Every fiction author has their own way to write – determining plot, story line, characters, story arc, point of view and even grammar.  I still recall the first book I read that didn’t use quote marks when a character spoke – Kent Haruf’s Plain Song.  At first it was disorienting but as I continued reading it became very organic and I wondered why quote marks had ever been used.

I digress.  I want to write about character development.  A simple google search on character develop will lead you to many guides on how to create literary characters.  The ‘greatest of all time’ for characters has to be Charles Dickens and to the best of my knowledge he didn’t use any character development guide although he certainly could have developed one for the rest of us.

I find all of those guides mechanical.  It is like creating a character by the numbers.  Chose one for physical traits, one for psychological traits, one for personality traits mix and match and come up with Character X.  I don’t understand how any author can use this method because it is separate from the story.

For me a character is birthed from the story.  In my current manuscript draft the protagonist, Adeline Dawson, came to me from photos of pack horse librarians and then she brought me her story to tell.  All of her traits come to me from what she presents – a twenty-year-old woman, plain, short brown hair, curious, a wife in a coal mining town and ordinary in every way.  Then this ordinary woman has to respond to her husband dying in the coal mine.  The story is how she survived.  Likewise, Adeline’s friend, mentor and boss, Florence Pruett introduced herself and her relationship with Adeline.  It is because of Florence’s friendship that Adeline learns to survive and thrive after in husband’s death in Pike County, Kentucky.

It may sound hokey but my characters are all organic and not derived from a list or a “method” to create characters.  To all those who may use a list – carry on – it just isn’t for me.
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Are your characters organic?  Send me a response to this post.     

A few weeks ago I received a request from the Author’s Guild to sign a letter demanding that the Internet Archives Open Library stop scanning books and making them available online FREE.

What and who is the Internet Archives Open Library?  It is basically an online library with the noble purpose of making every book ever published available from one webpage.  If a book is not in the public domain and in digital formal the site provides links to where it can be purchased or borrowed.  Fair enough.
HOWEVER, last year Internet Archive began scanning books and making them available through e-lending without the author’s permission or knowledge.  Internet Archive believes they can this practice is legal because of the Controlled Digital Lending.  Never heard of that theory?  The theory is that a book can be scanned and made available as long as a few restrictions apply mainly that only one copy of the scanned book can be loaned out at a time.  This is called fair use.

Fair to whom?

In Capital Records vs. ReDigi the federal Second Circuit Court held that reselling a digital file without the copyright holder’s permission IS NOT FAIR USE because the resales competed with the legitimate copyright holder’s sales.  Even with this clear decision the practice of stealing our creativity continues.
Authors Guild encourages all authors to visit the Controlled Digital Lending site and check if any books are there.  I checked.  I’m safe.

Please go to: https://controlleddigitallending.org/ and check if your creativity has been stolen.
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For readers – please don’t use Controlled Digital Learning – you are reading stolen material.       

​As I mentioned last week my process of drafting my fourth novel varies from the process, I used in the Irish Troubles Series.  I began with the story idea and then began developing characters for the novel.

I wanted to use authentic southern names and specifically names from Pike County, Kentucky.  Once again, my research proves that the internet is truly a strange and wonderful place.  I googled surnames in Pike County, Kentucky and found a list with hundreds – hundreds of names.

My first idea was to have the protagonist be of Irish descent because I’ve learned that Irish are the third largest group in Pike County and I am familiar with Irish culture and traditions that could cross the Atlantic to Kentucky.  I tried out different names for weeks but nothing “sounded” right.

Then I took a different tact and researched common southern names for women.  You guessed it, I found a site with hundreds of names and developed a list of about 27 names that struck a chord with me.  I repeated the process with male first names and came up with a list of 25 names.

The next step was to name my protagonist.  I chose Adeline because it feels like a strong name and my character will need to be made of steel.  For a surname I didn’t use my list of Pike County surnames but selected a name that, at least to me sounded, strong – rock solid – Dawson. 

The working title is:  The Story of Adeline Dawson – Pike County Pack Horse Librarian.
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For the remaining characters I paired first and last names and then gave them an “occupation.”  For example – Earle Calhoun is the mine supervisor and Sterling Aldridge is the mine owner.  In total I have a list of thirteen characters who may or may not appear in the novel.
 
Let me know how you create characters.     

In January I interviewed Wisconsin author Kristin Oakley on my radio show ‘My World and Welcome to It’.  When I interview authors I always ask them what writing routine they follow.  I’ve discovered that all writers are unique and each has a different process to put words on the page.

Kristin smiled and confessed that she didn’t have a regular routine like writing every day or writing in the morning versus the afternoon.  She said when she is writing a novel it is always in her mind so that from her perspective she is working on it all the time even though she may not be hunched over her laptop.  I admired her honesty.  I am always dubious of those writers who claim to 8-10 hours a day grinding out page after page.

Like Kristin, when I’m working on a novel it is always with me.  For example, I’ve been searching for southern names to use in my fourth novel because it takes place in Pike County, Kentucky.  I found a google site that actually lists common surnames in Pike County which demonstrates once and for all that you can find anything on google.  However, my search didn’t end with reviewing this site; I also needed strong first names with a southern flare.

I searched through books in my home library thought of my own family members and people I’ve known.  I paid attention to names on the nightly news broadcast, movie credits and TV shows.  From all this I developed a list of both female and male first names.  My main character is Adeline Dawson and her best friend is Florence Pruett.

I worked on the initial scene and first chapter before I began writing.  I need to “see” the scene before I write – it plays out in my mind’s eye like watching a move.  I then write a draft and later go back and embellish with sensual detail such as smell, taste all things of the senses.  I am also a strong believe that the first chapter must have an inciting incident that propels the story and hooks the reader.  In the first chapter of my newest novel Adeline’s husband Eli dies in a mining accident and Adeline’s life changes forever – she must find her own way in 1935 during the Great Depression.
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So some days it may look like I’m far off thinking but I’m really working very hard.