Who Is It ?

Of the millions of novels on the market today, it's amazing how we become attached to certain characters. Characters we look forward to reading about book after book. Characters who remain timeless.

Who are your all-time favorite fictional characters and why? I mean other than Agatha Christie's, Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, Sherlock Holmes. They are everyone's favorite characters. If they aren't yours, than I, and I'm sure millions of other readers, would love to know why.

Other than Poirot, Marple and Holmes, my favorite fictional characters are a toss up between Elizabeth George's, Inspector Thomas Lynley, and Carol O'Connell's, Detective Kathleen Mallory.

Let's start with Lynley. Extremely rich, intelligent, handsome, and fit, Thomas' disposition reminds me of that of Sherlock Holmes. Like Sherlock, Thomas is impatient, demanding, and often dismissive of others. However, as you get to know Thomas you fall in love with his vulnerability. He is insecure about his wealth, and has a partner who couldn't be more opposite of him if she tried. Short, fat, ugly and unable to work with any other officer, one would think Barbara Havers and Lynley wouldn't last a day. Thomas gave her a chance and it worked. Still, she refuses, while remaining respectful, to accept any of his impertinence. Lynley respects her for that and for her intelligence, and finds he doesn't want to work with anyone else. Opposite as night and day, these two make an amazing team and a great reading adventure.

Next is Carol O'Connell's main character. The abandoned little girl, Kathleen Mallory who grew up on the streets. She is taken in by a loving family only to later lose them. Her adoptive father is a cop and he and his loving and gentle wife raise Kathleen who grows up to become a cop herself. Through each novel, the author reveals a bit of Mallory's tragic past helping the reader, and Mallory, understand how she became abandoned at such a young age, forced to live years of her young life on the seedy streets of town, and how she survived that life.

Because of both characters, the novels are gripping and full of edge-of-the-seat suspense. I'm anxious to learn of your favorite characters.

What Do You Think?

I believe literature and history go hand-in-hand.

Anyone who has read Charles Dickens has not only learned historical facts about that era, but also felt the emotional heartache of the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution. Oliver Twist is one example of the cruelty to children during that era. Consider Mark Twain's version of the 'Old South' in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. What about Edith Wharton? Do you not feel the pinch of the restrictive corset while learning of the hypocritical Victorian Era by reading Wharton?

Of course, not all literature has something to do with history, but a great deal of it does. Do you agree with me? If so, please let me know one or two of your author examples. If not, I'd love to understand why.

Let's Get Going

So, you want to write a novel and feel you have a good story to tell. That's great. Now, let's make sure you're ready to start writing it.

As you know, all stories must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The story must also have a climax. Throughout the novel, you must enclose conflict and action. Throw in some suspense and you pretty much have it, right? Maybe.

Why not be sure? What if you make beginning your novel a bit more structured by creating an outline. If you have an outline to follow chances are you won't get side-tracked from your main point or forget to make use of all the important aspects your novel needs to be a well-rounded successful story.

As you begin to write your outline, you'll want to keep several essential tips in mind. Author Sol Stein, in How To Grow A Novel, lists them:

1 What does your protagonist want?
2 Is it a desire that readers will be able to understand or identify with?
3 Who or what is in your protagonist's way? (Who will be more dramatic.)
4 Write a character sketch of each of the main players that has much more detail than you are likely to use.
5 Get into the skin of characters who are different from you.
6 Why would you want to spend a lot of time in the company of the person you are choosing as your protagonist?
7 How do your characters view each other? Write a short paragraph about each character's view of the virtues, faults, and follies of the other important characters. Save these paragraphs for referral and guidance.
8 Which character's point of view will dominate?
9 How are you planning to hook the reader's attention on page one?
10 Consider starting with a scene that is already underway.
11 What are the dramatic conflicts you intend to let the reader see in each chapter?

When you've completed your outline and Mr. Stein's checklist, you're on your way to creating a well-rounded successful story. Having the outline and tips handy, you should be able to remain focused on the main points you want to tell and make use of the significant facets your novel needs.

How do you begin your novels? Do you follow an outline or begin writing and structure later?

My Faux Pas

Last August I posted a blog titled: My Faux Pas, and asked readers if they felt it was alright to invite someone to check out their blog or leave a link to their blog in the response. At that time, I had just begun blogging and only received one response. Here it is almost a year later, and I would still appreciate some feedback on the subject. So, today I have again posted the former blog in hope of more comments.

My Faux Pas
Is it improper to invite someone to check out your blog or to leave your link in a response on theirs?

It seems I’ve committed this major faux pas and was confused as to why. I thought one of the reasons for links was to make things easier for the internet user. In fact, one of the reasons for the internet is to make life easier for the user. I found both links and the internet have made my life a great deal less stressful. I’ve also made a few friends by leaving a link to my blog. New friends in which I have something in common.

I asked myself, what’s the harm? If they leave a link to their blog and I want to check it out, I’ll click, if I’m not interested, I won’t. No big deal, right? Turns out I’m wrong.

So why all the fuss about leaving a link to your blog in a response? I have graciously been informed that many writers don’t appreciate us leaving our link in a response to their blogs. To all those writers I’ve linked, I am truly sorry. I meant no harm. I now understand some writers look at a link attached to a response as advertising our sites on their blogs. I now understand how that would appear as intrusive and offensive.

What do you think? Are you also guilty of advertising on another blog? Do you think it's alright to do or wrong?