Q is for: Quirky

In the movie When Harry Met Sally (dating myself here) we quickly discover Sally's habit of extremely detailed food ordering.

By the end of the movie, Harry is not only at peace with her annoying habit, he lists it as one of the things he loves about her.

Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow is rife with quirks. He twitches, he sways, he mumbles riddles nobody can understand. He's unabashedly selfish and sneaky. Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka is similar, with a whole other package of quirks/weirdnesses to keep us interested.

Charles Dickens grew to popularity on the backs of his quirky characters like Nurse Ratchet, Miss Havisham, Scrooge. Sheridan's Mrs. Malaprop misused words so frequently that doing so is now called a 'malapropism'. LM Montgomery gave Anne Shirley the deep desire to trade her red hair for black. Dobby the elf likes to wear tea cozies as hats.

If we create them right, our characters should have lots of quirks. These habits/behaviors make them unique, help us to identify with them, give us handles to keep them straight in our minds. I admit - I'm not a quirky person so remembering to add this into my character brew is something I struggle to do.

What are some quirks you've added to your characters?

Characters on the couch

The past month's excitement completely erased my short-term memory and I FORGOT I signed up for this bloghop. *red face* However, I'm going to woman-up and post as often as necessary this week, since I also promised an interview with my uber-agent, the wondrous Tricia Lawrence, prior to the pitch contest next week. (Click here for deets on participating in that AND how to sign up for two gorgeous prizes.)
Anyway, Cassie and Angie are sponsoring this very cool writerly experience and if you want to learn more, go here.

Today, we're psychoanalyzing a character in our WIP by forcing having them participate in a Q&A. My character is Rachel Marr, the MC in Things We Save, a WIP I just finished. Click on 'WIPS in my life' page to learn more about her story.


What is your biggest vulnerability? Do others know this or is it a secret?

Uh, that is a rude question to ask a stranger. Srsly.  And anyway, the tabloids are blowing it all out of proportion. "Substance abuse problem" my ass. I was upset my dad had died, okay? And I wasn't due on set for two days. I have a full-time job, own my house, pay taxes and my employees - in every way but one, I'm an adult. The law that says I have three more years until I'm legal is totally lame.

What do people believe about you that is false?

That I'm immature and have issues with drugs and alcohol,completely ignoring the fact that a. my dad just died and b. I work in a very competitive industry. Also people think I'm stupid just because I'm an actress.

What would your best friend say is your fatal flaw? Why?

Lindsay thinks I'm this close to being frigid. (She'd use the word prude if she knew what it meant.) But I'm not about to jump into bed with any hottie that looks my way. One of the last things Mom told me before she died was that waiting for true love was worth it. So I guess waiting is a way I feel closer to her.

What would the same friend say is your one redeeming quality? Why?

Hmmm. Probably my money. Ha! No, Lindsay would say that I can keep secrets. We both keep each other's secrets, although she has more to keep than I do.

What do you want most? What will you do to get it?

Honestly, I'd turn back time. I want to tell my dad I love him and hug my mom again. But I can't so I guess I'll do my best to find out more about the life he had after Mom and I left. Even though I haven't been near an archaeological dig for four years, it's time to go back. I'm going to take care of his employees and his stuff. And find out why he left me that really weird Islamic coin. His diary makes me think he was onto something big. I'm going to do everything I can to find out what that was...

Revving up your revision

After a break of a few months, I've dived back into revising my finished MS. This round, I'm strengthening a few plot devices and giving my villain (and a few other secondary characters) a bit more depth. How to do this has been the subject of a few early a.m. brainwaves, during which I alternately told myself to go to sleep and mentally wrote this post. Hopefully someone will benefit from the dark circles under my eyes.

When it comes to characters, the best revision always includes background introduced in the right way, at the right time. As novelists, we're a bit like Hansel dropping crumbs behind the clueless Gretel, hoping our strategically placed information will keep our audience from getting lost in the forest. The problem is, we don't know when Gretel is going to look back and put the puzzle together. Here are three ideas that, if used properly,  won't fail to lead your reader to the right clues at the right time.

Stark motivation
Crimes of passion are the most common in literature. They're flamboyant, easily related to and usually involve a complicated knot of relationships.  They're crucial to mystery stories but even literary fiction benefits from characters who want something passionately.  Want - need - desire automatically sparks conflict because our MC wouldn't be in such a state if he/she already had it. Think Scarlett wanting Ashley or Jacob wanting Bella or Voldemort wanting power. Your villian must yearn for whatever with a strong intensity magnified by backstory. Was he/she an abused child seeking safety? An ignored teen yearning for revenge? An overlooked brother wanting attention? Whatever it is, be sure to make that stand out so your reader is in no doubt what's driving all the conflict.

Said is best
One of my betas reminded me of this a few months ago. I love words like retort and hissed and snapped. They fairly crackle with energy. Unfortunately, it's the wrong kind of energy. It detracts the reader from the dialogue, which, if I've written it right, should allow my reader to hear how my characters are speaking.  Too many of those tags and I'm banging you over the head with directions.  Since we all interpret stories differently, using a standard 'said' gives our readers freedom to build the world their own way.  It also gives them freedom to notice what's important in the plot at the time you intend.

Eliminating cliched personalities
There's this secondary character in my MS. I love her to death - she has the most sarcastic lines and is an excellent foil to my MC. Problem is, she's a cliche, about as substantial as an area rug. So I've given her a make-over. She keeps the lines but has a much darker outlook on life, one that's made her determined not to be shocked by anything. Period. And now she works so much better in my MS. So have fun with your secondary characters. Give them weird names, odd habits or accents or taste in clothes. Hollywood's preference for quirky sidekicks makes avoiding cliched personalities a lot harder but I know you're up to the challenge.

Those are my three - I know there are more but that's all I have time for. Please share your revision suggestions in the comments.

Speaking of time, I'll be taking a break from Friday interviews until Christmas break. A grant deadline, end-of-semester work at school, kid activities and my own MS revision have swamped me (not to mention all the Christmas mom duties awaiting me).  I'm cutting back to Monday postings - hope you can join me!

Casting call!

In between working on my newest WIP and researching agents to query, I've decided to have a wee bit of fun. Today, I'm taking a page from the delightful Anita Grace Howard, who described a protagonist in pictures, and playing dress-up with my own invisible minions. My visions are below.


Emma

She's my MC, tall, strong, athletic, able to hunt/butcher a caribou and pack it out by herself. Her basketball team missed nailing the state championship but she still got a full-ride scholarship to the University of Alaska. She's got it all figured out...except she's not who she thinks she is.

Sam

Emma's long time boyfriend, an Alaskan fisherman who's going with her to college. He's the boy next door who's always had her back. But like all young love, it's never been tested.

Michael

Emma's famous bio-dad never stopped loving Andromeda but has no idea what actually happened the night 19 years ago when everything changed. (yup, this is actually Third Day's Mac Powell. I couldn't resist...)

Andromeda

Emma's birth mother who's been in prison for murder since before Emma was born. Untangling her story almost gets Emma killed. (Anyone recognize this awesome singer?)

Ty

Michael's protege, an up-and-coming country rocker who makes Emma reconsider her choices while the rest of her world is falling apart.

That was FUN! And kinda weird. So to help me avoid feeling silly, I'm asking you to join a weeklong Casting Call Character blogfest hosted by me, the awesome Carrie Butler and Lisa Regan. The fun starts the last week of October. Just post your own casting call (or book trailer - more on that next week!), leave your link at Carrie's blog and then hop to see others' visualizations of their book characters. We'll have a grand critique prize you won't want to miss.