Success!

Turns out I had a pretty good writing session last night. I was so tired that I barely recalled what I had worked on until I woke this morning and had time to look over it. It was a lovely scene of revisiting the past and recalling beloved family members.

Here's a quick snippet.

The Fatal Flaw

Every character has one or at least should have one. It's what brings your characters to life and in turn brings your story to life. Some characters have really obvious flaws. You know within a few minutes of meeting them what their flaw is. Others take a little more time. No matter what group your character falls under they all have a flaw.

First off, let's look at what a fatal flaw is. Essentially, a fatal flaw is the character struggling to hold on to an old mindset/behavior/temperament that has long outlived its purpose. Basically, the character has survived up to this point with this flaw because that is what life demands it. However, by the time your story's beginning comes around, that temperament has long overstayed its welcome. The character has come to a point where he no longer needs that mindset. But because he has lived with it so long he's going to hold on to it until life forces him to choose to either remain set in his ways (give up) or adapt to the changes (overcome), which in itself is your crisis (Part of story where the MC is met with an obstacle that threatens his/her beliefs and character and he/she must choose to either press forward or give up).

If a writer isn't quite sure what their characters' fatal flaws are, they should look at the goal or theme of their story. Usually the fatal flaws are the complete opposite of the goal and serve as the antithesis. For example, with my current writing project, I have three main characters. The overall premise of the story is to learn to look passed the scars of the past and see the world waiting on the other side. It's a story of learning to accept what has happened and move on while never forgetting the past. Redemption and rebirth.

So your characters' fatal flaws have to fall under this theme. Ethan, the MC, is struggling to accept his parents divorce, the death of his mother and now the death of his father, and the trials his foster family put him through. He's been scarred and his defense against the pain was building an impenetrable wall of strength around himself. People can't hurt him anymore. At the same time, people can't get close to him. He won't let himself trust people and because of that he won't let down his wall. So he becomes stuck in a rut of self-preservation, making his inability to accept intimacy his fatal flaw.

His SCs have flaws that are similar to his but in different ways. Matt, an employee at the shelter Ethan inherited, is broken in a more literal sense than Ethan. After serving three tours in the marines, he's retired from the corps because of a near-death experience. He is now plagued with night terrors, PTSD, and physical scars from the ambush. Because of this, he rarely adventures out into town and loses most of his friends because of survivor's remorse. He doesn't fear opening up as Ethan does but he does fear judgment. His defense is to put on a very energetic front that distracts from his wounds and keeps people from seeing the real him. If he is to heal as the theme of the book suggests then he must overcome these flaws in order to do so.

Addie is our next SC. She used to be Ethan's best friend before his parents divorced and his mother died, forcing him to move out of town. She is the wife of Matt's best friend Jack. Jack served under Matt in the marines and was killed in the ambush Matt was caught in. Matt managed to rush his body back to base. Addie was left widowed though. She wants to not blame Matt for what happened to Jack and tries to convince herself that she has moved on from losing her husband and puts on a very sweet and lighthearted appearance. Underneath she is full of hate and bitterness. She goes to church but blames God for her loss. She works with Matt at the shelter but blames him for what happened to Jack. She wants to be friends with Ethan just as they were as kids but she doesn't like the guarded person he is now. In order to move beyond her flaws, she has to face her fears and accept what life is now.

Once a writer has a fatal flaw the story itself can fall into place. You can't have conflict without struggle. In order to heal, one must have been wounded. It's the wounds that create scars and it's the scars that must be healed in order for a character to rise from his ashes. Thus, the fatal flaw becomes one of the most important aspects of writing.

She Be Done!

Well, technically, she be done in the sense that I have achieved my 50k goal by the end of November and thus won Nanorimo this year. That means in around 21 days I wrote a crap-ton of words and came up with a novel I love and characters I enjoy getting to know.

Here's the proof!

Ah, sweet victory, you sure are beautiful. There is nothing quite like validating your final word count and having the screen switch to the 'Congratulations, you won!' page. I know I say this every year but I am never competing again!

Until next year of course :)

Here's a quick snippet of the novel-in-progress.

Torn

"It's ridiculous really how things end up. For twenty-five years she's been there for me. For eighteen years she helped me stay on time, do my homework, taught me what was right and wrong, and gave me everything she had. She helped me move into college. Went I went overseas, she prayed for me and my squad everyday. When I came home she was right there at the hospital to take care of me. Now here I am. She doesn't even realize I'm here. She doesn't even know she has a son anymore. I reckon keeping her like this is the least I can do to give her as much time as possible."

Writing Update

With it being the day before the holiday and chores begging to be done and responsibilities calling, I'm a tad short on time. So here's a quick update on the novel-in-progress.

A week and a half-ish after starting, I have a tad over 23k words written. It's November 21 and that leaves 27k to be written before the end of the month. We'll see if that happens! Even if I don't win Nano, I still love the book. It's so different to be writing this genre. The plot unwraps in such a strange way that it's still a little bewildering. The only solution I can think of? Just roll with it! Besides, this is my first realistic fiction so mistakes are allowed.

Here's a tidbit from the story. This features Matt, the secondary character and friend to MC Ethan. Matt suffers from PTSD after serving in Afghanistan and having his motorcade ambushed. He's also a little intense. I would say he's most similar to Jace from the Bell Tower series but he is by far the first character of his kind I've written.

            When Matt saw nothing of interest in the fridge, he closed it and spun around as he picked up the scent of coffee. “That’s what I need.”

            One second he was by the fridge and the next he was grabbing a mug from above the coffeemaker and pouring a cup. It only then dawned on Ethan that Matt was probably a little too slim for his height and build. There should have been a few extra pounds on him. But he had no time to worry about food while he grabbed the sugar from the pantry and shoveled three scoops in his coffee.

            Ethan stared at him. “Really? Three scoops of sugar?”

            Matt grinned “I need to wake up.”

Sheriff Mayberry

           The officer parked in front of the office before getting out of his squad car. He waved out at them and headed up to the front door. After living the last seventeen years in the city, this man was the strangest lawman he’d ever seen. His brown uniform was pressed and neatly arranged on his imposing frame. The sheriff’s star hung over his right breast pocket while above it was his name tag of R. Mayberry. Somehow the name fit the owner. His skin was leathery from years in the sun, his hair a dash of salt and pepper over strawberry blonde, and a handlebar mustache so bushy across his upper lip that it looked like the thistles of a wicker broom.

            He nodded his head at him, touching his finger to the faded cowboy hat on his head before he mumbled, “You must be Mr. Williams.”

I Want You to Make Me Feel Again

That's the phrase that keeps ringing in my head for this book. It's an old writing mantra writers use to remind themselves to make a book so moving, so inspirational and tragic and stunningly beautiful, that a reader can't help but be affected.

A Scene Like This Moves Viewers

Writing a realistic fiction is so different from fantasy. In fantasy book, your enemy is clear, especially in my novels. You know that the guy that's committing war crimes and tearing through the nation is your enemy. You know there's something that has to be done to stop him. There's a slow and steady plot as the enemy's plan is revealed and your characters must fight to prevent it from succeeding.

That is so not true with realistic fiction. Your enemy isn't ripping through the nation. He isn't plotting and planning your downfall - at least not proactively. In this story, you have a person with a damaged background suffering PTSD and struggling to survive while he fights to keep a dog shelter from going under. But there's no black and white in this novel. There's no true and clear antagonist or even protagonist. The characters are a host of flawed people with positives and substantial negatives.

The only way I'm charging through this is by reminding myself that I have to make the reader care for each of these characters in a way that will move them when the ending comes. I have to make the reader love them when they do something wise, hate them when they turn their backs on good, and sympathize with them when they stumble.

The healing a character has to go through in a realistic fiction novel is incredibly different from anything I've worked on before. But I'm learning the tricks. Ethan, my MC, must have flaws that keep him from succeeding. The enemy in this novel is not clearly an outside force. It's an inside force that the character must defeat.

At one point in the novel, Ethan speaks of his childhood and has this to say; "When I think about it, I shouldn't be so upset. It's not like getting hit as a kid destroys the world. I need to move on. But when I think about it, for that kid that I used to be, the day I was first hit was the day my world was destroyed."

That is the point of the 'feel' mantra. The writer must make the reader feel as if the story they are reading is the entire world. They have to pray for their heroes. They have to bite their nails and sit on the edge of the seat when they are caught in troublesome places. They have to quietly weep when they are hurt and betrayed. Because when that book ends that world has come to an end and the reader must feel wholly devoted and confident in the ending provided.

Next Writing Project

I decided to try my hand at realistic fiction. This is the first time I've written for this genre. All my past books have been fantasy/adventure so you can imagine how intimidating it is to write something that has to be so grounded and realistic. Here's a brief rundown of the story.

What is the title of the story?
Lazarus Story

What is the synopsis of the story?
Ethan receives a call saying his estranged father has passed away, leaving him with his troubled animal shelter and the staff that runs it. While settling in to his position as shelter manager Ethan is entrusted with a dozen dogs rescued from a dog-fighting ring. He is faced with the task of rehabilitating the dogs before animal advocates claim them, keeping the shelter from drowning, earning the trust of his newly inherited staff, and caring for himself as he fights the demons from his parents' divorce and the troublesome past he spent in the foster system.

Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
It actually came from the life I've led while living on a farm for the last year. I've watched as some animals thrive, others withdraw, and the rest learn to live with the humans they are placed with. I wanted to write a story about how animals and people are both so similar in that they can scar so easily but take so much work to recover. I wanted to use pitbulls as a major plot because they have a terribly mistaken history.

What pushed you to write this story?
I had the idea floating around for a while but shelved it. In the last few weeks, it's really spoken to me and I thought now would be the best time to just go ahead and write it.

Why should people read this book as compared to others?
This book is so realistic that it could just about happen to anyone. Ethan's work with the shelter isn't unrealistic like most animal books. There are successes and failures but it's through these events that humans and animals both develop. If someone likes animals then they will like this book!