Connection through Characters

Chao- How many of us are sad when animals die in a film? How many of us don't feel bad when characters lose their jobs? Should we feel bad at all, or are we just being heartless creeps?

Random readers of blog: Yes! You are!

Chao- .... Allowing readers to connect to characters is something important: It'll give them a reason to continue on with your story. This idea is essential to original work, but it can be used in fan fics as well. You can shine a new light on a character and give readers a fresh perspective about them. You may get readers who agree with you about one character, or they may say that they have never thought to see other characters in such a way. Of course with fan fics, if you keep them within character, it can work well. OOC--out of character--is another story.

Questions to Consider:

• Will you be able to show why a character is grouchy or optimistic?
• Do friends and/or family really give out the radiance if they can be trusted or if they care about the protagonist?
• Can you convince a reader why characters wants to reach a goal good or bad?
• Are the characters' given goals something you or your readers can relate to?
• Are the reasons for characters to reach their goals compelling?

Chao- Let's face it: We want to read something that will excite us. We ask ourselves, "What's going to happen next?" If we read something we don't relate to, we usually see it as boring and stop. As authors we always want our readers to know what will happen next. We also want our characters to go on an important mission to accomplish something. Some stories are more plot based than character development, and some characters remain the same throughout an entire work (static character), but this is just one angle to consider.

Titles

Chao- Titles. Pretty darn important when it comes to writing and publishing. They can give a snippet to a story. They can also grab our attention. They are one of the things we look at first. So how we do know if a title is good? How do we come up with them?

Keep in mind for titles:

• They reflect the story
• Stay away from clichés. A story should be original; a title should reflect that.
• Examine the given titles of published works. Are they ones that have excited you or at least caught your attention?
• Keep it simple. Long titles are fine so long as they reflect the story. Subtitles are permitted as well.
• Get out of the habit of giving lazy titles to rough drafts or other documents. The more you practice, the better you will in brainstorming titles.

Chao- If you practice the last one, even with small scenes of little ideas for stories, they can help you capture that document rather than typing "Asdf" and forgetting what it stood for. But what if you are still struggling? Look at and read some of these suggested reading.

How to Title Your Book

How to Find Good Titles for Novels

Choosing the Right Name for Your Story

Chao- You know what Chao finds interesting? A lot of authors like to have the word/body part heart within the title. Maybe it's because the human heart is something that carries a being and emotions? Another common one is "Of X and Y". You know what else is common? Titles containing the word "doom". That one is usually used in Humor fan fics.

Story Telling: A Relationship Between Narration and Dialogue

Chao- (You can consider this Story Telling or Story Illustrating.) Have you ever considered a narrator to be a character? Sometimes they are, and we see them at the end of story, which can turn out to be a character from the story all this time. Other times the narrator's only job is to narrate a story. If you need a refresher about narration and point of view (POV), check out these links.

point of view - definition (About.com)

third person pov term (About.com)

first person term (About.com)

second person term (About.com)

narrator term (About.com)

Chao- And here are some examples of different POVs.

Example 1: He took a seat not knowing what to do next. Dark thoughts consumed his mind while heavy emotions plagued his heart. He always thought his actions were best for the group. He pondered his next move.

Example 2: I don't know what to do. I can feel dark thoughts consuming my mind while heavy emotions plague my heart. I always thought my actions were best for the group... What now?

Example 3: Taking a seat, he thought to himself, "I don't know what to do. I always thought his actions were best for the group." He sighed, "What now?"

Chao- Which option should you go for? Depends on your style, your characters' POV, and what you want to write. You should also be aware of rules placed on FF.net and FP.com. They don't allow second POV, probably since so many people wrote those choose your own adventures genres, which they don't allow.

Ask Yourself: How are my favorite stories told?

Chao- Some of us may enjoy first person so we can get that chill of seeing everything from their eyes. We may like third person so the authors can show us how every character relates to each other and the plot. Second person seems prime for fan fics, at least ones that are not on FF.net.

Updates for February

Chao- Going back to school has been a bit of a drag, but hopefully new things will come soon. Got half the class in person and half online; online ones really eat away your time. Looking forward to what adventures lie ahead, and here's a monthly update for fan fics.


Yu-Gi-Oh!: Hope you enjoyed the published one shots "Fears and Dreams of the Heart" and "Living in Time with Loved Ones". Got two more one shots in the works, and a special third one. Finished a rough draft of not the next chapter but the following chapter to "Offspring of Heroes". Hope to find more time to write.

Phineas and Ferb: No updates at this time.

Cats Don't Dance: No updates at this time.


Chao- That's it for now. Hopefully time can be found to also read a few fan fics. But for this blog, entries will continue this month since most topics are written and published ahead of time.