Release Your Characters by Alastair Rosie

Every now and then, it's nice to have another author visit your site and entertain readers with an interesting guest post. I haven't had one in a really long time (as I have so many guests on YAlicious). This post, however, is for us writers and I thought it'd be more appropriate to share it on this blog. So, it's my pleasure to have Fantasy writer, Alastair Rosie, with us today.

Welcome, Alastair!!

RELEASE YOUR CHARACTERS!
Being locked in a cell was a disconcerting experience for me. It was a mere twenty-four hour stretch in a police cell in suburban Mooroolbark, Melbourne for failing to pay a parking fine. Not exactly the crime of the century, I know. My cell was ten by fifteen with a stainless steel toilet, vinyl-covered mattress with no sheet and the light stayed on all night. By day I was allowed out into the covered yard, which was some thirty feet long by about ten feet wide, the only natural light came from a clear perspex hatch in the yard. Whilst I was secure in the knowledge that I’d be out by midday the next day, I felt claustrophobic. A week later I was sitting in the penthouse apartment of a friend of a friend in South Yarra looking out over the lights. The man pacing the floor looking miserably out over the city was also trapped inside a prison of his own making and I found myself reflecting on the grand irony of it all.

The journey from freedom to a police cell actually took a good twelve to eighteen months to happen and at any time I could have avoided a night in the cells by paying the fine. The man in the penthouse probably took a lot longer to get to the stage where he felt like jumping and I confess I never saw nor heard of him again to this day, but he too could have taken an alternative path. Neither of us were bound to our fate.

As writers we often doom our characters to a particular fate because as their creators we feel we know better than them. It’s a common scenario, we’ve all been there. I’ve got my game plan, a plot, characters, conflict and resolution and now I have to arrange my characters on the page to get them from the call to adventure through to denouement. Along the way some will be wounded, some will die, love matches will take place and other lovers will part and hopefully we readers will fall in love with your characters.

But what if one of your characters, let’s say the heroine, had decided that the main man, your alpha male wasn’t such a good catch after all? What if she took a step back and refused his advances. Would your novel founder? You’ve set it all up, arranged the characters and scenes and like actors, they’ll play their parts because you’re the director and there is something to be said for discipline and keeping a firm hand to the tiller, but what happens if you let go of the tiller?

My novel, The Deepening Dark, actually started out as The Calling, the protagonist was Murron but after a hundred thousand words I was shipwrecked and so I took a break from the book and emigrated to Scotland. A few years later I went back to The Calling and at chapter three I rediscovered a minor character, Rhianna, leading a revolt against an imperialist occupying army, the Bulkarans. She was fighting lizard men and had to be rescued by Murron’s father. I kept going back to that chapter and more out of curiosity began a new story with Rhianna as the main character. Along the way I kept Murron for a later book and lost the lizard men, they really were silly creatures.

When I got to chapter four I did the unthinkable. Rhianna had a son, Emdahl, a delightful little boy with blond hair and blue eyes, but in chapter four I had my Bulkarans kill him in front of Rhianna. I didn’t mean to kill him, I just wanted to see what she’d do and I discovered what happens when you just let go of your characters. I subjected that poor woman to the mockery of a false trial, fifty of her villagers were hanged in front her, they killed and butchered her horse, she was pack raped, beaten and taken out to the forest where she was to be torn to pieces by the general’s dogs at dusk. She’s rescued by elves and taken deep into the forest where for all intents and purposes she may as well be dead, her mind is stretched to breaking point while all about the Bulkarans and their goblin shock troops are ravaging the land. Now Rhianna had a reason to raise an army against the Bulkarans if she could recover in time and you’ll have to read the book if you want to know more.

This then is the challenge. I’ve read dozens of books over the last few years where I get to the end and wish the writer had’ve just let go of their characters, opened the cell door and allowed them a little freedom to make their own destiny. One of the more famous cinematic examples is Cal in Titanic. What if he hadn’t been such a nasty piece of work and actually loved Rose? She would have faced a moral dilemma and Jack would’ve been forced to work that much harder to turn her head.

Like real people going their merry way along predictable paths, your characters are also real, in your head at least. Certainly they’re based on real people and if you want to lift your novel above the thousands of others out there you might have to open the cell door and let them step outside for a bit. Where will they lead you? Letting go of your characters is risky, with some I’ve had to rein them in because like jealous actors they stole the limelight from my main character. In an early draft of a WIP, The Vessel, I let Harriet sleep with Elizabeth and while I discovered that Elizabeth might sleep with a woman, she wasn’t gay and definitely wouldn’t tie the knot with Harriet. I was left with a steamy love scene that was eventually taken out of the book because there was no point to it. Elizabeth actually became a much stronger character in the end. The point being that while the love scene might have gotten the blood racing, it ended up emasculating Elizabeth and steering the novel to a place none of my characters wanted to be.

It may be an experimental draft, a what if scenario, but if you feel your novel is floundering it may be just the thing you need to do. Throw your characters a lifeline and let them make other decisions. It has the effect of freeing your mind to consider other possibilities and while some might become dead ends, others might lead to a fresh new look on your WIP. You might find yourself sitting back with amazement. Did I just write that? What will she do now?

*****

THE DEEPENING DARK
An exiled queen, a band of elves and the warrior cult known as the she bears are all that stands between General Bolksta and his conquest of Haydutia. Rhianna will need the luck of the gods if she is to hold back the tide of evil as an imperial army invades her country intent on turning Haydutia into just another province.

Smashwords / Amazon

*****

You can find Alastair on his GOODREADS BLOG or TWITTER.

How Important Is Planning?

I was raised by a mother who loves to write lists. As a teenager, I'd roll my eyes and groan every time she grabbed for her little notepad and got my lazy-self organized.

Now, as an adult, in a job that has my brain struggling to contain all it needs to, I am forever grateful to my mother for getting me in the habit of writing out lists.

I love lists. I love seeing what I need to get done and then that satisfaction of crossing it off. With running my own little publishing business - which face it, as indie authors, that's exactly what we're doing - I find lists essential. So far, I have yet to miss a deadline and hopefully I never will. Lists keep me on track and organized. Being planned makes me a better business woman...and a better writer.

I know all writers have their own style for what works for them, but I am finding with each new book I write, that planning the story in detail not only makes my story stronger, but gives me an edge when it comes to the editing process.

One of my critique readers got back to me the other day with some lovely comments about how my work is always so easy to read. It's not perfect, she finds holes and always has great suggestions, but she finds she can breeze through my books, because the story structure is solid.

I put that all down to pre-planning.
When it comes to story structure and character development, if I have it all sorted before I even start writing the manuscript, my work is half done. Sure, my story can change and evolve as I write, but I tend not to deviate too much. All my thinking and working through story glitches goes on before I start draft one. I can avoid writing scenes I don't need to. Yes - I go back and sometimes add scenes in later, but at least I'm never deleting huge blocks of text - something I always find incredibly painful.

Last night I was thinking over the planning I'd done throughout the day. Something wasn't quite working and it wasn't until I'd walked away from my computer that it came to me. I was coming at one character's motivation from the wrong angle. Today I have spent time adjusting the scenes I'd mapped out to give my character a more realistic backstory and motivation for why she was doing what she was doing. Because of this change of tact, one of the other characters in the story has gone from a soft, almost lovable character to a bit of a hardass, but it's made the story better. I'm so glad I thought of it now and not in the middle of my draft. Having to go back and do rewrites is time consuming and sometimes really awkward. My mind is constantly whirring during the planning stages and I relish the little things that come to me, especially when I'm not working at my computer.

With each new book I seem to refine my system a little more. I think I used to plan too much, go into too much detail that I wouldn't read over again. I've just finished planning for a new series I hope to publish early 2014. I've cut back on my planning a little this time around and I'll be interested to see how this effects my first draft.

Until you press publish, a story is an ever evolving thing, as is the writing journey. I have gone from a non-planner to a thorough planner to someone who now plans what they need in order to get a decent story going. No doubt once this project is done, I'll refine my methods a little further.

How do you work?
Are you a planner? A panster?
How has your writing style evolved over time?

Unseen Character Intros - Levi, Raquel and Toban

I always wanted Jethro to have siblings. When I was coming up with who Jethro was and the type of family he came from, I knew it would be a solid family, filled with members that loved each other. Jethro's younger brother quickly appeared. He originally had a different name, but the more he appeared in scenes, the more I knew I could name after only person - my nephew, Levi.

Levi is twelve, although desperately wants to keep up with his older brother. He yearns for adventure and constantly wants to prove himself. He is an able fighter, thanks to his father's training, and dreams of being a brave knight. But underneath it all, he is actually a tenderhearted kid. I really grew to love him.

Once again, with this series, two characters I never planned on came to life...and became really important characters in these books.

Raquel and Toban are siblings, the only children to Ezekiel, whose wife died when the children were young.

Raquel is seventeen. She is a sweet, compassionate person who has taken care of the family since her mother died. She was only eleven years old at the time, but being a mature, sensible soul, she took the role on without much trouble. Everyone who knows her talks about her kind heart. She is quiet and can easily be passed by, but there is an incredible strength within this girl that I came to love and admire.

Toban is eleven. He is a fiery child who has always dreamed of adventure, much like his friend, Levi. The two boys scurry around the city together, wanting to be part of what the men are up to. Although Toban is six years younger than his sister, he is very protective of her. I love his tenacity and courage.

So now that you've met some more characters in this series, keep an eye out for my pre-release giveaway starting on Saturday. Much like the Unknown giveaway, all you'll have to do to enter is answer a simple question :)

Unseen Character Intros - Bordor and Nafeez

I don't know what it is about writing bad characters, but it's so much fun. Most of my favourite scenes involve the villains in a story. The Elements Trilogy is no exception.

Two characters that came to life in Unseen are Bordor and Nafeez. When I initially put this trilogy together, I had not planned on either of these men, but when Safeer went to meet with the Elite, these two stepped into my story and became important characters.

Let me introduce you.

Bordor is the commander of the Elite, a powerful group of assassins that work for King Ashan. They dabble in magic and are a formidable enemy. Their task is to find and eliminate the seekers so that the prophecy will not come true. They also have some much grander plans, but I don't want to give too much away. Bordor is a very strong, confident character that enjoys intimidating people and although he comes across as callous, he'd do anything for his men.

Nafeez is the sorcerer for the Elite. He loves to brew potions and create weapons with greater power. He has designed black bladed swords that can burn and weaken an average blade. He also supplies King Ashan with a special elixir that makes him bigger, stronger and more powerful. It is made from the dust of a powerful obsidian rock, which makes King Ashan's veins run with black blood. He is a wicked man who revels in people's suffering. A nasty character indeed.

Tomorrow I will make my final pre-release introductions for Unseen. Then keep your eye out for a giveaway :D

Unseen Character Intros - Cori and Eshron

Continuing on from my Unknown Character Intro series, I wanted you guys to meet a few more people that are introduced in the second book of the Elements Trilogy.

Cori and Eshron are two very special characters... much like Adamar and Mya. I have come to love these children so much. I can't wait for you to get to know them better.

Cori is a dainty girl. In spite of her age, she behaves like a lady. She holds herself with grace and elegance. But the thing I love most about her, is her compassionate heart. She is so caring, always mindful of how people are feeling and what they need. She has a strong intuition and is very aware of the darkness. I think of her as a young mother hen who wants to protect those around her.

Eshron is a strong character. He's passionate about his beliefs and doesn't like things to stand in his way. He has had a tough life and this has made him resilient. I love his fiery directness and his confidence. Although he can come across as a little rude at times, everything he does comes from a love of the God of Light.

Unseen is going to be released next week! I still have a few more characters I want you to meet before then.

Tomorrow I'll introduce you to a couple of brilliant baddies that have been so much fun to write!

Unknown Release Giveaway!

Well, Unknown is ready to go. Eeepppp!!!

As with any release, it is an awesome and scary thing. I can't decide if I want to dance in circles or throw up!

But it doesn't matter how I'm feeling, that PUBLISH button has been pressed! Unknown has flown into cyber space and no longer belongs to me. I know I wrote it, but for some reason whenever I publish a book, the moment I upload it and send it on its way, I feel as though it becomes the property of the readers.

So, to celebrate the fact I have passed another book over to my dear readers, I thought I'd run a little giveaway.

The prize is very simple: one paperback copy of Unknown.

The entry is also very simple. All you need to do is answer one question in the comments section below. On Friday I will use Random.org to select one winner from the comments section. Entries close on Friday 14th, 8am EST. 

Okay - so here's my question... last week, I introduced you to some of the characters you will meet in Unknown. All you need to tell me is - which character intrigues you the most...who are you most looking forward to meeting when you read Unknown?

Here are the links to last week's blog posts:
The Three Main Characters
People in Taramon
People in Mezrah
Two Very Special Children

Good luck with the giveaway. I look forward to reading your answers!!

If you'd like to purchase a digital copy of Unknown, you can pick one up on AMAZON or SMASHWORDS.

Unknown Character Intros - Two Very Special Children

I don't want to give too much away, but I can't not mention two very special children in this story....

Adamar and Mya.

I love these two. They are magical little humans that bring the story to life and help Kyla and Jethro through some of their most desperate times along the way.

Kyla and Jethro discover Adamar in the Canyon Lands. He is a peaceful kid with deep dimples and a ready smile. He has a way with people and can calm down any situation. He loves animals and animals love him.

Mya appears in the Forest of Gesham. In spite of her petite stature and adorable smile, her eyes sparkle with a wisdom beyond her years. She is very in tune with nature. To me, she is a little ray of sunshine and I've adored writing all my scenes with her.


So that's it with the character introductions. I've had so much fun giving you little snippets about these people and letting you into The Element world.

Next week, look out for a pre-release giveaway!

Unknown Character Intros - People in Mezrah

So far I have highlighted the three main characters and other key characters from Taramon.

Today I want to highlight some people from Mezrah - the eastern city and the home of King Ashan, a powerful force of darkness that threatens to take over the world.

Mordekai - used to be a well-respected seer until he became obsessed with the prophecy. He has a strong belief that the God of Light will return and save the world from King Ashan's reign. He has a good soul and clings to his faith with a stubborn tenacity.

Nikara - Mordekai's apprentice. In spite of the evil that dwells in Mezrah, she loves her home. She has dreams of a grander life than living with the ageing seer. She is a talented woman and secretly dabbles with magic when Mordekai is not looking.

Safeer - the ambassador of King Ashan. He is an arrogant man who loves the power of working for King Ashan. He takes great delight in visiting Taramon on a monthly basis and seeing the queen and councilmen squirm as he dishes out more orders from his mighty ruler.



King Ashan - has become more beast than man, therefore I have no image to represent him. He is fuelled by a potent elixir brewed by a powerful sorcerer in the heart of the Black Forest. He has become an ominous threat. People are terrified of him. His evil is beyond compare. Nothing pleases him more than seeing people suffer. His only weakness, a fear that the prophecy might in fact be true.

Tomorrow I'll do my final character introductions...there are two very special people I'd like you to meet.

Unknown Character Intros - People in Taramon

Yesterday I highlighted the three main characters in this story: Kyla, Jethro and Athra. They all come from the city of Taramon, so I wanted to highlight a few key people from the northern city.

Taramon is filled with good-hearted, hard working people. It has been a pillar of light for centuries, but is now suffering under the threat of a very dark reign from the eastern city, Mezrah.

Some of the key characters from this city are:

Queen Elaina - Kyla's mother and the matriarch of the city. When her husband, King Heron, was killed in battle the full responsibility of power fell on her. This was something she was very unprepared for. In an effort to keep her people safe, she made what she thought was the best decision and signed a treaty with Mezrah. Now Taramon must submit to constant demands placed on them by Mezrah's king - Ashan. In spite of her loss, she has proven to be a strong woman and is doing her best to train her reluctant daughter in the ways of governance.

Varon - The queen's right hand man and Athra's father. He has been a tower of strength for the queen since her husband passed. They have become close friends and she always turns to him for advice before making any major decisions.

Benyamin - Jethro's father. Athra's uncle. Varon's brother-in-law. He is a good man with a solid faith. Injured in King Heron's war, he walks with a marked limp, but he has not let the injury overcome him. People in the city look up to him. He is a member of the queen's council.



There are obviously many other characters from Taramon, but these three play a significant role in this trilogy. I'll let you meet a few other key characters before the release of Unseen.

Tomorrow I'll introduce you to four very important characters from the city of Mezrah.

Unknown Character Intros - The Three Main Characters

Unknown is due out in less than two weeks. Eeeppp!!!

I'm super excited about this series. It's my first try at epic fantasy so it's been a challenging project to work on, but so much fun.

Over the next week and a bit, I thought I'd do a little extra blogging and introduce you to some of the characters.

During the planning stages, I spent some time finding images of actors that looked like the characters in my head. I know everyone sees characters differently, but I've had these images on my wall the whole time I've been writing and by the end of the trilogy, I was picturing the characters as these people.

Today I want to introduce you to the three MCs - Kyla, Jethro and Athra.

Princess Kyla of Taramon is a feisty girl. She hates being a princess and despises the idea of one day having to be queen. She longs for adventure and to explore every corner of the earth. She feels trapped inside the castle, under the scrutiny of her mother. Her father, one of the only people to truly understand her, died when she was young. It was a crushing blow. She is an able fighter, brilliant with a bow and if she could have been born a boy, she would have been the happiest person alive. She is betrothed to Athra.

Jethro is Athra's cousin and used to be Kyla's best friend. When he learned of their betrothal he was heart broken. Unable to explain his true feelings to Kyla, he crept away from the friendship and things have never been the same. He has been raised to believe in the God of Light. He has a true heart, a healthy serving of courage and like Kyla, longs to explore the farthest reaches of the earth. Having been secretly trained by his father, he is a very capable fighter. His sense of humour has helped him through many tough times and his loyalty to the people he loves is unbreakable.

Athra is the future king of Taramon and absolutely loves that idea. He is passionate about the city and the people within it. He is a natural leader and longs to free the city from the oppressive darkness. He likes to do what is right, but can also be extremely stubborn. He cares deeply for people and loves Kyla, in spite of her un-lady-like antics. He has already mapped out their future together and longs for the day they will marry.

So there you have it, three main characters that I have grown to love. Each of them have a very long journey to walk throughout this trilogy and I have loved watching them grow and develop throughout their harrowing experiences. Don't worry, for those of you rolling your eyes that this is another love triangle, it really doesn't fit the typical love triangle bill - you'll have to read it to see what I mean ;-)

If you'd like to add Unknown to your reading list, here is the Goodreads link.

Tomorrow I'll introduce you to some more citizens of Taramon.

The Story Behind Betwixt

As a reader, I love to know the history of a book - how it came to be, what inspired the author to come up with the concept.

Since we're having a Betwixt Pre-release Bash, I figured I may as well include how Betwixt was born and raised.

To be honest, the premise for Betwixt is not my own. I saw a preview for the movie, Invisible, and thought it was amazing. I couldn't wait to see it and when I did, I actually came away a touch disappointed. In spite of that, I couldn't stop thinking about the movie - the stuff they'd done well, the stuff I thought could have been done better.

As the movie played around in my head, a story of my own was born. I never thought I'd write though, because it was too similar to the movie and I didn't want to be a copycat. So I filed it away in the back of my brain and forgot about it.

Last year the story kept coming back to me. I don't know why, but as it did, it transformed into something different. My characters changed in personality and appearance and as they did, a completely new story evolved. It changed from a search and rescue type story to one of redemption... and these small character changes took it from a light read into something with emotional depth.

Planning and writing Betwixt was easy. Once those few major changes popped into my head, everything fell into place. This project has been nothing but a pleasure to work on.

I was able to draw from some of my own life experiences as I wrote this. There's always something cool about being able to leave a small piece of yourself behind in your work and my hope is that this story will touch your heart as it has touched mine.

* * * * *

If you'd like a chance to win a copy of Betwixt, please check out the giveaway below. Only three days to go!! Eeeeekkkk!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Who Are You?

I'm currently in the process of planning out my next project. I love this part. New scenes keep popping into my head and it's fun seeing how my characters react to the situations I'm putting them in.

The other day I played out a scene in my head and when I was rehashing it later, I started to wonder if my character would react that way. It felt natural for him to say what he said, but with his back story would he really do it? I had say to myself, "Who is this guy?"

People's life experiences define who they are. They either make them stronger or weaker, confident or vulnerable, at peace with who they are or chased by guilt and regrets. I need to make sure I have a clear idea of my character's history before I launch into a story. It will dictate his/her actions.

Do you guys take the time to come up with thorough character histories?
How do you decide if a character's reactions are what they should be?

Character Look-a-likes

I am currently reading "Writing Great Books for Young Adults" by Regina Brooks. It's really great. I'll do a full review when I'm finished.

One thing she mentioned was keeping an on-going document about your character, including what they look like. The reader will pick up if the character has blue eyes in chapter one and brown eyes in chapter twenty. I do have on-going documents as I write and I update them as new things crop up, but another thing I do is find pictures that I can refer to. I go for actors and celebrities that look a little like the characters in my head. It works really well. For my current WIP I am using a picture of Alex Pettyfer for my male lead and Megan Fox for my female lead. My characters don't look exactly like these two people, but they are close enough and I find it really helpful when describing expressions and small distinctive features about the characters.

After reading a draft, one of the young test audience members said they thought the main character looked like Alex Pettyfer - awesome :)

I don't use this method for every character in my story, but often for the leads and the frequent secondary characters. Sometimes I can't think of an actor who is similar, so the character remains an image in my head, but I do find it really helpful to have pictures of my characters pasted up around me as I write.

What do you guys do?
How do you get a good mental image of your characters?

Hope everyone has a great week :)

Complex Characters

I've been reading a lot about how to make characters complex and realistic. From what I can tell, you need to give your main characters layers, masks and things that make them relatable. As humans we are all made up of layers and we wear masks we are, more often than not, unaware of.

I have just finished very in depth character profiles for the two main characters of my trilogy and also finished a paragraph or two about all my other characters. I found it a really interesting process. As I delved into who they really were, what they really want and what is conflicting with those desires, I found my characters had more depth than I anticipated.

Knowing the different personality groups helped me in this process. My parents brought me up, teaching me about Florence Littauer's book called Personality Plus. Basically it is divided into four personality groups that each have traits - strengths and weaknesses for that particular personality. Most people in the world are a combination of two, sometimes three. How you were raised impacts as well, but basically every person on the planet is born with a personality that will fit loosely within the four groups.

As I was designing my characters, I found it really useful referring to this book. It gave me insights into how a character may react in a situation. One of my leads is not my personality type, he is more like my brother. I was able to refer to the book and think back on situations with my brother as I was growing up and I was able to think about how my character would react. I think it is going to keep my characters consistent and relatable. I will hopefully avoid that situation where the reader thinks, "That's so out of character. They would never do or say that."

So, if you can get your hands on it... Personality Plus by Florence LIttauer is another great resource to add to your writing collection.

I'm now up to the planning stages or my rewrite and VERY excited. I've learnt so much from these great writing books and now it's time to put all these lessons into action!

Happy writing everyone.

Learning about my leads

Okay, so much for posting once a week. Can I use the excuse of being ridiculously busy leading up to Christmas?

I didn't think so.

Part of my problem is I don't want to blog unless I have something interesting or useful to say. Well, I've finally thought of something worth sharing, so here goes.

I am currently completing a course with the American Christian Writer's Guild. It's a two year correspondence course and covers the basics of both non-fiction and fiction writing, including a few lessons on understanding the publishing world.

I have FINALLY reached the lessons on fiction writing and am loving them. My mentor is an editor and always gives me such great feedback. I am learning so much.

The lesson I've just completed has been a fun one. I had to write a 5-7 page biography on one of the lead characters in my WIP. I included everything from family life to food habits, from the clothes he likes to how he spends his money. It was a fascinating task and I am now going to do another one of my other lead character.

Over the years, I have been guilty of not knowing my characters well enough, simply giving them history as I needed it, making up things as they came into play. After doing this biography I've realized just how much I was missing out. To write my characters convincingly, I need to know them intimately. Even if I never mention their history in my text, I have legitimately built this character into the back of my mind and I know why he does or says anything.

I'm sure most of you do this already, but if you don't, I really encourage you to start learning about your characters. It's a fascinating process and will make your story so much better.

Here is a list of things I was told to start with. I have added other things and built from there.

- The nature of their childhood

- Fears

- What they love and what they hate

- General temperament

- Dreams and longings

- Vices

- Quirks

- Relationships: Everyone - family, friends, pets, colleagues, teachers, peers, etc

- Tastes in food, music, clothes, entertainment, recreation, transportation - you get the idea

- Education and career

- Appearance, health, disabilities

- Secrets

- Details of their history

- Gifts and talents

- Verbal habits

- Where they live, and why, and how they feel about it.

Well, good luck and have fun learning about your leads :)

Oh yeah - Happy New Year too. May 2010 be a good one for ya :)