Friday the 13th. Ooer!

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You write fiction. In that occupation you probably have, as one aim, the spreading of your ideas and opinions. We are all storytellers, but we also tend to be preachers, if we’re absolutely honest with ourselves. Those subjects that most engage us form the themes of our stories. And our opinions about those themes permeate the text, whether we intend it or not. But, as authors in the electronic age, we’re expected to promote ourselves and our works on the web. Most of us run a blog or a website, or both. After all, the writer without an online presence is more or less invisible to those people who most matter to a writer; the readers.

There’s a great temptation to express our opinions on our blogs or websites, writing as ourselves and allowing our passions to spill over onto the electronic page. I know I’ve done it. And so, probably, have many of you. But is it wise?

I was inspired to write this piece because it’s Friday 13^thtoday. The day has a significance and is a cause of superstitious dread to some individuals. Of course, the rationalist will pooh-pooh such superstition as irrational. And the person with a more emotionally based intelligence will sympathise, even empathise with the superstitious individual. If you, as a writer, express your opinion on your blog or website, where your words are your own, rather than those of a character you’ve invented, you stand the risk of alienating some of your potential readers.

Now, I have very definite views on superstition. But it would be foolish of me to express them here. I would inevitably cause offence to some of my readers. That isn’t helpful to the spread of my fiction, nor is it a particularly effective way to spread my ideas. Much more subtle and much more effective is the placing of my thoughts into the mouths of characters in a story to express my passionate views, preferably with some balancing arguments, so that the theme is available for both sides of the debate to claim as their own. Done cleverly, such exposition can influence readers. At the very least, it can make them think. Done badly, it is as bad as the bald expression of contentious issues on the blog.

So, if you side with the fox hunters, ride with the religious, condemn the poor, feel that justice is irrelevant, enjoy the subjugation of women, espouse the idea that there is no god, feel passionately that all people should be treated equally, or any of a huge number of emotionally divisive issues, the sensible thing to do is avoid them like the plague (as, of course, you should also avoid cliches) on your blog/website. Place them in the mouths of your characters, build your stories around them, make them the themes of your fiction. You will achieve much more than you would by proselytising and you won’t alienate half your readers in the process.

I’d love your thoughts, reactions, comments to this piece. Please feel free to say how you feel about the topic, and spread the word to your friends.

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Minds That Hate, by Bill Kitson, Reviewed.

With overtones of the political thriller, this crime novel from Bill Kitson is the latest in his series

featuring DI Mike Nash. I hadn’t come across the author or his previous novels before I found this novel on the publisher’s website. Fantastic Books Publishing have done their usual great job in finding and exposing new and vibrant talent by giving this Bill Kitson an airing.

Written in the taut and pacey style of a good thriller, the book nevertheless develops the characters into fully fledged human beings, some of them definitely people you would not want to meet down a dark alley. Contrasting the evil of the antagonists is the basic goodness, flawed and imperfect, of the protagonists. And the developing, though uncertain, romance between police detective and local photojournalist brings light and warmth to what might otherwise be a tough read.

Bill Kitson exposes the underbelly of the world of the ambitious politician and lays bare the motivation and self-obsession of the psychotic criminal, getting deep into the minds of these unsavoury and dangerous characters. The reader is drawn into a world populated by nasty individuals whose only concerns lie in the furtherance of their own power or pleasure.

Struggling against this background, the world-weary detective has to deal with his own demons and a history of broken relationships, which superficially appear to have been no more than sexual encounters and even, perhaps, conquests. He must also work under the growing suspicion that those who control him in the chain of command are not what they should be.

Helping the male lead fight the dangers, doubts and difficulties of a case that grows more complex by the hour, is the overworked but basically honest and able reporter-cum-photographer working to keep the local newspaper afloat. She is the love interest and, as a strong woman with a mind of her own, lends balance to the relationship as well as to the story.

In the middle of all the political, criminal and sexual misdemeanours stands another victim, central to the plot and both controlling and controlled by the action. His position is one of impossibility; a situation that must eventually be resolved in the only way feasible.

This is a novel about murder, ambition, honesty, corruption, infidelity, lust, love, and justice. It is more than simply a crime thriller and manages to comment on the darker side of society without preaching. As regular readers of my reviews will know, character is the most vital element in a novel for me. This one is populated by real people: flawed, human, likeable or not, these are people who walk our streets, people you might meet in life. Some of them you would not want to exchange the time of day with, others you would avoid like the proverbial plague and others you would be happy to befriend.

I enjoyed the read and will be reading more of this author’s work in the future. I heartily recommend Minds That Hate to those who enjoy their fiction with depth as well as action.

August: A Month of Maybes

The writing, which is what this blog is really all about, has taken precedence this month, with 45% of my working time spent putting words onto paper (metaphorically speaking, of course, since I type direct to screen!). The third volume of the fantasy trilogy, provisionally titled ‘A Seared Sky’, is progressing at a good pace. The month started with 24,131 words and 6 chapters completed. It ended with 21 chapters and 81,672 words committed to the MS. That’s 57,541 words this month, or an average of 1,856 each day. Not as much as I’d like, but a reasonable move forward. Of course, I’ve also introduced another 5 named characters, and it takes time to develop such newcomers to the story. If you look at the post immediately prior to this, you’ll see how I go about that process.

The domestics have naturally played their part this month, with Valerie still unable to use one arm. The cast was supposed to come off last Thursday, and it did. But she’s still in some pain and they decided to replace it for another week. The new cast is slightly shorter, lighter and a rather fetching purple hue. We’ll both be heartily pleased to see the end of it and Valerie’s return to normal functioning. Mind you, the break has taught me things of which I was previously unaware; Valerie does a lot more around the house than I’d ever suspected. So, I’ll be helping out a little more than in the past.

I’ve done 3 sessions of updates on the Writing Contests page, see the tab above if you’re willing to try your hand at earning a bit of cash and kudos for your writing.

I’ve written 7 posts for this blog (which, by the way, has reached a minor milestone today, with 150,000 page views). Also read and reviewed 6 books. Naturally, I’ve spent a good deal of time in networking: engaged in short conversations on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Google+ and Pinterest. I enjoy exchanging ideas and thoughts with other people, so please do join me.

The coming month promises to be every bit as full as the last. Our daughter, Kate, reaches the significant age of 21 during the early part of September and we’ll be celebrating that rite of passage accordingly. Valerie and I will reach 25 years of wedded bliss (that’s a silver wedding anniversary, for those who are unfamiliar with such things) later in the month, and we intend to celebrate that event in style, meaning there will be a period during which I won’t be writing. That’s also likely to delay the report for September by a number of days.

I’m considering introducing some of the characters from my fantasy to readers here over the next few weeks, so look out for some character descriptions. And, I think that’s about it for now. As ever, I welcome your comments.

The accompanying chart is more or less self-explanatory, but here’s an explanation anyway:

The chart, explained:

'Writing' - initial creation of stories, blog posts, reviews and longer works.

'Editing' - polishing of all written work to make it suitable for readers.

'Research' - discovery of info for story content, market research, contests and blog posts.

'Reading' - books and writing magazines.

'Networking' - emails, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and comments.

'Admin' - story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation, tax, and general admin tasks.

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Character Development is Good for You.

An example of my character template. The picture came via Flickr.com
and, if you click on it, it will lead to the photographer's gallery.

Is it possible to write a story without at least one character? I seriously doubt it, even if the ‘character’ is only something inanimate. But is it desirable? Definitely not. Characters are the writer’s means of delivering story. Plot is a framework, a guide, sometimes a straightjacket, that determines a story’s direction and ultimate end. But it’s the character (or characters) who, taking the reader’s hand, guides her through the twists and turns. And the more believable that character can be made, the more thoroughly will the reader engage with the story.

A lot has been written about character development, so I can add to the cannon only by describing my own method. Before I can start any story, I have to know my main characters. In my current fantasy trilogy, which is well under way (Volumes 1 & 2 are written and edited), I’ve so far developed a cast of 83 named characters. Each of these people has a history, biography, physical description and a picture on which I can hang my memory. I know; a lot of people will think there are too many characters here, but this is a tale in the tradition of the epic fantasy, though it’s more adult than many. It’s common in the genre to have a large cast list: think of Lord of the Rings. How I keep track of all these individuals is for another day, another post. For now, I’ll concentrate on how I ‘invent’ my characters.

As an ex-professional photographer, my driving creative muse is visual. So, having determined gender and age, and having a vague idea of what I want the character to look like, I search my catalogue of images of people. Over the years I’ve been writing, I’ve made it a habit to collect pictures of real people I come across on my flights through the matter on the internet. I copy these pictures and assign them a basic designation according to race, gender, age (approximate), and hair colour. I have so far collected a library of around 1,200 from which I can take my pick. (Some of you will be concerned about copyright infringement, but, as these pictures are never published by me, that’s not really an issue).

Having chosen my picture, I attach it to a template on Word in the form of a table, listing physical features, beliefs, relationships, political persuasion, family history and asking the character two questions: 1. What does this person want? 2. What is this person prepared to do to get it? I now have a pretty good knowledge of my character.

At this stage, I use my table of names to select an appropriate name. (I’ve a document listing over 10,000 names, sorted alphabetically and by gender, with annotations showing the nations that use the name. For access to that list, please visit the tab above, labelled ‘Tools & Links’ where you’ll find a .pdf version that you can copy/print for your own use.) For my fantasy, since I’ve invented a whole world along with everything that goes with it, I’ve made up my character names and tested each against Google to ensure I’m neither using one that already exists, nor naming somebody by using a word that means something inappropriate in another language.

I now have my character with name, age, physical attributes and belief system. I also know what motivates that character and what that character is prepared to do in order to achieve any ambition. That gives me a pretty rounded person to put on the page before I even start writing the story. This may seem a lot of work, but in my experience, the bulk of writing is preparation. Once I have my characters and locations and any historically factual information that may be relevant, I can start the story. I find that the preparation allows me to write very quickly. I always place hyperlinks in the story to each of my character’s bio pages so that I can quickly check to make sure I haven’t either changed some physical aspect or turned a peace-loving pagan into a warrior extremist.

So, there you have it: my method of creating and developing characters. Once they are on the page, I allow them to guide the story for which I only ever have a very loose framework, or none at all. Often, they take me along roads I didn’t know existed. I love that. I learn a great deal along the way, as well. Character is vital to the story; we neglect it at our peril.

This post first appeared as a guest post on Brian Hayden’s Blog where you will find lots of other interesting stuff.

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