Writing Lessons: Heroines

July 21, 2008 on 7:26 pm | In Writing Lessons | No Comments Well, the Author's Studio http://authorsstudio.blogspot.com/ has saved me a great deal of work. As of this date (July 10), they're giving all the archetypes of heroines and some lovely explanations! (Thank you, ladies!) They used the same source I did, so let's just give them some lovely applause.

Lena

Writing Lessons: Hero and Heroine Archetypes

July 20, 2008 on 11:00 am | In Writing Lessons | No Comments What is an archetype:

n.
1. An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype: “‘Frankenstein’ . . . ‘Dracula’ . . . ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ . . . the archetypes that have influenced all subsequent horror stories” (New York Times).
2. An ideal example of a type; quintessence: an archetype of the successful entrepreneur.
3. In Jungian psychology, an inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience and present in the individual unconscious.

[Latin archetypum, from Greek arkhetupon, from neuter of arkhetupos, original : arkhe-, arkhi-, archi- + tupos, model, stamp.]archetypal ar'che·typ'al (-t?'p?l) or ar'che·typ'ic (-t?p'?k) or ar'che·typ'i·cal adj.archetypically ar'che·typ'i·cal·ly adv.

USAGE NOTE The ch in archetype, and in other English words of Greek origin such as architect and chorus, represents a transliteration of Greek X (chi), and is usually pronounced like (k). In a recent survey, 94 percent of the Usage Panel indicated that they pronounce archetype (är'k?-t?p'), with a (k) sound, while 6 percent preferred the pronunciation (är'ch?-t?p'), with a (ch) sound. Of those who preferred the traditional (k) pronunciation, 10 percent noted that the (ch) pronunciation was also acceptable. Only the traditional pronunciation is widely accepted as standard, however.

Obviously, we use definition #1. Characters often fall into patterns of behavior based on certain archetypes. By consciously choosing an archetype, you can not only create a character that is recognizable to the reader's psyche, you can also choose how his or her conflict epiphany will change them to fit your story.

HERO

THE CHIEF
Virtues: Goal Oriented, Decisive, and Responsible
Flaws: Stubborn, Unsympathetic, and Dominating

THE BAD BOY
Virtues: Charismatic, Street smart and Intuitive
Flaws: Pessimistic, Bitter and Volatile

THE BEST FRIEND
Virtues: Stable, Supportive, and Tolerant
Flaws: Complacent, Myopic and Unassertive

THE CHARMER
Virtues: Creative, Witty, and Smooth
Flaws: Manipulative, Irresponsible and Elusive

THE LOST SOUL
Virtues: Devoted, Vulnerable, and Discerning
Flaws: Brooding, Unforgiving and Fatalistic

THE PROFESSOR
Virtues: Expert, Analytical, and Genuine
Flaws: Insular, Inhibited, and Inflexible

THE SWASHBUCKLER
Virtues: Fearless, Exciting and Capable
Flaws: Unreliable, Foolhardy, and Selfish

THE WARRIOR
Virtues: Tenacious, Principled, and Noble
Flaws: Self-righteous, Relentless, and Merciless










HEROINE

THE BOSS
Virtues: Confident, Dynamic, and Competitive
Flaws: Blunt, Workaholic, and Arrogant

THE SEDUCTRESS
Virtues: Assertive, Strong and Clever
Flaws: Cynical, Driven, and Manipulative

THE SPUNKY KID
Virtues: Sense of Humor, Reliable, and Supportive
Flaws: Sarcastic, Unassuming and Skeptical

THE FREE SPIRIT
Virtues: Sincere, Upbeat, and Imaginative
Flaws: Impulsive, Meddling and Undisciplined

THE WAIF
Virtues: Pure, Trusting, and Kind
Flaws: Impressionable, Passive, and Insecure

THE LIBRARIAN
Virtues: Efficient, Serious, and Dependable
Flaws: Rigid, Repressed, and Perfectionist


THE CRUSADER
Virtues: Courageous, Resolute, and Persuasive
Flaws: Obstinate, Rash and Opinionated

THE NURTURER
Virtues: Altruistic, Optimistic and Capable
Flaws: Idealistic, Self-sacrificing, and Compromising

We'll go into each of these in the coming posts. If you wish to read more about archetypes in writing, I highly suggest going to www.tamicowden.com and purchasing her book, "The Writer's Guide to Sixteen Master Archetypes." Her thorough explanation will give greater depth to all your characters.

More Four Hearts from Love Romances!

July 20, 2008 on 1:47 am | In Review | No Comments I didn't realize it, but Love Romances and More had reviewed all three of my Dragon's Egg series!


http://loveromancesandmore.blogspot.com/search/label/Lena%20Austin

That's all of them! Wow, aren't they sweeties? Please leave comments so they know you looked.

Lena

Writing Lessons: Internal and External Goals

July 19, 2008 on 11:00 am | In Writing Lessons | No Comments Yesterday, we hit on the GMC chart. Now we're going to get specific. There are two types of goals, motivations, and conflicts for each character. Both are important because one drives the story, and one drives the character. Pull out your Character Chart again and look at the middle column, labeled External.

External conflicts are what drive the story. My example yesterday of the movie Mulan was the external GMC. Mulan joined the army in place of her father to protect him, knowing it would be her death if she were caught. This is the conflict the world would see, but shows nothing of her inner thoughts.

You could write a perfectly acceptable story based solely on the External GMC. Many authors do this. It's what readers notice first. Ah, but here's the trick: to "flesh out" the characters and make them become living, plausible, and sympathetic beings, you should give them an inner conflict.

The Internal GMC column is your character's heart and soul. Everyone has an inner weakness and drive they would rather not reveal to the world. Not necessarily a flaw, but what drives them personally.

To use a cliché, let's use a simple Internal GMC we are all familiar with. We've seen it used thousands of times.

Goal: To show disapproving/indifferent parent that they can be someone.
Motivation: To bolster their morale or prove themselves worthy of love and respect
Conflict: Low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy/self-hatred

I purposely tried to muddy the waters yesterday using the movie VanHelsing. MB presented the External Conflict, and I "innocently" tried to point out the Internal conflict of the hero. Quite rightly, MB stated her confusion. Bless you, MB, for putting up with me.

The simplest way to remember the two types of GMC and differentiate between them is that one conflict is easily seen by the "world" around the character, and one cannot. VanHelsing was a vampire hunter ridding the world of evil, but he was also an immortal seeking his own past despite amnesia.

This can be --and IMHO should be-- done with all primary characters and, depending on length of book and how in-depth you're going, even your secondary characters. In a novella (under 30K by e-pub standards) where there is no space to develop secondary characters, this may be unnecessary, but I urge you to do it for yourself.

Now, for the final trick that makes good characters into great ones: The Idiosyncrasies. We all have them. The gestures and "tells" that define our moods. Rubbing a worry stone, biting nails, addiction to coffee, fiddling with objects, hobbies, sexual fetishes, and regrets. You intend to put your characters under stress, so give them a stress habit. (worry stones, snapping gum, rubbing two fingers together, etc.) One of my characters had a tendency to get lost in thought until his cigarette burned down enough that ash fell in his lap constantly.

Give them a sense of humor trait, and/or a pet. One of my most recent characters has a love of weird coffee mugs to go with his addiction to herbal tea. Another character never had time to mess with her hair, so she constantly blew it out of her face instead of securing it with clips. Look at your friends, pets and family for inspiration.

Last but not least, at least with your main characters, give them sexual preferences. Some people are more oral than others. Some people like certain toys or whatever. Is this a BDSM story? Well, someone has to be the submissive and someone the Dominant. A ménage? This had better be someone's fantasy. Give them a reason to want to play. Even virgins have "sensitive spots." The e-book business is rarely about the lily-white virgin who never had an impure thought in their life.

Please note that I've not said you must do all this first. I do recommend that you at least have the external plots noted, since you will most likely need it first to plot, but sometimes the internal conflict may not be clear in the beginning. Don't be afraid to write in pencil, modify, and add in things as you go.

Characters sometimes reveal themselves in stages. You may know a little backstory, or have a few traits clear when you start, but that's it. Then, as you write, suddenly the hero has a dog he adores, the heroine seems to always have gum in her purse, and the meddling boss chomps on a cigar he forgets to light. Write these things down. The dog's name, the brand/type of gum, and the fact that the cigar is cheap or Cuban. The back of the sheet is blank for a reason. The notes section at the bottom is good for noting the hero has BLUE eyes and BROWN hair, not green and blonde.

The muse is a fickle creature with a severe memory issue. Use this paper to remember.

4 Heart Review for Dragon’s Egg

July 18, 2008 on 11:13 am | In Review | No Comments New Review - DRAGON'S EGG - Lena Austin
Four Hearts from Love, Romances & More

Ms. Austin's wicked sense of humor ends up making you giggle as you sigh over the romance and squirm at the scorching sex scenes. a roller coaster of a ride.

http://loveromancesandmore.com/reviews/0408/dragonegg1_dawn.htm

Oooh! I have a "wicked" sense of humor, huh? That's enough to make a girl sit up proudly!

Thanks, Dawn!

Writing Lessons: No Cardboard Characters

July 18, 2008 on 11:00 am | In Writing Lessons | No Comments Let's go over the "Character Chart Explained" doc. (You might want to print it for reference.) Now, obviously, I didn't talk to the original author about what he meant by the story, The Wizard of Oz. I went by the movie, since almost everyone has seen the thing sometime in his or her lives.

Let's start in the upper left corner, where it says Name, Adjective, Job. We are talking about one character here, Dorothy. Naming characters is a whole 'nother topic, so we'll just go with the fact that the author chose that name.

"Lost" is a fair adjective for her, since she has no clue where she is other than the name of the land, Oz. All she has is the order, "follow the yellow brick road." Not a lot to go on, there. Only a kid would obey such a blanket order, but that's unimportant. Choose a good adjective for your character. Don't get lazy and say words like, "lonely", "arrogant," or "angst-ridden." Those are no-brainer words. You're writing a story where the characters are supposed to be lonely and angst-ridden, or this wouldn't be a romance. Your hero is supposed to be arrogant. Choose words that are descriptive like "angry," "by the book," "secretive," or "rebellious."

Job Description can be more mundane. Dorothy doesn't have a job per se, but she could also be described as "farm girl." I chose "teenager" to remind me of all the hormone-driven angst teens go through. This reflects her inner conflict slightly.

Put them together and you have a few words that describe your character, suitable for later use in a short blurb or logline. "By the book cop" describes Lucynda Storey's character Case Roberts, in Simply Irresistible. "Vanilla schoolteacher" describes her heroine, Maggie. Six little words, and you can see already some of the character issues.

Let's go straight down that same column and look at those next three categories: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. This is the meat of the famous GMC chart by Ms. Dixon. It's not as complicated as you might think.

A goal is simply what it says. The objective to be achieved. Even if the character never openly states their goal (and they really should!) it must be clear to the reader. "I want to go home!" is a very clear goal. In The Princess Bride, a character states his goal often. "You killed my parents. Prepare to die!" is his constant refrain. Clearly, his goal is to find the person responsible for his parents' death and kill them.

Motivation is simply why they want that goal. It can be one word. Montoya's goal in Princess Bride comes down to one word: revenge. Their reasons don't have to make sense, in all truthfulness, except to them. Sometimes our reasons for wanting to do a thing are dumb, let's be realistic. "I want to be thin because that will make me beautiful, and then the whole world will be my apple." (Yeah, right, sweetie. Keep believing that.) Wrongheaded reasons can make good characters. Most people want love and acceptance in their lives. How they go about it can be wrong, but that's what makes us human. So, give your character a "Why." Right or Wrong.

Conflict is the why not. Why can't they achieve their goal? What's standing in their way? This is the author's goal. Give them the obstacles that cause them heartache, challenge them, and make them into better people. It can be a villain, a character flaw, or something inherent to the story like the very geography or climate. Make it a good one, or even more than one.

It is my firm belief that it is the author's job not to make things easy on the characters, but rather to make things difficult. Rip their hearts out and dissect them until they are bleeding almost beyond repair. Make them fight, struggle, and challenge them until they have no choice but to grow.

Even your villain(s) should have these three things. Surprise! Your job is the same for them. Make them work for it, rip their hearts out so the reader sees why, and understands --perhaps even sympathizes-- with the villain. They don't have to agree with the villain, but if his/her motivations are clear, then the reader will have that understanding. Never create cardboard villains. Give them reasons for their existence.

If you have done your job well, your readers will cry with your characters, rage with them, and cheer when they win in the end. They want to close that book with a satisfied sigh, feeling as if they themselves have walked with your characters through their journey and won with them.

I don't care if you use this chart or not. Think about this. Your characters will love you, you will love them, and so will your readers.

Writing Lessons: Character Chart Explained

July 17, 2008 on 11:00 am | In Writing Lessons | No Comments Again, click on this to enlarge and print.

Writing Lessons: Character Chart

July 16, 2008 on 11:00 am | In Writing Lessons | No Comments

A 5-Star JERR Review for Faux Paws!

July 16, 2008 on 12:29 am | In Review | No Comments I can't ask for any better than this...

Title: Night Critters 2: Faux Paws
Author: Lena Austin and Tuesday Richards
Publisher: Changeling Press
Publisher URL: www.changelingpress.com
Reviewer: Marcy Arbitman
Rating: 5 Stars
Heat level: H

Faux Paws was a delightful story!... and Charm have HOT sex. I enjoyed both characters and their sexual encounters immensely. Ms. Austin, with whose work I am acquainted, and Ms. Richards have developed a laugh out loud world and I hope that they continue their stories in this world.

Marcy Arbitman
Just Erotic Romance Reviews

The Premise Statement Worksheet

July 15, 2008 on 12:44 pm | In Writing Lessons | No Comments While Morgan Hawke gives an excellent lesson for this in her book, The Cheater's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance http://www.darkerotica.net/CheatersGuide.html and I cannot recommend this book enough, writing the premise statement as part of your blurb can be a challenge. I use the following worksheet. WARNING! You will not understand this without Morgan's book. Get it. It'll be the best money you spend on your career this year.

Premise Statement Worksheet

1. Premise (what vs. what):
2. Reverse of Premise (Theme):
3. Concept (How premise is explained)

The Characters:
1. Represents the Issue/Driven by Emotion, Action, Motive/Explain how:

2. Represents the Reverse/Driven by?/Explain how:

Premise Statement: Vice/Virtue + Movement + Dramatic Issue = (leads to) Fulfillment

1.

2.

Motto (Condensed from Premise Statement):