Ways to Make Characters Loveable (Part One)

 Likability is a necessity for main characters--the reader's got to at least tolerate him/her since they're the person they're going to be going through the story with. Fandoms are a mass of people who adore a book/TV/movie series, and a majority of that adoration is for the characters.
    Here are a few things I've noticed that tend to make characters really likeable:
    -Heroic qualities. Depending on the type of person the protagonist is, his/her actions should at least be somewhat noble. Even if the protagonist's an anti-hero, they could have some sort of soft spot for certain people/situations/beliefs that make them do nice things occasionally. I can think of many a story where the protagonist is a thief who likes stealing from unsuspecting people, but sometimes gives what they take to others with severe need. It doesn't justify their thievery, but it does make them less selfish and more likeable.
    -Pets (dogs, cats, birds, lizards, etc.). Some people adore animals. And though a puppy or a charming parrot in a novel isn't bound to make just anyone's heart melt, it could show a softer side of the protagonist, and therefore make him/her more sympathetic to a reader who likes animals. Plus, the animal itself could also be a really cool minor character or sidekick. There's a very interesting character in Jackaby by William Ritter who happens to be a duck!
    -Romance. Who doesn't want to fall in love? And when the couple in the story is right for each other, it's very possible for readers to get excited about them getting together. And when a particularly compatible pair who have been oblivious to each other for most of the story finally notice the other person, it's like you want to punch the air and shout "yes!" right?
    -Humor. Laughing is fun! As long as the humor is appropriate for the genre, it can make the reading adventure even more enjoyable. Funny people in real life are very likeable, and fictional characters who make people laugh on multiple occasions are liked and welcomed into scenes. That doesn't mean a "funny" character is one who's always making wisecracks or slipping on banana peels, but maybe they could just say something hilarious every once in a while. The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer has lots of pulses of humor from various characters, giving it lots of humor without (at least in my opinion) forever labeling one particular character as the "funny sidekick."
    -Happiness. Along similar lines of the humor, a character who's happy is a character lots of people would like to be around. Think of the Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who--not only is he funny, but he's constantly happy and it's contagious. It can make the viewer of the show grin with anticipation as he yanks his fellow characters into his TARDIS for another adventure.
    -Underdog. When a character's an underdog with a disadvantage, it can make their stories even more inspiring and interesting to people. Having to overcome multiple obstacles to achieve a dream is interesting, and it sweetens the moment when the protagonist attains their goal. Rocky is a movie that comes to mind, and a book series that could also be considered an underdog story is the Selection series by Kiera Cass.
    Do characters in your current project have any of these traits? Do any of your favorite characters in novels/movies/TV shows have them? :)

Mark 16:6--He Is Risen!

 

"But he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.'"

Mark 16: 6 (NKJ)

    The tomb is empty! He is risen!
    What does this mean? It means that Jesus Christ came back from the dead. And what does that mean? It means that Jesus is who He said He is--the Son of God--and that His sacrifice on the cross has atoned for all of our sins. It means that God's plan to redeem humanity has succeeded, and that we can now be forgiven and have a personal relationship with Him!
    How good it is to remember what the Lord has done! Not only did He die for us, but He rose again and came back. He's showed us His incredible love in both the day He went to the cross and the morning He went out of the tomb.
    He is risen! What a wonderful reason to rejoice!

Joy: The Serious Business Of Heaven

"Joy is the serious business of heaven."

~C.S. Lewis

    God is joyful! Which is a delightful thing to remember on any day. He's not frowning up in heaven, but smiling, delighting in righteousness.
    Psalm 16:11 says that His presence is "full of joy." And in John 15: 11, Christ shows His disciples how to have His kind of joy, joy that is "full." And Galatians 5:22 states that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy.
    And Nehemiah 8: 10 proclaims that "the joy of the LORD is your strength." God, who never changes, is joyful, and He wants us to be joyful too! Isn't it wonderful to have such a great God? :)

The Color Green



    "St Patrick's Day" can bring to mind four leaf clovers, leprechauns, and the grassy hills of Ireland. All of which are green.
    I know this is a little belated to be related to St Patrick's Day, but green is still a very common color in the natural world. So here are a couple objects that can be used to describe tones of the lovely color:
    -Grass            -Emerald         -Christmas Tree
    -Lily Pad        -Tree frog       -Cucumber 
    -Lime             -Moss              -Mediterranean
    -Jade              -Ivy                  -Olive  
    -Pine              -Lettuce
    Have you ever used any of these descriptors in your manuscript/poem?

John 15:5

 

"'I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.'"

John 15:5 (NKJ)

Ideas Sure Can Be Elusive

    In one ear and out the other, they say. A great idea suddenly comes, a burst of inspiration, and you realize it's perfect for something you're planning . . . and then you forget. Quite suddenly, maybe after thinking about another subject for just five seconds, and try as hard as you might, the great idea just won't come back. The sliver of inspiration vanishes, and is no more.
    It's so disappointing when that happens, and a little guilt-racking.
    An ideal solution, of course, is to write the idea down or draw a picture depicting it as soon as it comes. Something to indicate the big picture of the idea, if not the details. When paper's not at hand, saying the idea out loud is also helpful--even more helpful when saying it to someone. Maybe repeating it to oneself over and over under their breath.
    Putting up a safeguard like that seems like the best thing to do. Ideas may, in form, just be figments of thought, but they're precious. Losing one, especially for the creative type, is like letting a five dollar bill fall into the gutter. A loss of potential. Ideas must be gripped when they appear, otherwise they could slip away . . .
    Does anyone have any methods other than these for remembering ideas?

Jack London: Keep A Notebook

I've found that composition books are the best kind of journal to use for writing--they're flexible, have lots of lines to write on, and they're inexpensive! :)

"Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and led pencil markings endure longer than memory."

~Jack London

    Writing journals are awesome! It's one of the most valuable tools a writer can have--something to write, sketch, and brainstorm in. A notebook is extremely useful when you want to have something to use as a reference for your story, and you can write short blurbs of fiction inside of it, and it's a nice place to quickly scribble about an interesting fact, location, or story you hear.
    True, you could use your phone or computer to do this, and typing is a lot quicker and easier to edit than handwriting. But writing something down in a book with graphite or ink has its own sort of romantic factor, and there's something about holding a book filled with your own words that's special. Writing journals have their own beauty from the worn-out covers, the word-filled pages, and to the string binding it all together. Don't you agree?
    Do you have a notebook that you carry around with you? Have you personalized it with artwork, quotes, or anything else like that? :)

Psalm 119:68

 

"You are good and do good; teach me Your statues."

Psalm 119: 68 (NKJ)



Waiting . . .

    Well, waiting happens a bit in life, doesn't it? Waiting for a phone call or an E-mail, usually.
    And waiting for a while--waiting for something important to happen--leaves a lot of  time for thinking. Typically, as a Christian, I've noticed there are two ways to think while a very pressing matter is being worked out slowly: waiting with harrowed, worried considerations flitting around in the mind; or waiting simply trusting in God, not worrying at all about the pressing issue because of promises that He has made. It sounds easy to do, to just remember that God's in control. But it really can be difficult. Doubts and misconceptions about God's forgiveness can make a person opt for worry more often.
    But remembering what God has actually said can help though. He has numerous comforting promises in His Word. That He's got a plan for our lives that's good and perfect in the end (Jeremiah 29:11), that He's  willing to help us through problems (Isaiah 41:13), that He can give us strength to accomplish anything (Philippians 4:13), and that having faith in Him is infinitely better than judging our chances based off what we see (2 Corinthians 5:7).
    Being assured of all these promises really eases the burden of waiting. Do you think of any of these often when you're stressed?

Things I've Learned From The Selection by Kiera Cass

    Last week, I finally read The Selection. No, not the whole series. Just the first book in the series.
    Yeah, I know. How on earth could I have not read The Selection within the four years it's been published and raved about? Just didn't take the time, I guess. But last week I finally decided to check out the legendary story.
    And wow, now I understand why it's so popular! There are a bunch of things the author did fantastically, the story was interesting from the start, now I want to completely explore this setting Kiera Cass has created, and man this book is really cool!
    Plus, as a writer, I picked up a bunch of writing things as I read (hooray, constructive writer habit!). Here are a few of them:
    Setting. It's one of the things I heard was done really well in this series before I started reading. And that claim has been proven! There isn't (at least in my opinion) an information dump on a single page. Aspects and parts of America's world and its history are explained briefly when it's relevant to what's currently happening to her--like for example, the way Illea came to be is explained while America listening to a history lesson. The explanations that America gives in her narration are naturally phrased, simple, and are connected to what she's doing/where she is.
    The protagonist America is also really likeable. Her narration isn't flawlessly grabbing in the first sentence (though maybe no book has that), but her relatable, interesting personality pulls you in. America loves her family and her boyfriend. She adores singing, doesn't whine about working all the time, and she's sympathetic towards lower "castes" in her society. We can sympathize with her when she mourns the unfairness of social classes, and by the end of Chapter Three I was glad when she was happy.
    America also does the unexpected. Knowing that she can't stand the prince at first, you might figure that she would be a little cold, but would at least be silently cold. But the way she actually spoke to him on their first meeting? Jaw drop! The part where she says she says she's going to stay to enjoy the food is one of my favorite lines in the book!
    How do you make an entire trilogy about a dating competition when the guy already likes the protagonist? I'd wondered that before reading the story. Were the parents interfering? Were there some kind of weird court rules that the couple had to overcome? Was the prince just stuck up or majorly indecisive? No. I was surprised and impressed by what kept Maxon from choosing America in this first book: America herself is an obstacle. Her feelings for a former boyfriend make her hesitate from fully loving Maxon.
    And then there's the sudden plot twist about three fourths into the story! SPOILER ALERT!!! Aspen, the former boyfriend America still cares about, shows up in court and the unsuspecting Maxon posts him right outside America's room! Oh, the dramatic irony! Didn't you just want to shout: What are you doing, Maxon? That's the guy who's keeping you from your true love! America is thrown into a spin of confusion, and new problems bubble up that will last at least through the second book. It keeps the events of the story from becoming monotonous--and it was so unexpected!
    The Selection is really cool! Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
    Any Selection fans out there? What's your favorite thing about the series? :)

John 10:9

"I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."

John 10:9 (NKJ)

Take The Picture Before The Flowers Turn Into Leaves!

 

    These two pictures are instances which have taught me a lesson. The tree on the left is one that's growing in my backyard--a peach tree that's been recently planted. The photo next to it is of a tree that's at my school. Both had been blooming just a little while ago. The peach tree had been budding with elegant, cup-like, magenta flowers. And the tree at school had looked like a bouquet of tiny, sweet-smelling, white blossoms. They were beautiful pieces of nature to behold, and the thought to take pictures of them for this blog came to mind. But I never got around to it because I guess my camera was low on battery and I was too busy (lazy) to recharge it.
    Not much time passed, but apparently it was enough because I found myself looking at trees with no flowers, but leaves all over them. The leaves are nice, healthy shades of green, but the breathtaking blossoms are gone, and I lightly scolded myself for not taking pictures while I could.
    Stupid procrastination. Oh well. At least a lesson came out of this: take the picture quickly! :)

Writing Is Kind Of Like Knitting

 

This is my latest knitting project; oh how lovely it is to have neat, identical rows! :D

    Writing is kind of like knitting. It's an artful craft that takes lots of practice, time, and care. Both are also useful and interesting skills that bring accomplishment and make great gifts for others.
    Although, if you're a writer or a knitter, you know how boring either craft can sometimes get.
    Especially when you've been working on a long project. Hand-knit cardigans and scarves are beautiful masterpieces, but they can take days and sometimes weeks to finish. Likewise, writing a novel takes endless hours of planning, daydreaming, and typing/handwriting. It can really tire a brain out! And sometimes a person just gets plain tired of doing something that seems (at the moment) monotonous. Another long row of the same stitches, one more chapter already plotted out . . . And the crafty part of our brains begins to direct its talents towards brainstorming ways to find a shortcut. That sweater can just be a short vest, can't it? This story might be more suitable as a short story rather than a novel . . .
    Then there's the diligent part of the mind that shouts: "Don't ditch the sleeves!" "It's not a good idea to cut a story down just to get it over with!"
    And when that voice is heeded and the project is completed thoroughly, I've found that it's totally worth it in the end. In fact, the days of sameness and perseverance are what make it even greater of an accomplishment. You know what I mean?
    Does anyone out there knit or crochet? :)