Writing with Morgan

Just like cars, computers are unique. In this tech-savvy society, it isn’t a wonder how much a computer can tell about a person. My computer habits are totally different than my best friends’ habits. Some unique things you should consider are:

What browser do they use? Old school Explorer makes a big statement about their character.

How clean is their background? I have only the basic necessities (internet, a file for class last year, recycle bin, and iTunes), but I know many people who fill their screen with little icons.

Do they use Notes? Do they use a note widget for a shopping list, movies to watch list, or books to buy list?

How many tabs can they stand open? Personally, I can only have less than four tabs open. I have had many windows open with only four tabs open when I was doing research for classes. I know people who keep so many tabs open, they are reduced to just small icons. With that note, How often do they bookmark?

What is their preferred streaming site (if they do so)? Only having Netflix is totally different than only having Hulu with Showtime subscription.

when i have free time:

Sometimes you have to code characters, either because the terms they use to describe themselves don’t exist (like secondary world fantasy), or because they haven’t found the words themselves yet (undiagnosed illnesses and disabilities). But if at all possible, you should make it clear who these people are and own that you’re putting them in the story.

Even if you actively can say that somebody is part of a certain group, you still have to make sure you’re not -washing them in the narrative. Be it whitewashing, straightwashing, abledwashing, or any sort of situation where you say one thing, but the story itself doesn’t reflect that.

Here are some things to consider that will help you make it obvious that…

This character is PoC

Describe:

Skin tone (just don’t use food metaphors)

Hair texture/colour (especially black hair)

Most commonly eaten foods at home

Microaggressions

Cultural clues that they would have (either assimilated or not, because both will have tells)

Their opinion of white people/things outside of their experience

This character is LGBTQA+

Describe:

Who they’re attracted to (or lack thereof)/past crushes (or lack thereof)

Their circle of friends (seriously, we travel in packs, I know like five straight people)

For trans characters: hormones, binders, packers, breast forms, tucking. Also, for more subtle clues, pronoun asking, euphoria at gender affirming things (like them being proud of their particularly dapper, feminine, or ‘I have no idea what gender that is but I like it’ style), dislike of off-gender things (like complaining about somebody getting them something that doesn’t match how they like to present)

The actual orientation that they are, for crying out loud

Their opinion of straight people/things outside of their experience

This character is disabled

Describe:

Their disability. Preferably in the actual labels, or make up your own labels for a secondary world fantasy

Any mobility, hearing, or speaking aids

Behaviours that come with the disability (ie- stimming such as rocking or flapping for autistic/ADHD people, navigating through appropriately wide paths for wheelchairs/walkers, sitting on one side of the group conversations to make sure their good ear catches it, etc)

Levels of aid needed and any accommodations

Avoiding things that trip them up (like somebody autistic not wanting to go where it’s crowded, a wheelchair user avoiding curbs, a Deaf person making sure there’s a sign language interpreter at a concert, somebody with celiac avoiding gluten like the plague)

Plan cancelling because it’s a bad day, or having to leave early because the environment is bad

Medications, doctors, etc, if applicable

Self care rituals for after a long day or during a flare up

Their opinion of abled people/things outside of their experience

This character is mentally/chronically ill

Describe:

Their symptoms, from good to messy, consistently

Their energy levels, as many of us use the spoon theory

Self care rituals they practice during flare ups or after hard days

Medication, doctors, therapies, etc

Cancelling plans because a bad day came up, or having to leave early because the environment is bad

Triggers and their individual reaction to their triggers

Their opinion of well people/things outside of their experience

And so on. These lists are not meant to be exhaustive at all, but they are meant to get you thinking about how you need to go about describing representation.

One thing to note: you can go about establishing representation in one of two ways. Either have the characters noting their differences, or them nothing others’ differences. Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys describes white skin when it appears, because within the narrator’s world, black skin is the norm. But others note their own differences. It’s all about their character.

Either one requires a lot of careful thought and sensitivity readers, but both are valid* options for owning** representation.

Followers, feel free to add more!

*Do be aware that some groups are chronically under-represented when it comes to the actual word of their identity. Bisexual people hardly have characters say the word as their identity. Autistic people also hardly have characters say the word as their identity. Be very careful of not having characters talk about themselves if the group is prone to being coded but not explicitly represented

**You have to actually own it and say they’re that when people put all the clues you left together

It’s a tough line to walk, so don’t be frustrated if you can’t find that balance you’re looking for right away.

The title sounds like the opposite of what you’re looking for, but you might find some useful tips in it: 6 TIPS FOR CREATING A LIKABLE VILLAIN

Some quick tips:

Don’t make them 100% evil. Have your villain do some awful things that make them unlikable, but throw in a few redeeming qualities. Give them some lines they won’t cross.

Give them a compelling motivation. Maybe your villain truly and honestly believes they’re doing the right thing. Maybe the end goal actually IS good, but the means to get there are awful.

Give them a compelling backstory. Let us see how they became who they are today. If we’re invested in their story from the start, it’s sometimes harder to let go. 

POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERTS:

Look for what you want in books/TV shows for inspiration

Grant Ward from Agents of Shield - Ward had meaningful friendships with the rest of the crew in s1, which made it hard for them (and us, the viewers) to accept his betrayal. Whenever his ex-friends made emotional appeals to him, we’re silently cheering for that power of friendship and thinking “please turn good again!!”

Bandon from The Shannara Chronicles - We first met him when he was a good person and just doing his best. After what he endured at the hands of the Dagda Mor, we kinda get why he’s so angry with the world. As a viewer, I keep thinking back to his s1 self and hoping he will come to his senses! At times, he’s even the “lesser of two evils” so we want him to succeed against the villain who’s much worse.

One quick warning:

Please don’t use the character’s motivation/backstory as an “excuse” for why it’s okay that they’re killing people or whatever villainous stuff they’re up to. 

I know those were two of the tips I gave above, but again. Like I said, it’s a balancing act.

We can sympathize with a character while still thinking what they’re doing is 100% unacceptable. But other characters should condemn that character. If the villain ever recognizes the error of their ways, they should work to redeem themselves instead of being like “sorry lol, I was just a victim in all this.”

Don’t brush all the bad they’ve done under the rug!

Read it Out Loud - I use Natural Reader Free to run through chapters. It helps you catch errors, but since it’s not natural sounding, you’ll still want to do some reading on your own. Especially dialogue - it might seem natural to have a lot of ‘um’ and ‘ah’s in there, but it breaks up the flow when reading.

Look for Big Stuff - There’s no point in banging your head over the length of a paragraph you might delete later. Make sure your plot is consistent, you didn’t change names and locations and forgot, that you can understand why A+B=Z. If you don’t have an outline, this is a great time to make one, to keep track of what you need to know.

Destroy the Passive Telling - ‘She realized he was looking for something’ can be greatly improved by ‘He was looking for something’ or ‘He was rooting around in her sock drawer.’ There are always times when you’ll have to say ‘He walked across the room’, but often, the biggest problems can be fixed with rephrasing.

Note the Slow Parts and Start Snipping - Cutting things is inevitable. If a scene drags, note it. You can probably make it better by cutting out the stuff that gets your character nowhere. If a character seems completely pointless, consider removing it. If it’s too painful to do that, note those things down - chances are when you do get beta readers, they’ll tell you what you already know. 

If you’re writing epic fantasy, the temptation to name everything with a fancy name like Soulbreaker, The Rolling Pin of Destiny, can be overwhelming. You want it to read like an epic of a bygone age, you want it to sound grand and magical. What often happens is you wind up with a muddled narrative, too many unpronounceable names that’d make Tchaikovsky roll his eyes, and the dialogue and narrative flow equivalent of a clogged toilet.

Which is not to say you can’t have fancy names for things, just y’know, be wise about when and how you use them.

The question I got was particularly pertaining to describing the rooms of a castle. “Do I call it the Great Hall, or the great hall?”

Well the way I work that kind of thing out, is to remind myself that the majority of castles have a great hall. So capitalizing it is a bit like thinking of your living room as The Living Room. See, how odd that looks? Same with “castle” in general, you don’t need to capitalize castle whenever you type it. if you are naming it by it’s proper name, then yes, but if say, your character glances up at it or tells someone “go to the castle, quickly!” it doesn’t need to be capitalized. If they say “go to Castle Plinth, quickly!” it does. 

It’s noun vs proper noun, or to put it another way, a type of building vs the specific building in question that has a formal name.

Titles are a little more tricky, especially with Lord this and Lady that and a whole host of etiquette rules, but a common trick is to think of it in terms of, is it a title? or a descriptor?

Vlad is a viscount (descriptor), but he’s also the Viscount of Castle Eyrie (title + formal name= capitalization). 

You also shouldn’t capitalize species. Human isn’t typically capitalized, so don’t write “the Elf” or “the Vampire”. They are “the elf” and “the vampire”. If however you are referring to them as a specific group withing said species, they’d be the High Elf or High Vampire. 

Think dog (noun descriptor) vs German Shepherd (proper noun of a specific type of dog). 

Same with regions. Capitalize region descriptors. If your region is called something like “Woodland” you’d still refer to them as “the elf”, but if you are referring to them in reference to the region where they come from, they are “the Woodlander” or “the Woodlander elf”. (and if you get confused, always, always think of it in real world settings. The woman is a woman, but she is from America so she is American, or the American woman.”)

Is this making sense? I hope it’s making sense. I’m running on about two hours sleep so I may read this again tomorrow and cringe. But these are some of the most common mistakes people make when writing fantasy.

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Share with us something  from your latest work in progress by using the #writing-with-morgan hashtag or by submitting to @writing-with-morgan

There is still time to submit your excerpt for Fiction Friday!

Share with us something  from your latest work in progress by using the #writing-with-morgan hashtag or by submitting to @writing-with-morgan

Here’s some considerations for the tiny little details that can add a lot to a character. Figuring out these mannerisms can do a lot for conveying character traits through their normal actions rather than just their thoughts, dialogue, etc.

How’s their posture? There are more options than just sitting up straight or slouching a lot. What’s their most comfortable sitting position? Do they have a consistent posture or does it change depending on situation / present company? 

How’s their etiquette? Do they hold the door for people behind them? How do they handle handshakes and other kinds of typical contact? Does their language change or become more formal when speaking to strangers? To their elders? To their superiors? 

In a crowded space, do they get out of people’s way, or do people get out of THEIR way? 

How do they point something out? Pointing their finger? Nodding their head? A flippant wave of the hand?

What are their comfort gestures or self-touch gestures? Common comfort gestures include rubbing the back of the neck or gripping their own arms. Can they suppress these gestures or do they do them often?

Also consider the character’s common reactions to common emotions. Do they whoop when they’re excited? Do they tremble when angry? 

What parts of the body are the most expressive? Do they shuffle and stomp their feet a lot when agitated or excited? Are they a hand talker? Do they have an impressive range of motion with their eyebrows?

How do they sound? Do their car keys jingle as they walk? Do they drag their feet? Do their heels clack resoundingly on hard floors? Do they breathe loudly? Do they fidget in ways that make a lot of noise?

How do they handle eye contact?

Any behaviors they reserve for moments when they’re alone? (Or possibly among family/friends that don’t care?) Do they pick their nose? Do they bite their toenails? Do they sniff their armpits? Or do they not care if people see behavior like this?

Apart from comfort gestures, what else do they do to comfort themselves in trying times? What’s their go-to self care? What’s their comfort food? Where’s their safe space?

Hmm.. well, first, if there’s a specific medical reason for your character’s hallucinations, than it should be explicitly stated and explained at some point in your novel.

Most people rely very heavily on sight. If a person sees something, even if it’s not there or doesn’t make any rational sense, there’s a good chance they’ll believe what they see. In the beginning, your character is probably going to believe their hallucinations are real. They might be fearful of the hallucinations if they tend to be frightening, or maybe they see people or old friends who have passed away and are happy to see them. 

After hallucinating a few times, your character will most likely realize that what they are seeing is in fact a hallucination, assuming there is no reason that would prevent your character from realizing this. They might come to expect it even, though there could still be doubt as to whether what they’re seeing is real or not.

I don’t know a lot about hallucinations, and there’s so many different causes or reasons why a person might be hallucinating that it’s hard to state what it would be like for your character. To me, “he blinked and when he opened his eyes again, the image was gone” works just fine, or something simple and along those lines. You could have your character look around and try to see if anything still seems out of the ordinary. The character could try casually bringing it up to other people, or they’re just so dumbfounded at what they saw that all they can do is blink and rub their eyes. If your character hallucinates more than once, I wouldn’t over-explain it past the first hallucination or two. Your readers will quickly understand the character is hallucinating things.

 You have to remember, in TV shows, things happen much quicker to keep the audience interested. It’s a completely different media. TV can show you something in two seconds; a book might need anywhere from a sentence to a page. 

I don’t think you need a whole lot describing how the hallucination disappeared; after all, there’s only so much to say about it once it’s gone! Your character could have a hard time believing he actually saw whatever it is he saw. Focus on what your character is feeling about the situation, and write about how he feels once the hallucinations disappear.