Curses, my humorous paranormal mystery, is back
from the editor. I’m on my second pass through the edits and making a few
suggested changes. In the coming weeks, I’ll be shopping the novel to literary
agents and keeping my fingers crossed. Meanwhile, I’m writing a new book, which
I’m calling a cozy comedy. I’ll not reveal any plotting at this point, but I
feel good about the first five chapters. I'm undecided on a title for the book. That will come later.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Bad Moon On The Rise
Author and blogger Teri Polen has a great feature on her blog entitled Bad Moon On The Rise. Each day during the month of October, a different author and book will be featured. I'm proud to lead off the month with an interview about The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff, how I developed the book, and a few other interesting questions. Check it out at TERI'S BLOG.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Character Development 101
Creating characters for your novel or short story and
assigning personality traits is a no-brainer, right? All an author has to do is
give his or her little darlings individuality, place them in awkward situations
or force them into conflicts with other characters, and then slip out for a
cappuccino while our fictional friends write the story. The writing process is so
easy, even an illiterate can do it. Right?
Not so fast. Character creation may seem obvious to Charles Dickens, but for someone like me who woke up one morning and decided to write the next “Tale of Two Cities” in a single day, the fine art of creating characters was a frustrating, evolutionary experience—a process that needed serious refining. Let me explain.
About seven years ago, I started writing my first novel, The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff. The basic premise sprang from a ninth grade writing assignment doled-out by my English teacher who instructed the class to write a short story. I don’t remember her stipulating any parameters: genre, moral, etc.—just write a short story. That’s it. I returned to class with three whole pages of paranormal prose worthy of an old Twilight Zone episode on television. (The teacher falsely accused me of plagiarism and slapped me with an F, but I’ll save that story for another day.)
That was over forty years ago. In 2007, I started turning that old short story into a full-length novel. The tale had a beginning and an ending, but the middle section became a muddled nightmare. Not exactly what I had in mind. All I can say is this: I wish I had known then what I know now. You see, I developed my characters: Daniel, Marc, Angela, Jonas and others on the fly. I let them evolve over time, which meant previous chapters required constant rewrites to match the characters’ ever changing personality traits…or subject them to inevitable psychiatric evaluations by readers and reviewers.
Letting characters evolve isn’t a bad thing. In fact, character development makes for scintillating reading. As human beings, we all evolve (I’m not talking about Uncle Ape and Aunt Baboon, so hold those nasty emails). Events in our lives, especially conflicts, can have profound consequences, or at least they should. Hopefully, for the better. If not, we’re not growing as well rounded people. Shouldn’t that be true for our fictional friends as well? In literature, character flaws may take the story in a different, unpredictable, and therefore, more interesting direction.
When I first started writing fiction, my characters were flat. Undefined. Lifeless. But over the course of writing three-hundred pages, I came to grips with the fact that Marc needed acceptance and moral support. Though well adjusted due to his intact family, he needed peer affirmation. Meanwhile, the beautiful, intelligent, but fatherless Angela longed for paternal affection, and naturally gravitated to the elderly Jonas Barloff against Marc’s better judgment.
Not so fast. Character creation may seem obvious to Charles Dickens, but for someone like me who woke up one morning and decided to write the next “Tale of Two Cities” in a single day, the fine art of creating characters was a frustrating, evolutionary experience—a process that needed serious refining. Let me explain.
About seven years ago, I started writing my first novel, The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff. The basic premise sprang from a ninth grade writing assignment doled-out by my English teacher who instructed the class to write a short story. I don’t remember her stipulating any parameters: genre, moral, etc.—just write a short story. That’s it. I returned to class with three whole pages of paranormal prose worthy of an old Twilight Zone episode on television. (The teacher falsely accused me of plagiarism and slapped me with an F, but I’ll save that story for another day.)
That was over forty years ago. In 2007, I started turning that old short story into a full-length novel. The tale had a beginning and an ending, but the middle section became a muddled nightmare. Not exactly what I had in mind. All I can say is this: I wish I had known then what I know now. You see, I developed my characters: Daniel, Marc, Angela, Jonas and others on the fly. I let them evolve over time, which meant previous chapters required constant rewrites to match the characters’ ever changing personality traits…or subject them to inevitable psychiatric evaluations by readers and reviewers.
Letting characters evolve isn’t a bad thing. In fact, character development makes for scintillating reading. As human beings, we all evolve (I’m not talking about Uncle Ape and Aunt Baboon, so hold those nasty emails). Events in our lives, especially conflicts, can have profound consequences, or at least they should. Hopefully, for the better. If not, we’re not growing as well rounded people. Shouldn’t that be true for our fictional friends as well? In literature, character flaws may take the story in a different, unpredictable, and therefore, more interesting direction.
When I first started writing fiction, my characters were flat. Undefined. Lifeless. But over the course of writing three-hundred pages, I came to grips with the fact that Marc needed acceptance and moral support. Though well adjusted due to his intact family, he needed peer affirmation. Meanwhile, the beautiful, intelligent, but fatherless Angela longed for paternal affection, and naturally gravitated to the elderly Jonas Barloff against Marc’s better judgment.
While the evolution of my characters came naturally,
I didn’t plan their development or take advantage of their storytelling
abilities during the first draft of my novel. I simply gave them space and let
nature take its course. A few drafts later, I realized my characters were
pushing me away from the keyboard and writing the novel for me. Thanks, Marc
and Angela.
Five long years and eleven drafts (count them, eleven) passed during the writing of "The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff". This insufferable writing process taught me so many lessons that my next book, "A Door Unlocked", sailed from beginning to end in four or five months. Talk about the college of hard knocks!
Here’s the takeaway: beginning authors should create lifelike, 3D characters by giving them strong, recognizable attributes. Place them in unusual situations and give them space to grow and mature (or not). I’m telling you this so you’ll avoid the painful mistakes I made. By defining your characters at the beginning of your story and plotting their evolutionary process as humans, you’ll find that your writing process is much more efficient. Therefore, the returns are not only pleasant, they’re gratifying, and your little darlings will reward you in ways only Charles Dickens could imagine.
Five long years and eleven drafts (count them, eleven) passed during the writing of "The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff". This insufferable writing process taught me so many lessons that my next book, "A Door Unlocked", sailed from beginning to end in four or five months. Talk about the college of hard knocks!
Here’s the takeaway: beginning authors should create lifelike, 3D characters by giving them strong, recognizable attributes. Place them in unusual situations and give them space to grow and mature (or not). I’m telling you this so you’ll avoid the painful mistakes I made. By defining your characters at the beginning of your story and plotting their evolutionary process as humans, you’ll find that your writing process is much more efficient. Therefore, the returns are not only pleasant, they’re gratifying, and your little darlings will reward you in ways only Charles Dickens could imagine.
-- Calvin Dean
Monday, June 1, 2015
Collierville, TN Library Event
I'm excited that the Collierville, TN library invited me to speak on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. I'll read from my YA novel, "The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff" and discuss character development. The event starts at 1 pm and should last about a hour. Hope to see you there.Lucius E. & Elsie C. Burch, Jr. Library
501 Poplar View Pkwy.
Collierville, TN
Friday, April 17, 2015
Nasty Computer Virus
I've been away from the favorite desktop computer for about a week thanks to a nasty computer virus. This bugger was really, really bad news. Unknown to me, the thing struck my hard drive on Tuesday, April 7. By the next day, the virus infected my entire hard drive. Every folder: Word Docs, photos, video files...everything was wiped out...including the sequel to my latest novella. Ouch!
My virus expert in Florida called it "Decryption". The virus encrypts files and renders them useless. I couldn't open anything. What's worse, I use a USB "thumb" drive for back-up. Unfortunately, I left the stick plugged-in. Guess what. The virus infected my USB drive also rendering every back-up file unreadable. He also said the virus would have infected any remote back-up system too...anything connected to my PC.
I was sick. In fact, I'm still not over it. I had to completely wipe my hard drives...all four of them. Count 'em. Four! The USB drive too.
After spending a day or more re-installing software including a lot of downloads from the internet, I'm finally back up and running. Many thanks to my son for allowing me to use his laptop during this ordeal.
That sequel I mentioned? The one I lost forever? Yeah, that one. The Word Doc was approximately 7500 words when the virus hit. After a day of mourning, I got to work recreating the story. I'm up to about 5000 words right now. Amazingly, the story is coming back to me without the benefit of an outline, which was also destroyed.
Lesson learned. Back-up your work regularly...and don't leave your USB connected.
My virus expert in Florida called it "Decryption". The virus encrypts files and renders them useless. I couldn't open anything. What's worse, I use a USB "thumb" drive for back-up. Unfortunately, I left the stick plugged-in. Guess what. The virus infected my USB drive also rendering every back-up file unreadable. He also said the virus would have infected any remote back-up system too...anything connected to my PC.
I was sick. In fact, I'm still not over it. I had to completely wipe my hard drives...all four of them. Count 'em. Four! The USB drive too.
After spending a day or more re-installing software including a lot of downloads from the internet, I'm finally back up and running. Many thanks to my son for allowing me to use his laptop during this ordeal.
That sequel I mentioned? The one I lost forever? Yeah, that one. The Word Doc was approximately 7500 words when the virus hit. After a day of mourning, I got to work recreating the story. I'm up to about 5000 words right now. Amazingly, the story is coming back to me without the benefit of an outline, which was also destroyed.
Lesson learned. Back-up your work regularly...and don't leave your USB connected.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
New Author Facebook Page
I've been active on Twitter for a few years now. Today, I finally got around to creating my Facebook author page. I'm a decade behind. Feel free to click on over and hit Like. I'll try to make it worth your while.
Calvin's Facebook Author Page
Calvin's Twitter Page
Calvin's Facebook Author Page
Calvin's Twitter Page
Monday, April 6, 2015
Odds & Ends
Well, it's finally here. This past Sunday night marked the first pitch of the 2015 Major League Baseball season. Big doings for those of us here in America who love our national pastime. To celebrate, I published a free short story on Wattpad entitled The Rookie Umpire. Check it out here. I'll publish a second short story in the coming weeks. Both are true stories.
Speaking of baseball, this spring and summer, I'll be umpiring youth league baseball games at Snowden Grove Park, home of the Dizzy Dean World Series. Last year, I accepted an invitation to umpire four Dizzy Dean World Series games. I'm hoping for more games this year.
Changing the subject - I also added a couple of new videos to my YouTube Channel recently. One is a brief author interview in which I address the premise and main characters of the first novel, The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff. Today, I added a brief author introductory video. Go here to view them.
Changing the subject - I also added a couple of new videos to my YouTube Channel recently. One is a brief author interview in which I address the premise and main characters of the first novel, The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff. Today, I added a brief author introductory video. Go here to view them.
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