Designing a Character: Using Texture

Texture connects us directly with our senses of sight and touch.  Discovering the feel of hard vs. soft, smooth vs. rough, or shiny vs. dull, gives us information about the world, through our fingers and eyes.  As a general perception, we are drawn to soft, smooth, and shiny, while hard, dull, and rough aren’t always as desirable. 

How does imposing texture add dimension to your character?  Do you want them to be appealing, or dangerous?  Is their texture deceptive to their true nature, or an affirmation of who they really are?  Every character has an exterior and interior landscape.  Are these layers of their texture contrasting or complementary?  Do your character’s textures come out in touchable form, such as clothing, or are they reflected in speech, action, and expression?                          

Back to Harry Potter for a peek at texture.  I see Voldemort as a black charred core, surrounded by a slick metallic coating, covered in gashes with knife-sharp edges.  

Be a texture seeker.  Mentally sculpt your character with materials that reveal them.  See what nuances you may discover.   

Designing a Character: Using Color Schemes

Individual colors each have their own subjective emotional impact, but start putting them together and you can create dramatic, sympathetic, or powerful structures.  Assign your characters colors and then play with combining them into scenes to create discord, harmony, mystery, or chaos.   

Monochromatic – This is when you take a single color and add either black or white to it.  Think of it as the shadings of your character.  Your protagonist might start out their journey as a primary blue until the obstacles they face darken them into a more mysterious midnight shade.  On the other hand, a character may lose burdens and lighten into a powder or sky blue, moving closer to the white end of the spectrum.

Triads – Play colors like chords on the piano, three notes of different hues.  The color triad of red, yellow, and orange stimulates appetite.  Think about the color scheme of many fast food restaurants.  These three colors are also high value, suggesting energy and vitality.  I imagine three teen friends on an adventure when I think of this triad. (Probably all boys, stopping to eat often at fast food restaurants)

The triad black, white, and red radiates power, and may suggest villainy.  Picture the flag of Hitler’s Third Reich.  

Complimentary – Colors in opposite positions on the color wheel work against each other in dynamic harmony, red/green, orange/ blue, yellow/purple.  Complimentary schemes may signal conflict between characters.  Picture a romantic entanglement where opposites attract and join for an exciting relationship.

Analogous – Any neighboring colors on the color wheel – ex: purple/magenta/red or blue/turquoise/green.  You feel them fading in to one another and getting along.  An analogous scheme may signify the calm family life of a character before their quest/problem throws their life into turmoil.  At journey’s end analogous colors reflect the happy well-balanced land to which a hero returns in triumph after slaying literal or figurative dragons. 

Go check out Color Scheme Designer and play with color combos of your own.

Designing a Character: Using Light-Direction

When you visualize a scene, reveal your characters with light.  Illuminating people differently will project their qualities.  In particular, changing the direction from where a light originates can model a figure in a variety of ways, each creating a unique specific effect.

FRONT LIGHT: Car headlights.  No secrets.  Let it all hang out.  Projects a huge shadow behind.  Character revealed.

BACK LIGHT(Directly or offset to one side)/DOWNLIGHT(Straight from above): Sunlight/Moonlight/Streetlight.  Separates the character from their surroundings.  Allows them to pop out and be distinct.  No one melts into the scenery.

UPLIGHT: Unnatural direction.  Burning sewer grate.  Candle under the chin.  Creepy.  Monstrous.  Beware the up-lit character.  

SIDELIGHT: Room lamps.  Sunrise/Sunset.  Adds dimension.  Fills out the form of your character.  Depth, complexity.  Brings out the folds in their clothing. Used strongly in dance.

What direction of light is catching your characters? Are you playing with cast shadows or internal shadows?




photo credits

Designing a Character: Using Light-Purpose

In the spirit of: "It ain't nice 'til you've read it twice," here's the next installment of the Designing a Character Series from last year.

Why do we need light?  Illumination, right?  Ding, ding, ding…correct.  Ah, but illumination has a myriad of subtexts.

DIRECTING OUR FOCUS: We look where the light is strongest.  It guides our line of vision.  Is your current action bathed in the brightest light?  Are distinct pools of light guiding your reading through moments?

CONTRAST:  We may be looking at the light, but who or what is lurking in the shadows.

MOOD: A character walking out in the midday sun projects a different purpose than a character strolling through the dappled sunlight filtering down along a tree-lined path.

STABLE VS. UNSTABLE: Dependable electric lights shining in a room at night give a secure feeling, safety from the darkness.  The light of a candle or the fire in a fireplace is not so constant.  What are we missing in a character’s face lit sparsely by a flickering light?

STRONG VS. WEAK: Are you exposing your characters with sharp, crisp rays, or do more diffuse beams gently reveal them?

Play with the concept of light.  Let it be a tool to bring an added layer of dimensionality to your characters and scenes.  Try visualizing light that would not be expected in a given situation.  How does that change intention or outcome?

Designing a Character: Using Shape

It's conference week for me so I'm repeating a post from my designing a character series. Enjoy or re-enjoy as the case may be.

Shape, an area defined by line or color, evokes emotional responses similar to line.  We are surrounded by both two and three-dimensional shapes in our world.  In writing we want to avoid two-dimensional characters, those with only length and width, like the plague.  B-0-R-I-N-G.  It’s that third dimension of depth that adds spice to our puppets.

The fun begins when we manipulate shape.

BALANCE:  X O X O X O

Are you asleep yet?  Balance can be a story device you employ as a baseline only if you’re intent on utterly destroying it quickly.  As an overriding plot element, it can be deadly.

Once upon a time there were little pig triplets with ungodly trust funds.  The loving pig brothers, all equally intelligent and motivated, left tail in snout to find their way in the wide wide world.  Using their unlimited Renaissance Pig talents, they build a compound with three identical houses where they could live together in harmony.  Best of all they had a bushy-tailed wolfy neighbor who refused to eat anything except stupid pigs who never wore clothing.  The End.     

INTERVAL OF SPACE:    X X X X X X       X

I know which X you are looking at!

Once upon a time there were little pig triplets with ungodly trust funds.  The first pig made a horrendous investment due to his lack of online research, and was left destitute.  His brothers shunned him, and he had to live out his porcine existence in a cardboard refrigerator box under the forest overpass.  Since he was stupid and did not wear clothing, his brothers’ bushy-tailed wolfy neighbor ate him.  The End. 

IDENTIFIABLE SHAPE:  X    - ò ﾐ

A shape we recognize and are able to assign meaning, is always dominant.

One upon a time there were two amorphous blobs and one pig with ungodly trust funds.  The blobs had no hands or faces and therefore no means to access their riches.  The pig opened a small bookstore under the oak tree with his money and was wildly successful since animals who wear clothing, also read.  The indefinable blobs could not communicate with the non-blob world so no one in the forest had any clue what they were thinking, doing, or planning.  They hung aimlessly in the air below the branches of the oak tree, doing nothing, for the rest of all time.  The End.

Note: If you speak “blob” and can order the last mini-story in their original tongue, “blob,” thus being able to identify their unique culture and language, you’ll find the journey of the blobs hanging in the forest is actually an epic to rival Tolkien.  Who knew?

Whadaya Think About Blog Awards?

There are some pretty cool awards floating around the blogosphere. It’s true that accepting an honor, fulfilling its requirements, and passing it on can add yet another serving to your already overflowing “to be done” plate. Sometimes we just can’t respond to an award. I’ve been guilty of losing an award because I didn’t bookmark or write down the generous giver, and I feel bad. Thank you and I’m sorry to anyone that feels I snubbed them.

Lisa Gail Green presented a clever solution to passing on an award in her Paranormal Point of View blog.

We have to guard our writing time fiercely, but if you find a sliver of a moment, I think adding a link to the award chain can send some positive vibes out there to cyberspace.

Here are a few reasons why,

Awards –

• may send you to a blog you otherwise wouldn’t visit
• connect writers and give a sense of the peer community that’s out there
• let you learn details about a blogger you might never know thus providing a giggle or the occasional guffaw
• help build followers for a fellow blogger
• encourage new bloggers to stick with it

Two Thank Yous I didn’t lose, go out to Lacie Myers and Prerna Pickett for gifting me with the Liebster award (the name makes me crave lobster) that goes out to blogs on the way to the 250 followers goal.

So I'm sending lobster, I mean the Liebster to these delicious voices:

Caryn Caldwell

Pat Newcombe

D.M. Cunningham

Michelle Brown

Augusta Scattergood

Pass the butter, and share your opinion on blog awards. Happy Fall and welcome to my new followers.

View From the 5th Grade Trenches - August 2011 - The Scieszka Zone

You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, 

The Scieszka Zone

Where else can a math cursed kid escape by putting two halves together to make a hole in the wall?

Where else can the Big Bad Wolf plead his case?

Where else can a cowboy crack up about a head of lettuce?

Where else can Chicken Licken seek an audience with Obama?

Nothing tops the giggles of a roomful of kids. That is why I start every school year sharing the witty and hilarious words of Jon Scieszka and the crazy-perfect pictures of Lane Smith with my class. Their stories are every bit as guffaw-inducing for adults as they are for the kids.

Jon Scieszka has clocked time as a teacher in the elementary school trenches and he proves over and over his special magic for communicating with kids. As a teacher I appreciate everything Scieszka for the teachable moments the works provide above and beyond engaging kids with their solid gold humor.

MATH CURSE – Introduces the Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34 (Have you cracked the code?) as well as empathizing with students about the mind boggling math concepts they have to conquer each new school year.

THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS – Is an approachable and entertaining example of teaching voice and point of view.

COWBOY AND OCTOPUS – Is Diversity 101. The relationship and tolerance between these two unlikely amigos exemplifies the joy of putting differences aside and being friends with someone unexpected.

THE STINKY CHEESE MAN AND OTHER FAIRLY STUPID TALES – Besides the perk of getting to say “stupid” for the guaranteed laugh, these quick spins on traditional tales are ripe for teaching the elements of a story.

Thank you Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith for all the lesson plan blanks you’ve filled in for me, and above all else, for making kids crave books.

Look for the signpost up ahead – your next stop, 

The Scieszka Zone

The Twilight Zone introduction is written by Rod Serling.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

The term “butt in chair” is the endearing way of saying you need to dedicate yourself to a routine of writing. I think we can all agree forming a writing habit is the best way to be productive, but what about the chair? Our creative streams deserve the perfect pedestal from which to flow.

I have recently graduated from a discarded kitchen chair with a thin pad to a super-deluxe, turbo desk chair. Viva la difference! I could keep my butt in this baby all day!

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE CHAIR:  

• Padding
• Swivel (If it spins – even better – not to say I spin when I’m mulling a manuscript – okay I do)
• Arms (not too high or your fingers get stuck under your desk. OUCH!)
• Fabric that your legs don’t stick to if it gets too hot
• Neutral color (So you aren’t distracted)
• Wheels
• Unattractive to cats who like to claw everything
• Back support (In case any doctors are checking my list)
• Not so awesome that another family member will steal it
• Easy to assemble (My son had to do mine)

“Say hello to my little friend.”

GOLDEN NUGGETS FROM THE SCBWI LA 2011 CONFERENCE

Here is some treasure I’m carrying in my pocket from this year’s SCBWI LA Conference.

Don’t throw anything away. You never know what might be “mineable” material. BRUCE COVILLE, Author

A big mistake is submitting your manuscript too early. TRACEY ADAMS, Agent from Adams Literary

Readers are not trends. They want a story full of heart and soul. LIBBA BRAY, Author of BEAUTY QUEENS (You have to listen to the audiobook. I’m still laughing.)

Know what came before you – classics and current works. STEVEN MALK, Agent Writer’s House & JON SCIESZKA, Author of STINKY CHEESE MAN (And a stack of other books I share with the kids in my class every year)

COWBOY AND OCTOPUS by JON SCIESZKA (I dare you not to giggle for days.)

Start a book on the day something different happens. JUDY BLUME, Author of countless amazing books

Help kids know there is more than one way to look at things. NORTON JUSTER, Author of THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH

Be the kid you were when “it” happened. ALAN SILBERBERG, Author of MILO, STICKY NOTES AND BRAIN FREEZE (I dare you not to feel your heart fill with laughter and your eyes with tears when you read MILO.)

History repeats in every human heart. RICHARD PECK, Author of A YEAR DOWN YONDER

The seed of my art was spinning in my soul. LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON, Author of SPEAK

I'm still floating on a cloud of inspiration. Sell the cat if you have to in order to go to SCBWI LA 2012. You'll never regret it.

Music As A Writing Partner

I adore the way different art forms compliment each other in the creative world. As a designer I have to see a scene visually in my head as I write it in order to understand the lines, textures, and colors of characters, settings, and emotions. Another beloved partner in my writing process is music.

How do I use music?

A LESSON IN CONCISE STORYTELLING: “Augie Nieto,” by Five For Fighting and Taylor Swift’s, “Love Story,” each tell a complete tale in under four minutes apiece.  Often for me, a line in a song will give me an “Ah ha!” moment for a character or action. Maybe we should start singing our loglines.

THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG: It is great fun to find a specific song to convey the emotions between two characters in love. “Far Away,” by Nickelback, and “Falling In,” by Lifehouse are currently turning my characters to mush in different stories. Breakup songs can be cool as well. “Not Meant To Be,” by Theory of a Deadman hits that note.

FEEL THE BEAT: I like to assign each chapter of my MS a song that matches its emotional context, action, or intention. Listening to the playlist can take you on an auditory journey though your story. You hear beats, builds, tension, conflict, joy, sorrow, and resolution. The playlist supplies a textural soundscape that hopefully matches your character and story arcs. When I have trouble finding a piece of music to compliment a chapter, more often than not, it’s the chapter that has issues.

MIX IT UP: When you are finding musical matches for your stories it is important to tap into multiple genres. I have never heard a more beautiful song than the classical piece, “Siegfried Idyll” by Wagner. “Stand” by Rascal Flats and “Live Like You Were Dying,” by Tim McGraw are fantastic country songs that scream to be character anthems.

How do you use music in your writing process?

Note: The links will take you to iTunes so you can taste snippets of these super songs.

photo credit