Let's Have a Party!
by Nancy Merical
Invite Interesting Characters to Your Party
Think of writing a book as having a party. Interesting
characterization enlivens a book, as interesting attendees enliven a party.
Invite dull characters to a party, and everyone is sure to have a boring time.
Invite people with pizzazz and rev up the evening. Invent dull characters for
your story and interest will fall flat, but insert dimensional characters,
dynamic or derogatory, into your book and rack up sales.
Make a Grand Entrance
Give your characters an exciting entrance. Ever notice how
someone entering a room catches attention? A quiet, staid person usually causes
no heads to turn, no break in conversations, but let someone trip at the door,
fall headlong into the butter, and scatter hors d'oeurves, and everybody takes
notice. Watch conversation stop when a couple comes through a door arguing
loudly, or with one partner in tears. Make your readers sit up and take notice
of a new character. Don't let your characters slip in so unobtrusively that
your reader barely notices their entrance.
Give Proper Instructions
Mrs. Murphy only dropped in for a few lines in one of my
novels. If I had neglected to invite her into my story, she may not have been
missed, but the brief appearance of this interesting character helped enliven
the party.
A rotund, compassionate owner of a boarding house, Mrs.
Murphy speaks with a brogue, is fiercely loyal to her windbag of a husband, and
enters my story dressed in her husband's parka and wildly colored scarf. She
huffs and puffs at shoveling snow, belittling her lackadaisical spouse all the
while, but taking offense if someone else should belittle him.
Do Small Things in a Big Way
Mrs. Murphy fits into the story, but plays a small part. If
I had made her an ordinary woman doing ordinary things dressed in an ordinary
way, she would have come across as--ordinary. But like a dash of nutmeg in
eggnog or a shake of cinnamon in cocoa, Mrs. Murphy adds spice. Made ordinary,
she would have been as unnoticeable as eggs or milk blended into the mixtures.
Entertain Well, Entertain Often
Give your readers interesting characters who tell a great
story, share a sizzling secret, or reveal a shocking revelation, and they will
spread the news of how entertaining you are. Then everyone will be waiting for
an invitation to your next party--a booksigning! That's what a writer wants and
needs to stay published, to have lots of interested attendees at their parties.
Copyright 2002 by Nancy Merical
Nancy Merical, an award winning writer with
publications in various markets and genres, has two books on the
market. Her latest, DOWN LIFE'S PATH with Mom and Dad, is a compilation of
essays from her newspaper column printed weekly in the Jackson Herald, along
with essays from other publications. Poetry and photos are also included.