Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here once again to introduce another blog entry for my novelist. I must say this has been a harrowing week. We were out for a walk on our usual route when we crossed the street to practice social distancing. We heard the rumble of a low-pitched bark and turned to find one of the neighbors, a known whack job had decided to adopt a Pitbull. I shudder just saying the word. Apparently, it had come out of its house sans owner and it stared at us as we continued along. The owner attempted to call it back in vain. We now have a different route but between you and me I have been researching mace online. I do this late at night while my novelist is asleep. I am considering this brand and have been practicing my aim. That said, here is my novelist. 

I have almost completed the rewrite for the fourth book in my series which I am planning to release this summer. Hopefully I will have it finished by next week and start in on book five. Since I have been posting a lot about writing lately, I decided to switch gears this week and focus on films.

I thought I would tell you about one of my favorite resources for writing. They are called ScreenwritingU and last week they started doing a once a week class on Fridays at noon. Every week is a different screenwriting subject. Last week’s was Build Mystery Into Your Script. The best part about it is the Friday classes are free. At the end of each class they usually pitch one of their pay class series you can take, and they will from time to time offer a discount.

This week’s class is called How to Write Exceptional Scenes. The class lecturer is usually Hal Crossman (who is doing this Friday’s class) and he does a great job. I have listened to many of his lectures over time and he is always top notch. If you do take the free class which often runs around one and a half to two hours, you’ll sign up on their web site giving them your name and email address, then on the day of the lecture they send you an email with instructions. They will also send you a worksheet to print out to use during the class.

What sets them apart from traditional writing classes is they have done a lot of research in the movie industry and interviewed many producers, writers, actors, directors etc. So, you get more industry insight from them than you might in a normal writing class. This makes for great additional learning if you are a college graduate with a writing, play writing or film degree. If you are looking to enroll in a screenwriting program I would not take their classes in lieu of a degree. But if you want additional training to supplement your college education, then this is a good place to do that. If you don’t have a college degree, I recommend them as well just not as a replacement for a university education.

So again, every Friday at noon ScreenwritingU is doing a free screenwriting class and if you have the time while your riding out the Covid-19 wave, I recommend checking it out. Here is this the link for tomorrow’s class.

A lot of you may have this list already but I thought I would mention it anyway. The AFI has been featuring a movie a day with their Movies To Watch While We’re Apart series. Since half of these films are what I would call masterclass must see films that most people recognize or have seen, I would not list them in my STREAM OF THE WEEK section of my blog as I try to make that section for outstanding movies that might get overlooked. But if you haven’t seen some of these classic films (which you really should) give it a whirl.

While you are waiting for my next blog post you can check out my novel Chicane on Amazon.

STREAM OF THE WEEK: MOVIES THAT ARE ACTUALLY FUNNY DOUBLE FEATURE PART DEUX: SOAPDISH AND ARTHUR-Amazon

Last week I suggested a couple of comedies that are extremely funny and a little if not a lot on the raunchy side. This week I am offering up a couple of films streaming that are included with Amazon Prime that are also extremely funny but not raunchy. They are both romantic comedies and though a lot of romantic comedies are stupid at best, these two are whip smart.

Soapdish came out in 1991 and has an unbelievable cast: Sally Field, Kevin Klein, Whoopie Goldberg, Elisabeth Shue, Robert Downey Jr, Cathy Moriarty, Teri Hatcher, Kathy Najimy, Carrie Fisher, Ben Stein and Gary Marshall. The film is a spoof on television soap operas with Sally Field playing Celeste Talbert, the reigning queen of soap operas who’s younger boyfriend had dumped her and now she’s found out the producers have decided to bring her worst nightmare, old boyfriend Jeffery Anderson (Kevin Klein), from the dead to revise his roll. Thrown into the mix is newcomer Lori Cravin (Elizabeth Shue) who happens to be Celeste’s niece…or is she. The movie is a fresh take on the usual romantic comedy and brilliantly acted.

Arthur, the original from 1981, is a true highbrow delight. Perpetual playboy Arthur Bach (Dudley Moore in his terrific Oscar nominated performance) is a drunk. He is also extraordinarily rich and is set up by his family to marry equally rich Susan Johnson (Jill Eikenberry). If he doesn’t, he loses all his inheritance. But Arthur is about to do something none of his family thought possible. He’s going to fall in love…with a shoplifting waitress named Linda Marolla (Liza Minnelli). Coming along for the ride is his fairy godfather and trusted butler Hobson (Sir John Guielgud in his much-deserved Oscar winning performance). An absolute must see that may end up on the AFI Movies To Watch While We’re Apart list.

 

Good Afternoon. Gigi the poodle here introducing another weekly blog entry. Today on our lovely walk we almost got hit by a van…the Maltese was also involved. You would think that with the raging outbreak there would be less cars on the road but alas individuals are getting restless. We see more of them venturing out every day. From what we have read Target, Costco and Walmart have apparently become theme parks for the bored. However, being mostly homebodies, we seem to have an endless list of jobs to get done. I for one had a bath this week. Dreadful! At least the Maltese had one too. And much to my joy it made him cold and miserable… Anyway, without further ado, here is my novelist.

As you may know I’ve been moving along getting my book series ready for copyright and publication. I am presently working on the fourth volume. I had been zipping along fine until I had to change a scene. I spent most of yesterday and the day before pounding my head trying to think out how to alter it and it came down to moving one item from one of the later books and implanting it in this book instead.

Without giving too much away, the reason I had to change the scene was to create balance between my characters. For the scene I was working on, two of the characters needed to be at a cospatial place point in their arc. From the time I originally wrote the scene it never felt quite right. Although it is not the most troublesome scene in my series (there is one in a later book that is going to be challenging) it always bugged me. But once I made that change the whole scene finally and immediately made sense. I will have to slightly alter the other book I had to lift the information from, but it will be far easier to change that than it would have been had I kept the information out of the scene I have now. My thought is a scene is never right until the writer knows its right.

Now, that said I am not a writer who likes to do excessive rewriting. I do not see the point. Isaac Asimov was that way too. And although I am not a science fiction writer per say (although I dabble in it), I believe he and I have a meeting of the minds. If something needs to be revised revise it. If not, why punish yourself? What is the point of writing something over and over if your original instinct was (as it often is) correct? As soon as I made the change in my story everything clicked and where the characters are in my story now finally makes sense. But did I need to completely trash the scene, rip it up ten times to make it work? Of course not!

Perhaps I dislike overt rewriting because, like Asimov, I am an intuitive thinking writer, not an intuitive feeling one. Intuitive thinkers are anomalies amongst writers. Most writers are intuitive feeling. Most, screenwriters are ENFJs and most novelists are INFJs. But there are exceptions. Some writers who are listed as intuitive thinking include Jane Austin, C.S. Lewis, Ayn Rand, George Bernard Shaw, Mark Twain, Chuck Palahniuk, Tina Fey, Christopher Nolan, Harper Lee, Lewis Carroll, Robert James Waller, and of course Isaac Asimov.

Intuitive thinking writers are strategic. We plan out what we are going to do before we execute it. A good example of how I work can be found in the thirteenth episode of season one of the television series LOST entitled Hearts and Minds where Locke delivers a monologue to Boone about Michelangelo. I think perhaps many thinking writers see a thorough vision mentally before they physically write it down. For me I never get far into a story I am working on before I know the ending. Once I know where I am going, I drive that direction. A feeling writer on the other hand might to want to indulge more in the journey and see where their story goes. They may not know their ending until they are further into their piece or maybe not until they get to the end. If I wrote that way, I would go insane. Neither way is right not wrong. Both are legitimate. They are simply different.

While you’re waiting for my next blog you can check out my novel Chicane available at Amazon.

STREAM OF THE WEEK: COMEDIES THAT ARE ACTUALLY FUNNY: KINGPIN AND THE HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE-Amazon Prime

Since I have listed serious films the past few weeks, I thought it would be good to pick out a couple of comedies. I think comedic films are the most difficult to find on streaming because a lot of them are not as funny as they should be. Or for that matter not funny at all. There are some, however that are brilliant, and I’ll focus on a handful of comedy double features over the next couple of weeks. To start with I thought I’d point out two of the funniest streaming on Amazon right now. I probably don’t have to tell you to watch The Hangover streaming on Netflix as you’ve probably seen that one. If you haven’t you really should. These are two more that are equally as funny but somewhat lesser known.

Kingpin is the ultimate bowling movie. And it is as hilarious as it is raunchy. It’s the story of a young up and coming bowling protégé (Woody Harrelson) in the 1970’s with a promising career ahead of him…that is until he meets The Big Ern (played wickedly by Bill Murray) and things go horribly and hysterically wrong. It was created by the Farley Brothers who also brought us the landmark comedy Something About Mary. It’s one of their best films and a must see. Kingpin is also available to stream on Netflix.

The Hollywood Shuffle is one of the smartest, funniest satires I’ve ever seen. Made in 1987, the film holds up great. Robert Townsend (who also co-wrote, directed, and produced the film) plays the lead and four other parts as his main character, a young actor trying to break into movies navigates and lampoons the absurdities of typecasting in Hollywood. Ahead of its time when it was released and an absolute classic. I highly recommend it.

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here once again introducing my novelist’s weekly blog post. The wonderful thing about social distancing is getting to spend more time with my writer. I have been thoroughly enjoying our (luckily) sunny afternoons outside where she reads, and I roam about. As my novelist is an introvert and I dare say a hermit I am even more lavished with her time lately. No pesky virtual happy hours for her let me tell you. Just lots of lap time and attention. This week my novelist is wrapping up her Anatomy of a Chapter for Chicane. In addition to her ongoing writing blog she will continue her Stream of the Week feature through the social distancing period.

Last week I left off where Shayla asked the boys, “Who is Mitch?” and she doesn’t receive an answer. Instead Bard uses alcohol as a diversion and says, “Let’s get you ladies a drink.” The boys are essentially trying to get the women to settle in, drink a little more alcohol and relax before they all pair up and head off to the bedrooms.

Not long into the scene Cody and Shayla are left alone. Shayla again asks Cody to show her his “trophies” which is her attempt at a sexual inuendo. Cody chugs his beer and leads her into the game room. The first thing she notices when they arrive is the arcade game Night Driver. This of course is not accident. I chose this game not just because Cody is a race car driver but because it provides a strong foreshadowing. At the time I wrote the book Gerald J. Buchko indeed held the world record for Night Driver. It was not just a cool name I picked at random.

Shayla inquiries about the trophies in the case. To show the deterioration of Cody’s interest in racing, I have him keep his marijuana in one of the trophy’s cups. She asks him as they are rolling joints “Which is the biggest trophy you’ve ever won?” To which Cody replies, “The silver one.” The case has several silver trophies in it. Cody doesn’t specify which one. This is Cody’s way of saying to her to take your pick because none of them matter anymore. In Cody’s backstory they would have been quite valuable. But because of what’s locked in the room upstairs they have diminished in value.

Shayla punctuates this point by following up her “Who’s Mitch?” question with “You never said why you quit racing.” Again, her inquiry is ignored. Much like Bard used alcohol Cody uses seduction to prevent her from opening Pandora’s Box. But in truth her question is profound and important. Why did Cody quit racing? Why does he have piles of boxes sealed up in Mitch’s room? Why is he selling his cabin?

I like to use the names of products to convey to the reader the social status of characters. Cody’s pool table is an Olhausen and he’s wearing a red Moncler shirt. Shayla is wearing L’Agent Provocateur underwear and a Narcisco Rodriguez dress. Again, these are expensive items which let the reader know these are wealthy, educated people with taste. They are also cold and detached.

Your next question is probably why the explicit sex scene and how come it is so early in the story? The reason the sex scene is in the game room with all of Cody’s trophies is because Shayla herself is a trophy. Essentially, Cody isn’t distinguishing women from inanimate objects. The sex scene even takes place on the pool table. Shayla is lying on her back while Cody plays her like a game.  Bedding her is the same to him as winning a race. She’s just another trophy to add to his collection. Therefore, this is not a love scene. It’s meant to be a scene of debauchery as detached as the two characters engaging in it and as cold as the snowy frozen world around them. My goal here was to make their fornication (hopefully) both titillating and repulsive to the reader.

That wraps up my anatomy of my novel’s first chapter.  While your waiting for next week’s blog check out my book Chicane on Amazon.

STREAM OF THE WEEK: DOUBLE FEATURE DELIGHT: TRAIN TO BUSAN & SNOWPIERCER– Netflix

If you stream no other film this week make sure you see Train to Busan on Netflix. One of the most taunt, tense edge of your seat thrillers in recent years, Train to Busan is nail biting to the very last extraordinary shot. Many films fail to stick their dismounts but this one scores a perfect ten. Not just another zombie movie Yeon Sang-ho’s first live action film is fantastically played out in the claustrophobic confines of a modern-day bullet train. It’s the story of a little girl who lives with her father and on her birthday wants nothing else than to go visit her mother in Busan. Deeper and more profound than most horror movies and reminiscent of Hitchcock, the movie’s premise “love thy neighbor as thyself” is pivotal at every turn of the track.

You can watch it as a double feature with the original 2014 Snowpiercer another dazzlingly executed train movie from Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho also streaming on Netflix. Snowpiercer is a science fiction piece about the world being so damaged by global warming everyone must remain on a train called Snowpiercer. How much money you paid to ride said train determines which car you get to reside in. And let me tell you, you get what you pay for. Chris Evans is a tour de force as Curtis who rebelliously uncovers the ugly secrets of coach vs business class while tenaciously working his way up to the motor unit.

 

Good afternoon.  It is Gigi your resident parti poodle.  Today my author will be continuing her Anatomy of a Chapter.  There was an emergency this week.  I was down to my last few treats.  Luckily my novelist timed the treat order so it arrived yesterday.  It was like receiving beluga caviar in the mail.  I wanted her to order my delightful sandwich cookies as well but alas they can only be ordered sixteen and a half pounds at a time.  As I weigh around five pounds you can imagine my novelist was not willing to make the purchase.  Without further ado here is my novelist.

Today I’m going to continue my anatomy of chapter one of Chicane. As the ladies perform their pole dance, Bard, the biggest and brainiest of Cody’s friends leans over and whispers to Cody, “We should drive the girls back to the cabin tonight.” A defensive Cody says, “Why? The rooms these girls have at the Mountain Thunder Lodge are dope.” But Bard argues, “That’s the point. They’re their rooms. If we get them on our turf, they’re our rooms.”

Cody faces a conundrum. On the one hand his plan is to get lucky. But on the other hand, he wants to get lucky in Breckenridge. He doesn’t want strangers in his cabin and no one including Bard, Klaus and Shaun is allowed in Mitch’s room.

Then Shaun, the jerk of the group weasels his way into the conversation. He agrees with Bard and pressures Cody. “They’ll totally put out at your crib!” he says. Here I slip in another clue: Cody’s Audi RS6 Avant. This would be a desired car amongst wealthy Denver skiers. Both Bard and Shaun offer to drive Cody’s car which Cody adamantly refuses. I make a point to repeat “Audi RS6 Avant” a few more times to make sure the reader takes notice. In making his friends the first ones to pressure him I also show whatever it is about that room it is Cody’s problem exclusively and not his buddies.

Shaun describes Cody’s cabin to Bianca. “Cody has a sweet cabin in Nederland,” he tells her. “It’s got like five bedrooms, yo.” An impressed Bianca then relays the information to Miyuki, Nevada and Shayla. And then Klaus takes Bard and Shaun’s side of the argument to head back to Nederland. Cody loses the fight and is pressured to relent. The motley crew heads for Cody’s cabin.

As Cody, Bard and Klaus arrive in Cody’s Audi RS6 Avant, Cody tells Bard, “I’m locking Mitch’s room. I don’t want anyone in there.” Bard knowing why Cody is on edge says, “Let’s just enjoy the girls’ company for a few nights and call it good.” Cody becoming agitated taps his finger on the steering wheel (another clue) and warns, “Keep them out of Mitch’s room.” Before the boys go inside, I introduce one of Cody’s quirks: he never gets out of a car on the driver’s side. He always climbs over and exits out the passenger’s side instead. The reason I do this is partly because race car drivers can be superstitious. It’s also a foreshadowing.

Cody’s cabin is based on the interior of actual cabins in the Boulder, Colorado area and so once the group arrives and heads inside, I take time to describe it. I want to give the ambiance of a warm, expensive, comfortable place which feels safe. In addition, I want to point out the game room where Cody keeps his trophies: “Over to the right side was a game room which contained a pool table, a poker table, a chess and checkers table and a couple of vintage video arcade games.” I did not put “a couple of vintage video arcade games” last in the list for no reason. It is put there to catch the reader’s attention.

After they enter the cabin Cody whispers to Bard that he’s going upstairs to lock Mitch’s room. And again, his private conversation is overheard this time by Shayla, the woman Cody is interested in. She flirtatiously asks if she can come. But even her charms cannot steer Cody off his course. He must lock the room. As Cody goes up the stairs alone, everyone watches him. Shaun tells the women, “He’s got like dead bodies in that room.” Although Shaun is being snarky it reminds the reader once again this is a story about death. This is shortly followed up with Shayla’s line, “Who’s Mitch?” and her question is ignored.

Next week I’ll continue my anatomy of Chicane’s first chapter.

 
STREAM OF THE WEEK: HBO’S MINISERIES CHERNOBYL
Chernobyl is not an easy watch. But everyone sixteen years and older should be required to see it anyway.  A remarkable if not landmark piece of filmmaking, the drama Chernobyl  brilliantly chronicles through five episodes the terrifying April 1986 accident. What should have been a routine night at the infamous nuclear powerplant goes horrifically wrong due to two pivotal human errors.  The psychology involved surrounding the event bears eerie relevance to the psychology surrounding Covid-19.  A lot of viewers out there are watching Outbreak and Contagion, but I think this one captures the mindset of human beings at the time of a monumental crisis far better.  An absolute five star must see.

Good Afternoon.  My name is Gigi and I am a parti poodle.  I am the owner of the novelist who writes this post.  Today you are in for a treat.  My novelist is going to begin doing an anatomy of the first chapter in her book Chicane.  I am patiently waiting for her to finish so we can go outside and romp about in the sunshine.  My novelist is rather unhappy with me because last night I got into a scrap with the Maltese…but because I am a good owner all is forgiven and we are looking forward to a pleasant afternoon.  Also, because the Corona virus has all of us staying at home and watching movies, she is going to do a new feature called Stream of the Week at the end of this post.  

Chicane was not my first novel.  The book series I am getting ready for publication was my novel.  But Chicane was my shortest novel and so I chose to publish it first. When I did publish it, I saw that Amazon put the entire first chapter up for the “look inside” feature. I decided this wasn’t a bad thing necessarily…except for the explicit adult content. Although I like to keep my blog to a G or PG rating, my books, alas are R to NC-17.  That aside, it makes it possible for me to do an anatomy of a chapter for the next few blog entries which everyone can view provided they’re 17 or older.

For me the first couple sentences of a novel are crucial, so I had to think about what I wanted to convey right off. The first lines of Chicane are, “He’d decided to sell the cabin. It was final.” Now why did I choose those words? Why didn’t I say something more like “After putting his cabin up for sale, he and his buddies headed for Breckenridge.” It’s because saying it that way doesn’t tell you anything.  Chicane is a story about the pursuit of redemption.  But it’s also a story about death.

The word “decide” means to kill off all other choices. Cide from Latin means “killer” or “act of killing”.  The protagonist, Cody, has chosen to kill his options.  Using these words provides the reader insight into Cody’s character.  The second line “It was final.” also alludes to death. To emphasize death further I wrote “All the remains, knickknacks, personal mementos, and small valuables were taped up in moving boxes and stacked methodically in Mitch’s room.”  Remains of course refers to a dead body.  The idea of the remains being taped up in moving boxes implies coffins.  Having them methodically packaged and put into one room implies a tomb.

But then I switch gears and write, “But today was about the powder. The pure white virgin snow generously blanketing the ski resort up in the Colorado Rockies.” With pure white virgin snow, I altered the tone from death to innocence and life. The dark stuff is buried in the cabin and youthful innocence is celebrated in Breckenridge. Now we’re in the opulent and youthful world of a premier ski resort. It’s Christmas time and the young rich are at a hook up bar living like Romans, drinking, dancing and on the prowl. Macallan Scotch, which Shaun, one of the protagonist’s friends is drinking, is not cheap.

Then I decide to weave into the dialogue a hint. “Did you check out those custom-made ones Klaus had on today?” Cody asks his buddy Bard in reference to Klaus’s skis. To which Bard respond, “I thought he was going to come out of them and break his fucking leg.” The conversation is a foreshadowing. But I wrote it to seem like a segment of casual conversation between two buddies at a bar about their third buddy.

I provide another foreshadowing  in reference to the Japanese woman the drunk Klaus is dancing with.  Bard points out Miyuki means “snow”. In fact, all four of the women the boys are dancing with refer to winter and the weather. Bianca means “white” and relates to snow. Nevada means “snow covered”. Shayla is a variant of the name Shaila which means “mountain”. This becomes important when another character is introduced later in the story.

When Shayla and Nevada first hit on Cody and Bard and we quickly find out Cody is a good negotiator.  The women want Cody to buy them drinks but he wants something for his money:  a pole dance out on the floor. The reason I picked this bar as the setting for the scene is because it actually has a dancing pole out on the floor…or at least it did when I wrote the story.  I liked the masculine element of the pole and also the best position in a car race is pole position.

Cody’s a winner. He’s a winner on the track and a winner with women. He collects trophies and the women at the bar are in his mind just that. Of course, I picked the song “Little Red Corvette” by Prince for the ladies to dance to because Cody is a racecar driver. I love picking out songs for my books. It sets the tone for what’s going on. Lyrics are especially important in songs even if you cannot print them in a book.  Every novel I write has a reference to songs and that means research. I don’t just pick the song because I like it. I pick it because it works in the story.   I’ll continue on with my anatomy of the first chapter of Chicane next week.

STREAM OF THE WEEK: It Takes a Lunatic  

Since everyone is staying home because of Covid-19 I thought it might be fun to do a weekly movie recommendation for a film you may have passed over that is presently streaming on either on Netflix, Amazon, HBO or Showtime.  This week I’m picking the Netflix documentary It Takes A Lunatic.  If you are into acting it’s an interesting biography about one of the top acting teachers in New York City named Wynn Handman who established The American Place Theatre.  He was instrumental in launching the careers of Richard Gere, Sam Shepard, Frank Langella, Lauren Graham, Eric Bogosian, Connie Britton, John Leguizamo, Chris Cooper, Bill Irwin to name just a few. The film says he’s still teaching today at the age of 97. The documentary is more for theatre buffs (not musicals) but I enjoyed it and thought I’d mention it.

I post every Thursday.  In the meantime you can check out my novel Chicane on Amazon.

 

 

 

Good evening. I am happy to announce my treats arrived this week and I am now stocked up on my favorite goodies. Unfortunately, I must share them with the Maltese…but sacrifices must be made. Tonight, my novelist is going to elaborate a bit more on writing ensemble casts. Next week she is going to focus on analyzing the first chapter of her novel Chicane. Without further ado here’s my novelist.

So far, the lockdown for Covid-19 has been a productive time for me. I’ve gotten more writing done than usual and not found it difficult to stick to a routine. Like twenty to twenty-five percent of the population stuck at home, we’re loving this because we’re introverts. We don’t need people in the same way extroverts do. We don’t need to shake hands. We don’t need mindless chitchat. We don’t need to crush against each other at clubs with badly penned music blaring out of steroid induced electronic funnels. We embrace social distancing. If they say six feet, we say twenty-four.  If we can see you, you’re too close. This world is our oyster right now. If only there wasn’t a microscopic psychopathic Terminator at the root of it all. Why can’t the world be more like this every day without a deadly disease pulling the societal puppet strings?

On a completely different note I thought before I analyze the first chapter of Chicane, I’d talk a bit more about writing an ensemble story.  So again, unless someone is paying you to write a piece, always write the story you love. That’s how you can keep several characters in your head. You love being with them and the world they inhabit. Remember, a novel is like a marriage. If you don’t want to be with a certain story for the long haul, if you don’t want said story haunting you day and night, if you don’t want to wake up in the morning thinking about it and going to bed at night thinking about it even more, you had better find a different tale to get hitched to.

Now, if you do need something to assist you in organizing your nest of characters in your mind, a great way to curb confusion is to do character maps. Character maps are basically a list of attributes which define a character. Keep in mind the more you work with your characters the more you get to know them, and I find I refer to these lists less and less as I go along.   Here is one example.  Here is another.

Another good tool is to write out a one-page backstory.  Where was the character born, what was their inciting incident that happened to them before the curtain went up on the story and what does their closet look like? What kind of clothes do they wear, how do they arrange them, what shoes do they put on every day etc. A good book for some of these exercises is this The Weekend Novelist.

Yet another great way to familiarize yourself with your characters is to use an exercise I learned in a class once.  Provide the character three traits and then add a fourth trait which is wildly different from the other three.  Let’s say I have this guy who’s a computer programmer, he’s never had sex and lives at home with his parents. Okay, that’s three traits. But let’s add to that list that he’s moonlighting as a nude model for a college art class. That’s a little different, now isn’t it? Maybe he’s falling for one of the artists in the class who would never have anything to do with a computer programmer. Maybe his parents are ministers for a church. Maybe someone is secretly taking pictures of him naked and posting them on the internet and he’s getting a lot of hits. You see where I’m going with this.

Another option is to base your characters on someone you know.  This way you already have some of their traits committed to memory. You don’t have to make them exactly like said person but you can borrow things from them such as the way they style their hair, the color of their eyes, the type of clothes they wear, the way their voice sounds, the hobbies they love, the mannerisms they have. One thing I was taught in writing class was if you do base a character on someone you know, give that character a trait the real person would never want to have.

Also, don’t forget the location you choose is a character in the story as well. For instance, in my novel Chicane, the Colorado Rockies are integral to the plot. Without them there’s no tension, no ticking clock and no force with which to catapult the protagonist through his journey. I spent hour upon hour watching video footage online of the area where my story takes place. I had to know what the homes looked like, what the stores were like, what the roads were like to travel on, what the inhabitants were like, what type of trees grew there, etc.  In contrast, the book series I am getting ready for publication is set in Burbank, California which is a completely different type of landscape.  But it too is integral to the plot of my series.

But even after doing all these things the point is still to form a deep bond with your characters and enjoy doing it. Whether they are good or bad or somewhere in between if you couldn’t describe your character to someone without looking at a list on a screen or piece of paper you don’t know them well enough.  Be proficient in your knowledge of your characters so you can fully and enthusiastically describe them to someone you know…or don’t know.

I post every Thursday.   That’s my schedule.  In the meantime you can check out my novel Chicane on Amazon.

 

Good evening. Gigi here. How about that Covid-19? What a nasty thing! I’m sure you as well as my novelist have had to make unexpected and unpleasant alterations in your daily routine. Some of you may even be ill and others may have suffered through unimaginably horrific events. My novelist tells me she has never seen anything like this in her lifetime. Being a parti poodle at this point in history has been fortunate so far as we canines don’t seem to be suffering from this outbreak…except of course I cannot get my favorite treats. My novelist ventured out to the grocery store early this morning and found when she arrived there was a line longer than you’d find at the first showing of a Star Wars film. She took one look at the situation and turned around and came home. She located another place to procure my treats from, but I will have to wait a week for them to arrive. Luckily, she has enough in stock to carry me over until they do. On a more serious note however, I wish everyone health and hope and comfort during this bizarre and worrisome historical event.

Today my novelist is going to talk a little bit about her book series she is getting ready for publication. So, without further ado, here is my novelist.

Presently I’m preparing a book series I wrote to publish on Amazon. It’s one novel, actually…one very long novel. I gave myself a challenge a few years back to see if I could write a 500,000-word story in three years. And I did. It’s a satire and it was a lot of fun to write. In fact, the most fun I’ve ever had on any writing project. I’m editing it some so it may not be exactly 500,000 words but it will be close.

Because it’s difficult to sell a book the length of Atlas Shrugged or Infinite Jest these days I’ve decided to break said novel into several books. When I first took on the project initially, I thought it would be a challenge to pen because the story required an ensemble cast. Everything I’d written before had small casts as in two to four main characters. I thought there’s no way I’m ever writing an ensemble piece. But as it turned out it wasn’t as daunting as I anticipated.

What I learned about from writing a novel with a larger cast is as always to love the story and get to know the characters and how they interact with each other extremely well. I know there are some people out there who use index cards and white boards to keep all their characters straight, but you don’t have to. If you can immerse yourself in the story, it’s possible to get to know imaginary people on a deep level.

For me these characters are like old friends. I know what their voices sound like, what kind of clothes they wear, how their hair is styled, their little quirks and habits. It was a blast living in their world. I even visited some of the places they dwelled in the story and experienced those places through their eyes. I took a lot of pictures so I could see what they saw. For places I couldn’t revisit I rifled through photos online, so I knew what the buildings and locations were like and the layout inside. I found photos of their clothes, shoes, accessories, items they owned and used.

One of the more interesting challenges I encountered was providing them with different accents as they all came from different parts of the United States. I also had to learn some of the colloquialisms from around the country. For instance, if you are in the Northwest or Midwest you might say “pop” but in the Northeast you would say “soda” and in the southern states it would be “Coke”. And when I did these things, I had to be consistent throughout the story making sure each character was authentic in a whimsical way.  But after a while, it becomes second nature and you get used to it.  And it’s fun.

I will keep you posted as to when the first book is coming out and how many there will be in the series entire.  I will also be talking about my book Chicane doing analysis on it in the upcoming blogs.  I post every Thursday.  That is my schedule.   While you’re waiting for my next post you can check out Chicane currently available on Amazon.

 

 

Good evening. Today my novelist will talk about personality types and how they view time differently. I for one am a dog and therefore time confuses me. But since I am an ENTJ I do tend to be very focused on my goals such as making sure that Maltese doesn’t get to sit in my novelist lap and that mailperson bringing a box of tea to the doorstep better not mess with me. Anyway, here is my novelist.

One interesting way to look at personality type in characters is to examine how they perceive time. This is described in Keirsey’s book Please Understand Me Two within each of the descriptions of Artisans, Guardians, Idealists and Rationals.

Artisans live in the now. They impulsive people who are completely disconnected from thinking about the past or the future. This makes them great actors, athletes, musicians, dancers, fraternity members, used car salespeople and con artists. Consider Ben Quick in The Long Hot Summer. Enchanted by Varner’s daughter, Clara (Noel in the television version) a strait-laced school teacher guardian, Ben is constantly trying to get her to go out, live life and tear up the countryside. He is not thinking about what tearing up the countryside would do to his business relationship with her father. He just wants to go out and have fun.

Another excellent though more sinister example of an Artisan would be Clinton’s psychopathic older brother Berry-Berry from All Fall Down. He is charismatic and charming but has no problem traveling aimlessly about the country while using beating up and stealing from women if he gets what he needs right then and there. Not to mention the way he drives his doting mother and alcoholic father insane.

Guardians on the other hand look to the past. They are traditionalists and love holidays, clubs, cults and anything else revolving around rituals. And they do not like any type of change whatsoever because they are pessimistic and concerned things will go wrong as they often do. Their mantra is the future is dark. This explains a lot of Hollywood films involving science fiction. If you’ve got around forty percent of the population dreading the what lies ahead, you’ve got a lot of guardians wanting to watch movies about a bleak and terrible future. How Star Trek got made I’ll never know.  Guardians are also defeatist when looking to the past.  Doom is inevitable.  It’s no one’s fault.  It’s just the way things are. These martyrs therefore embrace the pain and suffering because there’s no choice. Misery is predetermined.

The character #1 from the movie 9 is a great example of someone who is determined to keep everything status quo even if it means leaving one of the rag doll creations out for the Great Machine to suck out its soul. Where #9’s idea is to figure out how to destroy the machine #1’s idea is to hide from it. Doom is inevitable. Things remaining the way they are is how to best stay safe in his mind, even if two of the rag dolls are at risk in the great unknown.

Idealists, however, look to the future with incredible optimism. They embrace the future with open arms. The sun will come out tomorrow. Their outlook on the world is to be noble. They live to support others and are willing to sacrifice themselves making them abstract and philosophical individuals. They can see the good in anyone which is extraordinary and different from the other personality types. And they are indeed likely to become writers, missionaries, teachers and cult leaders. The time is tomorrow for them and they focus on what could be rather than what is. They have vision and tend to be on the front end of new ideas and movements. Many of them are responsible for women’s rights for example because they could see a better future. They also tend to be intelligent and transcendent in their view of things.

A great example of an idealist is Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Despite all the odds of her getting into Harvard Law School she is accepted with her 4.0 GPA and her bright colorful and creative outlook on life. Along the way she inspires and transcends the lives of several people who would have remained sullen and stuck in their lives had she not come along and presented a better and brighter perspective.

The Rationals are probably the most difficult group to understand as far as their perspective on time. Time is not linear for them as it is for other personality types. It is instead confined and defined as an event. Rationals operate outside of time. Only occurrences occupy time. Time for them is virtual. Time is conditional. Time is created by events rather than being a method in which they occur. Therefore, they make great scientists, science fiction writers and droids from a galaxy far, far away.

Take for instance Clarise Starling from The Silence of the Lambs. Yes, Hannibal’s an extremely dangerous criminal. But her goal is to catch Buffalo Bill and Hannibal has the tools with which to do so. Clarise knows what Hannibal is capable of, but unlike other characters in the story she is not as fearful of him as she is of not achieving her goal. It does not take her long to get close to the glass he is behind on their first meeting. If she must break the physical barrier between them and take something from his hand, she will. The outcome is what matters, not the journey. The event of capturing old Billy is what she is completely and utterly focused one. That and of course becoming an FBI agent which is what capturing that moth obsessed lunatic will get her.

I post every Thursday. That’s my schedule. While you’re waiting for my next post check out my novel Chicane currently available on Amazon.

Good evening. As you probably know I am Gigi and I am a parti poodle. Tonight, my author is going to be discussing personality types and romance. Being an ENTJ my romantic partner would be an INFP. Unfortunately for me Maltese make horrible INFPs. That said, I hope you will enjoy my author sharing this method she likes to use in her writing.

The adage “there are plenty of fish in the sea” may sound reassuring because it’s true for many. But for others it’s a complete lie. Personality types are not evenly balanced. There are a lot more of some temperaments than there are of others. For some people there are a lot of fish and for others there are fewer more specific fish. I like to think of it as some characters shop at Walmart and others shop at Nordstrom.

You might think the dominate difference between people is extroversion vs. introversion. And yes, these elements do come into play but the real determinant which decides whether two people are attracted to each other is sensory vs intuition. The world is 74-80% sensory. Only 20-26% of the world is intuitive. A sensory personality type can cast a big net out into the sea and attract a large group of fish to choose from. An intuitive cannot.

Again, there are four temperaments: Artisans, Guardians, Rationals and Idealists. The Artisans and the Guardians are sensory. The Rationals and Idealists are intuitive. When it comes to romance and sexual attraction, Artisans match up with Guardians and Rationals match up with Idealists. In other words, sensory is attracted to sensory and intuition is attracted to intuition.

Now one might argue if that’s the case would not Guardians seek out Guardians, Artisans seek out Artisans etc. In other words, the idea “birds of a feather flock together”. But according to Jung we seek out not our equal but rather our compliment. We seek out what we lack that completes us, the opposite part of us we have not developed, expressed or sought after. This is well demonstrated in Dr. David Keirsey’s book Please Understand Me II chapter 7.

Take for instance One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Now that doesn’t look like a romance at all. But in truth it is. Nurse Ratched is a Guardian. R.P McMurphy is an Artisan. More specifically Ratched is an ISFJ and McMurphy is an ESTP. Notice how each one is the opposite letters of the other except S for sensory. Ratched represents bureaucracy. McMurphy represents spontaneity. From the moment McMurphy enters the psych ward the sparks fly Each one is the opposite but complimentary of the other. Each one needs what the other has. But in this story neither one can accept what they are missing, especially Nurse Ratched and things spin wildly out of control creating a timeless meditation on the sinister nature of institutions.

One of the most famous romances is between intuitive characters Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is a whip smart ENFP and Darcy is a brooding but brilliant INTJ. Again, notice all the letters are opposites except for N. What I’ve always found fascinating about the story is after Darcy proposes to Elizabeth and is shot down, he is pragmatic in his attempts to resolve the issue. He creates a system with which to win Elizabeth’s hand by hunting down her wayward sister and the conniving Mr. Wickham and getting them hitched up appropriately, encouraging his friend Bingley to propose to Elizabeth’s sister Jane after breaking the two up originally and denouncing his Aunt’s wishes before boldly proposing to Elizabeth again. Darcy intuitively knows he must solve these puzzles not only to win Elizabeth’s heart but also to change her mind.

One clever thing to do when writing a love story is to put unusual but complementary personalities together. Remember, personality types don’t care about political correctness. Personality tests have shown most women have feeling personality types and most men have thinking personality types. But not all men are thinkers nor all women feelers. Putting an ENTP female with an INFJ male is not going to be all that common. Putting an ISTP female with an ESFJ male is not going to be all that common either. But these people do exist, and these combinations do work, and they work well.

If you’re looking to write a volatile disastrous relationship put people together that have no business whatsoever being together. Guardians are the opposite of Rationals. They hate each other. Idealists are the opposite of Artisans. They hate each other too. If you want a romance to be doomed from the start put an ENTP with an ESFJ. Nothing good will come of it. If you want a war put an ESTJ with an INFJ and let the carnage begin. These love stories are usually doomed from the beginning.

I’ll post every Thursday. That’s the schedule. While you’re waiting for my next post check out my novel Chicane currently available on Amazon.

 

 

Good evening. As you know I am Gigi and I am a parti poodle. Tonight, my novelist begins a series of posts on personality types for characters. I myself am an ENTJ. This is because I think big picture and like to oversee everything. Right now, I am overseeing a new chew stick. My novelist has been using this approach for many years now and enjoys how it helps her compare characters. We hope you’ll enjoy this series as I gnaw on my chew stick and consider my next move towards becoming CEO of a major pet supply company.

While I was studying screenwriting, my day job was doing computer phone support. We had a group of guys who did desk side support as well and one of them talked about going to a party where everyone took the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Curious, I asked him about the test, and he directed me to a website where I could take it online. My experience with personality types was love at first site. I was so enthralled with them I sent a link to the people in my screenwriting class to see what their results were. One of the writers thought the test was supposed to be for her characters and tested her protagonist instead. That’s when I realized what a great idea she had by happenstance. And from that point forwards I give my characters personality tests.

Now, I know the Big 5 may be a more accurate assessment of human beings. However, as a writer I’m dealing with fictional characters and not real people. Comparing fictional personalities using the Big 5 it’s a lot more difficult than using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter unless you are quite knowledgeable about psychology. I’m not saying you can’t do it, but I think you’ll be pulling your hair out. I find Keirsey’s test to be straight forward, easy to understand and seamless when it comes to comparing temperaments.

My all-time favorite site for describing each of the sixteen personality types is Not Your Typical Personality Types. This site makes it easy to know which character is which and why. It’s also well written and hilarious. When I am asked what an ENFJ is I can simply say they are a cult leader and people understand what I’m talking about. I always have this web site in my toolbox.

Also, in my toolbox are both of Dr. David Keirsey’s books Please Understand Me: Character & Temperament Types and Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence. I think every writer should have these in their library. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve referred to them not just for writing but for other odd things life throws my way. Doesn’t matter if you get them new or used or downloaded to your device. They go far more into depth than what your going to find out on the internet unless your paying for it so you might as well get the books. The books also have the test in them so you can test and grade your characters as needed.  A couple of good sites to take the test online are 16personalities , Truity  and humanmetrics.

Essentially there are four temperaments and each temperament break down into four groups.  These groups are the Artisans, the Guardians, the Rationals and the Idealists. Each of these groups breaks down into four groups making sixteen personalities in all.   A few quick things you need to know for characters. Worldwide there are far more Artisans and Guardians than Rationals and Idealists. The Artisans take up 38-40% of the world and the Guardians take up about 38-40% of the world. That makes about 76-80% of the world’s population. Rationals take up about 10-12% of the world and Idealists take up about 10-12% of the world making a combined total of about 20-24% of the world population. The Rationals and the Idealists are thus outnumbered. But don’t be fooled. They have ways of making up for this.

What separates the Artisans and Guardians from the Rationals, and Idealist is Sensory vs. Intuition. More people are sensory than intuitive. If you were to hand an Artisan or a Guardian a pencil and ask them what it is, they would tell you it is a pencil. But if you handed a pencil to a Rational or an Idealist, they might tell you it is an unwritten theorem or novel. In other words, the Artisans and Guardians focus on what is. The Rationals and Idealist focus on what could be.

One thing you might not think about is that personality types coagulate. Which is to say birds of a feather flock together. A group of athletes is likely to be mostly made up of artisans. A group of nurses is likely to be made up of Guardians. A group of scientists is likely to be mostly Rationals. A group of writers is likely to be Idealists. There are exceptions to these rules but essentially if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well guess what? Sometimes you will get a mixture of two opposing groups. Teachers, for instance are mostly made up of Guardians (over 50%) and Idealists (over 30%). These people barely get along but for some reason gravitate towards the same occupation. This makes for excellent conflict if you were to write a story involving schoolteachers.

Next week I will talk about romantic attraction between personality types and which personality types are mortal enemies.  I post every Thursday. That’s the schedule. While you’re waiting for my next post check out my novel Chicane currently available on Amazon.