Real Advice in Practice

Real Advice in Practice #1


As promised, here is the first of the weekly segments for helping with character development by using references from the real world.


Today I went to a local mall and camped out with some friends in the food court. While eating, chatting, and just generally hanging out, I kept an eye and an ear out for my surroundings. During this particular trip I spotted a couple noteworthy traits / actions that could be used for writing. I'll put in parenthesis my extrapolation of what I discovered.


I heard a lady talking about a guy that never seems to smile, and she was wondering why that is. (This one actually has a pair of things that could be extrapolated from it. First would be the man being referenced. There are a variety of reasons for people not to smile from shame of their bad teeth to simply not expressing themselves that way. The second take away is the lady herself. She presents both a sense a curiosity and caring for someone that she apparently doesn't really know that well. It could be that she's the type of person that likes to fix such situations. It could also simply be office-type gossip, but that's not as interesting in my opinion).


I saw a lady breaking out a thick novel, getting comfortable, and digging into the book right in the middle of the food court. Not eating, or meeting anyone, just reading. The food court was rather noisy. (This one has a couple interesting ways that it could be used. She really seemed to be enjoying herself, which got me thinking about the situation. On one side, maybe she has a hard time focusing and reading if an area is too quiet. There are some people that need that kind of background noise. There's also the possibility that she's the sort that wishes to be around people, without actually INTERACTING with people. If she's an introvert, interacting with people requires an expenditure of energy on her part, but that doesn't stop the craving for social / human contact. So that could be a route to take it as well: someone who's lonely, and wants to be around people without any social pressures.)


Saw a guy wearing a pair of headphones, but they were turned off. Guy was just hanging out, and looking around, but with headphones off. (This one you could have some fun with. Maybe he really doesn't like people, and just wants to be left alone so he puts up such a visual cue. What about the possibility of him being deaf, and he does it so people don't think he's ignoring them intentionally? May he was there waiting on someone the whole time, and turned his headset off so he could see better and not get lost in the music. Then there's the story / plot possibilities of him being under cover agent, cop, spy, etc and is actually staking out the area.)


There was a girl who repeatedly braided, and unbraided, the same cluster of hair. (This is an interesting boredom or waiting trait. It could be used as boredom or nervousness. In this particular case I'm pretty sure it was outright boredom as she waited for one of her parents to return from the bathroom. But, used repeatedly in similar situations it could go a good way in showing a fidgety character)


Now, my extrapolations from what I've seen may not be accurate for the real world at all, I'm not trying to pry into people's lives. That isn't necessary. We're writing fiction here, so there's no problem with taking a creative license with what you observe. Take whatever cues you do observe, and find interesting ways to apply or use them. Different actions and traits can be used in widely differing areas, depending on context and whatever it is you establish.


There was another set of traits that I stumbled upon, but that will be for a later post in the week. It will cover treating multiple characters as a single "unit" / single "character"


I'll also post a small short story on the Anthology so you can see how I've used some of these traits in my own works.


Hope this helps! Like always, if you have any questions just drop me a line




--Kirk

Self-Publishing lesson +1

Hi everyone, 

I thought I’d share something I have learned from this whole “self-publishing” drama that I’ve gotten myself into. Hopefully reading this will help you if you decide to go the same route. I’ll post more information and anecdotes as they become available.

For those that don’t already know. I’m going the self-publishing route with After Sanity. I had a lot of reasons for coming to this decision, but they are not part of the current topic, so I’ll avoid any further digression. I released After Sanity: Corporate Aspirations, the first part of six, in early July.

Now, when you go the self-publishing route, YOU are your own marketing department. If you happen to have a marketing guru friend who’s willing to do it for you, so much the better. I don’t. So It’s all me. I knew this in advance, of course. I didn’t kid myself on it. However, I did have one major oversight.

My specific problem has to do with a little thing called ‘timing.” Generally speaking, this wouldn’t be such an issue since my schedule’s so fluid. However, summer and fall is my heavy season. So, in case I haven’t left enough bread crumbs, I picked a horrendous time for me to release my first book.

If you already have some sort of following, or group of people you can recruit to help you spread the good word, so much the better. I’m rather unknown outside of certain circles. And, as I mentioned in my very first post, intentionally stayed out of social media for as long as possible. This has seriously bit me in the rear as it’s forcing me to make those connections now.

To get the word out, I have to be as active as possible in a variety of areas. I don’t mean running around like an Avon salesman and harassing people. I simply mean letting people know that I exist. And, even with that relatively meager goal, I simply didn’t have the time to do it. A great example of that is the extended absence from this blog.

Now that it is the winter / slow season, I’ll be able to spend more time doing things to help get my name out there. My flurry of projects I’m getting into is another example of my attempt to tell the netsphere “Hey! I’m here!” and give some examples of my work.

So, as should be expected, the exposure for the book has suffered dramatically. As such, it’s nowhere near any “best seller lists.” All of this, can be attributed to the lack of marketing and lack of attention on my part.

The takeaway / advice for you: If you are going to self-publish anything, make sure to schedule it so that you actually have the TIME that will be required to do the marketing it will very much need. Getting your name out there during the creation process would also help. But, unlike what several POD printing services may say in their ads. The “Hard part” is NOT over when you finish the book. It’s actually just starting.

Good luck my friends! Until next time.

 

--Kirk

I Come Bearing Gifts!

Hello authors!

I know I have been rather absent from the Blogosphere for a while, but for those who have been waiting it will be well worth it! I’m expecting this post to be one of my larger posts for sure. First, I’d like to catch everyone up on what I’ve been up to for the last *checks watch* Six months…. Yesh. I’ve been pinging out my own life signs every so often through Twitter and the Facebook page. But, because I know not everyone checks those areas, I’ll recap here!

First the biggest news I have to give: After Sanity: Corporate Aspirations was released in July! That’s right, you can find it available at this very moment. It’s available in both digital and softcover variations on Amazon Here. I had been posting updates on my work on the book and cover on the Facebook page, but have refrained from posting it here. I’ve been intending on keeping this a helpful / advice blog, and try to keep from bombarding everyone with self-promotion and advertisements. I recognize that people may genuinely wish to see all of that, besides the progress bars on the right, so I will be adding separate pages to the blog that will contain all that extra goodness. I’ll mention updates on the blog, but it will remain primarily an advice/ tips/ tricks blog.

Since June I have also participated in a few extra writing projects:

I had the opportunity to be a part of an as of yet unnamed Anthology, I’ll post more when more information is available on that.

I participated in the Iron Writer Challenge number 88. Of the five authors, I tied for second. That allowed me to move on to the next round, which has yet to be set. Wish me luck!

I have started another blog where I am posting my short stories. I’m using a secondary blog to keep the posts separate. I’ll be adding a link to the other blog above later, but for now the blog is KirksAnthology.blogspot.com. I have already started posting there, with the opening act being a story per day for each of the twelve days of Christmas. I’m following a fun set of themes that have been posted on the Iron Writer web site. Take a look if you wish.

I participated in and won NaNoWriMo 2014. I chose a novel that isn’t inside of my normal comfort zone to help me improve and grow as an author. It’s worked pretty well, despite the problems. I’m expecting to be done with this one, tentatively called ‘Necessary Violence,’ within a month. At Least the first draft.

I’ve decided to post a much longer work on my Anthology Blog. I will work on and post an entire novel on the blog. Chapter by chapter. I’m hoping to get to a schedule of a chapter a week, but we’ll see how that goes. The purpose will be to gauge people’s interest and get feedback on not only my style of writing but of the story as well. I’m still trying to figure out which story I want to try this experiment with. I may use ‘Necessary Violence,’ but only time will tell.

I have also decided to start up a segment here called “Real Advice in Practice.” I’ve talked to others before and a common issue with people is making characters “seem real.” I’ve mentioned was of making interesting characters and helping bring both them and the worlds you create to life, but I realize the full mechanics of this may be lost on some. To that end I’ll be performing a bit of real world research and, in this weekly segment, share with all of you what I discovered, and how I could use it.

The best thing I know for such exploration is: people watching. I know that seems like some sort of stalker / creeper phrase, but please hear me out. Go to a public venue, and just generally watch people, how they act, and their interactions with each other. Also pay close attention to how they act by theirselves. Now, by this I do NOT mean LEERING / GAWKING / anything like that. Don’t be weird. What I’m suggesting is BE observant. Everyone has some kind of quirk. Most people have a couple. A lot of times the ones they show in private will be different from the ones they show in public, but you’ll still get a good idea. These “quirks” go a looooong way to bringing a character to life.

In this weekly segment I’ll be reporting on my own findings. I’ll go to some public venue, probably a mall, and just sit and observe the rest of humanity. I’ll compile a list of interesting / noteworthy traits and post them here. I will then use the traits and show you how it can make an interesting character. By doing this, I hope to give your creativity a boost and open your eyes to the wonderful world around you, and all of the references it holds for your next great piece!

I had already done exactly as mentioned, and was going to post it here as well, but I believe I’ll give it its own post to be easier to digest.

TL;DR: I’m still alive. I published the book and I’m still helping how I can.

Until next time, keep writing!



--Kirk