Hello!!!
gosh.. please let me explain lol..

For the past four weeks i have been trying to get everything in order, packed, finalized and moved! sigh I can safely say that all that i own is now back at home with my parents, including me lol so i can begin to save and accumilate with many new house items- always fun!

with writing, i have managed to find a great book to help with new authors! Michael had a book on his shelf that gasp you guessed it.. i didn't even discover it until i was packing it away into a large cardboard box lol.. it is just great for beginner writers though. It is called Writings Novels (writen in 1992) and it goes step by step with establishing characters and their details, settings and establishing the first and last few chapters of every book you write.. its fantastic for those of us who need a bit of guidance!!
I have already completed one of the exercises in the book about establishing characters and they say that you should add something odd or interesting the effect of their appearance- something that will capture the reader with interest.. perhaps the main character has had a major ordeal i.e- an abortion, the loss of a baby can really put a death effect to a story that sounds like a fairytale.. or perhaps your character can have scars from an accident or minor/major burns to their appearance.
of course you don't have to add things like this to your characters, though to be honest.. i never thought about doing this- i always think about characters who take your breath away with their beauty.. but be honest.. some people will see someone with scaring accross their face and jump in shock.. as horrible as this reality is- it happens! this can add a large amount of stress to the story, enabling the reader to feel emotion and anger more easier also.

i think i love writing for these reasons- you can create the people, the places and the relationships of everyone within the community you chose. This is what writing is about.. telling a good tale, but making it so believable that you can touch it, feel and and see it happening infront of your own eyes.. have a go- experiment and feel the characters.

Besdies, each character you create has an inch of you in it, whether you mean for it or not.

Hope you are all well and grand,
Kerrie

i know what you mean about the characters ....i have created a pretty nasty character for my book and i sadly admit to the fact that i can see much of myself in him but on an up level i baced the main character onmyself for the simple fact that at the time i was looking for a short cut and yeh so thats how i ended up with cherake but she is a much better character but using and developing charcters can be realy intreating even if your not a writer...actors use a lot of writers techniques to develop characters aswell.

you're right cassie! alot of actors use this technique also.. i think it is a great way to get to know your characters! i haven't been writing alot lately, though i have been taking notes and especially practising getting to know my characters as well as i possibly can. i also bought a fountain pen lastnight snazzy


kerrie

Kerrie, how fabulous that you found the right book at the right time.  And don't worry that you didn't find it earlier.  You might not have been ready for that.  The universe does funny things.  Often when you're ready for something, it just turns up in your life almost out of thin air.  And doing exercises is a great way to get the creative juices flowing in a smaller structured framework, so there's no fear of "what if I get stuck and can't finish the story".

Maybe if you've got time you could tell us what some of the exercises were, or if anyone else has an exercise they find helpful, they could share it too.

 

its good that things areb turning up for you kerrie...i find that whenever i begin to fall away from writng or lose hope of ever being sucsessfull somthing always comes along that keeps me going weird huh.

Do tell Kerrie!

Leave us a hint a week. Like to describe an unusual physical characteristic. That's great.
It's a fine line deciding how much to describe - some authors descibe every little thing, others nothing at all so you have to make it all up in your head. As a reader I like some early guidance as I ahte picturing the character and then a little way in the authot mentiosn their blonde hair - when I pictured them brunette - I find that so off putting!

What do you guys think? How much physical description of characters do you like when reading a book?

personally i can only explain it as enough to picture them....which if you think about it , isnt all that much.