Everyday Woman Radio Show with Vicki Hinze

WHAT IS GOING ON?

WARNING:  This is a no-edit zone...

Since I’ve received so many notes asking about the changes on the site, I thought I’d answer here.

In short, someone has too much time on their hands and not enough substance to use it constructively, so they’ve been clipping my articles, attaching them and my name to spam, largely on sites dedicated to mature content.  (Read between the lines and you’ll get the malicious gist of it.)

Not only is this copyright infringement, it’s a greater offense because I have a lot of minor students who use the writers’ library because they’re interested in learning to write or in becoming writers.  If one uses a search engine rather than coming directly to this site, one is apt to see photos and read content one shouldn’t--and doesn’t want to--read.  

So I filed reports with the FBI and they’ve been terrific.  All of this has sidetracked me from my own work, trying to undo the nastiness. I’ve lost mental track of the number of abuse reports filed, the number of notices of copyright violations, etc. (Yes, I did retain hard copies, electronic copies and backups.  I’ve nearly filled a flash drive with this nonsense.)  Authorities and an electronic investigator have been hard at work running all this down to nip this challenge in the bud.

A head’s up warning:  do check your yahoo groups.  I discovered my public email address had been subscribed to lists I hadn’t or wouldn’t join.  I had no idea.  (Lesson learned:  monitor all.)

Anyway, with all of this going on, I had to do something to a) protect the young adults from exposure as best I am able and b) protect my copyrights.  So I moved the Writers’ Library to a private access site.  It requires an ID and password (more work on this end), is monitored (even more work on this end) and is computer specific (yet even more work on this end).

There were two choices:  stop sharing or go private access.  I elected to go private access.  I don’t like it, library users (I’m sure) don’t like it (though they’ve expressed understanding and support, for which I’m grateful).  But one of my missions in life is to mentor and so it’s an extra effort I wish I didn’t have to take, but I will take to not be derailed from my mission.

Initially, I was advised to put my Faith Zone blog posts on the private access site as well as the Writers’ Library.  Actually, I was advised to put the instructional blog posts written here in My Kitchen Table, the Faith Zone posts, my podcasts and the Writers’ Library on the private access site.

I did move the Faith Zone and Writers’ Library.  But the Faith Zone being behind closed doors really rubbed me raw.  I write it to share my spiritual journey so others can see we all stumble and fumble and fall to our knees, scrape our noses and still get up and move forward again. That’s the entire purpose of sharing it.  If it’s locked behind closed doors, so to speak, then it can’t fulfill its purpose for existing.

So again I was at a crossroad and it was decision time.  Do I allow someone with poor judgment (committing destructive acts just to annoy or damage rather than focusing on their own personal, constructive forward momentum IS poor judgment) to interfere?  Or do I elect to drop the project?

Dropping it would have been easier.  Much easier than this negative time-eater (for me and others!).  But, you know, that’s a cut-and-run resolution to this challenge, and that’s no solution at all.

So I prayed a lot, moved many of the Faith Zone posts back into the open forum, and have some monitoring assistance that is exceptional at doing what they do.  And I recall something my dad once said and I’ve not forgotten:  “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth fighting for.  If it’s not worth fighting for, why are you doing it?”

Faith Zone is worth doing.  

Going through the private access site challenges is worth doing.

Nipping copyright infringements and adopting a zero-tolerance policy on them is worth doing.

The added demands on my time and resources to mentor with the library are worth doing.

Bottom line, I’m doing what I believe has worth.

So that’s what’s going on.  It’s why my posting has been sporadic.  It’s why things are shuffling around and processes and permissions are changing.   It’s why I’m taking a bit longer to respond to emails and why I’ve recruited a little extra help.  I nicknamed her “The Enforcer” and him “The Hammer.” ☺  

If you happen across a violation, please let me know.  If we allow this nonsense, we’re doomed to more of it.  Getting away with it only encourages more of it and for others prone to this type of thing to violate us, too.  I don’t like feeling violated, and I’m sure you don’t, either.  So it’s on to pro-active time.

Here’s a quick list on what’s where now:

My Kitchen Table blog is public and HERE on the writing website. (www.vickihinze.com)

Faith Zone blog is public and HERE on the writing website.  (www.vickihinze.com)

Kids’ Faith Zone blog is public and at www.faithzonegran.com.  (Audio has been added.)

Writers’ Library is on a private access site.  Apply for access HERE.

Newsletters are public and HERE on the writing website. (www.vickihinze.com)

Readers’ Discussion Guides for readers’ groups are on the individual Book Pages.

Podcasts are public and HERE on the writing website. (www.vickihinze.com)

Everything else remains the same.

One note:  There are still a few posts in the Private Access Site FAITH ZONE blog that have not been migrated back to the public site.

So that’s what’s been going on here.  It hasn’t been fun, but it certainly has been informative. Soon, I’ll post a Tip Sheet on things you might want to check to make sure none of the nonsense is going on with you--and if it is, what countermeasures you can take.

It’s worth it.  You’re worth it.

Blessings,

Vicki

Important Note

Effective today, I will be posting my blogs on my website as follows:

Writing: Craft, Art, Business and Life: My Kitchen Table

Spirituality: Faith Zone

The "Vicki Hinze on Writing" blog will be incorporated into the MY KITCHEN TABLE blog.

The website url, should you have link challenges or desire to paste into your browser is:

http://www.vickihinze.com

Blessings,

Vicki

P.S. If you're viewing this via reader, you'll need to visit the www.vickihinze.com website to view any updates.

I apologize for any inconvenience, but I'm paddling as hard as I can, and I just can't keep up, so I'm having to consolidate where and when possible. Appreciate your understanding.

For your convenience, I will still notify you of new posts here.

Vicki Hinze
www.vickihinze.com

TAGS: Vicki Hinze, hinze blog, CREATIVE WRITING, feature article, writing craft, books, novels, readers, authors, emerald coast writers, novelists, booksellers, book reviewers, everyday woman radio, romance writers, thriller writers, suspense writers

HELP! I'M BAFFLED. WHAT DOES HE MEAN?

I received a note with the subject line: HELP! I’M BAFFLED. WHAT DOES HE MEAN?

Now who can resist stopping to read a note referenced like that? So I did--stop, that is--and read the note. It was from an author who had received a rejection from an agent. In the note, he said that the villain didn’t scare him. That’s an important factor considering this is a novel targeted at the thriller market.

The author was confused by it. The villain purportedly had all the makings of a convincing villain. So the agent’s comment baffled the author, leaving her confused and floundering, trying to determine what was wrong with the villain.

I couldn’t resist. From the character sketch, two things were apparent:

1. The villain was capable of villainous acts.
2. The villain was weak and I didn’t fear him, either.

Here was the problem. He was totally evil. No redeeming quality. That makes him weak--and it diminishes suspense because we know to expect his worse and about what his capabilities are going to be.

That’s a challenge. To fear a villain, we need to be uncertain how far he’ll go--or know how far he’ll go and fear he’ll go even further. In other words, he needs to be a little unpredictable.

He also needs to be motivated. Doing what is normal and right and good TO HIM. Even if that’s twisted and crazy and totally nuts. To him, he makes perfect sense and his reason for doing what he’s doing is one we understand even though we consider it twisted.

That means it typically ties to a universal emotion. Why? Because we identify with universal emotions. This gives the villain credibility as a villain.

Lacking those qualities, the villain is weak and because he’s weak, he also diminishes the heroism and admirability of the story’s hero. If the villain were smart and strong and sharp and clever and cunning and oh-so-good at being a villain, then the hero would have to be even better to win in an adversarial match against that villain. Because the villain isn’t those things, the hero can’t be heroic. So his character is weakened, too.

A hero is only as good as his villain makes him.

Regardless of the novel type, that’s an important point to remember in crafting characters.

I try to make the villain as dastardly as I can for some emotional reason. Then I think on him until I find a way to make him worse. After I’ve made him as awful and as strong as I can, then I give him some extra perk that makes him even more terrifying to me. And seat that perk in universal emotion.

Remember, a killer killing isn’t interesting. Why a killer is killing and if he is successful at killing in the face of someone fantastic trying to stop him from killing--now that’s interesting.

Writers have a tendency to eliminate obstacles when they run into situations like this. To eliminate the obstacle or conflict when they should be doing the exact opposite--making it harder still on everyone involved. Putting the outcome in greater doubt.

This brings to mind BODY DOUBLE. In chapter 1 a woman is sealed into a tomb alive. She awakens and digs her way out, makes her way to safety, and is retrieved by an operative. That’s a pretty formidable enemy who can do that. And some would say it’s enough. But...

The operative who retrieved her informed her she hadn’t been missing for three days--as she thought. She’d been missing for three months--and she has no idea where she’s been.

Now that further complicated the matter--and it intrigued the heck out of me. Only one thing worried me. I had no idea where she’d been, or what had happened to her, or why she didn’t remember it.

I had to write the story to find out. And, boy, did I have a blast doing it!

So that’s another perk to complicating matters up, even when you think you’ve complicated yourself right into a wall. You’re creative, you’ll find a window--or make a new one. And when you do, you’ll enjoy discovering these wrinkles and intrigues as much as the reader.

And you shouldn’t get notes such as the one above on future submissions.

Blessings,

Vicki

P.S. There are two articles in the website library (www.vickihinze.com) that might be helpful on this: Villains and The Fictional Dream. You might review deepening conflict and the articles on character, too.

IMMEDIACY

WARNING: This is a no-edit zone...

Now that income taxes are done (THANK YOU!!!!), two things are on my mind this morning. Well, actually, three things, but two apply to writing so I’ll chat about those.

The first thing came from a phone conversation I had with an editor friend this morning. She read me a bit from a work that was a gem. The first thing that went through my mind was that this story has serious potential. The second thing was wondering if it’d be realized. I hope that it will.

What spurred the first thought was a knowing from line one that something horrific and significant was about to happen. The second thought came from the mechanical challenge in the area of psychic distance.

I’ve done an article on psychic distance for anyone interested. It’s in my writer’s library on the writing website (www.vickihinze.com).

Why was it a challenge? What was happening was intense and yet we, the readers, were viewing it from a distant point versus up close and personal. This was definitely a scene for deep point of view. Intense situation, high stakes, incredible obstacles and horrendously important consequences. Being somewhat removed, the work was good. But if the author closed that psychic distance, the work would be great.

When the psychic distance is broad, immediacy suffers. And this was and required immediacy. What happened had all the elements required for elevated reader identity and it was darned captivating. But it suffered the handicap of that distance.

So double-checking psychic distance is on my mind. It matters. A lot. It makes the difference between good and great. It makes the difference in snagging the reader and giving them a license to set a book down.

Ask yourself, why is this happening now? Must it happen now? What impact will it happening have? Who suffers, gains or loses most?

If it doesn’t have to happen now, there’s not a significant impact if it doesn’t happen, and no one suffers the fallout, gains or loses, then you don’t need it. Doesn’t matter how well written it is, how exciting or thrilling or chilling. Immediacy is required or it’s out of there.

The second thing on my mind came from a phone conversation I had with another author last night. It was about author voice and established genres. Actually, she had read a story I’ve been writing called TENDING GRAVES and shared two observations with me:
1. There’s something in my first person voice that adds an extra element to the work. That’s a plus and something I’ll be remembering. I haven’t explored first person voice a great deal in my work, but I’m going to spend some time doing so. It’s natural, comfortable and adds immediacy--and it lends itself well to her second observation...

2. “You’re creating a new genre again,” she said. I seem prone to do that--and I find it extremely exciting, so I’m going for it.

Is this an easy way to build a career? Absolutely not.

It’d be wiser, I suppose, to write within the confines of an established genre. For marketing purposes, it’d be wise.

But writing to fit has never been my goal or my mission. Writing what I feel driven to write, writing with purpose and for purpose is what motivates me. The stories I can’t wait to get to the computer to write, the ones that awaken me in the middle of the night--or interrupt with thoughts in the middle of other conversations--stories that captivate me. That’s my path.

Many writers get story ideas that fit into established genres and traditional slots, if you will. Others don’t. I’m not sure who is lucky and who has the chore. Opinions on that will vary from writer to writer. What I can say is that it’s essential to be true to your nature to respect your gift. If your gift fits into a defined slot, that’s wonderful. You’re blessed.

But if it doesn’t, don’t despair, because you’re blessed, too. You might not get a lot perks that others do, but you’ll get ones they don’t. Yours.

Blazing trails gets you some scratches and dents and bruises and sometimes you get banged up a little. But you also get immense satisfaction. And when you watch those behind you get excited and join you, well, that’s a pretty special thing.

I can’t speak to it being easier or harder to sell. I will say that when I first blazed a trail, I had to explain what the book was before I could pitch what the story was actually about. And I can say that I got mixed reactions. Some were “Ewe, that’s weird.” Some had light dancing in their eyes, as excited by the prospect as I was excited. And I’ll never forget the editor who literally got so enthused she bounced in her seat.

You know, when it came to that sale, she didn’t offer the most money. She didn’t offer the best contract. But she offered her enthusiasm. She was invested. And I chose her for those books. It was a good choice.

Money’s nice, guys, and I like it as much as anyone else. But I’ll take a fair deal and enthusiasm--an editor with vision who trusts me over more money any day of the week. It’s by far the better bargain.

How do these things relate? Immediacy. One is in the work. One is in the author and the editor selected for the project.

See, I just seem to have scattered thoughts today. Actually, I’m very focused. Well, considering I just spent two days working on income tax... ☺

Blessings,

Vicki

Tags: authors, writers, novelists, psychic distance, point of view, writer's library, vicki hinze, writing

ARE YOU A KNOWER, FALLER OR A DABBLER?

Some people, it seems, come out of the womb knowing what they want to be and how they’re going to become it.

Others have no clue what they want but fall into something that for one reason or another enchants them, and they make a life’s work of it.

Still others dabble in this then that and then something else and either dabble their entire lives or eventually light on something that intrigues them enough to stick around.

It doesn’t matter which you are. Any--the knowers, the fallers, or the dabblers--can make good writers.

I address this because a very upset writer emailed me recently on this topic. She was told she wouldn’t be a good writer because all of her experience was in one thing.

That comment just begs to be challenged, doesn’t it?

First of all, no one over a year old is experienced in only one thing. Ask a 2-year old to turn off the TV. Most know which button to push. One of my angels is 18 months and loves Dora movies. She knows how to load them into the player and which button to push to make them run. The four year old taught me that rewinding the VCR isn’t necessary. It’ll do it on its own. She also taught me how to play her Leapster--an educational game at which I was a novice, but she’s a pro. (Beat me on every game, too.)

Kids interact with other kids.
They learn language skills: “Don’t, no, stop, please and thank you.” They learn tones--and react to them appropriately. They learn expressions. I’ll never forget the day my eldest angel learned to frown. And, boy, do they read body language.

I used very, very young children to illustrate my point because learning many things begins very, very early. We get the basic skills then (all of which translate to writing, by the way) and then as we grow and mature, we add to them. We build on what’s there--the foundation.

So, in my humble opinion, no one has experience in only one thing--unless you dump everything under the “life” umbrella.

Secondly, even one whose primary area of expertise is in one field is not left void in all other fields. On the way from novice to expert, we develop other skills through related incidentals and experiences that fall outside our specific area of expertise. Most fields incorporates skill sets from other fields.

For years, John Grisham wrote legal thrillers. He is an attorney; that’s his one field. But good attorneys are usually good orators. They have a good grasp on body language, on human emotion, on values and judgments. On reasoning and clear communication. Quick on the uptake and flexible in mind. Those are essential skills to being a good attorney.

But John is also a writer: a related skill set. But does that mean he can only write legal thrillers? No, of course not. Because many of his skills transcend those perimeters and life has added many more. Hobbies and other interests, other experiences have added even more to that more.

So while some might have thought he had one area of expertise, and that imposed limits. We know from experience that his abilities and skills, many of which are directly related to that area of expertise, have exceeded it.

Skills acquired can be adapted and altered to fit the needs of other areas of expertise. That’s my point. You learn to balance to ride a bike. But you also use balance for a thousand other things. Your skill isn’t restricted to that for which you learned it. It translates. And that’s worth remembering.

As writers, we can draw on anything and everything, and we do. Regardless of what your personal experience is now, within the confines of logic, you can use it all and gain what you need along the way to write what you want to write.

The beauty of our flexibility in this is that we don’t have to gain this experience or skill firsthand to be able to write convincingly about it. For example: how many mystery authors have murdered? Not many, if any at all. Yet they convincingly portray the act in books regularly. How? Observation of others acquired skills and expertise. Not firsthand experience. See my point?

Knower, Faller or Dabbler: any can make good writers.

Another recent question has to do with career-building. An author specifically asked about Career Tracks and wisdom. Which way of going about building a career is best?

CAREER TRACKS

1.STRAIGHT AND NARROW: Develop a course that is straight and narrow, meaning write one kind of book and focus intently on building a reputation and a reader base for it.
2.SCENIC ROUTE: Write different kinds of books through a career.
3.DIVERGENT PATHS: Write two types of books and divide effort and interest between them.

Each of those choices has advantages and disadvantages.

The straight and narrow is probably the most preferred path because it naturally places the author in a position to build an easily identifiable reader base that knows what to expect from the author and his/her books. Focus is the key word in this type career. Name recognition, reader identification and expectation, and bookseller identification and expectation are all pluses. The negative? The author can get really weary of writing the same type of book over and again. Most who do find creative ways to keep the work fresh and to stay enthused. Those who don’t, run into long-term trouble.

The scenic route. As an agent once said, “When I get a book from you, I never know what to expect, but I know I’m going to love it.” That sounds like a big bonus, doesn’t it? And it can be. The market cycles and if you’re a flexible writer, then you can flex with it. That’s a perk on the longevity table. However, it’s not easy to build a career that rises to the stratosphere on the scenic route. Readers don’t know what to expect. Booksellers don’t know what to expect. Your books can be shelved in different areas in bookstores and that all makes finding the books more difficult--and it much more likely the author will get lost in the shuffle. Still, some authors choose this path and some have successful careers. Promotion is, in my humble opinion, essential to cue everyone other than the author (and that includes those in the publishing house) what is at the core of each book. Remember, we are creatures of association. We associate this author with this type book. That’s natural to us. So if you’re writing multiple types of books, you need to find an effective way to let others know it and know what you’ve written--every time.

Divergent paths. More and more authors are choosing the divergent path career strategy. They’ll write two types of books, essentially building two separate careers, which at some point usually merge on the marketing front. For example. Nora Roberts build a career in series romance. Then she expanded her romance books into the single title market. Still romance, but now reaching a broader base of readers. She continued her series romances and added her single title romances. Staying well established in series, she became well established in single title romance, and then took the divergent path. Under J.D. Robb, she began a separate career for futuristic mysteries.
After a number of J.D. Robb books were out and she was established in that career path, she marketed that Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb were one and the same. Crossover sales ensued. And her divergent path career strategy was an enormous success. So much so that she’s commonly considered her own brand.

For some authors, one path takes off and the other stills. A year or two later, they can reverse. The still one becomes hot and the hot one cools. Again, markets cycle. So this can be a perk for the author, too. Provided the author writes fast enough to get a book a year out in both careers, this can be a good choice with a lot of advantages and not so many challenges as the other two paths.

Of course, it really depends on the author and what s/he means to achieve. Purpose and personal goals are paramount and whatever yours are, they lend themselves best to one of the chosen paths. So before choosing your career path, it’s imperative (and you increase the odds of not disappointing yourself) by addressing specifically what you want from your career.

Take into consideration your production rates and promotion investments and skills, too. Look at the big picture of you, the author, and you, the person. These are not small things when it comes to deciding where you want to be a year from now or five or twenty-five years from now. Consider it all.

Make a three column list. Ask every question you can think of to ask--about you, about writing, about goals and dreams and desires and abilities. Compare each question to each path. See where the weight adds up.

Then you’ll be building not only a career, but one that has a better chance of working successfully for you.

And remember, you can change paths at any time. If you’re on one and it just isn’t working for you, do the above exercise. Find another. When a door closes, a window opens, right?

Right. And miraculously it does so repeatedly!

Blessings,

Vicki

Tags: career paths, skills, success, authors, writers, novelists, books, readers, goals, abilities, skills, accomplishments, choices, writing, vicki hinze, writer's library

Feature Article on Personal Character

EACH DAY YOU CHOOSE...

ARE YOU A PERSON OF CHARACTER
OR A CHARACTER LACKING HUMANITY?

Read the new feature article

LIFE TURNS ON A DIME

Life, they say, is what happens while you’re otherwise occupied.

I’m not sure if I believe that, but I do believe that you can miss life by being occupied. We can get caught up in crisis living and miss the turns on our personal paths that are most meaningful.

What do I mean?

Honestly, I’m grappling with what exactly I mean, so we’ll just talk it through together, since the matter is very much on my mind this morning due to two significant events.

The two events. I guess that’s a good place to start.

Event #1: a neighbor died. He and his wife had one child, a son. He was college-age, a smart guy with character and tons of potential. A few years ago, he was crossing a bridge and a car veered into his lane and hit him head-on. He had nowhere to go, and was killed. His parents suffered the heartache of losing their child and now his father has passed, and my heart aches for his widow. She’s buried her child and will now bury her husband, and she’s left to cope with the loss alone. I find myself asking how will she bear it, and praying she’s a woman of faith because, I’ll tell you, I watched my mother bury two sons and then my father and I know that her faith is what got her through it intact.

Event #2: all the tornadoes that hit in the last two days, and all the lives cut short because they did. Each of those people had lives and hopes and dreams and aspirations. I’m sure many had enormous potential and mile-long to-do lists, too. Things that just couldn’t wait, so they put their lives on hold--the things important to them personally--to do those “can’t wait,” or crisis-living things. Yet in the span of mere minutes, all of those things became insignificant. Every bit of them did, because in that twinkling, they lost their lives. All that potential and those hopes and dreams and aspirations went with them, too.

I can’t shake thoughts of them in those last minutes. When they knew what was coming and they couldn’t avoid it. What were they thinking then? When the realization hit them that they were going to die, what were their thoughts?

I’m sure there was fear. I’m sure there was anger and cries of, “But it’s too soon. I’m not ready yet.” And I’m sure there were regrets. Things done that they wished could be undone. Things left unsaid that now would remain unsaid. Self-recrimination on priorities and perspectives of what most mattered now shifting.

I’m not sure of the nature of those regrets, but I wonder... Were any of them thinking of the crisis-living things they simply had to do before the storm?

We all have duties, responsibilities and obligations. Often so many of them that we keep pushing aside high-priority personal items. It’s those things I wonder how these people felt about at that twinkling moment.

I know that during crisis moments we often see most clearly. Our focus becomes laser sharp, intense on the matter at hand and we give everything--our all--to whatever is on our minds at that moment in time.

I know that on the other side of crises, people who have experienced those moments and survived often make a sharp turn in their lives. They consider the crisis a wake-up call and redefine their lives. They take a look at their priority list and turn it on its ear. They shun crisis-living and adopt personal priority living. And often that personal priority living has to do with dreams they’ve carried with them for a lifetime, or maybe hints of that dream that in that moment of intense clarity came sharply into focus.

This has me calling the question: Can we reach that twinkling moment, that point in time where we have laser focus and gain that clarity without experiencing a personal, life-threatening crisis?

We can. It isn’t hard to mentally place ourselves in the positions of others who have been there and done that. And if we do, then we have the opportunity to learn from their experience. We might not share all of the emotional impact that they endure, but we can grasp and project and imagine, and gain deeper insight and understanding. We can awaken and seek wisdom in this way.

There is always merit in seeking wisdom. In looking at our own crisis-living items and personal priority items and weighing what we’re doing. There’s wisdom in evaluating these things when we aren’t in crisis because we still have an opportunity to change them.

For some, they’ll choose the status quo. Life’s comfortable and they don’t want it any different. That’s their choice, and I’m sure there’s comfort in having weighed the matter and made the call. The peace that comes with knowing you’ve considered it and you’re doing what’s right for you.

Some will redefine aspects of their lives. Of those who do, some will stick with those new changes and some will slide back into the old. Their choice. Again, better because it’s come as a result of deep thought and not of apathy.

Some will challenge every single thing that has been a part of their lives and make significant changes. Life-altering, life-defining changes. Of these, some will be reborn into a life very different from the one they’ve been living, and they’ll thump themselves for waiting so long. Some will wonder what they were thinking to do this at this point in their lives, in their careers. Regardless, they will choose from a broader, more insightful perspective.

You know, I don’t think what’s significant is the path one takes so much as that one takes it with a deeper awareness of life. Taking it deliberately. Intent on taking it. That is a good thing.

Whether that awareness brings a person to a point on their journey where they move straight ahead or turn on a dime, veering sharply in a totally different direction, well that’s a choice. But the awareness, and all it brings to the person, well that’s a gift.

A gift?

Yes. Absolutely, a gift. It’s one of those gems of wisdom that is home to solace and comfort and peace.

Now I know what I mean. And I’m going to reassess from this perspective. Will I stay on the current road or change directions on a dime? I don’t know. But I will know soon. Will you?

Blessings,

Vicki

©2008, Vicki Hinze

Tags: life, crisis, death, grief, change, choice, career, path, journey, wisdom, perspective, assessment, decisions, direction, awareness, authors, writers, novels, novelists, books, readers, Vicki Hinze, writer's library

C H A R A C T E R

An Alert to let you know that I've posted a new WINTER FEATURE ARTICLE and the FEBRUARY 2008 NEWSLETTER on my website at www.vickihinze.com.

The subject of the Feature Article is CHARACTER: Are You a Person of Substance, or a Substance Lacking Humanity?

Enjoy!!!

Blessings,

Vicki

Vicki Hinze

Tags:
author, character, choices, CREATIVE WRITING, ethics, feature article, integrity, morals, newsletter, romance writer, substance, thriller writers, Vicki Hinze, writing library

Take a Step...

CHARACTERS/PEOPLE: WORKING THE CLAY

My husband is a multi-medium artist. One medium is pottery. I enjoy watching him work with the clay and have since he was working with Raku one day and I was helping him quench the pots.

You take these red-hot pots out of the kiln and put each one into a small metal garbage can that’s got shredded newspaper in it. The pot sets the paper on fire. You get this burst of flame, and cram the lid on the can. Then you wait.

At the duly appointed time, you use long tongs to remove the pot and use water to quench it. Only then do you know what you’ve actually got.

He says Raku is like Christmas. You don’t know what’s inside the package until you open it.

Interestingly enough, people are the same way. Only in getting to know them do you expose their layers--some would say, their true colors. Like the Raku, as you process these layers, you see changes and differences that alter your perception and your reaction to what is and what’s revealed.

What you thought and what you come to know is often two entirely different things.

And in that, there’s merit for writers, particularly in creating characters.

We learn the nature of people through observation and revelation. What they want us to see, and what they can’t avoid revealing. And with each new insight, we observers place a value on that aspect of their character. Our opinions, judgments, values become measuring sticks for others.

Don’t bother saying, “I don’t judge.” We all judge and measure.

Most people (and therefore characters) are a blend of “good and bad” in our eyes. Whether they fall on the overall good or bad list depends on how they stack up as an entity. An example...

We meet x and admire his open attitude. He’s friendly and fun.
But as we watch x interact, we see that it’s an act. He isn’t genuine.

This changes our perception of him. We saw attributes that are now liabilities. Who wants to interact with someone who isn’t genuine?

But then y tells us that x is shy and he really has to force himself to be open to others. It’s very hard for him, yet he’s working on it.

This changes our perception of x again. We admire the effort. We relate to the struggle. Who among us hasn’t struggled to overcome something difficult for us?

And so it goes. With each new revelation, our perception can alter in ways we gauge to be favorable or unfavorable.

And this is the key to creating complex characters.

There’s an article in my writers’ library on this site (www.vickihinze.com), CREATING UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS, that focuses intently on the how-to side of creation, so I won’t repeat that here. Instead, what’s on my mind this morning is the value of that complexity in characters.

In my life, I’ve met many people. Most, as I said, are a combination of good and bad traits (in my eyes). I explored these perceptions and how they influence us in REFLECTIONS, the fall feature article, also on my writing website. What I didn’t get into in any depth there was the ability of others to manipulate our reactions to them. That’s an important tool in fiction.

While manipulators and people who attempt to control us are not welcome in life, they are there, and most of us have to deal with them, or choose to not deal with them. That makes including them in our fiction favorable. After all, fiction is all about conflict.

Manipulators and control freaks make formidable fictional characters. Some people do these things--manipulate and control (or attempt to)--which are by and large considered negative, destructive and unwelcome traits, with the best intentions. They are attempting to be a positive and constructive influence. To encourage the best.

In your characters, these people would be those serving story roles as the interfering friend, the well-meaning parent or co-worker. Someone who is trying to “help.” The object of their manipulations and attempts to control might not want it, need it or ask for it. But in their eyes, they’re the object’s appointed savior, so to speak. Saving the object from dire consequences or even from him- or herself.

We (as readers) understand this, but we still don’t like what they’re doing. And typically, we don’t like them.

Then there are those who manipulate and attempt to control others for darker, self-serving reasons. They too make formidable characters. Typically, villains. While they still have positive and negative traits in their repertoire, their intentions are not to save the object of their machinations but to use, abuse, manipulate and control to serve their own interests. They are attempting through falsehoods to be a negative and destructive influence because it serves their goal.

Now these characters (again, typically villains), don’t see themselves or what they’re doing as bad. They might even see what they’re doing as noble and just. It isn’t, and readers and other characters see the truth, but the villain typically does not. Usually because s/he’s hiding behind someone or something else. (i.e., many psychotics hide behind God. Claiming their methods are insignificant because they’re doing His will.) Bizarre to rational people, but to the psychotic, this makes total sense. And we (as readers) understand this. We don’t agree, but we do understand. We might even admire the mental acuity in it, but we’re never going to accept this twisted rendition as normal, rational, or acceptable. Yet understanding is enough. And it is there where the villain obtains his strength.

If you create a black-hearted bastard as a villain--a character who is all bad and has no redeeming qualities--then you and the reader know exactly what to expect. He will give his all to doing his worst. Why? Because that’s what people do. So when he does his worst, he’s only living up to expectations. The outcome of his actions and the consequences are foretold. Anticipated. No surprise. And that equates to no suspense. And to little interest.

It also robs the villain of his humanity. No one is all bad (though admittedly some try hard to be). The bottom line is that this villain is boring, dull and flat. No matter how horrific his actions are, or how twisted his mind is, he can’t surprise or stun or shock us. He’s stripped of that ability by his lack of redeeming qualities. And just like a person with those qualities, that sum makes him weak and ineffective.

But what if this blackhearted bastard is a normal man. Good and bad, soft and hard, tolerant and intolerant? What if he’s clever? Twisted to those who dig deeply enough to see his core, but normal to others who don’t, or who haven’t?

This villain has strength and constantly surprises because we don’t know what to expect, we are not signaling ahead on his actions or reactions, and we don’t know what buttons must be pushed for him to do his worst. We don’t know his worst. More interesting? Definitely. Stronger? Absolutely.

And because he is, he can carry more story weight.

Complex characters are all about character, yes. But they’re about motivations and internal conflicts, too.

In the past two decades, I’ve created a lot of characters, a lot of villains. And the ones that chill readers’ blood are the ones who successful fool most into believing they’re rational, reasonable and normal at the onset. As the story progresses, and their true colors are exposed, (revealing in bits their inner conflicts and motivations), they become greater obstacles until such time as the protagonist vanquishes them.

That exposure elevates the worthiness of the protagonist to be the protagonist. (If a villain is weak, it doesn’t take much of a protagonist to put him in his place. If he’s strong, it takes more. If he’s even stronger, it takes even more.) And that satisfies the reader’s need to see justice.

Often in life, we don’t see justice. In stories reader’s want it, and being aware of it, authors usually give it to them.

This doesn’t just apply to villains. The reverse is also true. We meet a character we think is a bad person and discover through the story events that they’re a good person. And sometimes we create characters that are an intricate blend and even the author isn’t sure whether or not a character is a hero or a villain until the very end of the book.

If you think that can’t happen, I’m telling you it can--and has happened to me. There was a secondary character in one of my military thrillers that seemed good, then bad, then good, then bad and then I just didn’t know whether he was honorable or the worst kind of bastard. I had to completely write the book to find out.

The secret was revealed in his motivations. In his internal conflict. And here’s the part that makes this worth sharing...

When I went back and looked at just his character in relation to the novel, I saw what spurred each and every twist in perception. His motivations, goals and conflicts were intact and in place. Subtle strokes I hadn’t deliberately inserted were there, too. I thought, at the end of the book when I discovered which he was, I’d have to extensively rewrite to make him credible and consistent. I didn’t have to change one word. Not about him.

Why?

I would guess that it’s because I got to know him as a person before I started writing him, and when subconsciously he nudged me in a direction other than the one I intended, I followed.

That doesn’t sound logical, I’m sure, to non-writers, but writers know exactly what I mean. If the writer is prepared (knows the character’s story function and gives him/her traits, attributes and skills to perform it), early on in a story, the characters take over. And sometimes they know where they’re going and who they are even if the writer consciously doesn’t know.

Anyway, creating characters is like slinging pottery. That’s what I wanted to say. The artist has some control, but in the end, there are surprises. Some are pleasant, some aren’t. But as it is when dealing with people and revealing those layers or true colors, even those who aren’t pleasant are usually interesting.

Blessings,

Vicki

Vicki Hinze
©2008

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