by Jason Joyner | Aug 29, 2012 | 3-D, Blog, characters, conference, revision can be fun, writing craft
It is time to revisit some old friends of mine.
You’d think after working on a novel for 7 years that I’d know these people pretty well by now. However, sometimes you don’t really ask the questions that get you deep into a relationship.
When I’ve had critiques done of my work so far, my main character Jenna usually comes across as well-rounded. She was a little too head-strong initially, but I think I’ve worked some of her rough edges down.
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| I think Tebow is more than just a cutout |
Now the male lead and her romantic interest, Derek? He’s another story. I think I start off showing the differences he has compared to Jenna, but he later on blends into being whatever she needs him to be. I think I lost track of who he was. In doing so, I don’t think he is very three-dimensional.
I know I love it when a book has numerous 3-D characters, people who reflect reality and could be someone you know in real life. The cardboard cutouts in a book get boring fast.
This is the right time to recognize this. I’ve got the whole book in front of me to show who Derek is in more depth. Why does he accompany Jenna to Thailand? What does he want?
I’m not settling for two 3-D characters either. I want to evaluate my secondary characters and see what I can do for them. One or two of them are fairly well-rounded. I’ll have to evaluate that when I get to them.
I am finding that the first draft is hard to get down. The framework of the story needs a foundation, and that can be tricky for me at times. The revision seems to be going smoothly for me. Now that I see the outline, I can work on filling the
meat out onto the bones. And mix my metaphors.
What do you do when it comes to creating depth in your characters? How do you beef them up in the revision process?
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by Jason Joyner | Aug 22, 2012 | ACFW, Adventure time, Blog, conference, writing craft, Writing Wednesday
On last week’s Writing Wednesday I talked about finally putting “The End” down on my longstanding first draft of a novel.
Revision is the next step in the process with the novel, but there’s another major step I’m taking this year.
I’m attending the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Conference in Dallas next month.
The ACFW is the largest organization that supports Christian fiction writers in the country. They hold this conference each year, and for several years I’ve had to deal with the sins of jealousy and covetousness when seeing other writers announce they are going. (Just kidding) (Sorta)
I’m excited to go. I’ve heard different opinions on when to go to your first conference. Some have said early on to go to the workshops and get training, others have suggested waiting until you’ve done something significant related to writing.
For a general writer, my advice would be to evaluate potential conferences and see if they offer courses or workshops for your level. If it seems geared to someone who is farther along the writing path, maybe that isn’t the best fit. If, like the ACFW conference, they have several levels of training offered, it would be a great start even if you’re pretty new.
For the Christian writer, there’s the added consideration of what the Lord is leading you to do. I wanted to have my first novel finished before I thought about it. I wasn’t finished when I signed up, but I have since then. However, I feel the doors have been opened for me this year that weren’t before, so I have a confidence that I’m making the right decision.
The cool thing about the ACFW folks is the length they go to in order to make us “first-timers” feel welcome and the support offered. There’s a email loop with advice for us covering various topics. The first day has a noob orientation. There is a lot of prayer that goes into everything that happens there. That is very encouraging.
The conference is September 20-23 and I head out the Wednesday night before. I’ll post more about this before I go.
Here goes nothing!
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