Author, Book, Character Developement, Characters, Creating Real Life Characters, Creative Writing, Emotions

Check List for Creating Characters

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Creating Writing Characters Plus Check List Guide

These are my notes from week 7 of my Character Development class.

Some tips to tell how to create characters in your story. A good story has characters that are unique.

-Give names to your characters-each of them need a name and personality so one’s readers can identify with them.

-Picture how your characters look- Imagine how your character look by appearance. It could be about the clothes they wear or even the devices they use. For me I went through magazines to find my characters that said HELLO and matched what I had envision they would be if I came across them on the street.

-Create problems for your characters- Remember your characters need problems or conflicts, so it will add more meaning to your story. Show, don’t tell your reader about the threat the characters are facing or problems they may have.

-Good guys and bad guys- Protagonist/Antagonist, Hero/Villain. A good story is one that tells about the good and bad. In this way, your readers will learn about each character and it will make them want to read more of your story.

-Make your characters have friends and enemies- Your characters need both. It is in this way to make your readers feel that your character is real.

Create characters- A creative writer knows how to create characters. Each character must be unique and make readers care about them. To create good characters, you can look at your friends, anyone around or animals and nature.

-Decide your story’s viewpoint- Before you start your story, you need to decide whether you want to tell the reader everything related to your characters at once or if you want to reveal it in st ages. That is your call.

Make power words- Powerful words are very important in story-telling. Using powerful words is like having a magic wand. So think and write vividly as much as you can think of.

-Make characters speak- Make your character speak to each other or think. This will help your readers hear your characters talking and get to know them.

-Edit your story- After you finish your first story, give yourself time to rest before starting to edit. So it is easy to find mistakes in one’s story. And find out all the errors including spelling and grammar errors.

Author, Blog, Books, Manuscript, Publishers

Request for Manuscript

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In February a serious effort to submit two of my books was started. The email queries got sent out first and I am now working on the ones that need to be sent out by regular mail.

Well long story short I have just been contacted from a publisher. They want to see the rest of the Jasper. Amazon Parrot book. I know I know it is a long shot. But just hearing the nice things she said about the sections I sent her made me teary eye.

A small portion of me feels validated regardless of where this ends up. I thought darn woman it is silly to tear up over this but now that I have had a chance to think on it, it really isn’t.

There was a small set back. Earlier this year I created a new email just for my writing. The one I would use to send out my query letters, ask for information on guidelines and all that good stuff so it would not get lost in with my other email activities. So all excited from the contact from a publisher I logged into this account. I typed in my user name. Woohoo almost there. Next was to type in the password, the one that I created that I just KNEW I would not forget but I did. Knowing I could get a recovery email from the server I did so only to be told I had to wait 24 hours for security reasons.  My mouth dropped wide enough to catch flies as I stared blankly into space. Time was of the essence but that did not matter I had to wait until March 17th to get this fixed. I finally got the new password and sent the MS to the publisher on Saturday. The anxiety that was felt in having to wait is indescribable.

This is an excerpt of what the publisher said :

“It is lovely written and without a doubt Jasper, Amazon Parrot, will entertain and educate young readers with his adventure in the Rainforest. We would love to review the entire manuscript.”

Gosh I don’t care how many times I read this, giddiness envelopes me. Bottom line where ever this goes, the fact someone thought the above makes me squeal inside and out.

Author, Blog, Book, Characters, children's book, Creative Writing, Electronic submission, Life, Publishers, Publishing House

Traditional Publishing

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The decision had been made for me to try get a publishing house to publish my books. I realized it is a crap shoot with today’s market and houses being more selective in what they decide to pick up.  The official Writer’s Market was purchased and I started tto work on finding those who seem to fit the books.

I have told a few people this but not many. One particular friend of mine does not seem to get it and I wonder how many are like her. When I told her it takes about 30 minutes to get one electronic submission complete she called my bluff. I did not even bother to mention how much time it takes to complete one submission that is submitted by smail.

Did you know that all the editing and revising is a waste of my time? That I should leave that for the publishers? No that is not how it is done- at least to me. If I don’t present the best possible product I can on my first try well that is a sure-fire way to get to the trash can.  Every time she ask me where am I at, the constant reply is editing, revising, submitting and writing. When she ask have I heard from a publisher yet I tell her these things take time.

It finally came to a head when she said have I tried to find publishers in the state, Ah yes I have. When she said well have you goggled it on-line for why she found over 100 publishers. Again ah yes I have.  Finally I had to just lay it out for I was getting just pissed.

In an email I wrote this:

For each publisher that I look at, the following has to be considered:

1-Are they still in business? Just because they are on-line does not mean their doors are open

2-Are they reputable?

3-Do they publish my genre and if so are they accepting submissions?

4-What are the guidelines?

5 This last one is very important. If you see the name Chris, one has to make sure you find out if

Chris is male or female. To put the wrong Mr or Ms is a sure way to get rejected.

All of this takes time and all of it has to be done per company.  I am trying to push two books right now, have two that I am revising and editing while working on three WIP.

This is all time-consuming, frustrating and down right makes one exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically. But realizing I have chosen to try traditional publishing first it has to be accepted this is what has to be done.  I just get really tired of people saying so what are you doing now? Why are you making a mountain out of a mole hole, it is not rocket science. No it is not- its torture that I have willingly inflicted on myself for I believe in my books. After all the work that was consumed in creating them, why not give them a chance?

The Musings of A New Englander