Triggers

What is a trigger?  Good question.  Glad you asked.  A trigger is a inciting moment.  An intense beat in a character's life that forces them to begin a journey.  It's a catalyst.  Often times, it's a seriously icky moment cause it breaks an old wounds and makes you have to reset it so it can heal properly.

I am not a fan of triggers.  They seem to come at the most inopertune moments.  And they hurt like hell.  But they are necessary.  Like Epicac for the soul.

Every character has a trigger.  My challenge to you is to uncover what yours' is.  When in the story did your character decide they had to take action.  Pushed against the wall, they had to do something or die.  Life or death stakes - literally or figuratively.  And is he going quietly into that good night or is he fighting it all the way?

Me?  I fight those damn triggers.  I bury my head; I shake my fist at the unfairness of it all; I run away.  Eventually, though I accept.  If only I could receive the trigger as a gift sooner, wouldn't my life be so much less painful?

Does Dialogue Matter

Aside from how wonderful this video is, it's also a great lesson in the often overuse of dialogue.  Not a word is spoken between these two and yet we get everything that's being said.

What would happen if you took all that dialogue in your book or scene or script and replaced it with gibberish, would you need so much character chatter?  Step back - reread.  Can you show what your character's going through by their reaction or their body language?

And once again all this makes me aware of how often I speak when I should have listened - when silence would have said so much more than words - when action was what was needed. 

Eat, Drink and Be Character

Want a bit of insight into your character's world, try eating food they would eat.  Really.  This is such a simple, yet fun way to uncover your character's tastes (literally). 

When we were doing Frankenstein, Flip - my husband - and I, dined on sauerkraut and sausages, we drank everything - including milk - out of beer steins.  It was an awesome way to get into character - before we started writing.  Oh and we had a blast sampling French pastries and Yule logs when we wrote BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.  

What if your character is from another planet?  No worries mate.  With a little imagination and a lot of food coloring, you can be dining offworld in no time.

With all the fears of obesity and heart disease and such, food has become the enemy.  It makes us fat.  It makes us sick.  But eating can be a gift if we treat it such.  It can be a simple ticket to new worlds right in our little corner.  Think about it.  When was the last time you went to an Indian restaurant or Thai or American and ordered something different? 

Come to think of it, I've never tasted green tea ice cream.  Just always seemed to me that green tea and sweet cream didn't go together.  But the next time I'm having a sushi fix, I'm gonna try it.  From there, who knows?  The world could be my oyster (no pun intended)

Are cliche's getting a bad rap?

So you're stuck.  You need to create a character and you got nothing.  Zip.  Nada.  Nyetski.  The muse is on hiatus and the deadline approaches.  What do you do?  What do you do?

This is where a tried and true character may be a gift to you.  Especially if you use it as a jumping off point with the very simple question - "why?"

Okay, follow:

Let's say you are playing a cheerleader and nothing fresh comes to mind.  All you can think of is a vacuous brainless bubble.  "But everybody does cheerleaders that way!" 

Maybe.  But they don't have that magical question do they?  They don't know to ask themselves, "Why?"  But you do!  Ha!

"Why is she a bubble?"  She's exhausted and hepped up on caffiene.  Why is she exhausted?  She slays vampires?  (wait already been done - but do you see how just a few simple "why's" can spin you into a new direction).  She can also be exhausted cause she's really a klutz and she has to practice 24/7.  Why is she a cheerleader then?  Cause she has one artifical leg and she's trying to overcompensate. 

Or she's exhausted cause her parents are fighting all the time and its put her on the verge of tears.  Why are her parents fighting? They are spies from another planet.

I know, I know, you want to ground this in reality.  But don't fight the cliches.  Especially if you're stuck.  They can be a great place to begin. 

This works in writing too.  And life.  How many times do we judge someone based on what they look like or do?  And if we were to take it one step farther, ask why are they that way, maybe we could have more compassion.  Hmmmm.  Or at least laugh at ourselves....

Rejection

"The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you’re not good enough. On occasion some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don’t take it personally when they say “no” – they may not be smart enough to say “yes”.  Keith Olbermann

Say "yes!"  You are enough.

Characters can be created with a tweek of the voice

Okay, maybe this is a bit of shameless promotion, but this Youtube link was created by my son Finn; it's called  Shailick (check it out) 

But he got me thinking - playing with your voice can help create a character.  Especially if you're stuck. 

Okay, so here's the game...

Go to the mall. 
Sit and watch people.
Find someone who strikes your fancy. 
Now imagine the voice they'd have.  How would they sound?  Would they have a deep voice?  An accent? 
What would he talk about?  Be silly about this.  (oh but don't stalk - that could lead to jail time and a whole run of voices you'd rather not be impersonating.)

When you're watching this person.  Ask yourself:

How are they moving?  Fast or slow?  Heavy or light?
What are they doing?  Shopping happily?  Clinging to mom's arm? 
What's the energy they are putting out?  Angry?  Joyful? 

And here's the key question.  What do you think they want?  What's their intention?

Now see if you can pull that all together into a voice. 

And then last, go to any store counter and use that voice.  What's the reaction?  How do you feel using the voice?  (aside from silly) 

Finn looked at our dog Waiter.  He knew the pup didn't do much and he was sweet and funny.  Waiter's voice in the video reflects that. 

I know this seems like an actor's game, but I think we can use this idea as writers.  After all, aren't narrators characters in our story?  But who is this person telling the tale?  And what do they sound like?

Why buy the cow when you can have the milk for free?

My grandmother use to say the whole free milk thing about sex, hoping to discourage my libido.  Not sure it worked there, but it totally applies to writing.  And acting.  And actually making friends.     

I find myself giving away everything in the first few chapters - so eager to be loved am I - that I hinder the joy for the reader who wants to go along for the ride.  When I think about it, if I'm reading a great  book, I don't want it to end. I want the story teller to keep me on the edge of my seat.  I regret that there are so few pages left - THE MISTS OF AVALON - I actually put myself on a diet of 50 pages a day so the book could last longer.  Oh and THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - yet another book that I needed a page diet.

So here is Cindy's epiphany number 4, 568, 902 - B.  At least when it comes to the first few chapters, only give what you must absolutely give - trust that you have a story worth reading.

With acting - isn't less more?

Now if I could only apply this to me.  If I don't jump in hands, feet and head, would people still want to hang in and want to get to know me?

Writing Games

Go to the library and check out five cd's.  Make sure it's music or sound or something you would not usually listen to.  For me it might be: opera, classical music, heavy metal, religious music and a comedy cd (this is weird cause I love to laugh).

Okay now here's the hardest part - take a half hour out of your schedule and listen to one cut from each cd.  Listen like you are from another planet and you've never heard this before.  Note how fidgety you might feel.  Let your mind wander.  It's okay.  Sometimes, it's really hard to just sit and listen. 

So, how did that feel?  Did you like some but not all?  Were you surprised at what moved you or annoyed you?  Do you think you might like to listen to more? 

Last - set a timer for five minutes - no more - and write about it. 

Acting Games

I love this game cause it gives you a chance to dimensionalize your character. 

Here's what you do - just say, "please and thank you" oh and hold open doors for people.  That's it.  Do this for an entire day. Be polite. 

Okay so how did that feel?  Did you like it?  Did you feel weird?  What kind of reaction did you get?  Do you want to do this again tomorrow?  Hmmmmm. 

And the final step is apply your newly found mannered-ness to your character.  Whenever there is opportunity to be polite - be polite.  Does this quality fit your character?  One time?  Maybe two or three times?  Maybe your character is polite all the time? 

Remember, every character, even the darkest Vampires have something redeeming about them.

How do I make my hero rootable?

Aaach!  I have a great setting. And a wonderful situation, but I can't seem to make my heroine pop.  I'm so frustrated.  I think the reason that YA has so few adult characters is because it then forces our young heroes to be active.  Pull the adults from the situation and POW! you got something.  Look at DEATHLY HALLOWS or any of JK's books. 

My problem is my heroine's dad is very much alive.  In fact, her whole inner purpose is to come to terms with dad.  I can't get rid of him. And I don't want to.  It's the reason I'm writing this book in the first place...can you spell cathartic?  (Maybe if my heroine can come to terms with her clay feeted dad, I can too?)  Cause really, isn't that reason we create art?  It's like creative therapy.  We get a chance to exercise our own inner crap and make it come out okay.