Keeping her real

I was always told by my mentor to keep my heroines real. In fact, at some points of my writing, I have tried to come up with a heroine that fits the mould but who, at the same time, was different. I thought I had it right, but I was wrong. Why? Because I polarized her too much. The quiet, self-effacing PA I wanted to create for my novel Storms in a Shot Glass (coming January 2010 with Eirelander Publishing) turned into a wallflower who even melted in the brocade wallpaper so much she was, well, effacing.

So what did I do afterwards, other than let the story sit for a few months until I could understand where I went wrong and how I could make it right?

During one of my endless streaks of inspiration that come when I'm either doing the dishes or ironing (oh yeah, I'm a domestic goddess. Not!!), I had my answer. My heroine wasn't real!

Duh, you'll go, you already knew that. But it did come as a lightbulb moment. In trying to create a 'different' heroine from what is usually done in the realm of the quiet secretary/PA, I had gone to an extreme, and my heroine was no longer human. She also whined too much and made no move to get a grip on her life. Very pathetic.

That got me thinking - why isn't she real? If this gal, Jane, were a real gal I met in the streets of London, what would she be like? I knew she had to be quiet, self-effacing, giving the impression that she was meek and docile. And that's where the key lay - it was naught but an impression, a facade she presented to the world. In the confines of her flat, she is a different woman. She doesn't particularly like living alone or being alone, but it doesn't bother her much more than this. You are after all what you make yourself out to be. Jane tries to fill her life up with her job, and that isn't hard to do when you know her boss is really an immature man behind the facade of the successful CEO. Consequently, Jane doesn't have much time to eat, so she wolfs down microwave-able frozen food when she remembers. That's for the day to day life - this shows her as a 'normal' human. Now as to what made her this way - foray into her backstory. What shaped her into this self-effacing creature? I got another layer as to how to make her real and how to project the person she has become.

I could tell you that I got to know her. You could do this too for your heroine. Think of yourself as a woman (if you're a man, think of the women you know). Read Cosmo and get tips as to what makes a woman tick. Get the overall impression you want her to convey and build this into a logical explanation. Then go into her past and make this logical explanation even more logical by shaping this woman through her past.

You then end up with a believable starting point for your heroine.

Another good strategy would be to invent yourself a best friend who has the characteristics you want your heroine to have. Now, nobody's perfect, and tone her down to someone who could actually exist, someone you could bump into at the Pilates class, at the grocery store, at the corner deli.

In far-reaching cases, say you are writing about a heroine who had a bout with anorexia yet you know about the condition but would you be able to project the existence of a former anorexic truthfully without knowing what it's like? Do your research. Find women who are at this stage in their life and talk/interview them. These little tidbits they'll provide you will be the real deal, and will make your heroine all the more realistic.

And then also, there's your biggest asset - you! What doesn't cut it with you as a reader? When you're creating a heroine, think like a reader. Would this woman get a chance if you picked up her story? Think also like a real person. Would such a character really exist? And if no, what makes her unrealistic? Use this then to make her believable.

Clear as mud? Any questions, just holler!!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

Get to the point

What writer hasn't dreaded 'the pitch'?

What writer hasn't obsessed over the need to have a succint description of their story in a nutshell to present to a potential editor?

Say you meet your dream editor in an elevator and he/she tells you, What's your plot? You start to go, my story is about this girl who gets divorced and then she comes back home and realises life has changed and then she decides she must put up with it and-- Ding!!

The elevator door opens and out glides your editor. Unless you got stuck between floors for at least an hour would you have been able to lay out all your story is about.

That's too true, you think? Actually yes. And unfortunately for the editors, and to a great measure the writers too, we miss a lot of good stories this way, because the writer wasn't able to grab our attention.

I've been there before, even if it wasn't in an elevator. As Lady T.J. already pointed out, I've known the barb of, And your point would be? What's your plot, girl?

What many of us do not realise is that editors know their job, or at least, a good editor should know his/her job. This implies that a brief description in the appropriate language/words will convey more than a drawn-out monologue will ever convey in this circle.

Take the story I just started outlining up above. A divorcee comes back home and realises society views her in a new light. Amidst all this chaos, she meets the man she had loved and given up on in the past, because she hadn't had it in her to pursue this 'impossible' relation in her youth.

That pitch would take at least 2 minutes to convey, and that is way more than the average elevator trip, unless you're on a ride to the top floor of the Empire State Building.

Now, I meet an editor and I go - the plot is about Maturation in the setup of Man V/s Society/Nature/Man with underlying hints of Forbidden Love.

This might not make sense to you. How the heck did that explain your plot or the uniqueness of your story?

Believe me, to an editor, you just exposed the very uniqueness of your plot, because you related it to the basic framework that is predominant in the publishing world. This tickles the editor, because this description tells him/her what you have done and he/she can relate it immediately to what's already been done.

Take a moment to study the basic plots and the master plots. Like Lady T.J. already said, they are going to be your road map, and through this road map, however silly/overstretched/far-fetched your story, laying it down within the framework of the basic and master plots will mean you never lose the way and what you write will ultimately make sense.

I give you another analogy, that of the medical world. You bring someone to ER and the paramedic says to the resident- this man was brought in with shortness of breath, near paralysis on the right side, excessive sweating, erratic heartbeat, difficulty to articualte resulting in slurring speech. By this time, the pateint may already be dead. Why do you think the paramedic goes, man of fifty, possibility of a massive stroke to have occureed within the past hour? The resident knows what a stroke entails, and he knows what to do with this description.

Same goes for your editor. Be brief, succint, and know your jargon - in other words, know your plots. Your words will only speak louder and your writing path for a story will only be clearer.

Any question, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - the Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in early 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com