tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post4709025607171215017..comments2024-03-12T18:52:31.920-04:00Comments on Write with Fey: Writing About: Your Character’s Toughest MomentChrys Feyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-10403600220015352682014-06-20T13:29:23.437-04:002014-06-20T13:29:23.437-04:00Your last sentence sums it up perfectly, Claudine!...Your last sentence sums it up perfectly, Claudine!Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-23355704818647051472014-06-20T13:28:30.389-04:002014-06-20T13:28:30.389-04:00Exactly! We're do much a like, because I didn&...Exactly! We're do much a like, because I didn't intend it to be there, but it was also the turning point for my story and even my series.Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-58277401147267589592014-06-20T13:27:27.568-04:002014-06-20T13:27:27.568-04:00I do the same thing! I love it when I read my work...I do the same thing! I love it when I read my work over again and I react like I hope my readers will. It tells me I did it right. I surprise mysefl all the time! :DChrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-34291603875108163952014-06-20T07:07:49.364-04:002014-06-20T07:07:49.364-04:00I have a rape scene in my series, too. I never mea...I have a rape scene in my series, too. I never meant it to be there, but it ended up being THE turning point of the story; everything else hinged on that moment. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11622191037152999869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-39296785276068407002014-06-19T21:21:52.616-04:002014-06-19T21:21:52.616-04:00When it's on the brink of a breakdown, I have ...When it's on the brink of a breakdown, I have my characters 'do' things to show how torn up they are first then let the emotions run. Your second rule is what I always tell my students: Don't tell me he's scared. Show me how he's scared. Show me the trembles shooting through his back. These may be our characters' toughest moment, but they are usually our best moments in writing, too.Yanting Guehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04788603550626277974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-1698068205952930362014-06-19T17:24:50.534-04:002014-06-19T17:24:50.534-04:00I love, love, love this Chrys! Great advice, espe...I love, love, love this Chrys! Great advice, especially numbers one and two. I ALWAYS put myself in my character's shoes which is why I'm often finding myself experiencing all of the emotions the reader would expect to feel. And being vivid is a MUST. The more details and less telling, the better your craft will be. The reader wants to be inside your story and the more descriptive you are, the more likely he/she will be able to envision everything more clearly. <br />I don't want to say what the hardest thing I had to put one of my characters in just yet because it was pretty dark. I even cried when I re-read my words just to make sure I was still the same person writing them! It's amazing how we can still surprise ourselves sometimes when our mind is so entrapped by our plot. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14498810090279251726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-16370254041245370162014-06-19T17:11:21.529-04:002014-06-19T17:11:21.529-04:00You're right! No one likes to read the easy st...You're right! No one likes to read the easy stuff.Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-13685988107167490322014-06-19T16:57:27.819-04:002014-06-19T16:57:27.819-04:00You're welcome for the tips, Matt. I'm pre...You're welcome for the tips, Matt. I'm pretty mean to my characters, too. We have to be. But you did it right by giving her responses that you wish you would have in her case.<br /><br />Thank you for stopping by. :)Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-82263629537575080332014-06-19T16:55:14.029-04:002014-06-19T16:55:14.029-04:00Oh gosh! While I was reading that list I would cri...Oh gosh! While I was reading that list I would cringe more and more. It sounds like you really do put yourself in your character's shoes to have those kinds of reactions. Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-68725644978709010502014-06-19T16:54:04.553-04:002014-06-19T16:54:04.553-04:00Yes, we tend to be tough, but it's important t...Yes, we tend to be tough, but it's important that we are. I also agree with Crystal's comment. Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-51066961360330879302014-06-19T16:53:09.139-04:002014-06-19T16:53:09.139-04:00HAHA! I blogged about torture scenes last year. I ...HAHA! I blogged about torture scenes last year. I actually had fun with the torture scene, which says how cruel I am. lol I believe that, too.Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-33176884044603862792014-06-19T16:51:53.911-04:002014-06-19T16:51:53.911-04:00I know exactly what you mean by it being grueling ...I know exactly what you mean by it being grueling to write these scenes. It's hard imagining the pain both physical and emotional our character's feel, but we have to feel it(even just a little) to be able to write it.Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-13857721046247943352014-06-19T16:49:46.547-04:002014-06-19T16:49:46.547-04:00I haven't thought of that but death would defi...I haven't thought of that but death would definitely be the hardest . . . and I have killed off a beloved character in the past.Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-19705065448199519142014-06-19T01:27:33.549-04:002014-06-19T01:27:33.549-04:00Great tips, Jaclyn! Each of these 4 is really impo...Great tips, Jaclyn! Each of these 4 is really important, and I constantly have to remind myself to "show" not "tell." Thanks for posting.<br /><br />As far as the toughest spot for my main character, that would have to be at the end of my story. By then, she has lost her entire family, lives with the suicidal guilt of having chosen not to save the love of her life, and has seen a societal movement she supported gradually get co-opted into something she doesn't believe in. I guess I'm kind of mean to her. But she handles it all with hope and persistance. Basically, I wrote her response to all the events into what I wish I would be able to do in her case.Matt Luedkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173905439830574773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-60543771568068417762014-06-18T18:18:48.875-04:002014-06-18T18:18:48.875-04:00I put my character through the wringer. Her advent...I put my character through the wringer. Her adventure starts with finding a dead body and it all goes downhill from there. Sometimes I feel bad about torturing her, but no one likes reading about the easy stuff. :-)Jocelyn Rishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18141176507423961390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-43209709361972552782014-06-18T15:05:36.951-04:002014-06-18T15:05:36.951-04:00Since my writing is pretty dark, my characters hav...Since my writing is pretty dark, my characters have been through almost everything you could think of: gang rape, murder, slavery, being burned alive, possession, being raped by a ghost, attempted murder by a parent, neglect, and all kinds of abuse.<br /><br />It's never gratuitous, and like you said, it's only there if it's necessary for telling the story. After writing the gang rape scene, I threw up. A lot of the times, I cry. My characters seem like real people to me, and I have a ton of empathy for them.J.H. Moncrieffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18045467689291025137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-92081288098807144762014-06-18T14:55:08.921-04:002014-06-18T14:55:08.921-04:00Great post, Chrys. We do tend to be tough on our c...Great post, Chrys. We do tend to be tough on our characters, don't we? But I agree with what Crystal said in her comment, we almost have to if we want them to grow. I'd never really thought about what I put my characters through until your post. Death of a loved one, attempted rape, kidnapped family member are a few in my past projects.Kristin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15119967346326579747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-38408274047550812852014-06-18T12:40:35.504-04:002014-06-18T12:40:35.504-04:00YES. Great advice. I've pretty much memorized ...YES. Great advice. I've pretty much memorized the grief cycle--thank you writing. I blogged about torturing characters today, so we must be riding the same brain wave. =) <br /><br />I am insanely cruel to my characters. Seriously. I wish I could be nicer, but I can't. And I won't spoil why I'm so mean here because the book is coming out in just a couple months. I do believe that you should take away everything, absolutely everything a character holds dear if you really want them to grow. =)Crystal Collierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03912469552483168148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-50717482162086883062014-06-18T12:12:14.732-04:002014-06-18T12:12:14.732-04:00I've put a lot of my characters through some p...I've put a lot of my characters through some pretty awful, dark stuff (though that's kind of a given for my Shoah characters in particular). Even my secondary characters have had to go through difficult things. It can be emotionally grueling to write some of these scenes and chapters, like the polio chapter in my WIP. The secondary character who has two of her children sickened by polio has already lost her first two children to diphtheria and suffered a miscarriage and stillbirth, to say nothing of the experience of the two young girls themselves. It's fun to research things like Iranian history and the 1920s; it's not very fun to read firsthand accounts of polio and watch videos of iron lungs.Carrie-Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05810154378449825641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-23017694557173519812014-06-18T11:28:58.912-04:002014-06-18T11:28:58.912-04:00The hardest thing I put my character through? Deat...The hardest thing I put my character through? Death!<br /><br />It's important to provide detailed information (which is telling in my opinion, being that we are story "tellers" and readers will make up their own mind in what they see), but during action, I personally keep it timely and short. If someone's being chased by a monster that's ripping cars apart in passing, that someone will be dead before they get through all of their five senses. :) David P. Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17259276981865439853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-57258005152696612652014-06-18T10:55:19.593-04:002014-06-18T10:55:19.593-04:00It sure is. And it helps us to relate to them even...It sure is. And it helps us to relate to them even more. I never went through any of the things my character did in my unpublished series, but when I stepped in her shoes I was able to get her through it all.Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-80338520529867132592014-06-18T10:54:00.457-04:002014-06-18T10:54:00.457-04:00I agree it's tough if the characters aren'...I agree it's tough if the characters aren't like us, but just answering that question can help you to figure out what your character would, or in this case, would not do. It does take a lot to put yourself in your character's place, but we create them and we are write their story, so we should be able to put ourselves in their shoes even if its only a toe. lolChrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-44078599592780753662014-06-18T10:49:09.450-04:002014-06-18T10:49:09.450-04:00The hardest thing I mentioned one of my characters...The hardest thing I mentioned one of my characters went through is also unpublished. I hope your story does see the light of day and doesn't get glossed over.Chrys Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11955009490266358041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-35363080274876158872014-06-18T08:59:31.672-04:002014-06-18T08:59:31.672-04:00Stepping in their shoes is surely a great way to g...Stepping in their shoes is surely a great way to guide their journey, especially during the toughest parts. S.A. Larsenッhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06241633272588383935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9133489888936435050.post-87449432062631841472014-06-17T23:35:17.258-04:002014-06-17T23:35:17.258-04:00"What would you do" is a tough one if yo..."What would you do" is a tough one if you're writing characters with traits or abilities or attitudes vastly different from your own. It takes an extra mental leap to imagine what would you do <i>if you were that character</i>.<br /><br />The hardest thing my character had to do was kill her own brother, because it was the only kind thing to do in an impossible situation. 'Nuff said, don't want to give <i>everything</i> away :)Botanisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12098709722475364465noreply@blogger.com