By Jana Richards (Guest Blogger)
In
a recent
interview
promoting his new movie, a romantic comedy called “The
F Word”
(*See
below),
Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame was asked if he thought the
rom-com genre was dead or dying. He responded with this:
“Like
everything now, there’s a lot of crap out there…And it’s always
the same problem: People forget about characters. People forget that
whatever you do or say in a script doesn’t matter if people don’t
care about the character involved…without creating characters that
people care about, they’re not going to be interested and it
doesn’t count for anything.”
I
couldn’t agree more, Daniel.
Coming
up with characters readers will care about is one of the most fun,
and challenging, things about writing. I want to create characters
who engage with readers, who leap off the page make readers love
them.
So
how do I do that?
I’ve
learned a lot about character building by reading other author’s
books. I loved Lisa Kleypas’ strong heroines in her Travis family
series. Ella Varner in Smooth
Talking Stranger
drops everything to look after her sister’s new born son, even
though she knows nothing about babies, and is sure she doesn’t want
children of her own. At first she’s just trying to find her
nephew’s father and make him do the right thing, but she gradually
falls in love with the two men who have wormed their way into her
life, her nephew Luke and Jack Travis. I loved seeing Ella overcome a
hellish childhood and grow into the woman she never thought she could
be. I cheered for her all the way.
Another
author whose characters I love is Mary Balogh. In Slightly
Dangerous,
everyone believes Wulfric Bedwyn, the Duke of Bewcastle is haughty
and cold-hearted, a man with ice in his veins and around his heart.
But in the skillful hands of Ms. Balogh, we discover a man who uses
disdain to keep people at arm’s length to protect himself from
being hurt. After being rejected as a young man by the woman he
thought he was in love with, Wulfric believes love isn’t for him.
But when Christine Derrick crashes into his life, she challenges
everything he previously believed a well-brought up lady should be.
Christine was not what he thought he wanted in a duchess but
everything he needed. I loved seeing Wulfric loosen up and fall in
love, and despite his extreme reserve, I loved him because I
understood where that reserve came from.
Before
I write a paragraph of a new book, I do a lot of character analysis.
I fill out character sketches to try to figure out who these people
are. Along with the physical descriptions, I devise a backstory for
each character. I ask questions about their parents and siblings,
about the kind of relationships they’ve had with the opposite sex,
and about their greatest fears, and greatest desires. From these
questions, characters begin to emerge. But I always find that my
characters don’t take full shape until I start actually writing
their story.
Novels
are built around struggle between characters. To get that conflict
humming from the very beginning of the book, I like to create
characters with a built-in clash between them. For instance, in my
contemporary romance A
Long Way From Eden,
I matched Zane Martin, a man who grew up not knowing who his father
was, with Meg Evans, a woman who was forced into an abusive marriage
by an unplanned teenage pregnancy. So when his daughter becomes
pregnant with Meg’s son’s baby, Zane insists the two young people
marry. But Meg will have none of it. She doesn’t want either of
their children forced into a unwanted, loveless marriage. They are in
opposition from the opening of the book, but as they learn where the
other is coming from, understanding gradually turns to love. My hope
is that Meg and Zane are characters that readers can really care
about and root for.
Characters
make a novel sing. Without strong and interesting characters, a novel
will simply fall flat on its face. Like Daniel Radcliffe said, it all
counts for nothing if readers don’t care what happens to its
characters. So I’ll keep working hard to make my characters as
interesting, funny, and complex as I can make them.
What
makes a character likable for you? Who are your favorite literary
characters?
*Incidentally,
this movie is titled “What If” in the United States. Apparently
the Motion Picture Association of America didn’t like the original
title because of the possible double meaning (in this movie the F
stands for friend). However, since the film was titled “The F Word”
when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013,
that title was retained for Canadian audiences. And we’re okay with
that!
A
Long Way from Eden by Jana Richards
Zane
Martin's teenage daughter is pregnant. Meg Evan's son is the baby's
father. Because Zane grew up not knowing who his father was, he'll be
damned if he'll let his grandchild live with that shame. Meg was
forced into an abusive marriage because of an unplanned pregnancy, so
she knows that love is the only good reason to marry. Neither Meg nor
Zane expects or welcomes the attraction that sparks between them. As
they await the impending birth of their grandchild, old wounds open
and long hidden family secrets come to light. The young couple build
a newer, stronger relationship, while Meg and Zane reach for a love
passionate enough to overcome the past--if they're strong enough to
trust it...and each other.
Excerpt
“I’m
sorry.”
It
was the last thing she'd expected him to say. Her head jerked up in
surprise.
"What for?"
He
took a couple of steps toward her, stopping just short of touching
her. "For pushing myself on you and scaring you. I behaved badly
and I'm sorry."
He
meant it. Meg was touched that he would take responsibility for what
she'd done, but she couldn't let him think it was his fault. "No,
Zane. You didn't do anything wrong. It was my fault and I'm the one
who's sorry. I shouldn't have gone out to dinner with you."
"Meg--"
She
put up her hand to stop him when he would have touched her. "You
didn't push yourself on me. I wanted you to kiss me. But then when
things got too intense, I couldn't handle it." She looked into
his eyes, afraid she'd see pity or contempt, and was surprised when
all she saw was concern.
"Don't
blame yourself."
She
shook her head. "I'm sorry Zane. I don't know if I could ever
manage another relationship." She swallowed hard, determined to
tell him the truth. "It's not fair to let you go on thinking
there could ever be anything between us."
His
expression registered a flash of sadness before he carefully wiped
all traces of emotion from his face. Meg hated that she caused him
pain.
"I
see," he said. "Is that what you really want, for me to
walk away and leave you alone?"
He
watched her intently, like he did the night he took her to dinner.
She couldn't look away from his gaze. The look in his eyes challenged
her to tell the truth. She fought against it, forcing herself to look
away.
"Yes,"
she whispered.
"I
don't believe you. If you can look me in the eye right now and tell
me you really want me to leave, I won't bother you again." He
briefly touched her face with the tip of his finger. "You'll
never have to talk to me, or play piano for me or dance with me ever
again. Is that what you really want?"
She
tried to say it was, tried to make the words come out, but they
refused. "No, that's not what I really want," she
whispered.
Zane
stepped closer, placing one hand on her shoulder while the other
stroked her hair. "What do you really want, Meg?" he
whispered, his voice a caress.
"I'm
afraid to want anything," she said truthfully, her gaze locked
with his. Her body trembled under his touch. "At least that way
I can't be hurt."
"Who
hurt you, Meg?"
She
shook her head, and to her embarrassment felt tears pooling in her
eyes. Why did he have to make her feel so much?
"Please,
don't push me on this."
Something
changed in his face, and he dropped his hands. He averted his gaze
for a moment and when he turned back to her, she saw the
determination there.
"I
don't scare easily, Meg. When you're ready to tell me your secrets,
I'll be here."
He
turned and went back into the restaurant, leaving her staring at the
closed door, her hands shaking. A part of her wanted to trust him, to
believe that he would understand what she'd done. She was tired of
the lies and secrets. But the part of her that had spent the last
seventeen years in hiding recoiled at the idea of trusting another
man, even Zane.
About
Jana
When
Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two
things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to
paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew
she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met
a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance,
romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in
lengths ranging from short story to full length novel. Just for fun,
she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of
the paranormal. Her paranormal romantic suspense “Seeing Things”
was a 2008 EPPIE finalist.
In
her life away from writing, Jana is an accountant/admin assistant, a
mother to two grown daughters, and a wife to her husband Warren. She
enjoys golf, yoga, movies, concerts, travel and reading, not
necessarily in that order. She and her husband live in Winnipeg,
Canada with their Pug/Terrier cross Lou and several unnamed goldfish.
She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website
at www.janarichards.com
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/JanaRichards_
Amazon
Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/janarichards
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Thank
you so much for having me on your blog today, Lisabet!
2 comments:
I completely agree with you! Characters need to be three-dimensional so that the reader can grab onto them and fall in love with them. I love the characters created by Lynn Kurland, as well.
Hello, Jana!
Welcome to Beyond Romance. Sorry I'm late!
I agree, characters are the heart and soul of a story. If your readers don't empathize, they will lose interest.
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