Wicked Wordsmith

Need Help With Your Manuscript?

Contributor Becky Levine recently updated her Web site. Levine is a book reviewer, children's author, manuscript editor, freelance writer, speaker and teacher.

If you need help with your manuscript, or would like a speaker at your next meeting or conference, visit her site for more info.

http://www.beckylevine.com/

Angela Wilson - Wicked Wordsmith

Mix Up the Ingredients, Amp Up the Tension

You’re at the airport, waiting to board your flight. You’re looking at the schedule for tomorrow’s conference. That little headache is getting worse, and your aspirin is at the bottom of your suitcase. A garbled voice announces a cancelled flight; was it yours? You’re pretty sure you turned off the oven, but not really sure.

I’ve just described a realistic, if busy, morning. Dealing with each problem one at a time is simple. Call your husband about the oven. Go ask someone about the flight. Reread your conference schedule. By now, you probably don’t even need the aspirin. Life is rarely that calm, though; too often, everything happens at once and the headache is a killer. You’re stressed, and you’re tense.

Okay, this isn’t such a good place to be in real life. In fiction, though? Tension is just what the doctor ordered!

Plotting a scene is hard; merging all the necessary elements can feel close to impossible. What a writer often ends up with is several paragraphs on the first problem—say the conference schedule. They might follow those paragraphs up with a few more, dealing with the flight announcement. Several bits later, they stick in the thought about the oven, and the character makes the phone call to her husband. Finally, the headache, which made a brief appearance in paragraph one and has mysteriously disappeared for two pages, comes back. It’s blindingly painful for the character and absolutely unexpected for the reader.

This kind of writing is fine for the first draft; you’re getting all the issues onto paper. In the next pass, though, start mixing things up. In your mind, or for real, cut the pages up and toss the pieces into the air. See where they fall. Shove a stick into the mess and make it even worse. Now rewrite.

This isn’t an easy task; you’ll probably end up with a nice headache of your own. In the end, though, your character’s day and your scene are going to be complicated and complex...yes, stressful. What could be better?

Becky is happy to answer questions and chat by email. Contact her through her website: www.beckylevine.com

Giving Your Lovable Characters Some Not-So-Lovable Traits by Becky Levine

How many times have you heard this at a writing workshop or conference: "Give your protagonist a flaw."

So you think about it for a while, and you decide your hero has a limp. Or you make your heroine not quite so pretty. Then, you keep writing.

Deep down, though, you know that isn't it. It's not enough.

You need a personality flaw.

You take another shot. You hand the main character a temper, then watch them fly off the handle at the smallest irritation. Or you make them a bit of a braggart, and suddenly all the other characters are knocking each other over on their way out the door... and you're afraid your readers will, too.

How do you give your protagonist some negative traits, without turning them into a real pain? You've got a few guidelines to play with:

• Make the quality believable. Don't suddenly give a shy boy a dose of loud sarcasm.
• Base the flaw on a strength. Vulnerability is okay, but weakness in a hero is something few readers tolerate. In other words, rudeness is usually more acceptable than timidity.
• Include a reason for the flaw. Nervousness makes people talk too much; injustice produces anger; bossiness pushes most of us into stubbornness. If you make it clear why your character is acting badly, you not only add that layer that hooks your reader, you're going to catch them with sympathy as well.
• Make your character self-aware. If your protagonist has a lousy day and yells at the pizza guy, let them see what they're doing. Make them feel guilty, even if they can't stop shouting. At the last minute, let them apologize, maybe with a dash to their wallet and a $20 tip.

Superman had Kryptonite, but he didn't have any flaws. And, as wonderful as Superman is, you can only read about him for so long without needing a nap. If he'd yelled at Lois - just once - for always getting herself in trouble; if he'd tripped a couple of times coming out of the phone booth; if he'd let just one bad guy get away...

Myself, I always liked Clark Kent better.

Becky Levine is a writer, editor, and speaker. She is currently revising her first middle-grade mystery novel. Find out more about Becky at her website, www.beckylevine.com, and her blog, http://beckylevine.livejournal.com.