It Makes Horse Races ..

Differing opinions are what make horse races.  And among writers you certainly have differing opinions.  One such case is the question of what is more important in a novel: character or plot.  I’m not going to take sides – exactly.  Today, I’m going to talk about characterization.  Next week, I’ll talk about plot.  And beyond that, I’ll discuss another important aspect of the novel. But, today, it’s character.

You need the reader to identify with your main character. You’d like for your reader to imagine living inside your character’s skin. You want the reader to say, “Yeah, I’ve been there.” Or, “I can see myself in that position.”  This implies that the reader knows enough about the leading character to able to do this.  So, the writer must show the reader, sooner or later (but not too late) what makes this character tick. Many suggest that the reader meet and get to know something about your protagonist in the first chapter—if not on the first page. The reader cannot establish a relationship with the protagonist without knowing what the character thinks.  Reading about what he or she does, but not why she does it, will not likely draw the reader into a close relationship.

Most would agree that the protagonist must want something desperately. The reader must understand this need, and must feel that the character deserves it. Here again, actions can show the reader a lot. But knowing what the character is thinking, what the character is feeling, will place the reader in the character’s shoes. You want your reader to say, “I would have felt the same way.” Or, “I would have done the same thing.”

Of course, we as writers often have the protagonist doing things we would never have the courage to do.  That’s okay.  We might feel like doing it – if only we had the guts to do it. Or we might think the character is stupid for doing that.  But, that’s also okay as long as the reader understands the motivation, can see the need to do this from the protagonist’s point of view.

We must make the reader really care about our leading lady or leading man.  This person is someone the reader would like to know, spend time with, have coffee with or maybe just watch a sunset with. Now, the protagonist is a real person.  And now, we want the readers to say, and to feel, that the protagonist deserves better.

The basic premise in most novels is that the protagonist is trying to achieve something, to reach some goal, to accomplish some task. Part of our job as writers is to make the reader pull for the protagonist.  That goal must become important to the reader.  The reader can think the goal is silly, or not worth the effort, or perhaps even a bad idea.  But, it is our job to make the reader hope that this leading character will actually achieve that goal.

Say the protagonist is a woman trying to cross a line. It could be a goal line, a finish line, an imaginary line, or a line between two countries. It makes no difference. It is the goal she has set for herself. She has worked hard to get close but there are so many obstacles, and they seem to grow bigger and more difficult the closer she gets to that line. And suddenly, it doesn’t look like she will make it. Now, the reader actually may think it is not the thing to do. It’s too dangerous, or it’s likely to cause grave physical damage. If she doesn’t stop now, she could end up dead, or in the hospital. She should give it up. But, it is extremely important to the protagonist, and because it is, the reader is going to back her. “I don’t think you should do this, but if you must, I’m with you all the way.”

As the reader turns the pages at this point, the writer wants to make it so compelling that the reader is actually feeling the strain of trying to cover the last few feet. The reader’s muscles have tensed up, and perhaps the reader is actually leaning in the direction the protagonist is trying to go. Do it right, and the reader will be affected physically, not just feel the struggle to advance, but will actually strain (unconsciously) to help the woman achieve her goal.

Not easy to accomplish.  But do it and you have a character the reader will remember.  And that’s the key to success.  The reader will remember to tell others about this great character.  The reader will look to buy the next book featuring this character.  You will be on the road to success.

The keys. Make the reader identify with the character; care about the character; feel for the character; help the character reach her goal.

Next: the case for the plot.

Should She Risk All?

An Interview with Crystal Moore, the heroine in A Silver Medallion

JIM: Well, let’s just jump right into it. Why on earth did you decide to go to Mexico when you knew how ruthless Jose Rodriquez de Allende was? First, are you an adventurer, a thrill seeker?

CRYSTAL: You didn’t waste any time getting to that. To answer your question, no I am not a thrill seeker, or an adventurer. The most dangerous thing I’ve ever done was say “No” to a man who had never heard that word. As to why I went, that’s a question I’ve heard a lot- sometimes even from myself. Do you want the long answer or the short answer?

JIM: Let’s start with the short.Cover - A Silver Medallion

CRYSTAL: Because of the threat to kill her two little girls if she tried to escape, or even told anybody of her situation, Lucita would never escape. She would spend her entire life a slave. But, if I could rescue her two children from Jose, she would be happy to try to escape.

JIM: But Jose was a powerful and vengeful man.

CRYSTAL: Now we’re into the long answer. First, I was naive. I wasn’t prepared for just how evil the man was. And living in a society where one can depend on the police to help, I naturally thought I’d have some good local or state police help. That turned out to be foolish on my part.

JIM: Okay. I understand part of it. But this was such a risky business, I know you had other reasons. Come on, tell us.

CRYSTAL: I guess the biggest one came from my own life. My parents were killed in a car accident when I was seven. It was such a difficult time for me, for a long time. But, nothing could be done about that. They were gone, dead. No one could help me. Of course, I had loving grandparents who took me in and gave me a secure, loving home. Still, it was very difficult. Twenty years later, I could still feel the pain. Now, I’m not saying anything against my grandparents. They were the best. Grand Dad has passed, but Nana and I are still really close. She’s my best friend. I love her a lot, and she thinks I’m pretty special.

But these two little girls didn’t have grandparents. They were virtual slaves themselves, living under a brutal man. They had no one to look after them, to try to give them a happy childhood. Yet, there was something that could be done to help them. Rescue them from Jose.

Of course, there was another powerful reason. Once I talked with the mother, had pictures of the girls, I couldn’t sleep. I would have nightmares about their treatment. I became a prisoner of their large brown eyes. I swear, I would wake up thinking I heard them crying. If I wanted to have a normal life again, I had to, at least, try to rescue them.

JIM: I’m beginning to understand why you went. But did you really think you would succeed? I mean, this was a powerful man, with many henchmen, in a foreign country.

iguana 5SCRYSTAL: You understand the dangers. Well, actually, I didn’t until I met Juan Grande. He made the dangers quite clear to me. But, you fix your mind on what you want to achieve. You don’t think about failure. You say, whatever the worse case is, I will figure out a way to make it through.

JIM: Okay. You’ve convinced me. You should have gone. But one last question. Did anyone else think you should go? Maybe Lucita.

CRYSTAL: No. No one. Nana, who can face down the devil, said I shouldn’t go. Brandi, as brash as they come, said it was a dumb idea. And Mark, a former bull rider, didn’t want me to go. Even Lucita had her doubts. She feared if I tried and failed, her children might suffer the consequences. Her fears almost stopped me.

JIM: That’s all we have time for today, I’m afraid. Another time, I want to know how your boyfriend took the news you were off to fight the devil himself. But we’ll need more time for that. Thanks for being so open and honest in your answers. I look forward to reading the full account in A Silver Medallion.

Readers, what do you think?  Should she have gone into Mexico?  Leave a comment and tell us whether you think she should have gone.  Thanks.  You can get all the details in A Silver Medallion, on Amazon at:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/1WxoEaF

Paperback:     http://amzn.to/28LIdWs

A Silver Medallion is a gripping, action-packed adventure from talented author James Callan.  Crystal Moore is a tough and savvy heroine …

 New York Times Bestselling Author Bobbi Smith

 

James Callan’s A Silver Medallion is a fine blend of colorful characters, action, suspense, and serious.  Crystal Moore and her grandmother, Eula, are a great team as they take on modern-day slavery and academic fraud in this nonstop novel.  Check it out!

 Bill Crider, best-selling author of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series

 This book by Mr. Callan kept me hooked from the very beginning. Drawing a plot that seemed to leap from the headlines, he writes with a page turning intensity that will leave the reader satisfied. Crystal Moore is a heroine you can fall in love with. A woman willing to stand by her convictions of right and wrong, even if it means putting herself in danger, to accomplish her goal of righting the wrongs in the world.

Amazon Customer – Abookanight

Once I began reading it, putting it down became the challenge.

Amazon Review – Mary Turner

The Women Took Over

srock-aToday, I am pleased to have Sharon Srock visiting.  She started with science fiction and now concentrated on Christian fiction, with three books in her Women of Valley View series. Here’s how her life has changed since she started the series.

Sharon:  Mine is the story of an ever-evolving community. When I first started to write the Valley View series, I had no idea that the characters would become so real. I guess that happens to all writers. How can you eat, sleep, and work with people, twenty-four hours a day, for years, and have it any other way? They’ve each whispered their own story line to me and demanded equal time on paper. I was good with that, they weren’t. These greedy women, once granted the small freedom of the written page, demanded not only stories of their own, but a town to live in, families to raise, jobs to go to, and a church to attend. I live in small town Oklahoma, so I gave them the mythical Garfield, OK to live in and a beautiful little church, Valley View, as a place of worship.

I started with a single character who looked a lot like me. Callie is in her mid fifties, married with kids and grandkids, she teaches a Sunday school class at the church she’s attended nearly forever, and works at an OB/GYN clinic. I could identify with this person, I knew who she was (me), I could hear her voice in my head, and I was comfortable in her skin. It was easy to write from her point of view. Callie and I were one in the same, and we coexisted quite nicely together. Then a strange thing happened. Callie developed her own personality. She outgrew me. Callie is bold where I’m shy, she’s wise where I struggle. It wasn’t long before Callie wasn’t just a character on a piece of paper, she was the person I wanted to be when I grew up.

perf5.500x8.500.inddFrom that one person, a community was born. Callie needed a husband. Enter Benton who resembles my own hubby in appearance if not in deed. Callie needed a best friend so Karla received breath along with her husband Mitch. I wanted to appeal to more than the over fifty crowd, so forty something Pam and almost thirty Terri stepped onto my page. Who knew things could get so out of hand? Pam needed a husband and kids. The church needed pastors. No one wants to read about a group of church women sitting around, talking and eating cheese cake. Where’s the conflict? Enter Samantha, Iris, and their estranged father, Steve. Who knew Steve and Terri would fall in love and generate a second story? Who knew that Pam’s vicious ex-husband would get saved, move back to Garfield, and spawn a story worth telling in a third book? Who knew that Samantha…Well, you get the picture. Pushy, pushy women!

Sigh…With Callie and Terri both a reality, Pam releasing in April , Samantha’s story under consideration, and Kate’s tale in progress, I have no idea how far these very determined ladies will take me, but I’m looking forward to the journey.

 JIM:  Thanks, Sharon for a very interesting look at how our characters become real.  Here’s  a short blurb on Sharon’s new novel, Pam.

Pam’s divorce broke her heart. The cruelty of her ex-husband broke her spirit. A bottle of sleeping pills almost took her life. Four years later the scars of Alan Archer’s emotional abuse are beginning to fade under the love of her new husband. When Alan returns to Garfield, Pam must learn that buried secrets and carefully cultivated indifference do not equal forgiveness.

Alan Archer has returned to Garfield with a new wife and a terminal heart condition. His mission? To leave a Christian legacy for his children and to gain Pam’s forgiveness for the sins of his past.

Please visit her AMAZON page to find current info on her books: http://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Srock/e/B009OB2HSO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Connect with her at www.sharonsrock.com..

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SharonSrock#!/SharonSrock

 

Agent/Author Linda Glaz Interviews a Character

Gallery

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Today’s guest blogger is Linda Glaz.  Linda is that lovely combination of a writer and an agent.  She is an agent with the Hartline Agency  and has two books in print: With Eyes of Love published just this week, and Polar … Continue reading

Byrd’s Characters Speak for Themselves

Gallery

This gallery contains 2 photos.

K. Dawn Byrd, an author of inspirational novels in several genres (including, historical, suspense, romance, and young adult) has a YA novel titled Double Identity coming out this week.  Since I’ve interviewed Dawn before, I thought we’d interview her Heroine … Continue reading

A Character Steps Off the Page for an Interview

Gallery

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Today, we are interviewing Father Frank DeLuca, the protagonist in my mystery Cleansed by Fire.  Father Frank, as he is generally known, is thirty-three years old, six feet tall, and weighs 175 pounds.  The things you notice first are his … Continue reading