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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Today's Lesson is Brought to You by Hindsight

Whenever at all possible, you should do these things when writing a character:
  • Make him/her as smart as possible
  • Make him/her as active as possible
If your character is dumb because you need her to not figure out something until a later chapter, you're not writing it right. If your character is motionless because you can't figure out something for her to do when she's not "on stage" in your story, you're not writing it right.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go from Chapter 20 back to Chapter 2 and rewrite an entire character.
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18 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 28, 2010 at 4:19 PM

    Ouchie.
    Sorry that happened Beth.
    All for an even better book though!
    Thanks for the advice.

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  2. Becky LevineJuly 28, 2010 at 4:23 PM

    Sending along a pick and shovel. :) Yay to you for going back in.

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  3. MelissaJuly 28, 2010 at 4:25 PM

    Thanks for the advice. I'm just wondering, when you say active...you mean active as in she's always doing something productive right? Even if we don't show it.

    I'm sorry you hit such a snag... Hope everything works out.

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  4. Dawn SimonJuly 28, 2010 at 4:38 PM

    Ugh. Thanks for sharing this with us. I just had to go back to page 1 because I realized there's a way I can make my WIP stronger. I'm feeling your pain.

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  5. CandylandJuly 28, 2010 at 5:03 PM

    HA. Oh Beth.

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  6. Eric W. TrantJuly 28, 2010 at 5:16 PM

    I like dumb characters. If not for them, nobody would ever go in that house.

    Because NOBODY in their right mind would go in that house.

    Nobody would get in that car, open that door, or look under that bed.

    Stupid characters ROCK!

    ;)

    - Eric

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  7. Carolyn V.July 28, 2010 at 5:32 PM

    Oh man! I'm so sorry you have to rewrite. I hate that.

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  8. MeredithJuly 28, 2010 at 5:42 PM

    Haha, the second piece of advice is definitely something I need to follow. Hope the writing's going better now!

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  9. Natalie AguirreJuly 28, 2010 at 6:46 PM

    Sorry. I hate the long revisions caused by hindsight lessons and being stubborn. Sadly, I've learned from both.

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  10. Corey SchwartzJuly 28, 2010 at 7:27 PM

    Ha, ha! Love the title of your post. Might have to steal it some time:)

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  11. Elana JohnsonJuly 28, 2010 at 8:28 PM

    Ouch. I feel your pain. Good luck??

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  12. Miriam ForsterJuly 28, 2010 at 8:38 PM

    Aiyiyi! I have a character who can't figure out a couple of things until the end of the story. So I tried to establish her early as someone who only sees people as she wants them to be. Hopefully it works! *crosses fingers*

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  13. UnknownJuly 29, 2010 at 1:42 AM

    I love your posts! Good luck w/ the re-write--I'm sure it'll be amazing. :)

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  14. Shannon O'DonnellJuly 29, 2010 at 2:26 AM

    What a great tip! And it's for little things like this that I love you so - the fact that YOU have to do this sometimes gives ME hope! :-)

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  15. storyqueenJuly 29, 2010 at 10:51 AM

    Hindsight!!

    If only I could have foresight!!

    I am stuck. stuck. stuck.

    And it sucks. sucks. sucks.

    (And making silly rhymes in the comment sections actually makes me giggle...that will let you know how bad it is.)

    (Maybe my characters need to be smarter and figure it all out for me!!)

    Shelley

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  16. UnknownJuly 29, 2010 at 5:59 PM

    Simple and succinct advice. :)

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  17. EdithJuly 29, 2010 at 6:24 PM

    Oh no! I've totally done this. It sucks. You have my empathy.

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  18. Missed PeriodsAugust 2, 2010 at 2:03 AM

    I love the title of this post.

    ReplyDelete

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