You’ve made your New Year resolutions, but what about your characters?
This is the time of year when we all…okay,
I…should plan to get thinner, fitter and better organized. Instead of making
resolutions, I imagine where I want to be by year’s end, then work out what steps
will get me closer to my goal.
You can do the same in your writing. Just
like the real world, your story needs high days and holidays. Not that I’ve ever forgotten to include a
Christmas between November and January, and had to go back and write one in.
*Valerie hides growing nose.* What holidays are in your story? How do they
affect the characters’ hopes and dreams?
Making a timeline is a good idea. In what month
does your book start? Roughly when does it end? What’s your setting? The
answers will tell you what seasons the characters will deal with, the clothes
they wear, and the holidays you need to allow for.
Holidays can help or hinder the characters
with their goals. In Birthright, set in
my fictional island kingdom of Carramer, a holiday called Journey Day adds
depth to the story. The indigenous people see Journey Day differently from the
descendants of the French colonists who are now in the majority. Writing about
the day let me explore both sides’ attitudes and beliefs, and how they affect my
alien characters who must come together to defeat a terrifying threat facing
humanity.
What
holidays work for you in a book? Have you made New Year resolutions this year?
What about for your characters? Your comment could win a copy of Birthright for
Kindle with a personalized “authorgraph” to start off your writing year.
About Birthright
Former police officer turned deputy governor, Shana Akers, is used to handling high-stakes situations. But after learning that a space shuttle mission about to be launched from her island home may have a shocking secret agenda, she must turn for answers to the man who has challenged her mind and emotions for years.
Scientific genius and space center director, Adam Desai, is a truly self-made man. Found adrift at sea as a baby, he knows nothing about his origins until two VIPs attending the launch force him to confront the truth about his past, changing everything Adam has ever believed about himself.
Faced with a danger that threatens the entire world, can Adam and Shana find the strength to trust not only each other, but the mysterious VIPs whose unusual abilities defy logical thinking? Especially when it becomes clear that they'll need all of their combined resources to reclaim humanity's BIRTHRIGHT. Published by Corvallis Press USA 2012.
Former police officer turned deputy governor, Shana Akers, is used to handling high-stakes situations. But after learning that a space shuttle mission about to be launched from her island home may have a shocking secret agenda, she must turn for answers to the man who has challenged her mind and emotions for years.
Scientific genius and space center director, Adam Desai, is a truly self-made man. Found adrift at sea as a baby, he knows nothing about his origins until two VIPs attending the launch force him to confront the truth about his past, changing everything Adam has ever believed about himself.
Faced with a danger that threatens the entire world, can Adam and Shana find the strength to trust not only each other, but the mysterious VIPs whose unusual abilities defy logical thinking? Especially when it becomes clear that they'll need all of their combined resources to reclaim humanity's BIRTHRIGHT. Published by Corvallis Press USA 2012.
