This is going to be a short one, I promise.
Today, I wanted to take a moment to talk about character voice. We all know about finding our Voice, but sometimes even when we find that, it is hard to find your characters voice. For those of you who are probably confused about there, here is what I mean. When you are writing, you have a Voice. This is how you tell your story that is unique to anyone else who writes. There is no way in the world that your voice is going to be the exact same voice for any other writer. Everyone has their way of putting things, and as similar as one's voice might be to another's, their Voice is all their own. The only time a Voice will be the same is if you are literally rewriting--in the very sense that is copying--someone else's words. Now, let us move on to Character Voice. Character Voice is just characterization. What I mean by this is that, each character is a unique individual, not much unlike ourselves in the real world.
Now, Character Voice and Voice in general can conflict. Depending on your Voice, how you write, your Character Voice may be lacking. Characters should be believable, and not forced. They become forced when you write how you talk. This is what you should avoid. There is a way to write and there is a way to talk. When you write, you should pretty much because a whole other person. For instance, I sometimes write under the pseudonym Jonnah Z. Kennedy. What I have found is that, I seem to write better when I am writing as Jonnah and not myself. I seem to come up with better figurative language, and my voice ultimately changes because of it. This goes on to the point we have begun with. When you are talking, you do not use figurative language, you do not express things in a detailed and complex way, and when you are talking you certainly don't take into account what Point of View you are 'talking' in. You simply, talk. You use slang, you say things in a simple way, and you rarely use any words above 7 letters if necessary.
In writing, however, you will use FL, you are going to be detailed, complex, and striking. It's hard for me to write how I talk, because it's been so many years since I wrote in such a sense, and it has been so long since I wrote without consideration, but I will do my best:
Writing how you talk: "Donald ran across the road, and he almost got hit by a car. When he got to the other side of the road, he bumped into a lady walking her dog. The dog started barking, and Donald jumped when the dog started barking."
The writing is simple, it's not very interesting, and it's too 'this happened, this happened, Donald reacted. It's written like someone was literally telling you this story while on the phone, or something of the sort. Here is how it should be written:
"Donald sprinted across the road, and in the midst of this, he was nearly hit by a car. The car screeched to a stop, and he waved his hands out in front of it as to say 'sorry', of course the woman behind the wheel put on her best snarl to stare at him. Once across the road, he collided with a woman, and her dog began to yap at him in it's tiny, but vicious bark. It snapped at him, and he jumped at the snarling sound."
That one was written with Voice, with feeling. It's not written how you would tell someone on the street the story. If it was, we might actually be a seemingly smarter society because of the way we spoke.
Now, let us get into Character's speaking. Give each character a personality of his or her own. No character should even seem the same, they should all be interesting in their own way. Don't doubt, there will always been similarities between the characters, but each character needs to have a likable aspect about them, one that appelas to their personality. And going back to what I said earlier, do not force their Voice. Their Voice should come from their condition, the situation, who they are, and their personality.
If they are badly bruised, worked up on some kind of medical drug, or dying, take those things into account. Think about how the character would say it, humorously or sorrowfully. Then take into account some kind of real life aspect to this. Even though a character is funny, make their humor genuine and sweet. Don't make it 'You have to laugh or else'. Allow it to come naturally, make sure that the character is reacting naturally. If they do not react and speak naturally, then the flow is going to break. If you have a very serious flow, and now a character is dying, lighten the situation with a good smooth joke, that breaks back down quickly into seriousness. Have the joke be mildly interrupted by them coughing, bleeding, or groaning in pain. And then, remember to use descriptive phrases other than 'she said/he said/she replied/he replied'. In fact, sometimes go away from those things and start a whole new sentence, like this:
'"Do you remember that day, on the beach, when them seagulls was trapped in a plastic bag?" Eddie's eyes studied me, and I nodded. He licked his lips and went on. "And you remember-cough-how, even when we saved em', they still pecked the shit out of us?" He breathed a short laughed, and my face broke into a weary smile. Tears still streamed down the sides of my face, and Eddie's eyes were still dark with death.'
Do you kind of get it? make their words meaningful, make their words stand out, and make sure that the words that come after their words are extensions of them their characters. Sometimes in writing, it is true that action speaks louder than words. Let their actions coexist and improve upon their words. Allow their voice to be enhanced with the mood, and allow their Voice to coexist and imrpove upon your own Voice.
So, that was my little tidbit about Character Voice, and I hope that you are able to take something from this, and I hope that you enjoyed this little post. If I helped you, spread the word and link others to this blog, share it on Facebook and twitter, and follow me on Google+
See you guys!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Everything Eventual
The world is full of annoyances. Long lines at the supermarket, workers who don't take their job seriously, people who text and drive, cars not allowing you to cross the street while you are riding a bike in 103 degree heat, Rick Riordan trolling us. Yes, there are many things that piss us off. But I think that most important thing that we all can realize is that, we can't do anything about it.
Think about it, really. Can you help that there are practically a billion cars in your city, and you're only one out of thousands who ride bikes on a day-to-day basis? Can we really help that everyone buys things in bulk when they go to the store, whereas you only have one item--for me, that would be a book--and can we really help that Rick Riordan always manages to leave us with a cliffhanger of some kind? Well, maybe, we could always go down the Misery route and break his feet...but I am getting off topic.
The thing that I want to talk about today is patience. If you don't have it, then you are going to fail in life. I'm serious. Even though we live in an always moving world that is going the speed of light, we're still going as slow as that old lady in your lane who can't see through her headlight sized spectacles. The reason I chose this topic today, is because recently I have been sending off several emails to self-published book bloggers, and bloggers who review books in general. I have been trying advertise and promote my book which is nearing 3,000,000 on the Amazon sellers listing. I know that 2,600,000 isn't that great either, but I have been keeping in the 2,000,000 and up range for nearly a month now, so that has to mean something. In fact, one time I was as high up as the low hundred thousands, so that really has to mean something. But, I don't think I have done enough to build an audience outside of my family members, who are pretty much obligated to come no matter what.
Anyhow, because I have been sending off all these emails, they always tell you that they will get back to you in a matter of a week because of all the other billion emails they receive. Then on the advertising, you never knew who or when someone is going to see that advertisement, so only Apollo knows when you're going to get your book going off, like, really going off. Basically, if you're self-publishing, unless you have some really good connections with real publishers and some all-stars--which begs the question of why are you self-publishing in the first place--chances are, your book won't be the next Harry Potter, Eragon, The Hunger Games, or Divergent. And speaking of Divergent, it has come to my attention that a lot more young authors are publishing books, which is actually adding to the competition in the world of Self-Publishing. 1 in 100 people are probably going to actually get a nice fat royalty check from their book, 1 in 1,000 are going to see their book get some media attention, 1 in 1,000,000 of us will be the next Veronica Roth, making a steady enough paycheck to pay off student loans, rent, and still have enough to vaycay in Romania. So, just be prepared to keep that job you got at the corner store, the mall, and that internship at your parents job.
The only way your book is going to become known and popular is through the classic advice. You better work hard, sometimes you have to put off a whole host of other things including friends, other hobbies, and that Galaga game you were playing. If you actually care about this book, you are going to be willing to receive a few bad paychecks, and you are going to be willing to face the horrid music of the one star review. You are going to have be prepared to read other peoples books, who may be better than yours, spend a hefty amount of money, and you'd better be ready to get carpel tunnel syndrome. Because you're going to be writing more words than your whole book combined. I'm actually pretty lucky I don't have any friends to pester me, pets to love--bad as I wish I did--any real responsibility or pressure to write the next book, and I don't have a whole pack of summer homework. I have a book to read, and that's pretty much it.
No one is asking me to do this blog.
No one is asking me to write the sequel to this book.
No one is asking me to spend hours at a time trying to promote it.
No one is asking me to do any of this.
I'm doing it because I want my book to go somewhere. I'm doing this because I have a passion, and I want my story to be read. I'm doing this because this is what I was born to do, this is what I have to do. It's not optional for me, this is what I gotta do if I ever want to go anywhere, if I ever want to fulfill my dreams, I have to be willing to spend x amount of nights laboring over my computer blasting emails, working on my seemingly endless tome of fiction, and being the only kid in the store consulting grammar and writing books. If you're not willing to do those things without being asked or told, you aren't meant to be a writer. Plain and simple. But if you are, if you are willing to give up reality, spend several months--years even--without a good check, good reviews, or be the odd one out, then I applaud you, welcome you to the family of writers all around you, and I say--you keep on going on.
The last thing I want to say, though, is that, nothing is going to come fast. Nothing is just going to come to you unless you've just got it like that, which 90% of us don't. You'd better be ready to wait week after week for an email to be returned, or for that phone call to come. Don't expect a reply in a few minutes, it will come eventually. Everything eventual. Everything eventual, my friends. Because in the end, when all that time that it seems like you wasted is over, it's going to pay off. And it's going to pay off big time. Just make good use of that time, every second counts. Life is only so short.
Think about it, really. Can you help that there are practically a billion cars in your city, and you're only one out of thousands who ride bikes on a day-to-day basis? Can we really help that everyone buys things in bulk when they go to the store, whereas you only have one item--for me, that would be a book--and can we really help that Rick Riordan always manages to leave us with a cliffhanger of some kind? Well, maybe, we could always go down the Misery route and break his feet...but I am getting off topic.
The thing that I want to talk about today is patience. If you don't have it, then you are going to fail in life. I'm serious. Even though we live in an always moving world that is going the speed of light, we're still going as slow as that old lady in your lane who can't see through her headlight sized spectacles. The reason I chose this topic today, is because recently I have been sending off several emails to self-published book bloggers, and bloggers who review books in general. I have been trying advertise and promote my book which is nearing 3,000,000 on the Amazon sellers listing. I know that 2,600,000 isn't that great either, but I have been keeping in the 2,000,000 and up range for nearly a month now, so that has to mean something. In fact, one time I was as high up as the low hundred thousands, so that really has to mean something. But, I don't think I have done enough to build an audience outside of my family members, who are pretty much obligated to come no matter what.
Anyhow, because I have been sending off all these emails, they always tell you that they will get back to you in a matter of a week because of all the other billion emails they receive. Then on the advertising, you never knew who or when someone is going to see that advertisement, so only Apollo knows when you're going to get your book going off, like, really going off. Basically, if you're self-publishing, unless you have some really good connections with real publishers and some all-stars--which begs the question of why are you self-publishing in the first place--chances are, your book won't be the next Harry Potter, Eragon, The Hunger Games, or Divergent. And speaking of Divergent, it has come to my attention that a lot more young authors are publishing books, which is actually adding to the competition in the world of Self-Publishing. 1 in 100 people are probably going to actually get a nice fat royalty check from their book, 1 in 1,000 are going to see their book get some media attention, 1 in 1,000,000 of us will be the next Veronica Roth, making a steady enough paycheck to pay off student loans, rent, and still have enough to vaycay in Romania. So, just be prepared to keep that job you got at the corner store, the mall, and that internship at your parents job.
The only way your book is going to become known and popular is through the classic advice. You better work hard, sometimes you have to put off a whole host of other things including friends, other hobbies, and that Galaga game you were playing. If you actually care about this book, you are going to be willing to receive a few bad paychecks, and you are going to be willing to face the horrid music of the one star review. You are going to have be prepared to read other peoples books, who may be better than yours, spend a hefty amount of money, and you'd better be ready to get carpel tunnel syndrome. Because you're going to be writing more words than your whole book combined. I'm actually pretty lucky I don't have any friends to pester me, pets to love--bad as I wish I did--any real responsibility or pressure to write the next book, and I don't have a whole pack of summer homework. I have a book to read, and that's pretty much it.
No one is asking me to do this blog.
No one is asking me to write the sequel to this book.
No one is asking me to spend hours at a time trying to promote it.
No one is asking me to do any of this.
I'm doing it because I want my book to go somewhere. I'm doing this because I have a passion, and I want my story to be read. I'm doing this because this is what I was born to do, this is what I have to do. It's not optional for me, this is what I gotta do if I ever want to go anywhere, if I ever want to fulfill my dreams, I have to be willing to spend x amount of nights laboring over my computer blasting emails, working on my seemingly endless tome of fiction, and being the only kid in the store consulting grammar and writing books. If you're not willing to do those things without being asked or told, you aren't meant to be a writer. Plain and simple. But if you are, if you are willing to give up reality, spend several months--years even--without a good check, good reviews, or be the odd one out, then I applaud you, welcome you to the family of writers all around you, and I say--you keep on going on.
The last thing I want to say, though, is that, nothing is going to come fast. Nothing is just going to come to you unless you've just got it like that, which 90% of us don't. You'd better be ready to wait week after week for an email to be returned, or for that phone call to come. Don't expect a reply in a few minutes, it will come eventually. Everything eventual. Everything eventual, my friends. Because in the end, when all that time that it seems like you wasted is over, it's going to pay off. And it's going to pay off big time. Just make good use of that time, every second counts. Life is only so short.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)