Outlines Suck and How to Write an AWESOME Charater!

I officially hate making outlines. I always have, and I probably always will. But, from past experiments that have failed, I KNOW that I can't get away without them. However, from other experiments, I know that if I have one, I am unstoppable! Mwahahaha! They're like my own personal tour guides through the crazy mind of Bethany! And believe me, it is a very strange place in there.... If I don't have an outline, I get awful, incurable writer's block a few chapters in. Again, I know this thanks to my top secret practice project that I let few or none read. And no, I will not post these failures or let you read them. Why you ask? Because.... I am the author, so I am the boss. That's why.

The other thing I need are character charts, although I wouldn't be quite as lost without them. They mainly keep me from making the characters self-contradicting. I have these cute little application-style forms on the computer that I print out and fill in. They ask for various information like name (duh) physical description (hair color, eye color, height, build etc.) and personality. When it comes to personality, flaws are more important than assets. Otherwise, the character suffers from what I like to call PP syndrome. "What the heck is PP syndrome?" you ask. Well, my dear readers, PP stands for "Perfect Prim," and the Hunger Games character after which it was named has it. Bad.

PP syndrome is when the character is all sweetness and cuteness and happiness and could NEVER do ANYTHING wrong! I'm sorry. That kind of character usually makes me want to puke. Don't get me wrong, I love The Hunger Games, but Prim had to do something evil. Like, Gale needed to walk in and find Prim torturing Peeta's favorite childhood Barbie Doll or something like that. And yes I did just imply that Peeta is a bit girly... the man likes frosting cookies as a hobby! C'mon! But see? He has a FLAW! Yay! Flawed characters are interesting characters! Anyway, rabbit hole over, as a general rule of thumb should have roughly as many negative elements as they do positive elements. Neither should to heavily outweigh the other. Balance, I tell you, balance! And also, the same rule should go for villains! Never have them suffer from EP syndrome: Emperor Palpatine syndrome. As in, "I'm an evil Sith Lord! Mwahahaha! I am going to make your life miserable, Luke Skywalker, because you are good and I am EVIIIILLL.... and I'm evil because, erm *cough cough* well, I don't really know why, but I am EVIL!" Make villains have a little bit of good in them. Or better yet, make them the kind of character that you don't know if they're good or bad until it's too late! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: give them a motive. MOTIVE MOTIVE MOTIVE! or else they'll be like eviiiilll Palpatine up above. That's no bueno. In fact, that's muy malo! (I live in a town where a third of the population don't speak English. I am fluent in Spanglish. Go ahead, say woooooooooow.)

The other thing that's helpful for writing characters is concept art. These sketches keep me motivated, and they also make me happy. It's kind of like, "Oh my gosh! I made a character! Now I'm looking at him [her]!" It provides me with much joy and happiness. :) A friend of a friend has said that she would try her hand at drawing some concept art for me. I can't wait to see it!

But before I get art, I need a character. And for a character, sometimes you need a magical spark of inspiration. My suggestion? Got a weird friend? Slap a cool name on them, change a few things about 'em and throw them in the story. Done. But don't follow them exactly. I have a friend that tried that, and was dissatisfied with how his characters came out. So, here's a few suggestions on how to make your boring uncool friends cool and interesting
1.  Pick a few traits about your friend that you like (INCLUDING FLAWS!!!!) and focus on them. Don't do a "Joe Schmo was heavy, but not fat, and tall, but not too tall, and introverted, but extroverted sometimes. He hates veggies, but likes fruit. He had three ears and toe fungus." NO! Nononononono! be specific. "Joe Schmo was husky, and slightly tall. He was introverted, and likes apples. Unfortunately, he also had toe fungus. His purple hair set him apart." First of all, I set apart the flaw. This amplifies it. Toe Fungus, very much a flaw.  I condensed the height/weight description to make it more clear. I purposely didn't mention the whole sometimes extroverted thing, because that's self contradictory and confusing. I clarified what kind of fruit he likes. Then, I added something else interesting.) Okay... next suggestion
2.  Combine friends. I will use an example from MY book. Markovi Mosley is a combination of my three guy cousins, Ben, Nick, and Joe. (Their sister, Sarah, has her own place as a minor character named Pear Pierce) I based the physical appearance mostly off of Nick, but with Joe's birthmark. Then, his hobbies were mostly off of Joe, and his personality, Ben. This makes the character unique and interesting.

Okay, I'm done lecturing y'all.

Toodles!

Bethany :)

Character Craziness

So I'm in the process of writing a futuristic action novel. Well, technically, I am in the process of preparing to write the novel. I have a LOT of outlining left :/

Anyway, so a few weeks ago, I started creating the critical characters, and ended up naming the four most important characters Anberlin Mosley, Markovi Mosley, Stephen Andrews, and Revere. A few days later, it hit me that Stephen needed a more interesting name. So, I went to my friends' house to study like I do every Wednesday and Brian and I got done earlier than everyone else. I started going crazy thinking of a name while Brian just kind of went "yup.... cool... don't bother me, I'm playing my drums." After a few hours, I came up with a brand new name: Damian Echo. I was very proud of myself, of course. But then, a week or two later, it hit me that I should Google the various character's names to make sure that there isn't someone famous that has the same name that a homeschooled nerd doesn't know about. Moral of story: Google BEFORE you set the name in stone. Turns out that Damien Echols, a similar name, is the name of a guy who killed three kids in the 90's. yikes! With advisement from my friend Meagan, we changed his name to Damian Parks.

The logic behind the name Anberlin Mosley: Steven Christian, lead singer of the band Anberlin said that he named his band Anberlin because if he ever had a daughter, he would want to name her Anberlin. When the band became succesful, he said he wouldn't be able to name any future daughters that because then it would seem like he named her after the band. Well, I thought to myself, "Anberlin is a pretty name.... I could name my character that!" So I did. (Interesting note: The character is also named after Lacey, the lead singer of Flyleaf. Her maiden name is Mosley) Then, I realized I just sounded like a crazy music nerd (which, I am) who is so obsessed with a band that she named the main character after that band. So, back to the drawing board on that name too! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Arizona Mosley, leading lady of Bethany Chase's yet-to-be-titled-debut-novel.

Also, when writing a villain, don't list his favorite hobby as "collecting model cars." It makes him a whole lot less threatening. (how did I come up with that?! Thanks, Brian for helping me change that. Collecting medieval weaponry is much cooler)

Oi vey.....