Song for Ariel…

“Sometimes I wonder if anyone tells the truth anymore. Is there still good and bad, right and wrong, truth and lies, or is everything a gray area?” – Ariel, HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

I’m determined to finish my long time work in progress, HOW TO SAVE A LIFE (working title). It was a hard story to write, as it involves a girl losing her father in a tragic car accident. I wrote a lot but I couldn’t grasp the death angle, so I set it aside, and after my father passed away, I found the words needed to help portray the pain Ariel was going through. 

It’s easy to fall when your world crumbles, especially when you let the people in your life disappear, and the only goal you have is to become invisible. That’s how Ariel felt. Even with an over protective twin brother, a laid back younger, and an aunt that was barely old enough to handle her own life, let alone 3 teenagers. 

Her story is dark, like most of my writing, but the relationship, and the healing that forms the bond of Ariel and Liam is beautiful.  With work, she ends up swan diving back into life—at least until she learns some haunting news about Liam, and finds herself running down a path of drugs and depression once more.

 Once this story is completed, I have 2 others in the works that are brighter—for the most part. But you know me…I love the drama, lol.

To join the first quote from HOW TO SAVE A LIFE, here is another.

       “Hey guys,” Zoey shouted, over the loud, pulsing music, “this is my friend, Ariel.”
      “Like the Mermaid?” one guy asked. I narrowed my eyes, and the other guy laughed.
      “No, dude,” another said, “she doesn’t have bright red hair.”
     “Or purple shells,” he noted.

 Ciao
Angela Francis

Writing to Reach You…

Everyone has a quirk, something they do when they are writing, or when they have writers block.

At night, I lie in bed, close my eyes, and picture what I wrote as if it were a movie. If I’m stuck or I don’t know what to do next, I do the same thing. I close my eyes, and imagine what would happen next. I tend to dream about it as well, and the pieces fall together—for the most part. Late at night, I have a lot of creativity, and dialogue passing through my brain.

 Anyone else have quirks, tips, or traditions they have when writing? I want to hear from you!

QUOTE of the day, courtesy of my newest WIP, The Legion:

“The door flew open, rattling against the metal cabinets. Ashlee’s body was sloppily lying on top of the examination table, her belonging strewed about the floor. My eyes travelled up toward the Nephilim. There were two of them. Their backs hunched over, dragging their clawed feet on the title, clanking with each step.”

 

Ciao,
Angela Francis

Story Starters?

So you’ve completed your manuscript. Now it’s time to perfect an opening.

What advice or tips do you have for story starters? What do you do when writing the opening pages?

We all learn as writers, the first 5-10…even 50 pages of the manuscript is crucial. What tips do you have to make sure it starts with a bang to keep them interested from page one??

Translating the Name…

Words have meaning and names have power.  ~Author Unknown

Today’s playlist:
Sister Hazel, Your Winter
White Demon Love Song, The Killers
Sex on Fire, Kings of Leon
I’m so Sick, Flyleaf
Tremble for my Beloved, Collective Soul
Boom, POD
and more…

 You know what your characters looks like. You know their hair color, eye shape, skin type/tone, height, and every freckle on their face—if they have any at all. You’ve broken them down, you know their weakness, and you know there is still so much to learn. But you are missing one incredibly element.  What are their names? 

My favorite and most stressful part of writing is playing the name game. Of course you have names you love, even ones that you can’t seem to kick out of your mind, but do they fit the person you’ve created? 

It’s said, a name can have a huge impact on a person’s life. If you’re writing a novel set in England, in the 1800’s, you would use a name popular back then. I’m sure names like Apple, Axel, Sailor, Mercedes…you get the picture. Maybe there were instances were people named their children that, but I’m pretty sure it would be a rarity. Anyways, a name is important. You have to think about who they, what they will become, and what journey they are going to take.

 This reminds me a lot of when my fiancé, Josh, and I talk about names we would like to name our kids—when we have some. He’s old fashion, I swear, he’s from the early 1900’s or something. He loves names like Edison, Walter, Theodore, etc.
My response? “Am I having a child in World War 1?”
No, we aren’t.
Names I like for my children? Nathan, Noah, Liam, Mason, Jonah…
His response? “Noah sounds like a pansy.”
Then I retort, “Well, he wasn’t a pansy during the flood, or did you forget that part of the bible?” 

Think of your time period, the character, and nicknames that may evolve. Also, if you have a romantic interest, how do the names sound together? Lucas sounds strong, Madison or Maddie could be, but I sense vulnerability in the name that I don’t feel with Lucas. 

Like anything else, people have name recognition. Instantly, if I hear the name Vanessa, Amber or Ashley, my guard is up. Alyssa’s always leave, Chad’s are always jerks, Liam is sexy, Michael’s are usually gay, and I tend to always date guys with J names. 

What are your name recognitions? When you hear a name, what do you think of instantly? 

Naming characters is fun, but also a lot of work. I like playing with names, and creating a personality I see for that name. Try it out, it might surprise you.

COLLIDE quote of the day:

“I cringed back the tears, but they didn’t stop. I couldn’t breathe, I was afraid that every breath I took would be sensed by his sadistic shark-like senses. Now, I understood him a bit more – why he was angry, why his moods were so erratic, and that horrid bruise on his arm.”

Ciao~
Angela Francis

P.S- The cast for the trailer is set, check out the new Collide: Trailer tab for details!!

Part of Your World…

“In the days, and weeks that would pass, I knew only one constant—Drew and I weren’t meant to be. We never were, and we never would be.”

Today’s Playlist.
I’m still hung up on the Flyleaf Memento Mori album.
Great lyrics from the track, Again— 

“Here you are down on your knees again, Trying to find air to breathe again, And only surrender will help you now
I love you, please see and believe again”

Today I’m going back to character building. As I stated before, everything I know, I’ve learned from Michael Hauge, an amazingly talented guy. It’s a little long, but hopefully it’s worth it.

 We’ll begin with Outer motivation—the clear goal, or finish line, the hero must grow by the end of the story. Every story has one visible goal—whether it’s to win the game, get the girl, or make it to a location. This goal is the foundation of the story, it is what puts in line your characters inner journey, theme, and any through-lines. Too often, the outer journey isn’t strong enough to keep the story going. The outer journey can be difficult to master, though it seems easy enough; you really have to think if it is strong enough to keep your reader’s attention and capture their emotional by in. Like we’re always taught, eliciting emotion is number one—people read and watch movies to feel something. Maybe something their lacking, something they desire, or just to find peace away from their world and fall into your.

 Here are some questions to ask yourself, again, curtsey or Michael Hauge’s excellent teachings.

 Is my Outer Motivation VISIBLE? Since we are talking about novels, you really have to envision what everything would look like, and make that clear for the reader. I like to visualize my writing as a movie. What would it look like on-screen? What would they say, do, what’s really going on, and make that very clear.

 Michael says, “If that image isn’t essentially the same for all your readers, if success for your hero isn’t clearly defined in visible terms, your outer motivation is still weak.”

 Does my hero pursue her Outer Motivation until the end of the story? It’s essential that your hero’s goal isn’t reached until the climax of the story. If the hero accomplishes her/his main goal right away, what will keep the reader going? If Allie and Noah stayed together as kids, and the conflict, separation, and desire wasn’t there, what would keep you reading? Let’s face it, we all love conflict—we want to see people fall, and rise up to their goal.

When my hero accomplishes the Outer Motivation, will the movie be over? Not necessarily. You may have a visible goal, one that’s clear and consistent throughout the story, but maybe there’s another part to it. In THE NOTEBOOK, the movie doesn’t end when Allie chooses Noah. You have to show and after math. What is their life like after making this decision? You really do not want to write a story ending with them riding off into the sunset—very cliché. 

Is my hero’s Outer Motivation nearly impossible to accomplish? Michael words this perfectly, “If the desire is easy to achieve – if it isn’t the most difficult thing the hero has ever had to do – your story simply won’t be emotionally involving or entertaining enough.” 

Again, you need to capture the reader’s attention, grab them with emotion, and really bring them into your universe. Again, massive kudos to Michael Hauge. If you havent listened to his seminars, CDs, videos, or books you really have to. He’s the best of the best.

COLLIDE quote of the day;
“People weren’t meant to be together forever, the same way songs always end, like a final movement. Sometimes they fade away slowly, and other times they come crashing in, like an avalanche. But the truth of the matter was, everything ends—it’s the sadistic way of life.” – Madison, COLLIDE by Angela Francis

 Writing tip:
Listen to one of Michael Hauge’s lectures, you won’t regret it!

Ciao~

Angela Francis

Beneath the Surface…

In this two-part series, I’m going to give away my “secrets” of creating the characters identities and their essence. Again, when writing and building characters, I follow the teachings of Michael Hague.  

Your characters identity is how the world sees them. I’ll take Madison from COLLIDE for example. Everyone sees her as the drama club president, lead in every play, responsible teenager. But what does she desire? What’s in her heart, beyond what the world sees? She desires love, someone who will sweep her off her feet. She even desires to shed her innocent persona.  

I believe everyone lives in their identity. Sometimes we find ourselves in a rut, where we let the world brand us as something different from we want to be. I work at as full-time recruiter at a healthcare staffing agency. That’s my identity.  What’s my desire? To be a published author, successful singer and actress. The journey of a good character transformation is to see your hero going from who they are, living fully in their identity to living fully in their essence.  

There are two journeys—the outer, and the inner journey. Tomorrow we will talk out that in detail.  

Writing Tip #2, Handling Rejection: 

 

When you receive a rejection dust your feet off, and send out five more queries. If you don’t, it will crawl under your skin and devour you. I keep a spreadsheet of every agency and agent I query, the date, and the status. When they reply back with a rejection, instead of putting that in the box, I put “Their Loss”. One day I’ll be published, and book after book that comes out, they will regret not choosing me. Keep that mindset and you’ll be fine. Swing the bat, and move on to the next base. 

 Have a great night!  

Ciao~
Angela

Fragments of Character

Today’s Playlist:
Give You Hell – All-American Rejects
Son’s Gonna Rise – Citizen Cope
Fully Alive – Flyleaf
Nobody Knows – Keaton Simons
Solar Midnight – Lupe Fiasco 

I feel as if one of my gifts as a writer is creating vivid, strong characters. Maybe it’s a talent from acting. As an actress, when you take on a new role, you must create a background for the character. Sometimes/most of the time, you aren’t given the background, just the basics, and from the words in the script, you must create the entire character. 

Creating realistic characters begins with the basics, who are they now and how did they get that way? What events happened at a younger age that caused them to react the way they do?

I like to create a list of traits the character has, as it helps develop their personality. I ask myself the following questions: 

1. Who is you hero, the one the audience is rooting for through the entire story? And what is his/her role (student, cop, teacher, etc)
2. Why will the reader empathize with your character?
   1. You must make the reader feel for the character, make them likeable—if the reader doesn’t like your character, they wont continue reading the story.
   2. Put them in jeopardy.
   3. Create sympathy. Was he/she picked on, did her parent recently pass away, is she always the friend, never the girlfriend, is she constantly picked on? Etc, there are many ways to do this.
   4. Make her/him funny or powerful. Make them good at whatever they do. The reader likes to see the hero succeed even if the rest of their world is falling apart, they must have something they are good at.
3. What does you hero like to do? What music does she/he listen to? What TV shows would she/he watch?
4. Think of physical traits she has as well. When she walks does she stand up straight, hunch over, slouch? If she is very proper, was she brought up in a strict household, or were her parents, if any, very leant? Think of ever detail, because each detail of her/his life will help mold the character. If she/he was raised by one parent, that will put a new spin on her/his outcome in life.
5. What is the SETUP of the story? Where is your hero when she/he’s introduced, before the forward movement of the story begins?
   1. It’s very important to show your hero in their normal life, before everything begins to unravel, but don’t give too much away. Make sure to leave room for their past to creep in, if that fits into the plot of course.
6. What OPPORTUNITY is presented to your hero?
   1. What series of events happens that brings her/him to the opportunity that arises? Think it through, and make sure you know, that way it stays constant throughout the story, and it is clear to reader—“that’s when everything changed”.   
7. What is your hero’s OUTER MOTIVATION?
   1. What’s you hero’s reasoning for doing what she is doing? What happened that brought your hero there, and what is keeping her/him doing forward on this path?  
8. What are we rooting for?
   1. Is it for two people to fall in love? Win the big game? Win a case? Get the kids, divorce, battle? It follows in congruence with the outer motivation sometimes.
9. What’s the CONFLICT?
10. What is your hero’s ARC?
    1. This is a long one, and I will touch on this in another blog. characters’’ begin the story with a certain viewpoint and, through events in the story, that viewpoint changes
11. What deeper ISSUES does the story explore?
    1. Was the hero abandoned, abused, ignored at a young age? What happened in their life that created who they are now? Are they recovering from a death, depression, etc?
12. What is your PASSION for this story?
    1. Think about this. Why do you love your hero, and the surrounding characters and storyline? If you don’t have a passion for what you are writing, you will not be able to write it well. Make sure you love it, and you aren’t writing just to write. 

I hope this helped. Tomorrow, we will touch on Identities and Desires!

Writing Tip #1:
For music motivated writers, creating a strong playlist will help put you in the mood for writing the difficult scenes. If you are having a hard time getting in a certain frame of mind, create a list of songs to list to that will bring you to that place, lie down, close your eyes and imagine the world coming to life. Let the words come to you.   

Ciao~
Angela Francis