More on philosophies and ice cream

Just a couple links, actually.

If you, like me, want to "learn as if you'll live forever," you'll probably like this:
Open Culture site

And if you're seeking out more frozen deliciousness, go here to get your mouth watering:
Jeni's Ice Cream

Have a lovely Wednesday!

What's your life philosophy? (Or, at least, favorite flavor of ice cream?)

Here's a fun writing exercise, which I stole from my sister's friend (who uses it in real life, on her friends' prospective boyfriends, not her characters as far as I know):

Ask your main character: “What is your life philosophy?” (And then ask, “Why?”)

This may be harder to answer than you'd think. And it says a whole lot about your character. For example, the first time my sister's friend asked it of her friend's boyfriend (is the degree of separation confusing you yet??), he answered, “Live hard, die young.” (This says, I am simultaneously shallow and cliché and I lack the confidence to think for myself...)

There were only two good responses to that. The first was, “Get away from my friend, you loser.” The second was what was actually said: “Um...okay. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?”

(Incidentally, another great character-revealing question.)

For the record, my own life philosophy (at the moment) is, “Live as if you were to die today. Learn as if you were to live forever.” (Because I might die today, after all, and I want to do all I can and show as much love as I can and pray and write and, well, live all I can in this life. But I also firmly believe that I will live forever—in heaven. So I'd be doing an injustice and undervaluing myself as a creation of God if I didn't learn and better myself with every chance I have.)

And my favorite flavor of ice cream...peppermint stick. I wish they sold it all year long. (Because it's amazing, obviously.)

Happy Feast Day!

Happy feast of Saint Francis de Sales, one of the patron saints of writers!

I'll leave you with a few things that he wrote to inspire or encourage you in your own writing:

“True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.”

“When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.”

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as true strength.”

“Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself.”

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”

The blind leading the lame

Lucy, our four-year-old, is endeavoring to teach her two-year-old sister Zoe to “talk right.” The results are pretty humorous:

Zoe: (looking at the green monster “Mike Wazowski” in a Monsters Incorporated picture book) This Mike Asky-Asky.

Lucy: No, Zoe. That's Mike Tchaikovsky.

OR:

Zoe: Hi, Annie-Ann!

Lucy: No, say Raggy Ann. Like this: Rag.

Zoe: Rag.

Lucy: Gee.

Zoe: Gee.

Lucy: Ann.

Zoe: Ann.

Lucy: See, Raggy Ann!

Mama: Actually, Lucy, her name is Raggedy Ann.

Lucy: What? Is that her name in the book?

Mama: Yep.

Lucy: (annoyed) Well, we're calling her Raggy Ann, cuz that other name is too hard to say.

I laughed (afterward, in private).

But then I had to consider: how often do I do the same thing? I've probably given my children the wrong answer a few times (my explanation of the wind, for example, was severely lacking—thank goodness their Papa is more scientifically-minded than I...), and they haven't even started in on the really tricky questions.

And as a writer, I know I've felt just like Lucy must have: I had all the answers—about somebody else's writing. Maybe I couldn't do it myself—but I could tell someone else where they had messed up. I know now, that in some of the early critiques I gave, I was over-eager to come up with a solution for every problem. I cringe to think how many times this may have confused or misled rather than helped.

Nowadays, I try to be very careful and very thoughtful. I do point out problems, but I'm reluctant to suggest solutions unless I'm very sure of them—and if I feel they fit with the author's intention for their story.

And I'm very grateful for my wonderful critique partners, who have always helped me this way, and who helped me learn through their example how to assist them.

Of course, sometimes things seem like obvious problems that need to be fixed, and even they are actually perfect little moments of the voice that brings the story to life. Which is why I'm off to play with Mike Tchaikovsky and Raggy Ann now.

Primarily Secondary

Every so often it's a good idea to take a step back and do some serious analysis. (Actually, it's a good idea to do this regularly...) This week's victim subject: secondary characters.

 In fact, I started off by analyzing my very favorite books in an attempt to figure out why I love them as I do. Main characters, of course, were high on the list, as was plot and setting and prose quality. Yet I was surprised by the fifth top 5 characteristic: secondary characters. Honestly, I couldn't rank these things in order. Because, yes, Anne of Green Gables wouldn't be Anne of Green Gables without, well, Anne or Green Gables—but what would it be without Gilbert Blythe? What would Harry Potter be without the Weasleys? What would Pride and Prejudice be without Mr. Collins?

They'd be soulless, robot-ish creatures, in my opinion, something like the literary equivalent of zombies. (Hmm, if only they knew all they had to do to achieve Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was take out a few secondary characters? ;)

Right now I'm at the point in my new WIP where I'm creating a bunch of secondaries. It's a daunting task—1^st, because I know how important it is, and 2^nd, because the plot forces about eight people onto the stage/page at the same time. I was grinding my teeth over it last night, but I've realized it's a good thing. Whereas with slow intros, there's a temptation to under-develop secondaries, it's impossible when a lot appear at once. They have to be unique, or the reader will drop the book and run while they can.

Onward, then, to my completely intuited (fancy for made-up) list of secondary-character-creating essentials:

1. Make them unique. Furthermore, make them unique on the surface. Readers don't have time to figure out that Jane prefers chocolate ice cream while Jill prefers cake, but they'll notice if Jane carries a jump rope around with her and Jill overindulges in her use of the word “like.” (Similarly, don't ever give them names that sound as alike as Jane and Jill if you can help it!)

2. Know what they look like, then only tell the important details. Particularly, be careful not to spend too much time on eye color unless it's important...because noticing eye color makes a statement. Most people won't make direct eye contact with everyone in a group. (Conversely, if you're writing YA and want to subtly convey that a MC is attracted to someone, go ahead and dwell on the eyes.)

3.Think carefully about speech patterns. Also, speech tendencies. In real life, some people will do most of the talking and some are content to fade into the background.

4. Ask yourself: can I group any characters together to make them less confusing? (The reason there are so many twins in literature.)

5. Be careful of being too random. I know this seems to counteract everything I just said, but do remember that if every character has a different eye color, ethnicity, etc. it will seem terribly contrived.

6. Finally, remember that every secondary character is the hero of his or her own story. Even though most of it won't come into your book, you should know all those stories. Take the time to create these characters as you would your main character, and it will always show.

I'll finish up with a list of my favorite secondaries (in no particular order—and these are just the recently analyzed ones), and you can tell me who yours are in the comments!

Zero, from Holes

Gilbert, Diana, Matthew, Mrs. Lynde, Phillipa, Davy, Walter, and Faith, from various Anne books

Ilse, from Emily of New Moon

Every secondary character Austen or Rowling or Dickens ever wrote

Merry and Pippin, from The Lord of the Rings

Puddleglum and Reepicheep, from The Chronicles of Narnia

Pellinore, from The Once and Future King

Spiller, from The Borrowers series

Toots, from The Faerie Ring

Razo, from The Goose Girl

Piper, from Al Capone Does My Shirts

Mr. and Mrs. Owens, from The Graveyard Book