Character Deaths

Have you ever read a chapter with a tight chest? As you skim over the pages as fast as you can, your lungs ache from holding your breath. Your favorite character is caught under knife point and everything stops. Once your emotions break, you’re sobbing over the page and internally screaming. This is the effect that a well written character death can have on a reader. Welcome to the Homestead, writers! Today we will be discussing the importance of character deaths and how to execute one in order to have your audience writhing in pain.

First, not all genres are suitable for character deaths. A cozy romance for example may have an offstage death that is impactful to the main character, such as a family member, or a missing parent, but usually none of the main cast dies. This trope is usually found in Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Fantasy, and a few other genres in which the plot is heavy and the character conflict is supposed to tear the reader’s heart to bits. The first step then is learning your genre. Now if you’re like me and you wrote the book before you chose the genre, you may have to study a few types to figure out which box your book fits into. Maybe it fits in a few boxes. Personally, my genre changes depending on who I’m talking to! If it’s my parents, it’s an Adventure Fantasy Novel; if It’s my brother it’s a Sci-fi/fantasy; if it’s my horror enthusiastic it’s a Dark Fantasy; if it’s an agent, it’s a Speculative Fiction. Versatility and marketing will decide what genre your book is as much as the tropes and rules will. Something to remember is that genres are just suggestions. It can be seen as either “originally creative” or “out there” to put a murder in a romance novel depending on who you’re talking to. The market is subjective and with good marketing, there’s always an audience for your specific idea. 

Once you determine your genre, decide if killing the specific character is an earth-shattering event that changes the entire book. If you can cut the scene, or even character, and have very little to edit to make the book still flow, then cut it. A character should not die just for the sake of it. The death needs to have a significant effect either on the character or the plot. If not, it’s  filler and the audience might skip it for something more interesting. Before you kill the character, the audience needs to understand why they exist. They need to have a solid purpose that isn’t just “the plot needs to plot”. If you were writing a villain redemption story and, say, in the first chapter we see the assassin main character on a mission, in order to avoid action for action sake, give the reader insight into the effect that this night has on the protagonist, or the effect the target has on the protagonist. If the audience knows why they should care, it’ll hook them when the action starts.

So far we’ve discussed the first of the three steps in writing such a heavy scene. The three steps are setup/cause, confrontation, action, outcome. Setup is the why. Confrontation is the moment when the two characters meet. Their goals clash either through witty dialogue, a few chilling words, or just a hard look, then the action happens, either a fight or a surprise stab. The outcome is the effect the death has on the surrounding characters. With these four steps, the scene will feel vivid, easy to follow, and rewarding. 

To wrap up our time together, don’t forget the four steps to writing a smooth character death. As always, thank you for visiting and stay tuned, friends!

Second Point of View and Consistency

The last Point of View in our series is not a commonly used one, but in today's article, I will be discussing the black sheep of the Point of View family: the second person. Now Second person pronouns aren't used in modern day fiction books, you'll find these most often in self help books. Pronouns such as “You” break the fourth wall and allow the audience to connect to the reader. For newspaper articles, self help books, visual media, or even some high fantasy novels you'll find these pronouns relating something to the audience. “You may find this incredibly relatable, and here's why…”. The only example off the top of my head in general fiction is J.R.R Tolkien's writings. Addressing the reader's beliefs creates a conversational tone which will either make your reader feel seen or make your reader feel exploited. In the first case, if the statement you are making is widely accurate such as stating how students don't do half the homework they're supposed to, or how older people enjoy movies, the audiences will find these stigmas relatable. If the statement is too niche, however it confuses the reader and has the opposite effect, they feel like they're not heard. In a culture where most of our words fall into the abyss either in our social circles or online, readers want to feel seen and heard. If they don't, chances are they'll put the book down. 

Second person and first go hand in hand, in fact, if you're writing in first person, especially a more comedic book, a “you” might slip into your writing, for example, “I walked down the street. Now, I know what you're thinking, something big or scary is probably about to grab me, but it was a completely normal walk!” This imaginary excerpt may sound fine at first glance, but a deeper look into it reveals inconsistencies. The tone starts as First person past tense, then switches to Second person present tense, then returns to First person past tense. From an author's perspective, writing that might make sense, but when a reader reviews it, there will be a sense of something offputting. If you ask them, they may not be able to identify it, but they'll tell you something was off. It all boils down to consistency. 

Consistency determines the flow of a novel. Names of characters and places must be the same. Character personalities must be the same. That's not to say there's no arc, your character will end up changing throughout the book (I hope). What I mean is if you have a character who sees the silver lining in everything and uses humor to alleviate tension, it wouldn't be consistent for him to start a fight without a trigger. I use something similar to this in my novel, June 9th. The main character, Spade, in the beginning is a peacemaker who often retreats into himself when faced with conflict, however he refuses to kill or hurt people. After the turning point of the book, his worldview is completely shattered and all he wants is revenge. This works because there was a trigger that caused the switch. Mood swings do not equate inconsistency. Consistency is deeply rooted in your character's morals, values, and experiences. Unless you change one of the three, they will always be what defines the personality as the personality. Consistency will keep your reader invested. The slightest mistake will throw your readers out of the moment and leave them confused. The way to improve consistency comes in the second and third drafts. Editing is your best friend and getting as many eyes on your draft is essential to improving your novel. Everyone has different opinions and someone might find a scene riveting while someone else may find it boring. By having people from all ages, demographics and cultures read over your drafts, you can nail down your target audience while getting valuable feedback that will take your level 2 first draft to a level 20.

Thank you for joining me in my lovely home. The King's Actors is now available on both Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and my personal store! https://brand.site/golden-age-publishers Thank you again for joining me and until next week, stay tuned!

Outside Perspective

Welcome to the second focus article in our series covering Points of Views! Last week we talked about First Person, but this week we get to delve deep into my personal favorite point of view, Third! This article excites me because for the longest time I've been tweaking and refining my prose in this style. So sit back friends! Recline in any chair you like with a hot cocoa and a weighted blanket as we explore Third Person Point Of View!

Imagine a funnel. At the base is a single thing, the basics. Third Person is when someone uses pronouns like she/her, he/him, so on and so forth. It's inherently removed from the characters and tells the story as an observer. (John does this, John does that). It doesn't allow the same emotional connection and revelation that first person does, but with more plot centered books, Third person is the best way to go. This isn’t to say that a well-written book in first person can't be action-oriented, or that a well-written book in Third person can't be character oriented. I usually write novels that are character driven and in Third person, but this where the funnel expands into two areas of distance. In Third person, you can have Limited POV and omniscient POV. Limited POV serves to connect the reader to the character in the way that First Person does. The character knows only the immediate surroundings and reveals that to the reader through the lenses of the character’s worldview. Sometimes the prose is supported by italicized thoughts which give the reader an even more detailed view of the character and what they're thinking and feeling. Limited POV also helps to maintain mystery of a plot, as the reader only knows as much as the character. Omniscient POV is found in most classic fiction such as Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Jane Austen's writings etc. These are in their simplest forms, stories. The author is speaking directly to the reader and guiding them by the hand through the lore and the world. J.R.R. Tolkien expertly uses humor in his books to jeer or jest about the subject matter. This is different to Informational Books, or Self Help books because although those speak directly to the reader, they do so by crossing into First Person territory “I know you're thinking … but if I were you, I wouldn't do x, y, and z.” Sometimes Third person Omniscient can bleed into Second person which we'll talk about next week.

Back to our funnel, at the tip we have Third Person Point Of View, then as the funnel size increases it breaks into two categories, Limited POV and Omniscient POV. The next size increase holds my tips for writing each of the two. Omniscient POV requires a consistent distance from the character, else the quick switch between characters thoughts and emotions can be jarring and confusing for the reader. This is called head hopping, like in the Sims, only the difference is that head hopping feels overwhelming as there's so much to keep track of. In Omniscient storytelling it's important to make everything as concise as you can. Since you as the god-like narrator can see everything, you need to decide what's important information and what's not. The reader is relying on you to not fill the story with unnecessary fluff. This is also important to remember for Limited POV but it's harder to add fluff in Limited POV. The fluff will come more in dialogue or conversation that doesn't affect the plot. Not that every conversation should be an Earth-shattering discovery, but if you can remove it and nothing in the book changes, it's better off removed. 

Those are just a few pointers, but there's many more! If you'd like to ask me a question or subject an idea for an article feel free to email Umsteadkaylee064@gmail.com. Until then, friends, never stop dreaming and chasing after your dreams! Stay tuned!

“I waited for the plot”: Deep Dive into First Person Point of View

Think of the last time you sat around a campfire and told scary stories, or perhaps listened to one. Did the speaker personify the character through personal pronouns such as “I” or does the speaker tell of a person? The use of I and Me are first person pronouns and today I’ll be leading you all through what that means and how to use it effectively.

If I take you to a piano and ask you to play it, it would be fairly simple. All you would need to do is tap a key. Piano is, as many musicians describe it, the easiest instrument to learn, but the hardest to master. In the same way first person is popular in modern writing because it’s easier for the writer to connect to the character if they’re speaking as one, but it's also the hardest to master because without good prose, first person can become boring and monotonous. First person can be written with past or present tense, depending on if the writer intends to frequently use narrative exposition. Now, the word exposition might scare you, but narrative exposition is essential to good prose. There are three main components of every story, action, dialogue, and narrative exposition. Narrative exposition are the paragraphs elaborating on a character's backstory or word building. Too much narrative exposition leads to info dumping, but in moderation it balances the action and dialogue. It's the story part of a book that helps convey the theme or deeper meaning. In First person, narrative exposition is heavily influenced by the characters preferences and opinions. The character's worldview is most evident here through the adjectives and color they paint the world in. It’s harder for most people to write third person so vividly. 

First person focuses on connection, but it’s easy to fall in love with the word “was.” Don’t do it. If every sentence was structured with the word was, or is, or anything ending in -ed it’s like coffee. A little bit consistently is okay, but chugging a gallon of caffeine will wreck your intestines. “I walked to the store. I waited for the clerk to take another customer's order and I was infuriated by the waiting.” This snippet is an example of repetitive prose with no varying degrees of interest. Remember, you have three main tools in your toolbox, Action, Dialogue, and Narrative Exposition. In the above example we had three back to back action lines, but if we said something like “I walked to the store but had to wait in a mile long line. ‘Why are there so many people?!’ I curse. On a Sunday morning at 8 AM, it was a crime for the store to be so busy. At least open a few more registers for crowd control.” This has variety from action, to dialogue, then action, then narrative exposition. The variety will keep your reader intrigued and ready to read more. In my previous article Active vs. Passive voice I explain the dangerous quality of was and is. Unless there is no other option, it should not be used. “I was walking” isn’t as strong as “I walked”. The same thing applies to present tense. “I am singing” is weak in comparison to “I sing”

First person is useful for connection and mystery as the reader only knows what the POV character does. My favourite examples of this style are Agatha Christie’s mystery novel, The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd and Rebecca Yarros’ fantasy, Fourth Wing. Thank you for joining me in my Homestead, next article we’ll be continuing the series with a similar look at third person. Until then, stay tuned!

Creating Points of View

    Think of a car crash. The collision occurred at 9:50 at a busy four-way intersection between a white convertible and a blue Honda. There are three people beside you and multiple others scattered around the sidewalk on all sides. You ask your friend “What did you see?” Knowing that the cars collided and one flipped over. Your friend responds “The sedan got some serious air time!” Well we know from what you saw that it was a convertible, not a sedan, and that it didn't fly in the air. Someone across the road thinks that the Honda hit them on purpose, another thinks it's the convertible's fault. How did everyone see the same crash, but have all these differing perspectives and beliefs? 

    Today we'll be discussing Point Of Views and kicking off my 4-week series detailing the different types of POV’s that you can write a book from. There are three main ones, First Person, Second Person and Third Person. We won’t be discussing either of these three today in depth but instead laying the foundation for the series. So kick off your shoes, get comfortable as I lay the foundation of what is a Point of View and how do you use it to your advantage to enhance the content of your novel. 

    Looking back to the days before Christ, when they communicated with stories, the most common way to communicate the story with the audience was to speak or read it from the third person. Third person is an outside perspective and uses pronouns like “he,” “she,” and “they.” For example – “Sarah fed the birds while her sister played with the dog.” Then once the Greeks discovered that acting like the character instead of just speaking about them was more effective and entertaining, theatre switched to First Person, which utilizes pronouns like “I,” “we,” “us” as well as the regular he/she/they pronouns. 
For example – “I asked her to water the plants, but the little diva refused.” Lastly, Second Person is utilized more in everyday conversation and is usually paired with First Person. It’s a direct communication to the audience through the word “You.” Although there are three different types of Point of Views, the main choices utilized in novels are First and Third.

    Now that we have the framework we can discuss how to create a POV. From the introductory example with the car crash, we can see that even though the surrounding pedestrians witnessed the same collision, they all took something different away from it. The answer seems simple, “Because they’re all different people with different personalities and experiences that create a different worldview.” To that I say – Exactly! In the same way we in the real world have different takeaways and childhoods, so do your characters. One character might look at a little girl and call her a saint, another might call her the devil incarnate. This difference creates a voice that’s distinct to the character. These voices might overlap, but your job as the writer is to make sure they don’t repeat. A thesaurus is a phenomenal tool for this. If you have a tennis ball, it’s yellow, but there are ways to say yellow that aligns with the character. “The mustard tennis ball inspired his appetite,” or “the tennis ball was so vibrant it would be lost forever if placed in a sea of sunflowers.” Get creative and really dive into what your character values and what they want. The first character wants food, the second likes flowers. These small details may seem insignificant but they’re essential. You’re not just creating a character. You’re creating a living, breathing life form with hopes, dreams, ambitions, dislikes. Does your character love paranormal films? Put it in the book! Does your character hate apple pie? Put it in the book! Without overcrowding the pages and drowning out the plot, make sure to put as many personalized details as you can into the substance of the book because it’ll make the characters feel real to the readers. 

Thanks for coming in to learn! Until then you can follow any of my socials for updates on my novels and projects. As always, stay tuned, Friends!