Getting Down To Business
So, I’ve got this big ‘ol revision letter. And let me tell you, it about gave me vapors when I first scrolled through it’s length in my inbox (this is less sexy than I just made it sound).
But, I had to remember that, no matter how I feel right after the initial thud, revisions are my friend.
Then I was lucky enough to get to chat with my editor on the phone. A lovelier woman you will not find, and she’s immensely helpful when it comes to just hashing things out.
We’ve come up with ALL kinds of ideas. All workable, all interesting. And now I feel like the sky is the limit, and THAT is a great feeling. The only one stopping me from really just going in, digging deep, and making this a really fantastic story, is me.
And the major thing we covered in out conversation wasn’t plot points. The bulk of the story arc is fine. It was really getting into the characters. Their conflict. Their journey, not just as a couple, but as individuals. They need to grow as people. As individuals they have to arrive at a specific destination so that we can truly root for them and believe in their happy ending. And there is some heavy stuff with these two.
In terms of the relationship, there’s a journey to take there as well. A starting point, an end point, and all of the things in between.
So I sat down yesterday and I wrote several pages about my hero. Where he’s starting from, where he needs to get to, why he’s starting from where he’s starting from and why he needs to go on this journey. Same with my heroine. And then I did the same with the relationship. I starts with a bit of hostility, an underlying attraction, this has to go somewhere. It can’t plateau. It can’t magically transform to love. It has to grow and change as they grow and change.
As my hero opens up, as my heroine begins to find a connection with him and begins to understand her personal responsibilities, (essential to their individual journeys) the relationship will shift. Barriers begin to come down, hostility gives way to respect, which gives way to liking…which leads them to a place they are completely forbidden to go.
Once again, I’m approaching an MS in a different way. But like in real life, each person is different. Each story is different. Each relationship is different. My h and H have a seriously complicated situation, both due in part to their station in life, their responsibilities and their own personal demons. And that means I have to tackle it in a different way.
So I’m going in. I’m digging deep. I want everything these two have got and I’m not holding back.
How do you wring out your characters?
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wow, good luck!
LOL…Kerrin, did I succeed in sounding totally crazy this time?
Maisey – when I got my dreaded revision letter – I sat down and did the same for my h & H – ie mapped their lives out from day dot. Having this means that every time I get stuck, I read and remind myself who these two really are. It’s the first time I’ve done this (mind you this is only like the third ms I’ve ever written) so I’m hoping it pays off.
Good luck getting down to business!
It’s great to have it all there and clear, isn’t it, Janette? I haven’t really done it in this way before, but for this h and H, I think it will be really helpful. Complex beasts, I tell you!
Hi Maisey – great post – very very insightful. You asked “How do you wring out your characters?” My answer? Not as well as you have – but I will in the future thanks to this post! If my characters were a spin cycle on a washing machine (bear with me here – lol) then they are on the “delicate – hand wash” cycle. Yours on the other hand are *definately* on the “super spin” cycle. I need to put my characters back in the machine for another serious wringing! Have a good weekend. Luv Caroline x
Not well enough, I’m sure. In fact, I’m pretty positive I’m too nice to my characters.
Which is sooo not good. Much work needed when I get to revising this ms I feel.
I love it, Caroline. Hand wash and super spin!!
It’s about pushing them hard enough so that you get them to have that growth that I think readers want to see. Wringing them out. 🙂
Joanne, sometimes you just don’t get everything down the first time. In revisions you get to go deeper. You have the story, and then you go down into it and really get into the characters.
First off, Caroline, I love your analogy!
Secondly, wow, Maisey, you seem to have sussed out your characters brilliantly. You’ll ace this one too, I’m sure. I fear I over-alpha my H, but I’m learning to mellow him a little and make my h more fiesty, so basically with my current ms, I’m hoping for a happy, angst-ridden, heart-wringing medium. Heh!
Maya, I hope so. There’s a lot there. I want to get to it all so that my readers will get everything from it that I am, if that makes sense. Because I see it all, but someone who’s not in my head…LOL…well, the trick is to translate it effectively, yes?
I love it Maisey. It’s going to make this story even more special than it is already. 🙂
Thanks, Jackie! Yeah, my ed and I had a lovely chat and I’m really enthused about it. That’s what I want for this MS. Special. So I’m shooting for special!
I use the most generic Excel spreadsheet – a form for each character. Name, age, height, birthdate, occupation… etc. By the time I get to his or her parents, siblings, I jot down story ideas/scenes in the margins.
This is all new for me (since Silhouette has only just requested my MS and I’m yet to be published) but for now, even though some of those “facts” shift and change it’s a great seed and place to start.
Good luck to you! 🙂
Wow, Jessica! Your organization astounds me. :-)My methods are more…mad. 😀 Lots of jotting notes down I can’t read later then typing them up into Word.
Best of luck to you! Do keep me posted.
Will do, Maisey, I’m sort of stereotypically type A/first born so sometimes I’m madly organized,but sometimes I’m so creative I do things w/o much thought – like put the ice cream in the fridge instead of freezer (teehee!)