The Fabulist Flash

Issue 113

with Photography by Gregory A. Kompes

Holiday Swag Cards (Package of 6)

In This Issue:

1. This Week
2. Your Character's Motivations
3. Trust Your Characters
4. Marc Acito takes the 18Q
5. About The Fabulist Flash

1. This Week

It was another busy week here in the home office. In addition to all my writing and writing related projects I spoke on two panels and attended a bookselling/signing event. The panels were well attended (standing room only). I got to meet a Fabulist Flash subscriber who came over the hump from Pahrump (Great talking to you, Allison!) Plus, I sold a few books. More importantly, when the mayor came by out booth, I quickly signed a copy of my book and presented it to him. He carried it around for the rest of the evening and several people came up to buy books saying "I saw Oscar carrying your book." This event gets better and better each year. Many thanks to Sara Burns, coordinator of the Vegas Valley Book Festival, for inviting me to speak and putting together an excellent event.

Holiday Promotion: 25% Off all my Art Cards! Discount cannot be combined with coupons or bulk order discounts. No code required; discount is automatically applied when you purchase Art Cards. Promotion ends on November 19, 2006, at 11:59 p.m. (PST).

As I continue to work on my new novel, I'm learning about character development. The strength of your characters can make or break your story. It's interesting to discover that understanding characters isn't limited to fiction. The more I learn, the stronger my nonfiction writing becomes. Readers like to get to know characters, whether they're real or fictional. This week, we've got two articles on characters: Understanding Your Character's Motivations by Dawn Arkin and How to Trust Where a Character Leads You by Hugh Rosen. In addition, Marc Acito, author of How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater takes the 18Q.

Until next week,

Gregory
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Gregory A. Kompes (www.kompes.com) is a writer, manuscript consultant and author of the bestseller 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live, The Endorsement Quest, The Everyday Gay Activist and Turning Your Writing Hobby into a Writing Career.

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Preview 9 essential books for writers on The Writer's Bookshelf

2. Your Character's Motivations

Understanding Your Character's Motivations by Dawn Arkin

Writing a mystery story is like trying to make the perfect maze. You want your reader to be surprised at the end. But you also want to be sure your reader isn't so frustrated while reading that they put the story down and never finish it. Finding the perfect balance between surprise and frustration is the trick to writing a great mystery.

One way to keep the reader interested is to understand what your character's goals are. Not just your detective's goal of solving the crime and the criminal's goals for committing the crime. You want a clear picture of why they do what they do. Why does your detective need to solve the crime? Why does the criminal need to commit the crime? Knowing your character's goals can help you better understand their motives for doing what they do and help you show your readers those motives.

To have a clearer picture of what your character's goals are, you'll need to ask questions of each main character; Hero, Heroine, and Antagonist. Take one piece of paper for each main character. Make three columns on each sheet and head them - goal, time, and conflicts.

You need to decide what each of your main characters is trying to achieve. Does your hero just want to solve the mystery, or is he also trying to get back into the good graces of his boss by bringing the antagonist to justice? Is your heroine just looking for love, or does she also want revenge against someone too? Why does your antagonist do what he did? Does he hate, envy, or is he just using the victims as a means to an end?

In the first column list the goals of the character. Prioritize each goal in relation to the others. Which is most important to your main character? List the goals in the highest to lowest order.

Reminder: the ability of the character to compromise will depend largely on the importance he or she puts on each goal in relation to how they feel about the other characters.

As with people, each of your main characters should have more than one goal. Think about your own goals. You don't just have just one, you have many goals, and some of them even contradict each other. This is the way everyone is and it's also the way your characters should be. Your characters should be as multifaceted as the rest of the human race.

Now you'll need to break down your character's goals into time groups. How long will it take your characters to achieve each goal? Is what they want something which that will take a lot of time, or is it something they can fairly quickly?

Reminder: not all character goals are likely to be way down the road, beyond present sight. On the paper with the columns put in the second column which time group each goal falls into within the story's time frame.

Very short term is less than 6 months
Short term is 6 month to 2 years
Mid term is 2 years to 5 years
Long term is more than 5 years

If their primary goals are long or mid term, you'll need to break the goal down into shorter steps and write down those steps. This will help you to plot out what actions your characters are going to take to resolved their goals.

Reminder: every action of one character is going to cause a reaction from one or more other characters. The extent of the action and reaction will determine whether you are writing a short story, novella, full length novel, or a series. The shorter the time it takes to resolve the character's goals, the shorter the tale will be.

In your third column, under "conflicts", list those characters that will be in direct opposition to the intended goal. Be sure that you note why on both character's individual page. There must be a good reason, and not just because you need conflict for the story. If there isn't a solid reason behind the character's opposition you've only got a plot device, not a solid piece of characterization.

Goals are important; to you, to me, and especially to your readers. They want to know why a character does what they do, what their motive is for want to finish their quest. It's one of the things that will give the reader a reason to keep reading.

About the Author
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Dawn Arkin is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Fiction Writing. Her portfolio can be found at http://www.Writing.Com/authors/darkin so stop by and read for a while.

3. Trust Your Characters

How to Trust Where a Character Leads You by Hugh Rosen

Let's begin by uncovering the hidden premise of the title, which is that characters lead the author. But do they? I think we are faced with a paradox here. That's not necessarily bad or surprising, since some of life's most challenging questions imply paradoxical answers. Those with a black and white cognitive mindset may be disappointed at this suggestion, but I believe it's true.

In writing fiction, there can be no doubt that the words, sentences, paragraphs, and so forth, emanate from the author. Similarly, the author is responsible for the plot and characters of his or her novel, as well as the extent to which it generates tension and conflict. If the book is not well received, the author certainly can't claim, "It's the characters' fault."

Many fiction writers report that they always know where their short stories and novels are going and how they're going to end. I have no doubt that for those authors their assertion is true and if it works for them, that's fine. Agents and publishers aside, ultimately it is the outcome of the work and the judgment of the reader that counts, as nice as it might feel to be self-satisfied about one's own work.

At the extreme other end of the spectrum there are writers who say they start by putting the first word on the paper and take it from there, having no idea where "there" is going to end up being. When I wrote non-fiction I always had a clear and definite idea of what I wanted to say, where I was going, and how my books would end. I knew what each chapter would be about from the outset. Yet, I'd have to say that in writing my first and only novel to date, "Silent Battlefields," I fall somewhere toward the center of the spectrum, but leaning toward this end of the continuum of events and character development suggested by what I call the "uncertainty factor." This brings to mind a private session I had with a well-known author who was spending a week of residency for the M.A. creative writing program I was enrolled in. We were discussing my novel, then a work in progress, and not too far along. He asked, "Do you know how your story is going to end?" I was sure he was going to berate me when I answered, "No." His response was as laconic as mine - "Good," he replied. I was pleased to hear him say that, but regret that I never asked him to explain his position.

Before starting the novel, "Silent Battlefields," I identified the key characters and sketched an outline of their backgrounds, so that I would know something about them before embarking on my adventure into the unknown. I also had a definite conceptualization of the foundation of my narrative and thesis. Prior to writing, that's as far as I had gone in my preparations before commencing. I must have made a decision on some level to give wings to my imagination, while remaining open to where that would take me. It took me all the way to the end of the book and I have the characters to thank for that. As a result of that experience, I have come to see writing fiction as a collaborative act between author and characters. I never relinquished my veto rights, but I was willing to hand over autonomy to the characters as long as I liked what they said and did. Also, in the back of my mind, I always remembered that this was only a first draft and that it would be followed by multiple revisions. I suppose one could say that this is analogous to the director of a film who lets each actor play out his or her role with little intervention until such time as it seems called for.

As I engaged in the process of writing, ideas for subplots, and twists and turns, emerged spontaneously; ideas I would never have anticipated in advance because one would sprout from what preceded. As for the dialogue of my characters, one word came to me after another with no forethought to exactly what they were going to say. It was very much like an open-ended dialogue or conversation. In approaching the last chapter, I had no idea how it would end even at that point. Yet my characters seemed to take over almost as though their words were being channeled through me and I was a mere conduit of them. Many of the minor characters seemed to just pop up at the appropriate time to play their role without my having anticipated their existence in advance.

So why did I trust them? The perspective I am adopting is that I wrote the first draft predominately by relying on my right brain. The drafts that followed in revising what I had written brought to bear the full force of my left brain. During revisions I asked myself such questions as, " Does this character fit organically into the narrative as a whole?" and "Does the character advance or deepen the plot? If so, he or she was allowed to stay, and if not, there was a ruthless, as well as often painful, termination of that character. I examined the dialogue between the characters. Did it seem natural? If not, then I would work to improve the flow and nature of their manner of speaking to one another until I had want I wanted. Had the character led me into a cul-de-sac, leaving me nowhere to go from there? If so, I had to rescind the autonomy I had extended her or him and redirect the character down another road.

Ultimately, I think that I trusted where the characters led me by trusting my own ability to straighten things out if they went askew. When writing a novel there is a new world in the making and the author is the creator no matter how much freewill is accorded the characters.

About the Author
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Hugh Rosen is the author of Silent Battlefields, the story of how two families, one Jewish and one a former Nazi, intertwine in present-day Philadelphia. For more information, visit www.hughrosen.com

4. Marc Acito takes the 18Q

Marc Acito

Biography:
Hailed as the "gay Dave Barry," Marc Acito is a syncated humorist whose column, "The Gospel According to Marc," appears in nineteen newspapers, including the Chicago Free Press and Outword-Los Angeles. After being kicked out of one of the finest drama schools in the country, he went on to sing roles with major opera companies, including the Seattle Opera. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Website:
www.MarcAcito.com

Bibliography
How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater

1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you?
I couldn't keep all those ideas inside my head. So I started writing them down

2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.)
I majored in theater, with a minor in art and music, then climbed all the way to the middle as an opera singer. After I quit that to write, I worked as a salesman to pay the bills, like with the Willy Loman sample case and everything. Hating my job was a good motivator.

3. When did you 'know' you were a writer?
I was working on a short story while rehearsing to make my European operatic debut. One day, I looked up at the clock from my writing and thought, "Damn, I've gotta go to work." I came home and cancelled the rest of my gigs.

4. How would you describe your style of writing?
Re-arrange the letters in my name and you get "a comic art." Or "a comic rat," depending on how you feel about me.

5. What is your writing process?
I accumulate piles of notes until I reach the tipping point. Basically, when the pile tips over, it's time to turn on the computer. At the same time, I'm always outlining, constantly strategizing on how to arrange all these random ideas to create something surprising and original.

6. What was your path to publication?
I went to a reading given by Chuck Palahniuk, the author of "Fight Club," who also lives here in Portland. I introduced myself and, in a moment that changed my life, he said, "I know who you are. I've read your column." Based on my columns alone, he recommended me to his agent.

7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea?
Somehow I got on the Rotary Circuit, giving motivational speeches. Go figure. But they constantly need speakers.

8. What are the biggest surprises you've encountered as a writer?
I've had people come up to me and tell me that a particular passage I wrote made them laugh so hard they nearly peed their pants. And I'll think, "Thanks. That was the serious part."

9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity?
Long walks, long showers, long drives. And a constant feeding of information—news, arts and ideas.

10. What is your proudest writer moment?
Any time I write a sentence that doesn't make me wince.

11. What's the best advice you were given about writing?
Put a post-it on your monitor that reads, "I'll fix it later." Just get it down.

12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment?
I was stepping into the shower at the gym when someone said to my bare ass, "Hey, I just bought your book." How he recognized me I'll never know.

13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer?
The psychological hurdles are enormous. You live and die by those sales numbers. And it's easy to get fat.

14. What is your writer life philosophy?
Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry, make 'em think.

15. When you're not writing what do you do for fun?
Cruise the net for porn.

16. Who do you like to read?
David Sedaris. Dave Barry. David Rackoff. Writers named Dave, I guess.

17. What's your advice for new writers?
Dream big, but start small. My little column led to some very big things.

18. What are you currently working on?
"Holidazed: A Novel of Seasonal Insanity." Plus, lose the weight I put on writing it.

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Are you a published writer? Take the 18Q today!

To read all the 18Q responses or take the 18Q visit EighteenQuestions.com

5. About The Fabulist Flash

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