Book characters often have a special talent or device that helps them to stand out. If we could get these things for Christmas, some of them would make writing so much easier! Here's a few that I'd like:
1. The extendable ears Fred and George Weasley invented in J. K. Rowling's The Order of the Phoenix, because they'd come in handy for helping to create natural-sounding dialogue.
2. Sam's curiosity in E.B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan, because his nightly questions would generate a lot of writing ideas. I wouldn't mind a dose of his patience, either (while I'm waiting for stories that are out on submission).
3. The Scrabble skill that Ambrose has in Word Nerd by Susan Nielson, because I'd love to beat my Mom at Scrabble sometime.
What have you found in a book that you'd like to have?
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Are Your Characters Like You?
Do you ever notice that your characters contain bits and pieces of your own personality? If the real me was ever in a book, I’d probably make for quite an eccentric character.
You see that woman at the side of the pool, hunched over and scribbling in a sketchbook while the kids are having their swimming lesson? Or that crazy lady hunting for snails in her front yard while other people in the neighbourhood are sitting on their porches enjoying the evening? She actually rejects watching an episode of Glee to type stuff on the computer. And she drags home huge bags of books from the library every week. Weird.
Luckily, I’m creating the characters in my books, so I can put in a few non-eccentric qualities of my personality and exaggerate the traits I like. You know, like magic. Or super powers. Hmm. I definitely see the appeal of writing fantasy. Of course, sometimes parts of my personality emerge unintentionally. (I swear that mean character is nothing like the real me.)
You see that woman at the side of the pool, hunched over and scribbling in a sketchbook while the kids are having their swimming lesson? Or that crazy lady hunting for snails in her front yard while other people in the neighbourhood are sitting on their porches enjoying the evening? She actually rejects watching an episode of Glee to type stuff on the computer. And she drags home huge bags of books from the library every week. Weird.
Luckily, I’m creating the characters in my books, so I can put in a few non-eccentric qualities of my personality and exaggerate the traits I like. You know, like magic. Or super powers. Hmm. I definitely see the appeal of writing fantasy. Of course, sometimes parts of my personality emerge unintentionally. (I swear that mean character is nothing like the real me.)
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