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character sketch sandip

Character Sketch: Sandip – a new addition to the “good guys” in Dragon Slayer: Rising

Posted by faithforward@gmail.com 
· Wednesday, May 27th, 2015 

What’s a character sketch?

It’s a summary description of a persona, either of a real life person or a fictional character.

The Scribendi website defines it this way:

A character sketch is a quick rendering of a character, and writing a sketch is about asking and answering questions. In order to write a character sketch, you must ask yourself questions about your character. Only you, as the author, can answer these questions.

In this case it’s a fictional character, one I’m introducing in my newest novel, Dragon Slayer: Rising.

Readers, meet Sandip.

Character Sketch: Sandip

character sketch for my worldAs you can probably tell from his name, Sandip hails from the east.

In our world the name comes from the region of India.

In Sanskrit it means “blazing.”

While the world in my books is not “earth” per se, it’s what I’d call an alternate version of earth, an alternate history.

  • It has the same history
  • The same geography
  • And the same ethnic diversity.

I based my world on the reality of our world to make it easier for readers to understand the setting quickly and move on to the story and characters.

But more importantly, it’s based in an earth-like timeline because of the central place the gospel plan of redemption plays in the storyline.

[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#charactersketch”]The power of God in real life is what motivates all of my fiction.[/tweetthis]

Getting back to Sandip:

CHARACTER SKETCH:

Age: Approximately 35

Ethnicity: Eastern (India?)

Physical characteristics:

  • Lithe, agile, and fit.
  • A bit taller than 6 foot.
  • Deep brown skin.
  • Thin but handsome face.
  • Two prominent scars, one on each cheek (there’s a story there… you’ll have to read the book to find out what it is).

Personality:

  • Intelligent, purposeful, resolute.
  • Kind but cautious.
  • Devoted to those who have gained his trust.
  • Fierce toward those who have broken it.

Motivations:

  • Lives with deep regrets and bitterness (again, you’ll have to read the book to get the details on that. It’s an important part of the storyline).
  • Eager to inflict justice on his betrayers.
  • Without a clear purpose, Sandip can easily drift into the murky swamp of guilty regret.
  • With a clear and meaningful purpose, he is a force not to be trifled with.

Skills:

  • Insightful and strategic.
  • Very capable warrior.
  • A leader in every sense of the word.

I’d love for you to meet Sandip in my new novel, Dragon Slayer: Rising.

I hope this character sketch has tempted you to find out more.

3D rising coverIf you do happen to grab a copy of the book, please do me the favor of leaving a review of the book on Amazon once you’re done reading it.

You can also tell others about the book by using the social media sharing options on this page.

Finally, I’d love to hear your thoughts and impressions of Sandip in the comments below…

  • How would you describe him?
  • What do you like about this new character?
  • What do you wish was different about him?
  • And… no spoilers, please! We don’t want to ruin the story for others!

Thanks!

Categories : characters
Tags : character sketch, dragon slayer rising, sandip
character development

Character development for the fiction writer

Posted by faithforward@gmail.com 
· Monday, August 18th, 2014 

What do I have to say about character development?

Afterall, I’m not an experienced fiction writer. My first novel hasn’t even been released a year, yet.

But I am a teacher by trade. That means I notice what is involved in learning, and how learning happens.

I notice details, steps, procedures. I notice connections between things that most people miss.

As I’m doing the work of editing my second novel (a sequel to the first) I’m learning a couple of things about character development that I simply hadn’t thought of before I began writing fiction.

I thought it would be fun to outline some of my discoveries (which more experienced writers have probably discovered long ago).

1 Once a character is developed, he’s developed.

That may not sound like much of a revelation to you, but it has some pretty significant implications.

  • The way you develop a character at the beginning (in my case, in my first novel) is going to dictate what you can do with that character from then on. It’s obvious, but when you’re writing you tend not to think about it enough. I’ve found myself making slight changes to a character’s personality and then realizing, “Oh, I can’t do that. He doesn’t talk that way (act that way, say such things, etc.).”
  • Consistency has to flow from book to book. For example, a character known for repeating a certain phrase (“Don’t you know” or “As I was saying” are great examples) needs to be known for that throughout the book or series. It’s part of how people recognize the character or place them in the story.
  • If you come up with some great idea for a character’s personality and you didn’t include that in previous versions, too bad. You have to leave it out (no matter how great the idea is.

Working on my second novel I’m paying close attention to new characters, being a bit more intentional about the things I make them say or do. I’m trying to be mindful of their uniqueness before I write them, so that I can portray them uniquely, compellingly, and with emotion that I think I missed in some ways in my first novel.

The real challenge doing so in a way that doesn’t make the first novel seem flat. We’ll see how I do with that.

2 Consistency within a character’s personality is very, very hard.

You might not think so, but it is. If you have a character who is Scottish for instance and instead of saying, “I think” he says “Methinks” (like my character, Gerrard), you have to be careful that such personality or speech traits remain consistent. When you’re writing an entire story, creating an entire world as is necessary in fiction, that gets increasingly harder with the number of characters, places, events, and settings you press into the narrative.

3 Character growth is even harder.

Characters, like the people they are supposed to represent, should grow over time.

Yes, there can be exceptions, like the guy you went to high school with who still talks about the exact same things now that he did way back then. But that’s not normal. A character like that would be a “stereotypical” type of figure, one used for comic relief or to help the reader gain familiarity with a minor character quickly.

But in real life, people grow, so characters in the story should too. Deciding how they are going to grow and what that growth is going to look like is excruciating work.

It’s not only difficult to decide, it’s even more difficult to write because as an author I begin to think of my characters in certain ways. To break out of my own perception of the character to make them stretch and grow is difficult at best.

4 The tendency toward making characters who think like you is very strong.

This is one of the reasons that writers should read. We’ve got to hear how other people think, how other people write, and how personalities other than our own view and interact with the world.

I think this is a great reason authors should be people-watchers too. Go to the mall, the store, the fun fair downtown and watch people. Pay attention to personalities, quirks, phrases of speech, and habitual gestures and habits.

People are very interesting because they are so varied… characters have to be that way too.

5 Characters should illicit emotion from the reader.

A good character, good or bad, protagonist or antagonist, has to be well-rounded… enough to make people feel for them (good or bad). I’ve found myself crying a couple of times at what “happened” to particular characters as I’ve been reading back through to do edits.

Yes, that’s strange. But it’s understandable.

I’ve spent two years with these characters to date. They’re not real to me, but I feel that I “know” them in a way. There is an emotional attachment as a result.

I don’t think that says so much regarding my talent as a writer as it does that I have some memorable characters that matter (at least to me). That’s a good sign in my book.

What have you learned about character development – from reading or writing? I’d love to hear your comments below!

Categories : characters, the writing process
Tags : character development
writing prompts for christian authors

Writing prompts for Christian fiction authors

Posted by faithforward@gmail.com 
· Wednesday, May 7th, 2014 

What is a writing prompt?

A writing prompt is an assignment or exercise designed to help a writer stimulate the creative juices to improve or increase writing skills.

Writing prompts come in all shapes and sizes, and I’ve found myself helped by them tremendously as I’ve worked on my first couple of novels.

Here is a writing prompt that I’ve found particularly helpful in developing characters:

Choose any two of the following items. Describe a human character that takes on a mix of the qualities of those two items.

canoe    lamp    axe    boulder    alligator    clamp    stone wall    wind

Do you see how that sort of exercise can help a writer begin to think of a character in a different light? It’s actually kind of fun when you begin applying writing prompts to the way you go about developing characters.

But writing prompts are not only helpful regarding characters, they are quite beneficial in writing about scenes or settings also.

Choose any two of the following scene elements and combine them into the same scene. The more “opposite” the items you choose, the more challenging the exercise will be.

fog    sunshine    mountainous    swamp    midnight    moonless    drought    blizzard

Many writing instructors put writing prompts like this into a “homework” sort of format, giving assignments that have nothing to do with the student’s current writing project. It’s kind of like giving a page full of math problems to a child, so they can become accustomed to completing the type of problems they’ve been studying.

I’ve tried to incorporate writing prompt exercises into my current projects, simply because I’ve not had the time to write about things that are not related to my books.

It might be a shortcut, but I think it’s been very helpful. I’ve particularly enjoyed it when developing characters. Some of the more colorful characters like Irwin, Hampton, and Quinn (in book two) have been influenced greatly by the things I’ve learned while using writing prompts.

Christian fiction authors have an added dimension of challenge, and writing prompts can help

Christian fiction authors, like any fiction authors, want their story to be alive with detail, contain engaging characters, and be memorable and engaging. But they want an additional component as well… the integration of biblical truth that will impact the reader far more than on an emotional level.

The Christian author wants to engage the reader on a spiritual level, incorporating the spiritual truths revealed in the scriptures in a way that causes the reader to think about life issues in a way they have not before.

Writing prompts are powerfully helpful in doing that. Here’s an example:

Write a scene or situation where a character is struggling with one or more of the following spiritual issues:

trusting God in the face of loss or suffering    the effectiveness of prayer    understanding when a scriptural promise seems to have not come true    remaining faithful to Jesus though facing persecution    approaching death without fear

Writing prompts of a spiritual nature force the author (and consequently, the reader) to face the realities of life in a fallen world and to struggle with what it means to have faith in God.

I think it makes the Christian author notice the temptation to “sterilize” their work in a way that avoids the difficulties of faith in a real world. When the writer notices the temptation, he/she is better able to avoid it and write a more realistic, life-integrated novel.

I’m curious what you think about this idea of “writing prompts.” How do you see them being beneficial?

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Categories : characters, the writing process
Tags : writing prompts
WRITING THE DRAGONSLAYER BOOK

Book 2 of the Dragon Slayer Chronicles is well under way!

Posted by faithforward@gmail.com 
· Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 

BOOK 2: Dragon Slayer: Rising – writing now!

DSTB PosterI recently took a writing retreat to get a jump start on the next book in the series, and got a TON done! By the end of the 4 days I had almost 20,000 words written… and they were not just fluff words that will be edited out later. If you don’t mind me saying so, I think these 10 chapters are pretty much “keepers.” Since then I’ve added a couple thousand more words – so we’re looking at 22,482 words to date!

As you can tell from the top line of this post, I’ve settled on a name for the second book, it’s Dragon Slayer: Rising! I’ll be connecting with my graphic arts guy in the next few months to get the cover for the book started.

The name alludes to the overall plot of the book… both the dragon masters and the dragon slayers are on the rise, developing plans, engaging in treachery (the bad guys, of course), and discovering things that are going on behind the scenes that will throw the entire conflict into high gear!

My favorite characters… so far…

As you might imagine, there are some character developments that I’m really excited about.

Cedrick: Cedrick is not actually “new” to the series. Up until this point, he’s only been mentioned. But Lord Kendrick and Lady Patrice’s second child will rise to the occasion in this installment, even though he’s only 11 years old when the story begins!

Lord Hugo Champlain: OK, sorry for the spoiler there, because until now you’ve only known him as “Hugo.” He’s one of the dragon masters and appeared to fill, what appeared to be a “wimpy” role in the first book. But in the second book, look out! That’s all I can say…

Quinn: This is an entirely new character who’s quirks and personality has already grabbed me. (Yes, it is possible for an author to be surprised by his own characters). He’s Kendrick’s “spymaster,” and will have a huge impact on the rise of the dragon slayers.

Queen Amla: Another new character that is going to add a lot of intrigue on the dragon master’s side. All I can tell you for now is that she’s Rajic’s wife/queen… and she’s more than she appears.

Another writing retreat begins!

My last retreat to focus on the book was at the home of some friends who were out of town and needed a dog-sitter. Well, they are leaving again – TOMORROW – so I’m going to be focusing on my writing again for a concentrated burst. I expect to get even more done than last time… if I can avoid getting a full-blow flu that my daughter so generously shared with me. I would appreciate your prayers about that!

I’d love to interact with you, the fans of my dragon slayer series…

The internet provides us some amazing benefits, and one that I’ve not seen many authors take the greatest advantage of, is the ability to connect with fans. I think savvy authors can enter into great conversations with fans about plot, characters, story flow, and even grammatical/typo stuff, and I’m not at all threatened by that prospect.

So… if you’d like to connect on that level, feel free! Use the comments section below this post to try it out. Who knows… I might even start a Facebook or Google+ Community to make the conversation more “private.” We don’t want to let out any spoilers to people who haven’t gotten into the series yet, do we? Let me know what you think of this idea… and which platform you’d be more likely to use!

Thanks… God bless!

1stname

 

 

 

Categories : characters, plot, release information, the writing process
Tags : building an author community, dragon slayer book 2, new characters, writing retreat