The First Five Pages: Characterization

This was an interesting chapter that reinforced some of the reasons why I have been doing some things with my characters. Now I have a sound reason to bolster myself into keeping it up. I’m on the right track! Some things, I am finding, I do because through experimentation, I have figured it out it works. Some things, I am finding, I do because I don’t know how to do them better. How to make them right. But now, I am learning. I’m getting learned. And it is a bit of a relief, really.

I love the way some of Lukeman’s examples that he has pulled from literature describes characters. They are beautiful and subtle and at the same time tell us so much about the viewpoint character, sometimes the climate even. It’s great! I feel like I will never read books the same way again. Okay, you got me, not totally true. I will get sucked in and forget and just read for the pleasure of reading, but hopefully, somewhere in the back of my mind there will be a little wheel streaming things into my memory and skill banks to make me a better writer.

I totally understand why I was having trouble with one of my opening scenes. It’s the friggin’ characterization. Others have mentioned this, but not specifically enough that it really triggered more than an ‘oh, how do I fix that anyway?’ sort of a thought. Now, I think I have the tools. I have to develop the character more as I thrust her into all this action. And the way I am describing the other character, yack. That has got to go!

So, off I go to work on that. Unless this caramel rice cake loaded with peanut butter and honey gets in my way…. It’s January in Canada and we’re in a cold snap, I need the insulation. Hell, it’s so cold my car won’t even start. (-28C / -18F with a wind chill, bringing it to somewhere around -40C (which is coincidentally where the metric and imperial thermometers meet in ‘wow, that’s frickin’ brrr’. And yes, this is warmer than yesterday. And yes, this is the warmest part of the day. But thankfully, yes, this is the coldest part of the year.)