Writing Exercise Inspired by Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer

I am...

Last year's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Sympathizer, begins with the following paragraph: 

I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces. Perhaps not surprisingly, I am a man of two minds. I am not some misunderstood mutant from a comic book or a horror movie, although some may have treated me as such. I am simply able to see any issue from both sides. Sometimes I flatter myself that this is a talent, and although it is admittedly one of a minor nature, it is perhaps also the sole talent I possess. At other times, when I reflect on how I cannot help but observe the world in such a fashion, I wonder if what I have should even be called talent. After all, a talent is something you use, not something that uses you. The talent you cannot not use, the talent that possesses you--that is a hazard, I must confess. But in the month when this confession begins, my way of seeing the world still seemed more of a virtue than a danger, which is how some dangers first appear. 

I love it when a novel begins with a confession about a personal trait in a way that we are forced to re-examine the virtue of the trait and question the narrator from the get-go (think Nick in The Great Gatsby). Today, I think I'm going to write one of these paragraphs for my mc in my WIP. It won't be the first paragraph, and I doubt it'll make it into the novel, but I'm excited to learn what secrets my mc will or will not reveal to me...

Feel free to join me and do the same on this lovely fall Monday. :)

What Pacific Rim Can Teach Writers

I saw the movie Pacific Rim last week. From the advertising, I was expecting something big, loud, and dumb.

I mean, can you blame me?

But surprise--I loved the movie. Guillermo del Toro (screenwriter and director) and Travis Beacham (screenwriter) created an interesting, well-thought-out dystopian world where robots battle alien monsters from another dimension (I know, I know--but trust me, they pull it off!).

In the traditional post-movie analysis with my husband, I figured out the reasons I liked the movie so much, and I realized that a lot of them relate directly to novel writing.

1. Pacing.

Getting the flow of events right is vital to successful action movies--and there are a lot of films that do it wrong. Ever heard the advertising claim "nonstop action?"

The problem with this is it doesn't give your characters (and therefore your viewers/readers) time to process what's happened or what's about to happen. Pacific Rim did a great job of blending robot-monster fight time with slower moments of character development. Which brings me to #2...

2. Character Consistency.

Sure, the big fight scenes in Pacific Rim were special-effects triumphs, but the only reason they worked for me was because I cared what happened to the characters. The movie gave us just enough backstory to make us sympathetic to the protagonist, and then it backed up our original impression of him by keeping him in character throughout the movie. He was a competent guy who thought before he acted, so he didn't suddenly start making rash decisions or crumpling under pressure.

The female lead (played wonderfully by Rinko Kikuchi) had a similar consistency of character. She was just as competent as the male lead, but had a tendency to get overly emotional--and this was consistent throughout the movie.

Hollywood movies often get this wrong--inconsistency of characters is a frequent complaint in unfavorable movie reviews--but spotting when it's done incorrectly can help you as a writer too.

3. Subtlety

So now you're looking back up at that poster and wondering what could possibly be subtle about this movie, right? The truth is, the little details and lack of big, loud moments are what really appealed to me. There's a love story, but it's basically just implied (the characters don't, for example, pause in the middle of fighting aliens to make out--because that would be ridiculous, right?). There's a touching evolution in the relationship between one of the secondary characters and his son, but it's painted with such a light brush that it feels real.

I don't know about you, but when I'm writing, I have a tendency to spell things out too much. If I've come up with a neat bit of character development or plot, I want to make sure the reader doesn't miss it. But this doesn't mean I should hit them over the head with it. If I keep the moments little and subtle, that doesn't mean the reader will miss it, it just means I'm trusting their intelligence.

Who would have guessed I'd learn so much about writing from a big, loud, dumb movie? Not me. But believe me, I'll be keeping an eye out for lessons when I go see Elysium next week.

Writer's Resource: Character Names

I was really happy to receive a compliment recently on the character names in my WIP. I spent quite a bit of time on those names, so it was great to hear someone thought they worked well for the story.

I spent a LOT of time on the names.

It's not easy to come up with names, especially if you have a large cast of characters. Here are a few resources for character names you may not have considered:

• Random Name Generator. Sometimes you don't realize a name works perfectly until you see it written down. Try Behind the Name, which lets you specify ethnicity, gender, and number of names; the Fantasy Name Generator, which leans toward unique names and has options like "vowel heavy" names and "names with apostrophes"; and the Fake Name Generator, which not only comes up with a name--it gives your fictional character a whole identity, complete with a birthdate, blood type, and mother's maiden name!

• Baby name websites. I like Baby Name Wizards' advanced name finder, which gives you options like how common the name is and the first letter.

• The US Social Security Office's Baby Name Popularity List. You can input a year (back to the 1880s!) and it will give you a list of the most popular names in the US from that year. Don't forget, if you're naming an adult character, you'll want to look at the names that were popular during the year of his or her birth, not currently popular names.

It's worth taking the time to get your characters' names exactly right. The best names are unique and fit the characters well. Would Atticus Finch, Scarlett O'Hara, Sherlock Holmes, or Blanche DuBois be as memorable with different names?

Curious Lives of Teenagers: Our Secret Quirks?

When asked what they thought YA writers would want to hear from them, my high school students suggested that the writers should know the things teens do to make individual teens unique. The students thought a sampling of real-life quirks might help flesh out characters/ inspire new side characters for writers with writer's block. How considerate. These quirks are anonymous, and the kids have given permission for you to use with abandon. So here are their secret quirks/ a bit of silliness for a Wednesday afternoon:

• I shower with my socks on
• When I was little I used to "cook" things in my belly button
• I eat Oreos with lemonade
• I look in two different mirrors with two different lightings to see if I look okay
• I will read for hours and try my best on tests, but I never do my homework
• I secretly watch the science channel
• I jump over every sidewalk crack so I don't break my mother's back
• I eat lemons whole
• I have to brush my hair 100 times before leaving the house every day
• I set my alarm for 6:36 am, take out my retainer, and go back to sleep until 6:44
• I put ketchup on my Mac & Cheese
• I feel the automatic need to wink at people when I don't know what to say in passing
• I hint at people to invite me places
• When I go to restaurants, I ask waiters with mustaches for pickles
• When I was little, I stuffed my American Girl dolls into a doll-sized tent to see how many would fit in
• I'm waiting for my own Godot
• I lose weight to get concert tickets
• Things Rick Astley will never do: #1-Give you up #2-Let you down #3-Run around #4-Hurt you #5-Make you cry #6-Say goodbye #7-Tell a lie #8-Desert you (fyi you've just been Rick rolled)
• I eat Doritos with peanut butter
• I like turtles
• I rub my fingers through my hair to think
• When I eat apple strudel, I eat the filling first, then the pastry part
• Eye contact makes me feel uncomfortable
• I read Dictionaries in my free time
• I can have fun with anything from a broken highlighter to an empty wrapping paper roll
• I like to make people feel as uncomfortable as possible by saying really awkward things. If someone is talking about what they will eat for lunch I will then interrupt with a random statement such as "aborted fetuses are surprisingly interesting" and then I will walk away
• I like rubbing people's earlobes
• I have to drink one and a half glasses of milk before bed every night
• Quirk?..I'm perfect.

And finally, a hint for writers from one precocious student: "To make any title better add a question mark at the end." (See title above. Did it work?)

Writer's Resource: Character Templates

Think about some of your favorite novels. Chances are, the really good ones, the ones that stay with you, feature very complex characters. They have reasons they act the way they do, and their emotional reactions change according to the situations the writer throws them into.

Katniss Everdeen: a great example of a complex character!

Okay, so we know it's important to have fully fleshed-out characters. But how do you keep track of all the little details? Maybe your main character starts to swear a lot when she gets nervous. Maybe she tears up easily or always checks her makeup when she thinks no one is looking. Maybe she hates boys with blond hair (or loves them!). And what about her past? Did she grow up in a loving family or an indifferent one? Did she have lots of friends or keep to herself?

A great way to keep track of all this stuff is with character templates.

If you use Scrivener (my writing software of choice), they're built right into the novel template (and it even lets you drag in image files!):

If you're not a Scrivener convert, you can also find lots of printable/save-able character templates on the web. Here are a few to try:

Downloadable Character Template from Litopia Writer's Colony

Character Profile from Suspense.net

Character Template Sheet by Rin Chupeco (especially good if you prefer tons of detail!)

Obviously you don't have to fill out every blank, but templates can be a good way to get you thinking about the little details that will flesh out your characters.

Things I Learned in Improv Class, Volume 4: Getting Into Character

What's improv comedy and why the heck am I writing about it? Check out the intro of Volume 1 and Volume 2.

TODAY'S LESSON: Getting into character

Before an improviser steps on stage, they make a decision about what character they will play. This can manifest itself in something obvious like an accent, or something more subtle, such as a shift in the way they walk, a tiny tick in their right hand, or a slight change in their breathing. 

The simple choices the actor makes about their character will dictate how the scene moves forward, and how their character will react to their partner's character.

Learning how to create a character: The walking game

Everybody leads with a different part of their body when they walk.  Don't believe me?  Sit on a park bench for a while and watch people walk by. You'll notice that very few people walk perfectly erect - they typically lead with one part of their body, and it varies from person to person.

Shifting the leading part of your body is a very simple way to make a physical transformation into a new character. 

That's me, getting into character during a rehearsal.

To practice, start by walking around the room. Once you're comfortable, shift your weight so that you are leading with your head.  You can do this either with a slight shift forward or an extreme shift forward, depending on how extreme you want your character to be.

Walk around like this for a while. How does it feel? 

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What kind of person might walk like this?
2. Are they male or female?
3. What might their name be?
4. What kind of day do you think they are having?
5. How old are they?
6. Are they married? Single? Are they happy about this fact?
7. What do they do for a living?

Now try shifting your weight so that you are leading with your knees. How does walking like this feel different from leading with your head? Ask yourself the same questions as above. My guess is you will come up with very different answers.

Keep shifting your weight to different parts of your body - you nose, your chest, your shoulders, your toes, your hips.  Alter the extremity. Can you see how a slight change in the way you walk can create an entirely new character?

so what's this got to do with writing?

Whether it's a character on stage or a character in a book, they are made up of more than the words they say. How they feel and what they think affects everything they do, and using physicality is a simple way to demonstrate emotion and other character traits.  It's also an easy trick to help you avoid 'show versus tell' pitfalls.

How might a brave person walk? A shy person? An angry person? 

Instead of the dialogue tag 'he said angrily', how might you demonstrate that anger through the character's physicality? Through their actions?

Leverage more than words to create your characters - think about their movements, and use those actions to create rich characters that can live outside of the pages of your story.

Happy writing!