Ask Eamon & Killian

This is exactly what it sounds like; simply ask Eamon and Killian anything in the comments and they will reply (It doesn't even need to be about the books)

Creating the Fellowship: Characters!

It's the first day of Indie E-Con, which is all about Writing! Check out the other stuff going on today at the main hub!

Why do we read books and become fans in the first place? Sure, sometimes you can fall in love with specific worlds, but let’s be honest; it’s really the characters that win our hearts. The perfect group of characters is what makes a book go from a good read to a fantastic I-want-to-read-this-book-again-and-again read.

But as a writer, balancing out how many characters you need for a story can be hard, especially when it comes to the main characters. Sure, you always have your protagonist, but sometimes, you need more than one, whether you change points of view, or you have a group of companions as your main cast, most of the time you’re not going to just have one character in the limelight.

So how do you craft your Fellowship? Here’s some pointers and things to think about.

Duos

The duo is always a great option. Think Sherlock and Watson. Whether this comes in the flavor of best friends or a hero-sidekick thing, siblings/twins, or even your MC and their romantic interest, everyone loves a solid duo. Duos are the most versatile of main character groups, because being made up of only two people, it is pretty much to be expected that they are going to be joined by other characters along the way. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo and Sam are the main duo, but they are joined by Merry and Pippin, as well as Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir later. Even though the Fellowship as a whole really qualifies as more than just a duo, you can break them up into duos and trios as the series progresses, which is a great tactic for fantasy/quest stories. Romances usually feature duos for the main couple, but this too can branch off as he and she usually have their besties, or family members along with them, sometimes creating sub-duos, but your couple should always be your main duo. If it’s a duo like Sherlock and Watson, they should always take precedence over any other characters. Best friend duos should never have one of the other usurped by supporting characters, unless that is purposefully part of the plot.

Trios

Trios are my personal favorite. I used this tactic in my Anthony Maxwell book with Anthony, Tobs, and Scamp as the main trio. The trio is also very versatile, and sometimes a duo can become a trio with like the addition of Castiel’s character to the Winchesters’ duo in Supernatural. Trios are perfect for series books and procedurals like mysteries (such as in Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood series or Percy, Annabeth and Grover in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan) because they have enough characters to offer differing opinions, but not too many to confuse the reader by having to add too many characters to a storyline. Trios can also be branched out into four people (like the Three Musketeers plus D’Artagnan). Maybe your trio picks up another member along the way or there is another, secondary character, that they sometimes go to for help and can be an honorary member of their gang. The important thing to remember when writing trios is that even if you do add more supporting characters along the way, the trio, especially if it is one loved by the fans, should always stay the main focus of the story. Good characters are never going to get boring, and your readers will always want to see more from them.

So What’s the Perfect Number for a Group?

Sometimes, you need more than just a duo or trio. Some stories need to share space with more main characters. I ran into this with my Modern Tales of Na Fianna series, because there are a lot of characters the reader needs to get to know, and I put emphasis on different ones throughout the series. But my main group is Ciran’s Company, a group of six friends who got thrown together in Book One because they were all going on a mission to rescue their family members who were being kept prisoners by the Goblins. There were even more characters introduced in this story between King Eamon, and his Captain of the Guard Killian, as well as Ciran’s family. Balancing this many characters can be tough and from a reader’s perspective, very confusing, if done incorrectly. The best way to introduce a bunch of characters is to do it gradually. Think about the beginning of The Hobbit. That book featured a company of 15 characters including Bilbo and Gandalf, but we were introduced to the dwarves a couple at a time as they came to Bilbo’s door. While we don’t truly get to know a lot of their personalities from the book, the idea is a good one. Start off with your main character and his closest family members or companions and work outward from there. I also like to think about Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott. Rose was introduced to her seven cousins by the eldest of them, who pretty much explained their characters in a quirky and humorous way. The reader is presented with a group of very different and unique characters and doesn’t have a hard time figuring out which boy was which throughout the rest of the story.

Five to seven characters is a decent number for a larger group of main characters. It’s not so many that your readers will be going…wait, who was that again? And few enough that you, as a writer will be able to create several characters with distinct personalities that will not just all run together after a while as can happen when you are forced to come up with too many characters. It is also enough characters to be able to accomplish deeds of daring do, or a good crew for heists and such (Like the group in the show, Leverage or Kaz’s crew in Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo). They can even be joined by other people too if needed, my advice on that subject is to introduce any other characters you might be planning to join with them separately so they are not lost in the main group. Then you can have fully established characters to work with once you join groups up so you don’t have to do a lot of awkward characterization when you should be focusing on your action scenes.

How Many is Too Many?

Yes, it is possible to have too many characters. I have written several books where I had to scrap characters from the original idea because when I started writing it, there just didn’t seem to be a need for them or their inclusion would just complicate the storyline. This is a worthy sacrifice for the sake of your story, and if you like the character you can always use him in another book or even a sequel, but it is important not to swamp your readers with too many characters.

If you think your book might have too many characters, here’s an easy way to figure that out. Set aside the MC and the characters you know need to be in the story and look at each of the others. Think about what they add to the plot, and how their existence effects the plot and the MC. Everything in a book needs to tie together, or the story will be confusing, so if you add characters that you think might be a cool addition, but really have no effect on the plot whatsoever you may just end up confusing readers. I have read various books where it’s pretty obvious the author just threw in a character either to prove some kind of point or for comic relief or something but the character never really fits in and it just turns out to be more annoying than anything. So learning how many characters is too many, is a good lesson both for new writers and even for experienced ones to remember. The last thing you want is for your readers to wonder, why was that guy even in this book? If you’re not sure yourself, this is a good question to ask your trusted beta readers.

So there are some tips on how to figure out how many characters you need in your book, and how to handle them. I hope this might have offered some assistance J Let me know how you decide how many characters your book needs. Does it just happen? Or do you take a lot of time and consideration with it?

Character Interview with Ciran Mac Cool

Okay so I said I was going to get some snippets and fun stuff up this month to go along with NaNoWriMo, but I guess I didn't, and I apologize for that. I've just hit the ground running this month and it's not going to change until New Years at least, but I do hope to share some more with you about my book Blood Ties between now the the Release Date that should hopefully be sometime in January or February. As an update on NaNo, I am very close to my 50,000, only about 5,000 more to go, so I should be a winner by the end of the weekend! I was hoping to finish the actual novel by the end of the month like last year, but An Earthly King is much longer than Wolfsblood was and I haven't quite even reached the halfway point yet. Oh well.

Anyway, I decided I should post something, so here is a character interview with Ciran Mac Cool, the hero of the story, so you can get to know him better. Thanks to my friend, Abigail, for writing the interview questions for me!

Ciran Mac Cool

When there isn’t a life-or-death adventure on hand, what do you enjoy doing?

When we’re not on a mission, I’m usually either at home riding, training, or messing around with my siblings, or with my friends out on the town. It’s nice to have some downtime every once in a while.

Were you a pest when you were little?

That depends on who you ask! I don’t think I was too bad, though, comparatively. I had a good big brother to keep me in line!

Does the end justify the means?

That depends on the results the end brings. As a warrior, I know that sometimes one simply had to do what needs to be done, whether it’s just or not. It’s a hard thing to get used to, but it’s part of life.

What makes you angriest?

When something should be done, but no one will step up to do it.

If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?

A peaceful Ireland, good relationships, and many days in the sun.

What is your favorite weapon?

The sword is my preferred weapon. Mine was made by my father who is a master smith.

Are you interested in girls?

Haven’t found the right one yet. Don’t really have time for a relationship at the moment anyway.

Do you lean towards reforming or exterminating villains?

I know enough of the world to realize that not everyone can be reformed. If it’s possible, then it is important we try our best, but it’s also important to realize that some people are just evil and sometimes it’s best to consider the loss that would happen if they continued to strive.

Fate or choice?

I think there’s a bit of both, but I also believe that one can change their fate if they try hard enough.

How do you get along with Miss West?

We get along fine until she tries to emotionally traumatize me or torture me or throw me down a waterfall—yes, that really happened.

How do you take your tea?

I take coffee or chocolate. Tea is no friend to the warrior who must get up early in the morning for tracking!

Who is your hero?

My big brother Aeden will always be my hero.

What kind of vehicle do you like best?

I drive an Aston Martin Vanquish, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Fast, sleek, maneuvers well, and can outrun most enemies.

Are you a night person or a morning person?

I am what I have to be at the moment. I’m not really a morning person, but I have learned to be able to get up early and still be able to function. You do what you have to when you’re out tracking or whatnot.

What would you die for?

I would die for any family member or friend.

Guest Post by C. P. Lesley

I'm happy to invite one of my fellow authors C. P. Lesley onto my blog today! We both published new books recently, so we decided to do a little blog trade, and I asked her to write a guest post in correlation to her new release The Winged Horse. Today she's going to be talking about the process of writing characters!

C.P. also featured my guest post on writing historical paranormal novels on her blog in correlation with the release of my new book, Wolfsblood. Check it out here!

Those Pesky Characters

What’s more appropriate for a guest spot on a blog called Character Purgatory than a post about fictional people? Like any novelist, I wreak havoc on my characters, constantly thinking up ways to complicate their world, get them in trouble, mess up their relationships, force them to grow whether they like it or not—until they reach that magic place where they have achieved what I set out for them to do and I can release my grip and let them enjoy life for a while. We novelists are sadists, ever on the alert for new types of suffering to inflict on our characters. It’s our job.

But not all the pain goes from authors to their creations. Although imaginary people, characters can attain an amazing level of reality. Some of my best ones prove to be stubborn as mules, laden with techniques for getting their own back. They hide in the shadows, refusing to reveal themselves (we call this writers’ block). They take time to develop, just like real people. They go off on their own, surprising me with their insistence on solving a problem in this way, not that. I find myself arguing with them, as if they were teenagers with attitude, patiently explaining that in that time and place they should be more independent or less, should take the privileges of their gender or class for granted, should be gentler or meaner, more religious, better educated, more eager to swing a sword or ply a needle. They laugh in my face and go their own way, and if I want to see where they will end up, I have to trust them to lead me there.

If you’re a writer of fiction, you probably have encountered this phenomenon yourself. If you’re not, you may be searching the local directory for the number of a nice psychotherapist to recommend. But bear with me, please. Of course, I don’t really believe that my characters maintain an existence separate from me. I create them and their world, and they represent facets of myself (yes, even the baddies). But the human subconscious is a strange and marvelous place, and a smart writer takes advantage of its capacity to weave seemingly disconnected elements of personality and life into a rich and coherent story—sometimes in ways that the conscious mind cannot immediately comprehend. A decision that a novelist makes on the fly for practical reasons—to kill off a character’s mother, say—may turn out to hold the key to that character’s whole personality. When one of my fictional people gets balky or an image nags at me or a plot element keeps butting in, I’ve learned to go with the flow, confident that the story will benefit as a result.

The same point applies even to titles and central images for each book, as illustrated by my ongoing series, Legends of the Five Directions. The first two novels are out, the third roughly plotted (with luck, I will finish it in about a year, unless the Magic Book Fairy blesses me with an independent income that allows me more hours to write), while the last two remain vague collections of ideas corralled by titles and cover pictures. The title of The Golden Lynx refers to a creature of the Russian woods but also to a piece of Scythian jewelry given to the heroine to remind her of the past she has reluctantly left behind; more deeply still, it evokes the heroine herself, a small but determined fighter against injustice. The Winged Horse represents the forces of air, the element linked to the east in Chinese and Turkic cosmology, as well as the hero’s main antagonist and the personality changes the hero must make to succeed; the horse flies between this life and the next, both literally and figuratively. The swans of the Russian north are pushing their way into The Swan Princess as I write, urging the heroine toward loyalty, toward commitment, toward the fierce defense of those she loves. I’m not sure yet how she will get there, but based on my past acquaintance with her, I suspect she will fight me all the way, insisting that she knows where she’s going, thank you very much. And I will shut up and listen, hoping with fingers crossed that she’s right, while beating back the phoenixes and shamans demanding my attention for books 4 and 5.

Maybe that’s why we writers torture our characters: because we are equally convinced that they are torturing us. But it’s an honor and a privilege to map out their journey, even if our subconscious, in the end, turns out to control the wheel.

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BIO

C. P. Lesley, a historian, has published three novels: The Not Exactly Scarlet Pimpernel, The Golden Lynx (Legends 1: West), and The Winged Horse (Legends 2: East). She is currently working on The Swan Princess (Legends 3: North). For more information, follow her blog. http://blog.cplesley.com You can find links to her books at her publisher’s website. http://www.fivedirectionspress.com/books

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The Not Exactly Scarlet Pimpernel

A modern-day graduate student enters the virtual-reality world of an eighteenth-century novel. Her life—and the novel—will never be the same.

The Golden Lynx

16th-century Moscow hums with rumors about its newest hero, the Golden Lynx. Everyone knows the Lynx must be a man, but “everyone” may be wrong…

The Winged Horse

Dispatched to collect his almost-forgotten bride, an inexperienced Tatar prince must overcome a deadly rival to obtain his inheritance and secure his future.