for a recluse, Charlie Hick's, who lives in a stilt house on Biscayne Bay. The Arrival of Georgia and Frankie brings a bit of healing to the three of them as Georgia and Graham's relationship begins to disintegrate. 

My favorite line from the book came as Georgia and Graham fought to keep their relationship intact while on a kayak trip to The Dry Tortugas. They’d been speaking about how their relationship had changed since the birth of their son:

The stakes,” I said. “They’re higher now.”

“I understand.”

“Do you?” I said.

He didn’t answer. He loved me too much to say what I believed he was thinking: We used to have a different kind of marriage, and I liked that one better.”

What I didn't like about the book was too many minor characters who influenced Georgia all through her life. I really didn't want to know about all of then nor did I think the story needed to include so many. It felt as if Georgia was telling her (oft times boring) life story.

The over use of the cliche "and every so often" took me out of the story as did the monotonous use of he said/she said. When only two people are talking we can usually recognize who's speaking without being told constantly. A few "beats" or mannerisms thrown into the dialogue would have kept the story tighter.

In spite of what I believe to be grammatical faux pas I actually absolutely enjoyed this book mostly because it's not an ordinary story with a predictable ending. The main characters felt like friends and the descriptions of Miami, both above and below the ocean were spot on to this Miami Native. (Actually I was born in Toledo but Miami became my home just before my third birthday.)

Here's a photo of my husband, Bud, and me in Miami in 2002 celebrating the contract to publish my first novel (Child of My Heart) with Gardenia Press Publishing Company.

Disclamor: A portion of this post was supplied by a professional book reviewer, Gail Cook, from Amazon dot com.

Never Let The Magic Fade

Stephan J Myers is a best-selling children’s book author with the simple vision of creating books for children that bring the magic of illustration and rhyme to life. His ability to combine the two has won him a following of children and adults all over the world. Although Myers is a best-selling author, he gives most of his books away. Check out his website for purchase information. 

I was first drawn to Myers by his very haunting tale of Christmas, THE PRAYER. We became friends on Facebook and I’ve followed his creation of a trilogy of fairytales: The Book of Dreams which includes THE COLOUR RED, THE COLOUR BLUE, and THE COLOUR GOLD.

In THE PRAYER a homeless boy is invited by a ghost to view the opulence of Christmas. This is not the re-telling of Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL—far from it! The story left me with a much deeper and unforgettably haunting impression that I have so much and give or care so little for those in need. The illustrations beautifully convey the warmth and happiness this little boy so desperately covets. THE PRAYER is a children’s book beautifully written for adults as well.

  

THE COLOUR RED is a fascinating tale of a little girl (Loss de Plott) who loves to draw. When she draws a man with a red hat, he comes alive and presents her with a book of blank pages and encourages her to fill the pages with her dreams. “For when red you draw, in a book of dreams, a simple drawing is not what it seems.”

In THE COLOUR BLUE Loss meets a blue-eyed witch, a skeleton, and a boy made of straw. When she does not immediately draw in her magical book of dreams with the blue pen that was offered her, strange things begin to happen. Through all the magic, the lesson to be learned is that promises must be kept. "It was then Loss knew there were words unspoken: that promises made must never be broken."

In THE COLOUR GOLD Loss and her teddy bear “Ted” discover that books and words inside them are more precious than gold. This is my favorite book of the trilogy because as a reader and writer I know that books take us to unknown and magical places.

Stephen's books are available on Amazon as well as his website. 

Thank you, Stephen, for sharing your light and never letting the magic fade.

Writing Brings A Gift: Don't Let Your Critics Bring You Down

My friend, Marian Copeland, has a new and fantastic blog: Books. Food. Sex. What else matters? Right now she's attending The San Miguel Writer’s Conference in San Miguel, Mexico. Today she spoke a little about Alice Walker who is one of the many faculty to grace the conference: 

"Asked about the intense criticism she received when The Color Purple was published, she said the answer was simple. "Don't read the reviews!" You can't read the reviews while you're in the throes of creativity, she insisted. You yourself will figure it out. You have more understanding of what you're doing than your critics. "You bring a gift" and all they can do is sit on the sofa, eating chips, and "react."

Marian has many interesting things to say and she blogs DAILY! I can't even imagine that. Drop by once and you'll be hooked!

It's been difficult of late to think of my writing as a gift. I used to think that...way back in the day when I set out to "set the record straight" first in frontier Oregon and later in my own backyard. My goal was to tell stories about the down-trodden and show how many people are able to overcome the obstacles that try to trip them up. I'm most certainly sure that I accomplished my goals, especially when someone tells me that they stayed up all night reading one of my books.

For the past two years I haven't been able to write anything except "Ruby Red's Reflections" which is really my inner child's journal about losing my older sister and younger brother within three months in 2013. Some call it writer's block. Maybe. I don't know, But I do know this: Alice Walker told Marian Copeland that writing brings a GIFT. Alice's words and Marian's sharing those words has renewed my enthusiasm for writing. Look out! Here I come with my fifth novel, "All The Voices In My Head."

Out West

It’s not so strange that living in a new place can affected our imaginations. Several years ago my husband, Bud, and I moved out west. From Kansas to California we visited many historical sites and wondered especially how the women and children sufficed the sometimes desperate conditions of the frontier. Since most of the stories were about men, we began scrutinizing the journals and letters by women and children from the 1840s to the 1880s. The French Lady’s Cowboys and Auspicious Dreams were spawned by many of these true stories.

In Auspicious Dreams, Sarah Margaret Lovelace wore her father’s trousers, held up by a blue satin ribbon to do farm work in Sacramento in 1845—ten years before Angèle Morisot disguised herself as a boy to escape a ruined life in France to join America’s Great Western Migration.

In 1848 Sarah Margaret’s older sister condemns the frontier life she’d escaped from by asking Sarah Margaret, “Whatever do you know about happiness?”

Sarah Margaret quickly admonishes her. “Look at this place. We have been here almost three years and there is nothing I cannot do on this farm. I cleared the land, planted it, irrigated it, cultivated, and protected it. I can cut and stack hay, fall trees, skid logs, and build fences. I can raise chickens, pigs, goats, and cows. Papa taught me to set and tend traps. Mama and I put up jars of pickles, tomatoes, beets, onions, catsup, and jam. I can roast venison on a spit and dress a roast to befit the finest celebration. And when all the work is done, I feel great satisfaction and delight to roll in a field of flowers, or take a ride up to the hills and canyons of the Sierras. So don’t try and tell me about happiness!”

In The French Lady’s Cowboys, Angèle Morisot’s life wasn’t as easy as Sarah Margaret’s. In 1862 Angèle’s sister-in-law asks if she’s strong enough to join Angèle and her husband, Tom, in Nebraska Territory.

Angèle responds, “I can’t answer that. I had no idea I could be who I am now. A year-and-a-half ago, I couldn’t fight off a soft, French gentleman. Six months later, I drove a remuda across the plains, killed seven Indians, and did most of the work to finish driving the cattle and horses to the ranch. I’ve learned to rope, castrate, and brand cattle, deliver calves...and I love it and all the men I’ve been working with. Most of all I’m free of oppression by men, even if the day might come that I have to use my guns to defend myself. I’m as free as any man, and Tom likes me that way.”

These strong women helped win the West as much as the 1873 Winchester rifle did. But don’t be fooled by these courageous young women who took on “mens” work to survive. They were proud and happy with their lives. They loved their men and their men stood beside them, encouraged them, and together chased their dreams in the Promised Land.

Auspicious Dreams and The French Lady’s Cowboys are revised editions of the stories written during the time Bud and I lived out our own western dream in Wyoming and California—one hundred and fifty years after Sarah Margaret Lovelace first stepped foot on the Oregon Trail and one hundred and thirty-four years after Angèle Morisot boarded a vessel in France to sail into a new life in America.

Both books have been published in paperback for the first time. (And just might make a great gift set for the upcoming holidays.) They are also available as E-books. Look us up on Amazon and take a step back into history.