Category: Writing Tips

A character always feels more real, no matter how much time they show up in a story, if there’s something else going on in their life.

We see this sometimes in cop shows when a character is being questioned and they can’t stop working or they dismiss the police to get back to work. That’s a silly stupid trope. All it does is tell us you’ve seen a formulaic cop show before.

But the point of giving your characters a life outside of the story is that is further develops them in the reader’s mind. It’s SHOWING instead of TELLING.

Here’s a 4 of ways to create your character’s life outside your story without having to pause the plot:

URGENCY – Like the suspect that just has to get back to work, giving your character somewhere to be other than where they are, creates a sense that there is more to their story. It can tell a lot about a character if they’re about to miss their orthodontics procedure. Are they vain or do they have a serious health issue? Follow up with another clue to direct your reader as to which it is. Maybe he keeps touching his jaw.

FASCINATION – People get hung up on things, like not tipping properly at a restaurant, or maybe they love the L.A. Dodgers beyond reason. Grammar police? A character that interjects their fascination into whatever is going on helps define the character, it can be used to reinforce cliches or reject them.

SCARS – Like a fascination, scars are things that are likely to give pause to your character. If they’ve been burned by love, they’re going to hesitate jumping in with the next person they meet. ‘Scars’ don’t have to be but can be physical. They can hint at adventures of old or of lessons learned. A character with a bad elbow from baseball, might mean a failed dream career has forced him into this other lifestyle. Giving your character a past without a flashback is a great way to keep the plot moving.

RUMORS – What other people say about your character says a lot about them. An off-handed comment can end up meaning the world. “She prefers wine.” That line is placed in the reader’s head and if she parties too hard or shows signs of regrets (scars) perhaps she has a problem. If She is only fascinated with the finer things, it might lean her toward upscale living.  But you’ll need to place more clues throughout the story to further the rumor in the direction you want the reader to go.

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This one actually comes from my brother. His was a solution to art. When he couldn’t digitally paint, he’d switch to pencil. If that didn’t work, he’d switch the paper from white to a yellow legal pad, he’d switch to painting or markers, or . . . a red pen.

When we’re blocked creatively, it helps to switch up how we’re trying to create.

If you can’t type on your laptop, try handwriting your story. Try different inks, or on your computer try different fonts. Change something.

A lot of writing is the art of tricking your mind to do it after it says it can’t.

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I recall reading somewhere that Kurt Vonnegut wrote his stories with his sister in mind, as if he was speaking to her.

Vonnegut’s work has always had that nice quality of be present with him as the story is being told. Not in an auditorium, but like you’re both standing on an elevator together, shoulder to shoulder and his mustache is threating to bristle your ear.

I think he achieved this quality by writing as if he was telling someone close to him the story.

When we tell a story to a person, there are things we would tell one person that we wouldn’t tell another.

You’re not going to tell your boss the reason you’re late is that you were out having the grandest adventure and just got in the door twenty minutes ago. But you’re probably going to tell that one work pal–maybe including a few embellishments, leaving out the embarrassing parts. You’ll cater it to them.

There are things they know and things they don’t, and you will have to give them those background stories. Maybe they don’t know that cohort of yours that kept you out late. Now you have to tell them that cohort’s life story, so they understand why you didn’t just go home.

I’ve tried a few people (not my sister yet though), and I notice the results tend to resonate stronger with me than when I’m just trying to put the story to paper. When I’m thinking about that other person and telling them the details that they’d find interesting, it seems clearer to me what I should write. The story might not take on a conversational tone, but it feels more like I’m conversing rather than writing.

Next time you sit down to write, pick one person you know that you want to tell that story to.

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One of my oldest tricks for writing is to use music in the background.

I try to find an album or a single song that isn’t too intrusive, but perhaps lends itself to cinematic qualities that match the tone I am looking for.

Using the same music each writing session allows me to return to a similar headspace.

BUT . . . it can get tiresome.

There are a few bands and albums I can’t listen to again since I played them on repeat during a draft.

There are others that I return to, fondly remembering their guidance.

I don’t always listen to music when I write (more often I do not). But I always listen to music in the car. During a novel draft, I will not change whatever album I’m listening to. The time in my car listening to music is generally when I think about what I’ve written and what I want to write next. Having consistent music keeps me in a similar headspace. Of course, after a month of the same album, it’s usually a relief to change up an album when a novel draft is completed.

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