Image by Endemoniada via Flickr

When you tell a story you will need to create many characters.  Some are ones that might be your friends, but others will be people you wouldn’t even allow to step foot inside your home.  Some you might cross the street to avoid.

So, how do you write about someone you detest?

I see some authors make the mistake of separating themselves from these characters.  You can tell that the author desperately wants you to know that they don’t approve of their actions.  As a result the characters aren’t real and there is no way that the readers can become interested in the story.

Robert De Niro really drove this point home for me when he told a story about being on the set of Cape Fear.  Someone from wardrobe had asked him how he could play someone so terrible, so evil.  He asked her not to say that.  In order to play the part he had to not hate the character, but really get inside him and make him realistic.

When you write about a character you must know that character and what makes him or her tick.  You must write from that character’s viewpoint and have the dialogue match them.  Their actions must be what they would do and you must be consistent.

You may need to do some research.  Observe people, see how they behave.  Or watch movies or read books to see how other writers reveal a character.

In the end, if you create a story with believable characters, your readers will not be able to put your novel down!

worn old maple tree
peg by peg children climb up
secret hiding place

stems hang by a thread
dangling pre
                     car
                          ious
                                 l
                                 y
october puppets

ancient tree roots drink
dregs left by its rain soaked leaves
nature’s harmony

I entered Karen Cantwell’s Flash Fiction contest last week and discovered that I won an honorable mention.  How cool is that?

The contest involved writing a very short story (300 words or less) using the words: trees, purple, and glockenspiel. 

(Yeah, I had to look up “glockenspiel”, too.  I couldn’t remember if it was a musical instrument or a clock.  It’s similar to a xylophone.)

I earned the above badge and thought, why not display it proudly on my blog?  I mean if I can’t brag on my own blog, what is the point of having a blog anyway?

So, here is my story:

Rachel’s Request

Rachel knelt carefully by the side of her bed. A fat, blond curl fell over her eye. Patiently she swept it back into place behind her ear.

“God,” she began. Then she stopped. Hm, maybe the maker of trees and rain might not want to be addressed so formally, without feeling.

She cleared her throat and started again, “Dearest God. I would like to ask you for something. You see, at school we have every instrument you can imagine in our music class. I wanted to play the French horn, but Johnny got to it first. He’s fast.

“So, then I tried to get the tuba, but Jenny said I was too little for such a big instrument. I tried to tug it away from her, but it wouldn’t budge. Jenny’s right. It’s way too big.

“All that’s left was a sad little xylophone. It was sitting all by itself on the shelf. Old and worn out. I looked up at the teacher, hoping that there was something else. He said, ‘You’re a lucky little girl. You get the Glockenspiel!’ He sounded so excited I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I picked it up.

“Jenny laughed at me, so I told her to mind her own business. I hope that was OK. Was it? Um, so I’m figuring, since you’re all knowing and all, you probably saw me stick my tongue out at her. I’m sorry about that too.

“So, I’m asking you for forgiveness. That’s what mama said I should do. But since we’re talking, I thought, while I was at it, I’d ask if you could maybe turn Jenny’s tuba purple. I thought that would be really funny.

She stood up and then knelt back down quickly. “Sorry, I forgot. Amen!”

by Karen Cantwell
It’s a crazy business, this world of writing. Sometimes I wonder, “Why?” Why do I do this? Spend hours pouring over words on a computer screen, writing, editing, writing, thunking myself over the head because I can’t think of “just the right word.” Why?

I always thought it was the ultimate joy of creation. Of devising, molding, growing each character and the story that is theirs.

Truthfully, that is part of it. There is huge satisfaction in that creativity. But I realized, recently, it goes far beyond that for me. Because the real reason I write, is to entertain. To cause someone to laugh or smile or possibly even cry (in a good way, I hope), but to give them a diversion. A break from the everyday, hum drum, rag tag world around them, and find a little slice of something fun.

The interesting thing about entertaining, I have come to realize, is that this too, is creation. It is the creation of an effect. In my case, I always strive to create a GOOD effect. I prefer to leave my readers with smiles on their faces. Because really, is there anything better than a smile?

That’s why I write.

_______

Karen Cantwell was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest for her unpublished novel, Monkeys in My Trees (since re-titled, Take the Monkeys and Run). Her short story, “The Recollections of Rosabelle Raines,” has just been published in the mystery anthology, Chesapeake Crimes: They Had it Comin’, available on Amazon.com. She posts short stories at http://www.fictionfordessert.blogspot.com .

Image via Wikipedia

A friend introduced me to a cool “Haiku Challenge” taking place on Twitter. @Baffled (a user there) started this concept. The idea is that you must write a Haiku each day around a word that he chooses.

For more information you can go to: http://haikuchallenge.tumblr.com/ .  You can also search “#haikuchallenge” on Twitter to see other entries.

I started playing a few days ago.  Here have been my contributions:

Word: "Pare"

leaves of many hues
pressed between worn white pages
pared from parent’s limb

Word: "dwarf"

tiny lions pounce
on fleeing prey that they dwarf
practicing their skill

Word: "barge"

winter winds barge in
swirling hail slams chunks from trees
chipmunks burrow in

Let me know if you play and feel free to submit your entries here in the comment section!