Yesterday I stretched myself a little.
The stretching exercise involved the garbage disposal, which spitefully kicked the bucket on New Year’s Day, following a visit by my husband’s family.
I grabbed the phone number of the appliance repairman to throw myself on his mercy.
My husband, on the other hand, was intrigued. What was wrong with the garbage disposal? “Look–there’s something lodged in there,” he said. “Can you get me some pliers?”
I gave him a dubious look. Were pliers the pinchy things?
After my husband decided to locate the pliers from the garage pegboard himself, he attacked the disposal with enthusiasm. There was a penny lodged in there. How or why the penny had gotten there, I couldn’t say.
“There’s a hole at the bottom of the disposal…under the sink, “ my husband told me. “If you put an Allen wrench in there and turn it, you’ll get the penny to this spot where I can get it out.”
So there I was, sitting on the kitchen floor, turning an Allen wrench into the disposal. Fixing things, solving problems? I’m not good at that. That’s one reason my husband was so fascinating to me when I met him in college. Oh! He knows how things work by just looking at them.
Novels are usually about interesting people. And interesting people have skills, talents, and hobbies. In the mystery genre, there are many talented sleuths. They’re not only talented at sleuthing, either. Depending on the book, they might be crocheting, knitting, scrapbooking, or doing crosswords. Having a hobby is a big deal these days in mysteries.
I write the Memphis Barbeque series for Berkley Prime Crime. I’m not Bobby Flay. But my Lulu is.
The thing is…we can’t afford to write characters that are limited to our own abilities. I need characters who are chefs, expert gardeners, and mathematicians. I need athletes, chess players, and painters. If I only write what I know, then my books are going to get stale.
Sometimes? It means research. I cringe when I type research because I’m on such a limited schedule. But if it means lending authenticity and depth to a character, I’m going to do it.
Why creating a talented character is good for our book:
* The character introduces something new, different, and interesting to readers. Dan Brown created a professor that taught Religious Symbology at Harvard. There isn’t any such course of study. In fact, MS Word underlines “symbology” in an angry red color to tell me the word is made-up. But Brown made it real and interesting to readers with his research into symbols and religious history. He mixed fact and fiction with successful results.
*The character is a rounded person with an occupation, hobby, curiosity, or interest. They have a life, they have talents—they’re thinking, breathing people. And, honestly, if they’re not like us, we have to work harder at making them live. And hard work, with characterization, isn’t such a bad thing.
*We get to learn, too. I know a lot more about owning restaurants and cooking after spending time working on my Memphis book. And Myrtle, with her helpful hints column, has had me busily searching through the old wives’ tales and home remedies.
With work and creativity, we can stretch our boundaries and those of our characters. Then they get to use their own, specific talents to grow and solve problems.
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I also wanted to thank Mason Canyon , who was sweet enough to give me the Honest Scrap award. She asked her recipients to mention ten things about themselves.
I wish I were more interesting. :)
1. I break a vacuum cleaner every single year. I got my newest one, a Hoover Windtunnel, 2 days ago.
2. I backpacked around France and Italy in college.
3. I don’t sleep much.
4. I have a hard time sitting still. I leap up and pace around when I write.
5. I took 5 years of French and 2 years of Latin.
6. I have a political science minor.
7. I’m incredibly clumsy. I fall down the stairs at my house on a regular basis and have trouble walking through doorways without hitting my shoulder on the doorjamb.
8. At parties where I don’t know anyone, I gravitate toward quiet, nerdy types.
9. I’m at least the 5th Elizabeth in a row in my family tree. I was always called “Little E” to distinguish me from the other Elizabeths, since I was youngest. But I wasn’t little—I was always tall.
10. Being the low girl on the totem pole at the 2 periodicals I worked for taught me to be able to write on anything. At a moment’s notice.
If you haven’t had a chance, pop over and see Mason’s blog. Her blog is well-organized and thoughtful—a huge accomplishment for such a new arrival in Blogdom.
Thanks for this post, Elizabeth! I needed the reminder that it’s okay to create characters who are very different from myself.
And it was super-fun to learn a little more about you, too. I think you’re quite interesting!
Elizabeth – You make such a well-taken point! When characters have talents and skills that we don’t, this makes them more well-rounded and more interesting. I think it’s also interesting when our characters discover talents they didn’t know they had. In both cases, it does sometimes take some research, but I think it’s worth it. Anything that makes our characters more interesting, real people…
Thanks for sharing some things about yourself; I really enjoyed learning something more about you :). I love it that you explored France and Italy as a backpacker; it sounds like a wonderful experience! …and you said you wish you were more interesting…: )
Great post and this advice on characters is very much appreciated. Though I’ve learnt not to try to give my characters expertise in things I have no interest in because researching something that bores me to tears is painful.
Thanks so much for sharing this.
Thanks again for a wonderful blog. We are future writers appreciate whatever you share with us and knowledge truly is power!
Characters can be written from various viewpoints and perceptions of what we see.
Research is the key for keeping it authentic.
Thanks again !
What is it with the vacuums? They suck, oh…I mean they don’t suck after a while. I buy a new one every year too!
Great post, enjoyed it.
Really great post. Gonna have to stat calling you Miss Tool Time! Have a great new year. :O)
It’s so nice to have a Mr. (or Ms.) Fixit around. Mine just unsnagged the vacuum cleaner. I didn’t even realize there was a problem, just mentioned it had caught on a shoelace. I’d stopped the machine and yanked the lace out — it was still attached to the shoe- but not before it started giving off that overheating electrical stuff smell). I was going to check to make sure it still worked. He insisted on looking before I turned it on and he found a piece of carpet from yet another incident that I’d never checked. So I’d been blithely using the machine (far too often as our house is for sale) without realizing that piece of carpet was still wrapped around the turner-around thingie.
Great post and thanks for the mention. I love the things about yourself. With your talent, you could take those 10 items and create a most unique character. I have to say, I relate very well to #4 and #7. As for pacing, I can’t seem to be still when I’m on the phone, have to be walking around (even in circles).
Our characters would become boring pretty quickly if they had to be just like us! Part of the fun (for me anyway) of writing new characters is researching their careers. Love it!
I’m with you on the door jamb bumping – I’ve constantly got bruises on shoulders :)
I agree that giving a character an interesting hobby or occupation deepens the reading experience. I guess the key is to pick one that you are interested in, too (as a writer).
Re your vacuum cleaner problem: You must be using it too much! I use mine once a month (whether the floors need it or not), and it’s lasted for years! (If my mother is reading this, I’m just joking.)
Thanks Elizabeth for further info on character building (development). I really love researching (I am a total nerd) but as you said it takes time. When I open the “world’s door” to my characters, I am opening it to me, as well. That’s exciting.
PS, This nerd is soaking in all information. :) You’re never too old to learn.
Thanks for the reminder about creating hobbies and interests for your characters that are different from yours. Sometimes we forget, then wonder why the character feels so much like us.
And I enjoyed the ten things about you. They gave you depth as a character. LOL
That is so interesting about Dan Brown creating a false study for his books character! I guess it falls in with creating a fantasy location or place. Very good! I’m an accountant so I can pull from that. Being in the Air Force will help too, then my brother is a lawyer, very good thought pulling character talents from other people. Thanks!
It’s fun researching new talents & skills for characters. Everyone always asks if I was a swimmer like the character in my first book and I just laugh – heck no! I loved to swim, but I knew NOTHING about competitive swimming, especially at the college and Olympic level. Neither did I know anything about coaching college basketball, which is the profession of the next book’s character. All of that led to a lot of research, reading, and interviewing. And it was fun!
Congratulations on the award. You certainly deserve it.
Writers in many ways are so lucky. They have an excuse to learn about so many interesting subjects. And then we get to share what we’ve learned. Yay!
Helen
Straight From Hel
Researching about the use of spanners, pliers etc is certainly more interesting than using them in real life :D
Loved the “10 things” – Elizabeth the (at least) 5th! lol. Also appreciated the muse on characters.
Marvin D Wilson
I find that I am always more drawn to people, real or fictional, that have hobbies. I just can’t imagine life without knitting, beading, cooking and crocheting!
Hey! I took 5 years of French and 2 of Latin too! What a coincidence! Well, not really a coincidence, but it is odd. How many people take Latin anymore?
But now if I ever write a mystery novel, I’m going to have to have a MC who breaks a vacuum every year and bumps into doorframes. Those are too good to pass up! (Of course, I’ll have to research how one breaks vacuums…)
Winnie–Thanks, and good luck with your character creation!
Margot–Good point there..characters finding they have strengths they didn’t know they had until they were tested.
Yes, the backpacking was interesting. I had one outfit on, one outfit in the backpack. Talk about traveling light!
Jonz–Thanks! And you’re so right…if we put time into the research, then the payoff will be well-rounded characters. Thanks for coming by!
Elizabeth–They DO suck, don’t they? My husband keep saying we should buy one of those expensive Electrolux canisters, but I KNOW I’ll break those, too…
Cassandra–So true. No quality control workers for me! :)
Destrella–Ha! That really *would* be a stretch for me! I’d have to learn what the tools look like, first.
Terry–Oh, the electrical burning smell? I know it well! I think of it at Eau d’ Dead Vacuum. I’m SO glad I’m not the only maniacal vacuumer out there. I’ve sucked up many a curtain–but no shoelaces yet. :)
Mason–I think there are bits of me in my characters. Myrtle’s issues are definitely mine. :) Good to know there’s a fellow pacer out there!
Jemi–Oh, careers are fun to learn about. I love that stuff, too. This is definitely one of those areas where “write what you know” isn’t good advice.
Diane–And you’ve obviously portrayed the life of an Olympic swimmer very convincingly if readers think you were one!
I think you’ve inspired me to lay off the vacuuming, Alan! Except—well, we’ll be up to our ankles in corgi and cat fur if I don’t vacuum every day.
Helen–I’ll be interested in hearing about your new fiction WIP–you’re so good at research that I bet your characters will be really cool…
Marvin–Thanks! :)
Teresa–I love the *idea* of researching, like you do. But it can really suck up some time, can’t it?
Simon–Who *does* take Latin anymore? And why did we? Nevermind–we took it to do better on our SATs, right? And then we got hooked. That’s what happened to me, anyway. Let’s see…I can still remember the phonetic spellings of the favorite sentence for Romans: “Gall-e-a est proWINK-ea de Rom-ma.” :)
You’re MC will have to be a very impatient woman, too…who runs around with the vacuum as fast as possible, vacuuming up curtains, children’s marbles, and unidentified objects as she goes. :)
I did not know this about Dan Brown and symbology. Thanks for the insight. Now I’m inspired to come up with something new that no other author has.
Stephen Tremp
Researching is fun! I groan when I realize I have to do it, but once I’m reading about narrowboats on the Regent’s Canal, plane-spotting, or how many shots can be fired through a silencer before it loses its effectivess, I’m fascinated. I love learning.
It was great learning more about you (I’d love to know Latin) and I’m clumsy too, though it’s my hip bone I’m always bruising on door jambs.
Stephen–Sounds like an good plan!
Maryann–And then we’re bored with them!
I needed a little depth of character! :)
Judy–It’s true that you can also take what you know and embellish it from there!
Dorte–Yes, I think my appliance fixing days are past me now. :)
Janel–It’s part of what makes them interesting!
Thanks for this great advice to expand our characters beyond ourselves.
My characters are live in the mid-1800s (mostly), so I find it difficult to write them as they would likely be. My female characters always behave as though they’re 2010 American women who would never put up with men who presumed to tell them what to do. Ha! This will either work for or against me.
My latest challenge was to create a female in 1918 France (an American socialite) who was quiet and demure – my opposite. She lasted about ten pages as I’d hoped she would, then she turned into a fast-talking flapper who was doing all she could to spit on society.
Can’t shake my personality! I can’t bear to write a weak female lead without the passion to say boo to a goose.
I really need to get over it. :D
Lorel–And *that’s* the danger, isn’t it? We need to leave our researching for after we finish our first draft, or we’ll get lost in it!
Hips would hurt!
Corra–That really IS a challenge. But you know, if it bothers you to have a subservient and docile female lead, it’ll probably bother the agent and editor who reads the WIP, too. Probably writing a rebel will go over much better!
You always write a great blog. I look forward to your posts everyday.
ann
Thanks so much, Ann!