A Strong Cast Makes or Breaks the Story.
I suppose every author eventually figures out their own process for developing characters. It’s such an important part of writing fiction. Here is a closer look at my journey to discovering my process. I have this small note mounted above my desk. It reads: Characters drive the story. Conflict makes them interesting. Show don’t tell. When I first started writing Bag of Lies, I knew the characters would make or break my story, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to design them. I guess I approached the process like many amateur writers who don’t know what they’re doing. I started with several vague ideas and went from there. I needed a villain: someone dark and sinister. I needed a hero. He had to be likable, someone my readers could connect with. But I also wanted him to be believable as a person. He needed a few character flaws to make him feel more human. I tried pulling these details from thin air, but I quickly realized I needed a more concrete way of doing this. After several weeks of researching how other authors develop characters and exploring which methods might work for me, I settled on a process. Here is what I figured out. I was struggling so much with a blank slate. I had to start with a structure. First I selected one or two people I knew. I thought I might use them as a starting point to create a fictional character. They needed to have similar personalities and mannerisms. I then merged the two into a single personality that could represent a bare-bones structure that I could then build on. I didn’t limit myself to people I knew in real life. I quickly started identifying characters from movies and books that had made an impression on me and started blending them into the mix. I was careful not to duplicate a specific fictional character. They needed to be my own. But like a cook in a kitchen, I started pulling ingredients from shelves and cupboards. About 4 chapters into my first draft, I hit a breakthrough that made a huge difference. Up until that point, anytime I needed to add a physical detail to a character into a specific paragraph, I just randomly made it up as I wrote. Then I’d have to spend all this time going back to what I had already written to make certain that none of my details conflicted with each other. “Wait a minute. Did Michael have blue eyes? Or were they brown?” Many of you may already know, but in case you didn’t, I’m a photographer, digital artist, and painter. So the idea hit me. What if I create a visual representation of my characters? When I need a specific detail, I could just look at that character’s portrait and describe what they look like. I could match these character drawings to their personality profiles, and suddenly I have a fleshed-out fictional character. Suddenly they came to life for me. I wasn’t guessing or making things up as I went along. So I stopped writing for a few weeks and started creating a cast of character portraits. One had red hair, another black. One was bald, another fat. Each drawing held something unique that caused them to stand out from the others. Then I started pairing them up with personalities and mannerisms. I was really getting somewhere. The final touch was like putting the icing on a cake. One afternoon the epiphany fell from the sky. Each of them needed their own identifiable quirk: some kind of mannerism, speech pattern, or characteristic to set them apart. This element would make the characters memorable and able to stand on their own while part of an ensemble. All of these little steps made such a huge difference for me. By the time I jumped back into finishing the first draft of the manuscript, I was already falling in love with these wonderful characters. It didn’t take long for them to take on a life of their own. Again and again, I found myself asking, “So what would Flint do here?” “How would Ichabod handle this?” Before I knew it, the entire novel went in a direction I had not expected. It was a much better story when I stepped back and let the characters do what they wanted to do. It sounds crazy, but once I created the characters and got out of the way, they did most of the work. The novel turned out so much better than I’d hoped for. I knew the concept was interesting and it would make a good book. But who knew it would turn out to be such a page-turner. Of course, my editor and proofreading team also helped polish my book into an even more amazing epic adventure.
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As a dyslexic, movies tend to be my first choice in quenching my insatiable passion for stories. Of course, a well-written novel can far exceed the richness and quality of a film, but a two-hour film is simply faster and easier to experience. When it comes to movies, I have a broad taste in genres. As a student of literature, film-making, and storytelling, I appreciate just about anything as long as it is well written. But if you really want to impress me, the story must take me in a direction I wasn’t expecting to go. With that in mind, I definitely have a soft spot for mystery and suspense. Most of my favorite books and movies keep secrets, only to reveal them with a climactic twist. I love being surprised! Here’s the thing about hiding unexpected surprises in fiction. Unless the surprise is kept secret, it can ruin the experience of the dramatic reveal. Attempting to preserve these gold nugget reveals, can make a general discussion of this particular kind of story somewhat tricky.
For a while now, I’ve wanted to share some of the influences that have left an impression on my own fiction. The following is an attempt to discuss such influences without “spoiling” them for those who have yet to experience them. M. Night Shyamalan has released several successful films in the past 20 years. He is known for his wild twist endings. When I first went to see “The Village” in the theater, I was mostly unimpressed, at least for the first hour and a half. I just assumed I was watching a typical jump-scare horror film. I never dreamed that the surprise twist would transport me to a completely different time and place. It was a reveal I never saw coming, and those are my favorite kind. Another of his films, “The Sixth Sense”, starred Bruce Willis and hid a huge secret for most of the film. The climatic reveal near the end changed the nature of the entire story. Although I had my suspicions about Willis’ character, I was excited to see how Shyamalan executed the reveal. Again, masterfully done. Even after I had experienced several of Shyamalan’s films, he continues to pull the wool over my eyes. When I watched “The Visit”, I was anxiously expecting the twist, but once again he took the story in a direction I hadn’t anticipated. Another surprise ending that just blew me away when I saw it was Edward Norton and Richard Geer’s “Primal Fear”. My jaw literally dropped open when I realized what had happened. And then of course some films reveal hidden identities like in “Shutter Island” or “The Usual Suspects”, or psychological twists like in “Number 23”, “A Beautiful Mind”, or “Fight Club”. And let’s not forget films featuring con-men like “Focus”, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, “Shade”, “Matchstick Men”, or the classic film, “The Sting”. Each of them sport an amazing and unexpected conclusion. There is something simply beautiful about a well-written story, filled with foreshadowing that never seems to be noticed until you read or watch it a second time. Clues are hidden, not just in plain sight, but also between the lines, and our assumptions and previous knowledge shape our limited perspective of the story each time we experience it. I think the best books are the ones that leave you wanting to read them again and again. Each time you journey through the pages, you experience something new. This is why I selected “Read & Reread Books” as the name for my publishing company. I sincerely hope that people are able to enjoy my Broken World Adventures again and again. And maybe… The next time you read it, you might just discover something you hadn’t noticed before. No one can hurt you quite as much as a close friend.
I just recently turned fifty and celebrated my birthday, mostly alone, preparing for a Texas ice storm. It wasn’t that my friends and family didn’t want to be with me, but sometimes cold bitter realities take precedence and change our plans. At least when the weather prevents us from doing something, we can find comfort in knowing it was beyond our control. But when you discover that a close friend has been lying to you, it’s hard not to blame yourself for not seeing through their deceit. “I should have known better. How could I have fallen for their lies?” I suspect that for most people my age, it’s common to have tasted the salty tears of betrayal. Looking back I’ve definitely had more than my fair share of broken friendships. Maybe that explains the foundational theme so prominent in my novels. In Bag of Lies, Michael and Lucky are the best of friends, and for Michael, friendship is everything. However, things quickly unravel when loyalty comes into question. There’s nothing so destructive as a lie between friends. Betrayal usually leads to bitterness. But that’s not the purpose of my novels. The betrayals in and of themselves are not the focus. The strength between loyalty and genuine friendship is the true message. What do you do with the hurt of betrayal? How do you trust someone, once that trust is broken? These aren’t easy questions, but they lead to the heart of my books. What about revenge? Can it fix the devastation of a lie? Scripture tells us to turn the other cheek and forgive. Forgiveness… What a powerful response to pain, and yet, so difficult too. What is the secret to abandoning revenge and embracing forgiveness? Is he a mysterious figure spouting words of wisdom, or a miracle worker with a healing touch? Is he a bumbling fool annoying those around him, or a loyal friend unshaken and true. At times, Marcus is all this and more. He’s vulnerable and genuine, lovable and pure. And as the author who created him, I have to admit… He’s one of my favorites.
So where did this character come from? And how was he developed? Let’s take a brief look at the character that so many love. Marcus is a sidekick, he just doesn’t know it. He represents that loyal friend that would go to the ends of the earth in times of trouble. When I first started writing Bag of Lies, I knew I needed a character that demonstrated unwavering loyalty. The novel itself revolves around lies and betrayal. This darker theme adds a heavy weight to the nature of the book. So I knew I needed a counter weight to balance the adventure. Marcus is that counter weight. He’s light-hearted, at times child-like, and most importantly, he’s fun. And like his friends, I don’t often call him Marcus. To me, he’s simply… Pudge. Although the nickname was originally a way to tease him behind his back. It slowly became an endearing way to claim him as my friend. I love how Michael respectfully calls him Marcus on the battlefield until something tragic happens. As soon as Michael reaches his side and sees the pain that he is in, Michael no longer sees the fellow soldier, Marcus. Instead he holds Pudge, his close friend, in his arms, desperately trying to keep him alive. In Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien, Frodo’s gardener and close friend, Samwise Gamgee, follows Frodo all the way to Mount Doom to destroy the one ring. Sam is so much more than a sidekick, at times it feels as though the heart of the story rests just as much with him as with Frodo. Although Pudge doesn’t follow Michael quite as closely through their adventure, he definitely shares Sam’s loyalty. Pudge wouldn’t hesitate to follow Michael to the edge of the new world and beyond. Another influence that might have shaped Pudge slightly, was also a supporting character, this time in a film. The 1985 adventure comedy, Goonies, introduces a fun loving friend who seems to always be exaggerating and telling wild stories. His friends call him Chunk, often teasing him and making him do his famous truffle shuffle. Although Chunk carries a few extra pounds along with a lovable awkwardness, he is a beloved member of the ensemble. A gentle comparison with these two characters and just about any supporting sidekick, definitely reveals a ton of similarities. However, Pudge holds his own on the page as he demonstrates an unwavering loyalty, a steadfast innocence, and a compassionate heart for others. Setting the comparisons to the wayside, Pudge is simply a good friend. By no means perfect or even an asset in battle, Pudge is the kind of friend you put up with, because deep down inside, you love him. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for you or anyone else for that matter. The hum of rain on tin greets my ears as I pack my climbing gear and prepare for a new mountain. The first time I did this I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. But this time it’s different. I know what’s ahead. I remember the cold bitter wind and restless nights waiting for the sunrise. I remember struggling for each breath as the air thinned and the world sunk beneath my feet. I remember the snow cover cliffs and jagged rocks that made the journey so treacherous. How many times was I tempted to pack up my things, give up and just run home to my comfortable couch. But I also remember the summit, the indescribable beauty of sitting on top of the world. There’s nothing like it.
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