In our continuing quest to write 750 words per day for a month, today we will look at unlikeable main characters.

Which One is Unlovable? The Eye of the Beholder

Donald Maass, in How to Write the Breakout Novel, says to make this type character self-aware. They know what they are doing is wrong, they acknowledge it. They take the sting out of the behavior by telling the reader they understand it is unacceptable. Nevertheless, they must do it. And of course, you’ll then add in the reasons why this behavior is reasonable.

The date jerk was dumped when he was 13 and has never gotten over it.
The guy in anguish is grieving over the loss of his family to a drunk driver. The guy who hurts puppies–oh, that’s a hard one! How WOULD you justify that? Oh, isn’t that the story, OF MICE AND MEN?

A second way to turn a jerk into a lovable character is to have someone demonstrate that they do indeed love him or her. Scarlett O’Hara is jealous, conniving and a drama queen. But the family’s nanny still loves her. Because the nanny loves her, we feel more tender toward Scarlett.

Today, write about an unlovable character.

• They must say, do and think awful things.
• Then, soften the character by having someone do a loving act toward them.
• Soften the character farther by having him or her acknowledge the errors of his or her ways.

Think like a writer: make me want to read about that unlovable character.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

In our continuing quest to write 750 words a day, today, we will think like our opposites. Our enemies.

Drawing of the TinTin Villain

Today, write a scene from a character who represents the opposite side, the opposite take on things, the opposite point of view. Generally, this will mean your villain or your antagonist.

Read this three part series about villains:

• Villains Don’t Always Wear Black
• Strengthen Your Villain
• Villains to Imitate

Now, write 750 words explaining your villain’s point of view, exploring their backstory, understanding the whys and wherefors of this fella.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

We’ve come a long way in this 31 Days of Thinking Like a Writer, a challenge to write at least 750 words each day.

Secrets and Letters

Letters written in the 1860s

Letters can be inform about facts or events; they carry emotional baggage that can be negative or positive.

Today, write a letter from your character to another character in the story.

It’s an exercise in drawing out the tension in a short piece of writing, as you Think Like a Writer

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Have you signed up for 750words.com yet? Or will you try doing 750 words on paper? I’ve just completed my 20th day of doing 750 words!

Here’s another creative writing prompt for your 750 words, a challenge to write 750 words each day in January to better Think Like a Writer. The next three days of Thinking Like a Writer are all connected and I’ll explain it here, then just remind you of the prompts for the next two days.

A scan is a way to show a crowd scene economically, yet in an interesting way. It involves a series of small zooms: the quarterback’s mother is taping the game with a new video camera that she borrowed money to buy; the coach’s pencil is hovering over two names, trying to decide if he’ll start the injured quarterback or his backup; the head cheerleader is trying to shake off a headache and wondering if that red pill the quarterback gave her would help or not. In a short paragraph, you get the complexities of the crowd!

As always, start with the basic sensory details list, but this time you skip around. You can do full details for the coach, the quarterback’s mother, the quarterback, and the head cheerleader if you want; or you can do partials for each, but focus on getting great “telling details.” If you’re rusty on doing sensory details–and you have to fill out your 750 words anyway–go ahead and do the full sensory details list for each. Then you’ll have a wide selection to choose from as you Think Like a Writer.

And when would you use a Scan?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Here’s another creative writing prompt for your 750 words, a challenge to write 750 words each day in January to better Think Like a Writer. This is the second day of three days of Thinking Like a Writer about scenes. Here’s the first post to remind you about panoramas, zooms and scans.

Zooms focus in on tiny details. The pencil stub the coach is using to put check marks by player’s names on his clip board, the taped thumb of the quarterback, the aching toe of the head cheerleader. Usually, you’ll need to include sharp sensory details: what the character sees, hears, touches, tastes and feels (not emotions, but temperature and texture). Avoid the cliched details and include interesting and different, but telling details. In the picture here, don’t forget to include a description of the callous, the whorls on the palm and such.

Start with the basic sensory details list and go from there, as you Think Like a Writer!

And the question today is when would you use a Zoom?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Port Townsend. Photo by Dwight Pattison, c. 2008. Please do not copy. Click to see a larger version.

When you describe a scene of a novel or story, it is important to think about the focal length. Taking a cue from filming, you can think of a couple ways of describing a scene: zoom, pan, scan.

A panorama is the wide-angle view. Think of a football game and you’re sitting on the top of the bleachers with the view of the field and parking lot laid out in front of you. You see the pageantry of the blue and red teams, the yellow school buses, the bustling food stand. It’s an overview, a view from a distance, from overhead.

A zoom, however, focuses in on tiny details. The pencil stub the coach is using to put check marks by player’s names on his clip board, the taped thumb of the quarterback, the aching toe of the head cheerleader. Usually, you’ll need to include sharp sensory details: what the character sees, hears, touches, tastes and feels (not emotions, but temperature and texture). Avoid the cliched details and include interesting and different, but telling details.

A scan is a way to show a crowd scene economically, yet in an interesting way. It involves a series of small zooms: the quarterback’s mother is taping the game with a new video camera that she borrowed money to buy; the coach’s pencil is hovering over two names, trying to decide if he’ll start the injured quarterback or his backup; the head cheerleader is trying to shake off a headache and wondering if that red pill the quarterback gave her would help or not. In a short paragraph, you get the complexities of the crowd!

For the next three days, we’ll focus on one of these ideas. Today, try writing a scene using a Panorama. Tomorrow, write a scene using a Zoom. And on the next day, write a Scan.

While you’re busy Thinking Like a Writer, when would you use each of these techniques? Leave me a suggestion!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Some visual artists like to use Found Objects to make Found Art. It’s an idea that works for writers today. As you walk through your day, notice things: bits of dialogue, interesting faces, odd objects (a bird, a hairbrush, a Chinese fan, the tallest tree you’ve ever seen). Today, collect about a dozen of these. Please try not to censor or audition the things, just collect.

Tomorrow, in our continuing challenge to write 750words every day, use every single one of them. Make it work. I don’t know how you’ll make it work, but you can do it.

For example, one story I wrote started with overhearing someone say they called their brother Bubba; at the same time, I was eating BBQ sauce. My characters became Saucy and Bubba. We also had strawberries for dessert, so the story included a special quart of strawberries. And I had been traveling that day and saw lots of 18-wheelers on the road: Dad had to drive a truck, of course.

The Found Object Story will surprise you. And that’s very good, it gets you out of your comfort zone, your cliches and forces you to be creative. And that’s Thinking Like a Writer.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

This month, I am trying to Think Like a Writer and write 750 words a day, practicing my writing, much like a musician plays scales daily.

Today, I will be a Grinch, a mean one.
Why? Because fiction is built on conflict: without bad things happening, the reader is bored. A bored reader equals failure!

Today, I’m going to fill up my 750 words with things that can go wrong in my WIP (work in progress). I’ll go from the totally ridiculous chain-saw massacre things to the kindergarten and tea party small things. Anything and everything that can go wrong.

If I run out of ideas, I’ll try a different scene. But today, I’m all Grinch: my heart is two sizes too small and mean and nasty. Don’t talk to ME today or I’ll snap off your head!

Lists. I don’t care if I write complete sentences or not.

Tip: If you’re using 750words.com like I am, after you write, click on the green image of the number of word you wrote at the bottom of the page. It will take you to your Stats. One of the stats is your state of mind: you’ll see a pie-chart that shows if your writing today was Affectionate, Self-Expressive, Self-Important, Happy, Upset, Sad, or Anxious. I am shooting for Upset, Sad and Anxious today. NO happy, NO Affectionate. GRRRR!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

In today’s installation of Think Like a Writer, we’ll look at creating a certain mood for your story, novel, or picture book.

Writers know that readers want a certain experience and part of that is creating emotion or feeling. In other words, we need to create a setting that has a certain mood.

How to do that? Creating a mood is fairly simple, if you start with the basic idea of sensory details. Now, the writer’s eye kicks in as you select details. Once again, think about your story and what sensory details your character would be experiencing. What do they See, Hear, Touch, Taste, Feel?

But this time, you want to select details that support your mood. For example, if you want a scary beach, the sky is dark, brooding; the waves crash so loudly that you can’t hear the gulls; the cold wind grounds all seabirds and cuts through your flimsy sweater; the wind blasts your face and you can’t get away from the taste of salt; you smell nothing but the wool scarf wrapped around your face.

If you want a happy beach, you choose different details; soft wind ruffles your hair, sunglasses slide down the sweat on your nose, the smell of sunscreen brings back memories of that time on the beach in Jamaica, the mojita tastes perfectly minty, and the sea is a glassy swell.

Writers notice sensory details. Then, they choose the right details to create a mood.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The following are the top posts of 2011 on Fiction Notes.

1. Checklist of 17 Character Qualities
2. 43 Book Trailer Sites to Inspire, Instruct and Share
3. 15 Days to Stronger Characters
4. 29 Plot Templates: Know the Readers Expectations Before you Bust Them
5. How to Create Whacky, Interesting Character Descriptions that Stick with a Reader
6. Outline Level of Plot
7. 4 Goals for a Novel’s Opening Chapter
8. 30 Days to a Stronger Scene: Table of Contents
9. 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book
10. 9 Traits of Sympathetic Characters
11. 9 Ways of Plotting a Novel
12. 15 Graphic Novel Resources: Read, Evaluate, Write, Illustrate, Submit

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win