The Writer creates the seasons&scenes, the Reader follows the senses in scenes on that journey.

 I have discovered as I write this blog how much I am learning and it is great to be able to share it. It is almost like I am in college again and striving for that A grade!  In college I took every writing course available until they told me I had to actually take courses that were just for my degree. My original degree had been English but my father had talked me into Business management, I was so bored there was no creative involvement it was one way or you failed. It was taught primarily by egotistical males they talked about all their achievements. Ugh! As you can probably tell I changed my major. Back to English I am very glad I did, my other favorite was history so I took a detour into that degree too. It was a process and still is. Just as writing.

 I have the top photo and the quote really inspired me, I have based my quartet on the different seasons. I noticed with each book their is a definite difference not just in climate, but also in clothes and temperatures, and change in dynamic due to the characters, it is fun to challenge myself to write in all those different seasons. I love that quote is too it really paints a picture, which is what a scene does. Description is important. It gives that very real visceral observation in the story, you have to be able to pull your reader into that scene. It is very challenging to do that without going over board. I have read authors who take the time to describe the beauty of there heroine in every scene possible there is a mirror and we need a description again! So frustrating and it makes you think the heroine is very vain, I lose some empathy for her if I think she is stuck on herself. Ugh! it is very difficult for me to finish a story that is written like that. I want her to be beautiful, but I also want her to be more then that.

 Now mind you I am just stating a proven fact that if you describe the same things too much the reader gets bored. Every teacher of mine in college stated that as well. Now twenty years later I am finally understanding it. One of the key things you learn early on in writing is how to evoke the senses. Sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. An I quote from Wikipedia: "A sense is a physiological capacity of organisms that provides data for perception." I remember my teachers telling me I need more detail, we need to see, feel and smell this environment. I used to struggle with this until I started noticing it in reading. Some writers were amazing and I was completely pulled in. Every sense was involved with the discovery of this person and their story. And after reading another article by a "published author" who said that details were not that important. I went through and deleted most of my detail from my draft and while it was entertaining with dialogue, I was not pulled in. I understand  that more now since I have had others read it. I am working feverishly on adding that to my draft. In this process that continues with each page I write, I am also learning how to edit properly. somethings do not need explicit detail. Somethings just need dialogue and more emotion.

 As I always do in each blog, I mention a person or a book that has inspired me in some way. Any English major or anyone in general knows who Jane Austen was, and her wonderful books. My topic book this time is Sense and Sensibility, lol cause its a play on words and my topic Senses lol..Mostly because it is a wonderful story and as in all her writing you are in the story her descriptions, and emotions so clear an precise and her dry wit contagious. I have read an reread her stories so many times. The movies they have done are very good too. It is amazing to me a women in the that era can translate and we can all relate to the stories more than a hundred years later!

As quoted from Wikipedia:
"Her realism, biting irony and social commentary as well as her acclaimed plots have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics." The link to the website is below if you want to read about her life.

wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen

It is ironic to me that in every one of her stories their is always a happy ending, but in her own life there was not a happy ending. She endured a lot of hardship and illness. Her stories are alive an well with everyone that reads them just as every story should be. This directly applies to the details you give your characters, if you make them believable an relate-able then readers will return to read again and again. I only know this fact from personal experience as a reader. If that author does a good job I will buy their stories sometimes even sight unseen. As a writer I think it is important to remember that readers have no idea where they are in the story until you give the Setting, we have not idea what season it is till you give it the, Scene with the senses involved. In conclusion; The most important element to create, is to make your reader believe in your character completely, relate to them even if they are in Victorian England, and want to see them reach their happy ending. No I go back to writing my happy ending. Here are a couple of books that I can recommend for this topic (Scenes&Senses) are: Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go; by Les Edgerton,Scene & Structure (Elements of Fiction Writing);by Jack M. Bickham
 

~Life is a work in progress as writing is...Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)

The writer creates the realistic backstory, The reader can encompass that story!

I was talking about the importance of names last time. Now I want to talk about the importance of back-story. How it creates conflict, and emotion and moves the story forward.
I placed pictures of Audrey Hepburn here because One: I adore her, Two: I admire her. She was amazing in an all her movies. The real women was a humanitarian and advocate for basic human rights. My main character starts a non-profit to help other women so they have a place to turn too in any situation. Why did she start her non-profit? Well that is her back-story. So it is important because it gives us the answers to questions and fills in holes, and gaps, with action, emotion, laughs, and conflict. All these are needed to propel story forward. I can relate to Audrey in her movies because she is so genuine. If she was superficial or a snob I would not enjoy watching her films. I have tossed books because of that fact, non-relate-able characters, non-realistic motives. I am a firm believer in Plausible reality. This story can happen in any realm, universe, alien nation. Only if I can relate to that character and why they are there. What they are going through. This were back-story comes in. The who, what, why, and where's.

I have several favorite movies of hers, Roman Holiday ,My Fair Lady, Sabrina  and Funny Face to name a few One particular movie especially; Breakfast at Tiffany's. What a wonderful name Holly Golightly light an bubbly, flirty, it is perfect for this character. She is trained by O. J. Berman, to be in essence sophisticated call girl or prostitute. She adores jewels and men, parties, drinking and no commitment. If this was her only story it would not be very interesting, it would be dull, an I personally would have no interest in it. However her back-story is what makes her the women she is now. She wanted to make a better life for her an her younger brother, everything she does is for Fred, every sacrifice she makes is for Fred, she sells herself just so she can take care of Fred. I can relate to her, because I am a big sister and I would do anything to protect my brother or sisters. If she was not a big sister, or working to provide for her brother. I would have nothing to relate to. I have never been to New York, never bought jewelry from Tiffany's, etc.
When he dies she is overcome with grief. We were sad with her. Her past in the country, her previous marriage,wanting to get away from poverty, and farm life.This desire to change gave us the emotional reason to follow her and root for her success. It is the emotional conflict that pushes the story forward. Whenever you give a character a back-story it gives them more layers to play with, more characters to introduce and for readers to enjoy. As I was adding to my cast, I was created characters and people from my girls past, people from my guys past. It was amazing how much you can add with just one person from the past.  Below is an example of some to the questions you can ask you Character.
Several of my teachers in college suggested a Character profile, and a series of questions to ask them. One teacher explained. "It is as if you were on an interview for the newspaper." I love this idea because I used to be a newspaper editor in high school.  So think of questions you'd ask a nanny for you children, or questions someone woul ask you in a job interview? These are important because this is person you trust your children with, or someone you would hire. This is also where Character traits can come into play. Choosing a good balance between positive and negative traits makes it much easier for conflict to occur. For example: His temper, quick to flair. Her stubbornness, she will not compromise. I can see an argument right here!

Also its what adds depth and personality the one dimension becomes two, or three , or four dimension's. Like Holly Golightly she is described as: the naïve, eccentric, café, society girl. Even in that description she is so much more than that. She was a women trying to make a better life for herself and her brother. Yet all most people saw was a pretty face, or arm candy they could hire. All these things are additions to her story and her character.They can be created individually or can come from past experiences adding another layer to your character. It is so interesting adding layers. In our society today though it is appalling to me how women are labeled and judged by their face, or their weight. Kelly Clarkson is always being hammered about her weight, or Jennifer Garner being accused of being pregnant because she doesn't have a perfect plastic surgery tummy. It is just awful that women have to be criticized like this. So hopefully your characters are not plastic surgery perfect, they have flaws, freckles, frizzy hair etc. They are real. Because real women read romantic fiction.

Above quote is one of my faves of hers. I truly believe she speaks the truth. True beauty comes from within, and how you treat others. A cool few facts about the beautiful Audrey Hepburn the real women not Holly. Audrey Hepburn was the granddaughter of a baron, the daughter of a Nazi sympathizer, spent her childhood and teens doing ballet to secretly raise money for the dutch resistance against the Nazis, and spent her post film career as a goodwill ambassador of UNICEF, winning the presidential metal of freedom for her efforts...And history remembers her as pretty...Let's change attitudes and challenge preconceived notions. Let's evolve! Join the cause.Quoted from Actor and Director Rose McGowan's Facebook page.

We all carry baggage, so the fictional characters have to have baggage as well. Rapunzel? Talk about baggage, her mother for example is  so obsessed with beauty and kidnaps Rapunzel so she can have it all to herself. Rapunzel always has this feeling of not good enough, and she can't do anything thanks to her mothers obsessive tendencies they have contributed to Rapunzel and her views, like everything in the outside world is evil and they all want to kill her for her magic hair. Talk about paranoia right?
Rapunzel however is not timid, she is determined to see her lanterns and have an adventure even if this means going out into that evil world, and disobeying her mother. Heck she trusts a criminal with her care? If she was not afraid, if her mother had not said no their would be no story. She is fierce and loyal and has a mean right hook with a cast iron pan.Yet she also has that innocence and sadness. She has many layers even as a Disney princess. Her desire to accomplish this birthday goal is what propels the story forward. She gets the guy, and a real family in the end too which is awesome.

All of these conflicts are things that happened before our story begins. We as writers should have a clear picture of that back-story before we start. In a perfect world that would be the case lol. In mine however this book has been a process of years so the back-story has come and be added as I go. The chapters have changed from my original outline. When you are working on a lengthy book it is normal that this happens. I thought I was weird or unprepared. I have read and heard I am just like every other writer trying to figure all this stuff out as I go. That is also why I say all the time. Writing is a learning process its constantly changing as we are, and as our characters are.

In conclusion; I never understood how important a back-story was to my readers. When I finished my fourth draft, and had others read it. I had left out important back-story thinking it was taking away from my story. What it did was leave my story with all these holes, and questions, and it gave my readers no association with my heroine. That is the key to any story your reader has to identify with her. She has to root for her, want her to succeed and get her happy ending. I understood the happy ending part. I didn't thoroughly understand how conflict, emotion, and back-story propel that character forward. Now I do. So it is an exciting prospect to me that I have again learned something new about writing, and story development. So do your research and add your layers it makes the story so much more. Add those negative traits as well as positive ones, because we are all not perfect. They shouldn't be perfect either there is nothing to shot for then.

In my next blog, I will go into more detail on how different conflicts emotional, psychological,  and suspense, created from back-story we are writing now to add dimension to the story. Three great books to check out for more information on character development: Creating Characters;How to build story people, by Dwight V. Swain, Breathing life into your characters;How to give your characters emotional and psychological depth, by Rachel Ballon, PH.D., Writing a Romance Novel;For Dummies, By Leslie Wainer, Writers digest has tons of articles to on each and every aspect of writing characters.

Here's a link to one of the back-story articles: http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/write-first-chapter-get-started/weave-in-backstory-to-reveal-character

~Life is a work in progress as writing is...Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)