writing tips & other musings

LA-based writer. Background in comedy and filmmaking, now making moves to YA Fantasy. I tell female-driven stories that embrace the imperfect and unusual. She/her.

[grlbandit]

Building characters

I finished my manuscript last week and handed it off to my editor! And . . . I’m already thinking about the next one. 

I thought it might be helpful if I put together a series of prompts that I think about when building new characters. You can download the pretty version of the worksheet here.

And if you’re not about random PDFs on the Internet, I’ve listed them below:

PROMPTS FOR BUILDING CHARACTERS:

RELATIONAL:

How does your character deal with conflict in their close relationships? (IE: when people get close, they push them away; if there's a fight they have to talk about it now; they avoid conflict at all costs, etc.)

How does your character feel about meeting new people?

How does your character feel about people in their community and acquaintances?

Does your character feel accepted by their peers and community? Why or why not?

How did your character's last romantic relationship end (if they had one) and how do they feel about it?

When does your character feel the most loved? (IE: when someone surprises them, when someone says something nice, when someone goes out of their way to help them, etc.)

Does your character get along with their parent(s) (if they still have them)?

Does your character get along with their sibling(s) and/or extended family (if they have any)?

CHILDHOOD:

What is your character's earliest childhood memory?

What is/was your character's biggest issue with their parent(s)?

What are/were the things your character likes best about their parents? How can your character depend on them?

If your character has/had sibling(s) or close extended family, what issues does/did your character have with them?

If your character has/had sibling(s) or close extended family, what does/did your character like best about them? How can your character depend on them?

What are 3 significant events from your character's childhood that shaped who they are now?

What place(s) did they grow up? How did that shape who they are?

What is one memory your character's childhood best friend (if they had one)?

PERSONAL:

What does your character do for fun?

What does your character do when they are sad?

What does your character do when they are angry?

How would they describe themselves to someone they just met?

How would they describe the state of their mental health to a close friend?

How would they describe the state of their mental health to someone they don't know?

What are your character's biggest fear(s)?

What is your character's biggest want in life? (This could be anything from career aspirations to social or romantic goals to just getting through school. Whatever it is, make sure it has a strong emotional charge for your character.)

Is your character religious or spiritual? If they are, how does that play into their life?

How does your character's community view their religious or spiritual practices (or lack thereof)?

What qualities does your character like best about themselves?

What qualities does your character like least about themselves?

If you could describe your character's personality in 3 brief descriptions what would those be? (Some examples: shy, snarky, adventurous, slow, high-energy, sore loser, has to be right, book smart, easily angered, hides, always afraid, aware of their beauty, constantly complaining, unsure, bold, playful, goes with the flow, too many ideas, dry sense of humor, etc.)

What are your character's 3 biggest pet peeves?

EXTERNAL:

How does your character feel about how they look?

How does your character think other people feel about their appearance?

How do other people actually feel about your character's appearance (if anything)?

Is there a certain way your character talks? List specifics: consider their accent, key phrases, words they use a lot, cadence, etc.

[grlbandit]

On writing: you don’t have to “push through”

Some days are more productive than others, so what do you do on the days where it feels like things are severely dragging?

Take a break.

I don’t mean give up or tune out by scrolling through Instagram for an hour or disappearing into emails. I mean do something that will inspire you. That is just as much part of the work.

We all feel the pressure to “push through”, but it can end up making the process a lot slower and extremely unenjoyable. Remember, it’s about quality of hours spent writing over quantity of hours. There’s nothing wrong with a break that will get you excited to go back to your WIP.

And I can’t tell you how many times a great idea comes as soon as I walk into the other room.

What do you do to inspire you? How do you take breaks?

P.S. Need some break ideas? Here are mine: take a shower, make tea and sit outside with a journal, stretch, exercise, go on a walk, read a book in the genre I’m writing, listen to a podcast, do a note card exercise, free-write, meditate...

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Previous Posts:

Getting notes and how to use them

Thoughts on rewriting while writing

Opening lines: why they’re important and examples

[grlbandit]

Writing exercise: brainstorming on character, theme, and scene

I’m currently outlining my next novel and I’ve been falling in love with notecards all over again!

This is the first of a few exercises I use to inspire creativity when starting a new piece, when stuck on a current WIP, or to challenge myself to get out of cliches and go deeper.

What you’ll need:

3 different colors of notecards

Something to write with

A timer

The steps for doing this are very simple, but I find the pressure of a time limit pushes our brains to bend in new ways.

You might not use everything you write down and that’s okay! This is more about freeing your mind up to think of any possibility which can help us get to more interesting specifics or out of writer’s block.

Steps for Character, Theme, and Scene Note-Carding Exercise:

1. First, decide which color note card will be for character.

You will use these cards to describe traits, mannerisms, hopes/dreams, and anything emotionally-driven about your cast of characters. This doesn’t just have to be about your protagonist and antagonist. Include anyone and everyone that may come into your novel from supporting characters to characters we only see in passing (IE: a bus driver or delivery person). You can also work backwards and think of interesting traits that you don’t know where to put yet. 

2. The next color will be for themes. 

These are overarching ideas and through-lines of your work. But that doesn’t mean they need to always be big ideas. For example, my next novel deals with anxiety. My notecards don’t just include broad topics like “mental health” (although obviously that’s a big part of it), they also include the small, personal themes like “feeling like an outsider” and “hiding” and “speaking up”.

This is different from character, because themes are explored by everyone. For example, a character trait might be “doesn’t speak up” but the theme of speaking up has to be explored by other characters who do speak up and how your protagonist reacts to and learns from them.

3. And lastly, decide which color is for scenes. 

These are story moments-- the ones you will be writing through action and/or dialogue. Basically, any event that happens, whether in the present or past (flash backs). 

Note: if you don’t have different colored note cards, just create different stacks or write in different colors.

4. Set your timer for six minutes and go! 

Write down whatever comes to mind, as fast as you can. Don’t judge what you’re writing down. There are no wrong answers! You can decide later what you want to actually use.

I prefer to flip between character, theme, and scene within those 6 minutes because I find one usually inspires the other. If that feels like too much, you can designate 2 minutes to each. Once you get going, 6 minutes isn’t a lot of time, but I think that’s why it can be helpful. It forces you to just get it out. 

And if you need more time, set another timer!

Once you’re done, you will have a bunch of new ideas! You can organize these later into an outline or re-write that scene you were stuck on. 

And if you’re still having trouble thinking of things, that’s okay, too! The more you stretch your brain in this way, the easier it will be. Even finding one or two new ideas is worth it!

Previous Posts:

Getting notes and how to use them

Thoughts on rewriting while writing

Opening lines: why they’re important and examples

[grlbandit]

Opening lines: why they’re important and examples

As I’m rewriting my novel, I’ve been thinking a lot about opening lines. There is a lot of pressure to get it exactly right. After all, it is the first thing your readers come in contact with and determines whether or not they are going to keep reading.

First lines are supposed to hook your reader. Getting them to keep reading is the most important, but a first line should also accurately reflect the tone of your story and highlight your voice. 

It sounds like a lot to do, but the good authors do it seamlessly. There is a level of ease to their work where they are showing you just enough to pique your interest without trying to do too much. And it doesn’t always take a lot of text to get there. 

Here are some that I pulled from books around my house as well as a few on my reading list:

“Marianne answers the door when Connell rings the bell.” --Normal People by Sally Rooney

This is very simple, but does a great job of of setting up the theme and power dynamic that continues throughout the book.

“The morning one of the lost twins returned to Mallard, Lou LeBon ran to the diner to break the news, and even now, many years later, everyone remembers the shock of sweaty Lou pushing through the glass doors, chest heaving, neckline darkened with his own effort.” --The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

I love how Brit Bennett drops you right into the action. This line provides a ton of information and set up (the lost twins definitely grabs my attention), while doing it in such a beautiful and detailed way.

“It’s too damn cold of a day to be out on a hunt.” --Warcross by Marie Lu

I’ve read a lot of Marie Lu and what is great about this line is that it gives you a lot of information in very little space. Hunt leaves you curious about who this main character is and what she does, while too damn cold shows both voice (damn) and setting (cold).

“The drain looked the same every time, with all the people screaming as they ran away from the giant dark cloud of chaos but never running fast enough.” --Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

Again, Veronica Roth is dropping you right into the action. This ominous imagery really sets the tone for the novel.

“It began the usual way in the bathroom of the Lassimo Hotel.”  --A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

So much is packed into this little sentence. The bathroom of the Lassimo Hotel is super specific, while it began the usual way makes you want to keep reading to find out what “it” is.

“One of the very first bullets comes in through the open window above the toilet where Luca is standing.” --American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Another great example of starting in the middle of the action and immediately connecting you to the character (Luca).

“He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.” --The Maze Runner by James Dashner

While The Maze Runner is by no means my favorite book, I think James Dashner is an incredible world builder and pulls you in right away with his imagery.

Now that we’ve looked at those, here are some general tips as you go to write your first line:

Start right in the middle of the action

Consider tone when writing your first line

Don’t start with dialogue

You don’t have to cover it all in the first line: just enough information for your reader to want to keep going

What are you reading? What first lines drew you in? I want to know! Feel free to reblog or comment with some of your favorite first lines.

Previous Posts:

Getting notes and how to use them

Thoughts on rewriting while writing

Writing when you have a day job

Note: edited with extra information/analysis

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[grlbandit]

Getting notes and how to use them

You’ve poured your soul into your writing and you send it to someone else for feedback, thinking you’re pretty close to done, and they... tear it apart.

We’ve all had this happen and it can feel awful. How did they miss the theme? Why didn’t they buy the romance? What do you mean my main character isn’t likeable?

There are a couple of things happening when you get notes:

Your ideas are good but the execution isn’t there yet. This is really common. I often find that if I explain what I was going for, the note-giver totally gets it even if they didn’t see it on a page. This just means you have to dig a little deeper on how you go about showing/communicating the idea.

Art is subjective and often a matter of preference. I can see a movie with three friends and each of us will have a completely different reaction. Sometimes your note-giver isn’t your audience (but you might still want to take their thoughts into consideration).

Sometimes it’s just a bad note. This especially happens when executives come in and start worrying about how your project is going to make them money and what they think audiences want to see.

Okay, so you’ve gotten some notes. What do you do now?

1. Be gracious, even if you don’t like them. People remember who was easy to work with and who had a good attitude. That doesn’t mean you have to take every single note, but it does mean that you should thank them for their time and opinion.

2. If it feels too overwhelming, let the notes sit. Obviously deadlines come into play here, but sometimes it helps to take a little space before you dive back in so you can really process the notes.

3. See the note behind the note. When you’re ready to start again, it’s important to see what people are saying beyond just their words.

For example, they said a character isn’t likeable. Okay, but what does that mean? Is it that your character’s motivation for doing things isn’t strong enough so we can’t understand them? Or maybe they are an anti-hero but they need one more redeeming quality. Or maybe you just need to add a few more moments of levity.

Or let’s say someone told you that your piece “feels too long”. Maybe what that really means is you need to heighten the conflict so your reader doesn’t disengage.

A lot of times people call out notes without really knowing why they feel that way OR considering what your intention was. If you can tune into why they gave that note, it can help you decipher what actually needs to change and how to go about it.

Side note: the best way to give notes is to ask questions first to know what the writer is going for and then let them know how it did or didn’t achieve that for you.

4. You don’t have to take every note. Stick to your inner truth and know what is important and what is not. You will probably have to bend on some things (especially for paid work), but it is totally okay to fight for the things you feel are vital to the story. When it comes to executives, it is their job to say something. If you pick two or three notes from their list that you agree and connect with, sometimes they don’t even notice you didn’t take the rest.

I was just reading about David Fincher and the ending of Se7en in this article (warning: massive spoilers). It’s a great example how he fought for the moment he really cared about, while he gave in just enough to make the execs happy.

5. If you’re still not sure, let another person read. A second (or third or fourth) opinion can help clarify if it was just that one person’s takeaway or if everyone is reacting to something specifically.

6. Notes are there to help you. Feedback has the potential to make your work even stronger. I can think of a dozen times where someone’s note inspired something way better than what I had in the original draft. Think of it like a test run. Wouldn’t you rather try something out with your peers and team before it goes out into the world?

All that is to say: have an open mind while also staying true to yourself. At the end of the day, it is your story and your perspective.

[grlbandit]

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Writing when you have a day job

It’s hard to make money as a writer. For most of us, it takes a while to hone our skills. It took me five years to get my work to a place where I would even show people, and I am still constantly learning and growing (check out Ira Glass’s The Gap if you need some encouragement there).

But bills don’t go away just because you are following your passion. If anything, expenses usually go up as you’re paying for classes, writing competitions, software, etc.

Day jobs are necessary to survive. They can be supportive and fun if you find something flexible that allows you to still create on the side.

However, they can also be absolutely exhausting.

I was a personal assistant for two and a half years. After long days of running errands and trying to remember a list too long for two people, I would come home completely drained. I worked for a very nice couple (and am extremely lucky in that regard), but it didn’t always leave much mental space for creativity.

That being said, I still had to find a way to write. Here are a few tips for how I got through it:

1. Work on one thing at a time. I feel the need to do a million things at once, too. But you’re not doing yourself every favors. Pick one project to focus on. It’s great if you have lots of ideas, but write them down somewhere and shelve them for later. It is always easier to start projects than finish them.

*Sometimes your focus can change. If you know at a deep level that there is a different project that needs your attention, then pause and focus on that first. If you feel the need to switch again, then maybe it is time to investigate why and where you start to get hung up.

2. Utilize the “dead space” with things that inspire you. Listen to a podcast about writing as you drive to work. Listen to a YA book on Audible as you cook dinner or clean your house. Read an article while you wait for an email. Watch a short film while you wait in line for your to-go order. Or simply pay more attention to the people that come into your work and write down some notes for character inspiration.

You don’t always need to fill every moment with something, but in my own journey, I realized that I would use driving as a time to check out and disengage. When I started filling that time with content and actively listening, I noticed I felt more inspired when I sat down to write. Plus, I had new wealth of knowledge to draw from.

3. Write things down when they come up! As you fill your time with more things that inspire you, you’ll probably find yourself having more ideas. Great! With a day job you might not always be in a place to dive deeper, so write down the thought and save it for later. I once heard a writer say she emails herself every time she gets an idea and puts them into a folder. For me, I keep notes in my phone. I probably have around 400 that list out everything from soft outlines for novels to descriptive words to themes that feel important to me.

4. Using one or two hours effectively is more important than a whole day of forced productivity. You only have the time you have to work on your projects. As someone who has spent both two hours extremely productive and entire days writing nothing but a few sentences, I promise you that it is not always about total time spent. I would always prefer an effective amount of time over a lot of time. Use what you have to the best of your ability. Sit down and see what you can accomplish in even just twenty minutes with no distractions.

5. Write with someone else if that helps you stay accountable. Scheduled writing sessions with another person are a great way to commit to your work. Whether you’re actually writing on the same project together, or just working side by side, it is more difficult to bail when you’re meeting someone else. Plus, you get some social time, too!

6. Find a writer’s group. I am part of two all-women writing groups that I absolutely adore. Prior to COVID, one of the groups met monthly to share work. Getting feedback in realtime, as well as hearing what other people are working on, always leaves me feeling inspired. Now, we still meet on Zoom occasionally to check-in. The other group is more panel and event focused, while just as valuable. Surrounding yourself with what you care about, and with people who care about the same things, is a great way to stay on track.

7. Take breaks. We can’t be on all the time (as much as I try to tell myself I should be). Self-care and actually living your life is equally important. I often find that productivity flows so much better after I take a bit of time off. Suddenly, “the grind” feels like less of a grind and I find myself actually wanting to write.

8. But do make time. Start distinguishing what is important and what you can skip out on. You don’t have to go to every social engagement. You don’t have to say yes to helping your friend move. Sometimes, it is okay to say no and carve out a whole day for your writing. I think your true friends will always understand and support you as you strive to make a career doing what you love.

[grlbandit]

Little moments. 💗

More on my new writing Instagram.

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Thoughts on rewriting while writing

Most people will tell you not to rewrite while writing your first draft. And I get it. It’s solid advice. Rewriting slows the process down, and I know from personal experience how easy it is to get lost obsessively going over a single chapter for months.

Trying to get things perfect on your first pass doesn’t help anyone (and honestly, most of it will probably change anyway).

However, I also think stopping to go back and rewrite is sometimes okay.

Hear me out. I’m not saying always do that, but if you get to the middle and something is bumping for you it may be because you haven’t fully fleshed out a character, or you’re losing track of their voice, or maybe what is moving your plot forward isn’t strong enough after all.

If you’re really stuck or feeling like something just isn’t landing (while also making sure its not just your perfectionist brain talking), I think it’s okay to briefly go through everything. You would have to do that anyway on your next pass. You will sacrifice some major time on the first one, but you might also clarify things that make it easier to keep going.

I have done this twice for the book I’m writing and I’m so glad I did. Both times, my outline was starting to feel thin compared to what was on the page, so I went back and clarified characters and plot, which made writing the end quicker than it would have been.

Some things to keep in mind if you do a mid-write rewrite:

Make sure you’re looking at big picture things (character, voice, tone, plot, etc.) to avoid getting caught up in sentence flow and grammar

Give yourself a certain amount of time to rewrite and then move on

Writing is difficult and inspiration doesn’t always come easily. Everyone has a different process, but if you’re feeling any shame because you’re not going as fast as you would like or you’re a secret rewriter (like me), do whatever you have to do to finish-- even if that means briefly going a few steps back.

[grlbandit]

Inspired by all the years I spent looking for something outside of myself to make me happy. Learning to love ourselves is a constant practice.

[grlbandit]

also starting a new ig, you can follow me here: http://instagram.com/grlbandit