Character Central - set them apart from the crowd

Oh, that I would imagine a character that jumps off the pages! I've read many a book with superb, multi-layered characters, but its the ones breathed life into by film that stand out the most....Take Sir Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lecter in 'Silence of the Lambs'. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor with a screen time of only 16 minutes! His character is so memorable, and his portrayal so chilling that he dominates the story even though he features for so short a time.
Then there is Indiana Jones, and Lisbeth Salander; Ferris Bueller and Rocky...

Characters in books are not easy to get a depth to. And its this depth that draws the reader in. The character needs to stand out from the crowd, do things differently, make the reader feel an empathy or a fascination whether they like the character or not. The better the character stands out, the easier it is for the reader to construct the mind movie.

Three elements to a character that create depth:

Nighthawk Moth

1. Physical - what do they look like and wear; what do they do - their mannerisms & affectations, where do they live; what is their profession; what do they drive; are they married, single, with children or without; star signs; religion; and everything that makes up what you see on the surface.
2. Their emotions - what they feel about a specific topic, like politics; how they confront issues; have hey a quick or a slow temper, do they make friends easily; how do they feel about being married or single, or having kids or not; and everything about the way they react to their surroundings, or influences in their environment.  
3. Their issues - this is the deep stuff. This is where you can get into why they do what they do, or why they feel the way they feel. It could be as stereotyped as 'he had a bad childhood, so he became a ... recluse, murderer, the Barber of Seville.

The more you get into the head of your character, the more you'll find yourself saying 'he/she wouldn't do that, they would do this'. Essentially, you know them well enough to make that observation. That's the place you want to get to with your characters.

To get a handle on this, you can review scenes from movies. I've even paused and rewound so that I can write down a summary sentence for each scene across the length of a whole movie, just so I can see how all  the scenes weave together to make up the whole story, and more importantly, how the characters evolve over the various scenes.
As with Hannibal Lecter, they don't need to even feature in a scene to evolve through it...

A Book is a Mind Movie

As a writer, I'm almost always playing scenes in my head. When I walk the dog, lie in the bath, settle in for a kip on the sofa, or even when I'm brushing my teeth. I constantly play around with my characters and what happens to them in my head.

So, what's the movie bit about? I see my scenes as scenes in a movie.

I visualize what happens in them from the backgrounds and environments (place), to the characters (people), to the conflicts, dramas, and happenings. I even choose actors to play my characters...

For me, each scene must have a beginning, a middle and an end. There must be something distinctive that moves the story along in every one. It doesn't have to logically follow from the previous scene, but it must be relevant to the story progression.

To get a good idea of this, watch a movie and note what happens in each scene. Summarise what the scene is about in 1 or two short sentences.

Then read through it and see how the story is moved along through the different scenes. A scene shows you something that is integral to the story... it doesn't have to tell it.

The book that gets you turning those pages at speed is the one that has the inimitable hook at the end of the scene. Peter James is a master of this. I've been reading a lot of his work lately because it hooks me in from the start, and I struggle to put it down until I've finished. The secret to a good hook is that it raises a question, the answer to which has serious consequences for the subject/character. I can practically see the dilemma they face and have to read on to find out what happens.

Are you making movies in your head whilst you write?

Deadly Obsession available in Paperback!

My paperback is out; you can read it by turning pages. Wow, its a GREAT feeling!

And it wasn't that difficult. Of course, I thought it would be (difficult) when I started because it was an unknown entity. But Createspace was amazing. The site takes you step by step through the process, and if you make a mistake you can go back and change it as many times as you like. 

Before I started, I read through the various stages so  I knew what I had to deliver from my side, such as a cover to the correct dimensions, a blurb for the back cover, the correct layout, the correct font. 

On my first attempt, I simply used the same layout as I had for the Kindle version - well, when I received my proof, the typeface was so big you could read it from a distance of  ten yards. 

Through all my iterations of this book, I found the following to work best for a paperback novel:

• black print on cream paper, not white
• 5x8 in size, nothing larger
• Palatino Linotype, 10
• review the digital proof as well as a hard copy
• provide a professional cover

I've been through it with a fine tooth comb; its been edited and proofed for grammar and typos; its been tweaked and turned and tossed and tinkered with - its should be in its best shape yet. 

I hope you enjoy Deadly Obsession as a paperback. If you do, please let me know. 

At the moment its only available on Createspace,  but I expect it to be out on Amazon.com within the next few days. 

If you have any comments, I'd love to hear them (please keep them constructive). 

Writing rocks!!

Deadly Obsession in Paperback - I'm nearly there!

Have you ever wondered why nothing is as simple as it sounds?
But then again, often when you finally complete a complex task which you viewed with dread before the outset, it turns out to be far simpler than you originally thought?

When I don't know what something will be like/take to do, it becomes this massive mountain, and I'm a piddling climber attempting to transcend a sheer rock face with nothing but my bare hands.

I even get that knot of anxiety churning away in my stomach which I have to push through in order to come out the other side. But when I'm out the other side, I look back and say 'that wasn't so bad!'

90% of the time, its never so bad. 90% of the time, its never as hard as I make it out to be in my mind.
I'm holding onto this thought with both hands and my teeth because I'm smack bang in the middle of trying to publish Deadly Obsession in paperback, and I'm daunted by the task!
I have to say, that from this side of the fence (i.e. haven't done it yet), I feel totally inept. Having said that I WILL persist.

I'm nearly there.

With any luck, by this weekend...

'Pin' yourself out there.

Self-branding is a buzz word today, but what does it really mean? Without taking it to the level of global celebrities, let's get simple about it. 


The people who know you - friends, family, colleagues, community members, whatever - know things about you on various levels. Those you've known forever, know you better than those you've known for five minutes. You may keep your private life separate from your work life so your colleagues will have a different view of you to possibly your close friends. 

Every day in every part of our lives we are self-branding ... and we've been doing it all our lives. Our target audience has just been contained, that's all. 
Today, the internet and social media enables us to achieve a much greater reach.  


I've read articles that advise establishing a niche and focussing purely on that - tailoring posts, interactions, comments, discussions, etc. around a specific topic and no other. It gives people a clear understanding of what you associate yourself with and so they follow you because of the content you put out. Other points of view include letting your audience see a bit more depth to the real person behind the niche marketer. This holds for brands as well. Customers want to connect more with the humanity of the brand - its human face - if you like.  


I've recently started out on my self-branding journey. I've just released my début novel and started my blog a couple of months ago. 
My activity has focussed on posts about my book and my experiences in self-publishing because this is what I've spent my time doing. There are so many facets to a writer and an individual, and you may not want to limit yourself. I know, I don't want to. 


Social media is evolving and so is self-branding. On Facebook, you can now 'like' stuff, on Google +, you can '+1' something, on Twitter you can retweet. These options tell your audience more about you and where you stand: more about the person and the personality behind the brand/niche/blog; more all-roundedness; more humanity.

Enter Pinterest. 


Its the picture (of you) that paints a thousand words. 


You can 'get' so much more about the person/brand/group by looking at their Pinterest boards, than you can by reading most blogs. 
It gives each of us (individual and brand) the opportunity to show, not tell the world about ourselves. 




And that's something any writer understands (or should).