Writers Club Wednesday: Killing your Characters

Every Wednesday I meet with the Laie Young Writers Club for a short discussion on the art of writing, and then readings by club members. This week our lesson will be on killing characters. Yes, it's fun, but it must be done carefully.

So why do we kill characters in stories? Well, death happens, and exploring the powerful emotions that surround this most final of all events is one of the great themes of storytelling throughout human history. Stories, as a road map for life, also give us a road map to navigate our grief at the death of a loved one, and eventually our own meeting with the infinite beyond.

And, on a more practical level, threatening the life of a character is one of the tried and true ways of raising tension and keeping readers turning pages.

So, how to do it right? First of all, don't expect your readers to care if you kill off a character before the reader has time to get to know and love that character. If you kill or threaten to kill someone in the first few pages of a story, you can't get anywhere near the emotional reaction you would have if you saved that sort of thing for the end.

A tangent to this -- if your readers know a character is going to die during the story, they may have a hard time forming an emotional attachment to them.

Second, make sure dead characters stay dead, UNLESS you build it into the rules of your fictional world and prepare the reader for it. Killing someone only to bring them back later can make the reader feel cheated. You want death to have all of its emotional power, so don't weaken it by making it less than permanent.

Third, the death of a character only has as much emotional impact for the reader as it has for the other characters. If some unfortunate member of the adventuring party dies and the other characters have an, "Oh well, too bad, let's keep hiking. Do you suppose there's a pub in the next village?" sort of attitude, then the reader won't care either. Maybe that's what you want, but if it isn't, make sure the other characters show some shock and grief.

Anyone have some other pointers on character death for us? Leave a comment and we'll share it at club meeting.

Research and Development

What part of the writing process do I like the most? It's hard to say. I know I love research and development. Yesterday I had my college physics text open as I scribbled equations in my notebook and made sketches for interplanetary spacecraft. I also read for hours about the history of slavery, from the Israelites in bondage in Egypt to modern-day child camel jockeys in Saudi-Arabia.

I just have to make sure that all of this exciting research doesn't overshadow the plot.

Last night, in looking over my work for the day, I clapped my hands to my head and exclaimed, "I started out with this fun little swash-buckling space-pirate adventure story, and now I'm having to draw on my knowledge of the entirety of human civilization!"

My daughter shouted from the other room, "That's because you're the only one who is going to do it right!"

Posted Elsewhere

I'm all worn out. I spent the morning driving all around town trying to figure out how I was going to mail 226 sheets of white office paper to New York. Yes, this is a happy problem to have. But it wore me out.

So it is extra lucky that I already have a nice blog post for today ON ANOTHER BLOG. My good friend Beth Revis invited me to guest blog for her today. Go check it out!

My guest post on "writing it out"

My Week Off

After submitting my rewrite, I decided to take a week off before starting revisions on my next book. I spent the week doing the taxes, looking for literary agents, honing my query letter, and thinking about how to fix my next book’s ending, which my critique group hated.

I also went to the library.

“We have to get out of here,” I told my daughter. It was our second trip to the library in two weeks and I already had a huge stack of unread library books at home, plus another six books on request. I knew I didn’t need more, but, “The books keep jumping into my hands, see? Oh, here’s another one that looks good!” I slid an enticing title off the shelf and turned it over to read the blurb on the back.

“There isn’t enough fantasy,” my daughter complained.

“People don’t remember this, but fifteen years ago, there wasn’t any fantasy being written for middle grade. That was before Harry Potter. Nowadays when you go to the book store that’s all you see on the shelf. But here at the library, a lot of these books are ten and fifteen years old.” I shifted the stack of books in my arms to keep my latest acquisition from sliding off. “Now what we need is for someone to do for science fiction what Potter did for fantasy.”

With a grin, I glanced over my shoulder at the dog-eared Harry Potter books lined up in their own special place on top of the shelf. Somebody do that for science fiction. Please.

Query Away!

I sent off a query letter and some sample pages on Wednesday, my first submission to a literary agent in over two years. As I stood at the post office counter and thumbed through my submission packet I smiled at how different I felt as compared to last time. Here's a quote from my journal two years ago:

"Today I finally got out to the post office. I had a stack of bills and another query to send off. As I drove down the road I had to fight a growing sense of foreboding. Why was I doing this? This was crazy! I am sending a letter, a synopsis, and the first three chapters of my book to a complete stranger! I thought, If I turn the car around and drive home right now, I could put the bills in the mail box and put my manuscript in the filing cabinet and just forget about the whole thing. No one would ever know the difference. I don't have to publish this novel. WHY AM I DOING THIS?"

This time there was no agonizing. It was almost a non-event. I made sure my SASE was in there, glanced over my letter one last time, sealed the envelope shut and dropped it in the slot.

Last time, I had only finished one manuscript. For that one manuscript to face rejection seemed like a matter of life or death for my writing career. This time, I've finished three full manuscripts. If no one takes number two, then I'll try again with number three. And then number four, and so on. I could keep at this forever. But I don't think I'll have to. Because with each book I learn and get better, and eventually I'm going to be good enough to find that agent.

Earthcrosser Back in Orbit

I got word today that my manuscript has arrived safely, and is now waiting in line to be considered. Thanks so much to everyone who read draft 8 and gave me suggestions. Every pair of eyes helps!

While I wait, I'm going to be revising my next book. I have something new to try. Lately, I've heard more than one professional author talk about creating a solid synopsis BEFORE writing a book. I'll try it for this revision, and also for a new book which I plan to draft this summer. Since I seem to have more trouble with story than with any other element of my writing, I think this will really help me get that in hand.

Getting There!

I finished reading Earthcrosser again today. There's still a list of things to do before I submit, but overall it is a solid piece of work.

Preparing submission materials for this book was SO MUCH EASIER than preparing them for my previous novel. Number one, I had done it once before, so I already knew how to do it. Number two, this book is so much stronger than my last one. It's always easier to sell something that's worth buying.

So That's the Problem!

I finished revising my book again, then set it aside for a week. At first I had a hard time bringing myself to read it, afraid of what I might find. But once I picked it up and started going, it was great! I've heard authors lament that they can't enjoy their own books. Not my experience. I forgot I'd written it. I forgot I was reading. I became totally absorbed in the story.

And then I got to the ending.

SPLAT!

This revision was supposed to repair the ending, but somehow I still dropped the ball and it rolled away somewhere. The ending left me completely flat. What happened? What went wrong?

After scratching my head for a few days, I decided to make a chart. I took a piece of poster board, named the twelve most important story threads along the top, and then jotted the chapter numbers down the side. Skimming through the book, I followed each thread, chapter by chapter. And lo...

Of the twelve major story threads, five are left with NO ENDING. Not just left unresolved. Left OUT! Completely unmentioned in the final chapters. And of those five dangling threads, three are important relationships between the main character and other major characters in the book. Now I don't want everything tied up neat with a bow, but I do need to at least give a hint of some level of resolution or some new direction for each of these threads.

I meant to re-submit this book before the end of the year, but it is more important to GET IT RIGHT! Back to work.

Back to Work

The most valuable thing I learned at the BYU writer's workshop was a bit of wisdom from Martine Leavitt. She said, "Once you've been published you will realize that the best part of making books is writing them."

I liked that. I can experience the best part of the process right now! In fact, I'm dashing off the first draft of a new book and loving it. Made it to page 24 today!

On the other hand, Tracy Hickman said, "If it isn't read, it's dead." A book does not become an experience until someone reads it. The more readers I reach, the more my work will live. And the best chance I have to reach a lot of readers is to get a good publishing contract.

Back to work!

Finished At Last!

Last night I finished the last revision of EARTHCROSSER. After two hours of moaning and hissing, and sometimes laughing right out loud, I lay on the floor with my hands over my eyes. I felt like I had just given birth, except the pain was all in my head. My mom had sent me a list of revisions after she read draft 6 and I wanted to get them in while I still had time to rethink, so right after dinner I sat down at the computer.
“Mom, there’s a slice of cheese on the counter. Can I eat it?”
“Yessssss...”
“Mom, did you say I could use a wire coat hanger to make my butterfly net?”
“Don’t talk to me right now, pleeeease!”
“Mom! Mom! Can I play on the Nintendo?”
“Ask your dad. Whatever he says.”
The answer should have been no. It was supremely hard to transport myself seventy-six years into the future in my imagination when my children were talking excitedly over their video game in the other corner of the room. NEXT TIME I want to write immediately after dinner I will do more than say to Russel, “I’m going to write for a while, is that okay?” I will make sure the children have something quiet and engaging to do in some location where I can’t hear them. Better yet, I’ll just remember that I can’t write unless they’re all asleep or all at school.

You Need To Be A Little More Clear

"Becka? There's a place here where you need to be a little more clear." My husband sat on the couch, my freshly drafted manuscript beside him.

"Get a sticky note." I got up to come and see what the problem was. Grateful as I am for my husband's often insightful suggestions on my writing, it always irritates my perfectionist side that there are ever any suggestions to make.

"I'm just really confused by the way you start this next chapter."

I read over his shoulder, trying to figure out what the problem was and how many hours it would take me to fix it. "That's not the next chapter. Where's chapter fourteen? You're missing about eleven pages right here."

We both burst out laughing.

"I must have forgot to print that chapter out." I certainly hadn't forgotten to write chapter 14.

"Yes, you really needed to be more clear here."

Sorry, I Don't Read Your Blog

To start out, I'd like to thank all 789 of the absolutely unique visitors who have been to my blog (statistic courtesy of Google Analytics). I do wish I had time to return the favor! I just wanted to say I'm sorry, but in those two or three hours you spend every day surfing the internet, reading blogs and the like, I'm trying to write a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel for readers age 9 - 12.

According to Google Analytics, exactly seven people on the whole internet have actually read the first chapter of that novel which I posted some months ago on my personal website. That's okay. It's only draft four. Wait a month or so and I'll have draft six ready for volunteer test-readers!

Back in the Saddle

Finally, FINALLY, after nearly three months, I cracked open my manuscript and read through chapter one. Eh, not bad, but it still needs some work. Especially now that I have some new ideas. Hee hee. My plan - to go through the manuscript slowly, marking it up for revision while creating a working outline.

So far I have written two and 3/4 books in my life, and in every case I spend most of my first draft moodling around, learning about the characters and the world they live in. I have some idea of the plot, some of the time, but I'm so open to all options that pop into my imagination that the stories get scattered. Now it is time to FOCUS! I will find the best story threads I came up with and weave them together into a powerful plot that can pull the reader along through the prose.

World Building

With four drafts and an encouraging letter from the editor in my back pocket, I'm ready to take on Earthcrosser my way. My teacher at the writing workshop told me to finish the book and submit it as soon as I could, before the editor forgot who I was. That meant my habitual three or four years of world building had to be skipped so I could get on with things and write the prose. No, I'm not going to make the editor wait three years for a re-write, but I'm no longer in a desperate rush. I can let the ideas distill into my brain. I can ask thousands of questions about the world and wait for my imagination to answer. I can think things through until my alternate world approaches the complexity and intensity of real life.

So today I'm having lots of fun figuring out how to destroy modern civilization and keep it down for fifty years. Wish me luck!

A Thousand Words an Hour

I got an e-mail back from the editor yesterday. She said she enjoyed my manuscript, gave me some suggestions, and said she'd look at a re-write. That's all I needed to hear. I'm still a million miles away from selling a manuscript, but I feel like I've already crossed a light-year or two.

Today I finally returned to something like my normal routine. My husband had meetings all day, my older children are in school, so it was just me and the three-year-old. At last, a little time to write!

After taking a long holiday vacation from writing I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it. During the quiet afternoon I sat down to work on a funny little folk-tale adaptation and spat out 1000 words in a little over an hour. They were first-drafty-words, but they came rolling out as easily as ever.

I love writing!

And Now, For My Next Trick...

After submitting my very first full manuscript ever to be requested by anyone in the publishing industry, I thought I should take a short break before beginning my next project.

Four days was enough.

Yesterday I sat down and wrote out all the ideas I've had to date that I thought were good enough to become books. I picked the one I got the most excited about, and then spent the rest of the day happily dreaming up a whole new world.

In other happy news, my three-year-old went to the eye doctor yesterday and lo, his lazy eye is now reading 20/30 just like his strong eye! His vision is equal after only six months of patch therapy! Hooray! This month we're cutting his patch wearing time in half to see if it stays stable.

What Gets You Out of Bed in the Morning?

I love this stage of working on a manuscript! After months of writing and revising, I know the manuscript so well I can work on it in my head while I do housework. Homemaking and novel writing is an ideal career combination. As a homemaker, I have innumerable mundane tasks to perform. While I match socks and wash dishes my mind can run free, eavesdrop on my characters' conversations, work out new passages of text, find errors, and come up with fresh ideas. Any time I get stuck at the keyboard I can go pull weeds, sort toys, and especially go play games with my little children to get the creative flow going again. On the other hand, working on the novel gives me a sense of progress that would otherwise be eroded by the unending round of laundry, dishes, and meals to cook.

I especially like waking up in the morning and having an idea so exciting I have to run downstairs to the keyboard and get it in before it is time for me to start the day. Then trouble occurs if I try and keep writing while I cook breakfast. Was that the oatmeal boiling over? Oops! Got to go!

Fourth and Final Draft

Tonight I marked up the last chapter of draft three and I'll start putting in changes on Monday, after I get back from taking my three-year-old to the eye doctor.

Last week I e-mailed the editor to let her know I hadn't dropped of the face of the planet or decided to start my own catering service instead of writing this book. To my surprise and delight, she e-mailed back three minutes later. She remembered me and my humble first chapter from way back in June, and she said she'd keep an eye out for my submission.

So now I will remain very calm and professional.

WHEEEEEEEE!

The Writer's Keyboard

My poor old keyboard! The only letters that hadn't been rubbed off were Q,W, T,Y,U,I,P,G,Z,X, and B. I can't write much with that.

I typically touch type, but every now and then, especially when I'm typing in a password and can't see what I'm hitting by watching the screen, I just have to look at the keys! So I took my Dremel and etched the missing letters back in.

That should last a little while.

Draft Two Done at Last!

For a while there I thought I might not make it, but this morning I added the final scene to my second draft. The book is 52,000 words long now, just about right for a short middle-grade novel. Now I'm going to take a break for a week while my fabulous team of test readers (thanks again, folks) gets to work. I'll take their suggestions and keep them in mind as I do another reading and mark-up before I begin draft three.

What am I going to do on my one week vacation? PAINT THE UPSTAIRS BATHROOM! It has been nearly a year since I ripped out the floor. That must be one big advantage of paying someone else to do your home improvement projects - THEY ACTUALLY GET DONE!