10 Tips to Make Your Characters Shine

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10 tips to make your characters shine, Catherine Castle, characterization tips, romance author, writing tips

1. Give them a quirk. This doesn’t have to be something big, just consistent and something that will set them apart from the other characters.
2. Give them a flaw. No one is perfect. I know I’m not. It’s the flaws, big and little, that make us human.
3. Give them a secret. As an actor, my drama coach always said to create a secret for our character to give them depth. No one needed to know what the secret was, but it would show in our performance.
4. Give them a phobia. Everyone has fears. The most memorable characters will show those fears at some point, yet be able to conquer them.
5. Make them true to themselves. Readers will be jarred out of the story if your character does something that’s out of character, without good reason. It’s the equivalent of a perfect child suddenly doing drugs.
6. Give them something to care about. No one likes people who don’t care. If your characters, even the villains, are totally heartless they become stereotypical. Even bad guys care about something or love someone.
7. Give them appropriate tags to show, not tell, the reader about them. I can’t say enough about show don’t tell. Appropriate tags that let the reader see the character rather than telling the reader what you want them to know makes characters, and stories, sparkle.
8. Make them reveal emotions. Your characters emotions are the readers’ window to the heroes’, heroines’, and villains’ souls. Let the readers see, and figure out for themselves, what the characters are all about.
9. Give them something they must do or achieve to gain happiness. This speaks to goal, motivation and conflict. If a character doesn’t have to stretch and grow, then you don’t have a full character.
10. Provide only enough background to make you reader believe in him. Burying the reader under mounds of background that doesn’t matter to your story is like putting honey on top of jelly. It’s superfluous and unnecessary. Less is more. Just be sure you include the important stuff that speaks to the character’s motivation. Leave the rest on your character sheets where it belongs.

© Catherine Castle

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Eight More Ways to Stop Writer’s Procrastination

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beating procrastination, blog about writing, Catherine Castle, Eight more ways to stop writer's procrastination, romance author, writing quote, writing tip list

Eight More Ways to Stop Writer’s Procrastination ©

 “Procrastination is the thief of time.” Edward Young

It’s a bad habit— procrastination.  Sometimes, when I don’t feel like calling myself a procrastinator, I’ll tell myself I’m just giving my ideas time to bubble to the surface or working out the steps needed to finish whatever, or I’m making hay while the sun shines and I’ll write when it rains, or I’ll convince myself I’m taking care of important family stuff first, or I’m just waiting to see if that languishing item on my list really needs attention.

Whatever you might choose to call it, procrastination is the opposite of advancing, and as writers, advancement is what we want and need to do.  So, don’t delay reading my last eight tips for stopping writer’s procrastination. If you didn’t see the first seven ways check this out: Seven Ways to Stop Writer’s Procrastination.

• Don’t wait to start writing. Delaying the project only makes you feel like a loser, puts more pressure on you to complete it, and can actually end in defeat when you tell yourself “I’ll never get it done now.”
•  Feel free to fail. Every word you write won’t be golden. Some will be garbage and some will be platinum. Realize you’ll be tossing something at the trash can and let it go.
• Work on one section at a time. Don’t jump around without finishing the current project. There’s a great sense of accomplishment that comes from a completed chapter, that first draft, or the completed dreaded synopsis or query.
• Create a pleasant atmosphere for working. Make your writing space a neat, orderly haven. Make sure you don’t have to uncover the computer every time you want to write, or have to search for half an hour just to find a pencil and paper. Decorate your space and surround yourself with things you like – things that inspire you.
• Take short exercise breaks to keep up your energy – and keep you toned. Too much sitting without any exercise isn’t good for anyone.
• Reward yourself as each job is completed. Did you make your daily or weekly goal? Then do something special for yourself. Buy a new book. Get a latte from your favorite coffee shop. Get your nails done. Have lunch with a friend. You can get real creative here.
• Post inspirational quotes to keep you motivated. The best way to realize that writing is hard work is to let the experts, and the published, cheer you on. Buy a writer’s book of quotes and post the ones that inspire you to write. Remember, the authors you admire were once in your position. Success is only an editor away.
• Share dreaded tasks with critique partners. Hate plotting? Then brainstorm with other writers. Get tips on how to write that query. Let others help you figure out to shore up that sagging middle. Writing is a solitary profession and we can all benefit from interaction with other writers.

Do you employ any of these tips to halt writer’s procrastination? What tips can you add?

Through The Garden Gates at Disney–Character Topiaries

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Amusment park gardens, Catherine Castle, Disney characters, Disney World, Gardening blog, living sculptures, romance author, Topiaries

The Stars of the Show–Mickey and Minnie Mouse

A trip to Disney World netted me these pictures. While I don’t have any topiaries in my garden, I certainly appreciate their beauty and the work involoved in the creation. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. This is just a sample of the many figures scattered throughout the Disney Parks.

All photos were taken by D. Hershberger (c) 2012

Sleeping Beauty and ther prince

Peter Pan, Hook and Croc

Cinderella and the prince

Snow White

Donald and Daisy Duck

Something for the guys—CARS!

Bambi and Friends

Through The Garden Gates–Introduction to the series

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Catherine Castle, Garden photos, garden quotes, gardening, Gardening blog, romance author

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into–Beecher

As the summer season approaches, I’ve decided to add a new thread to my blog–Through the Garden Gates. Each week I’ll highlight a garden photo or photos from my own garden, the gardens of friends and neighbors, and public gardens I’ve visited, and post one of my favorite garden quotes. Lest you ooh and ahh over the gate at the head of this blog, I can’t take any credit for it, although I would love to have it in my garden. It’s a free download from Microsoft Clip Art.

My garden gate is pictured below as well as some of the first blooms of summer, well, almost summer. I hope you’ll enjoy your trips…

Through The Garden Gates!

Catherine’s garden gate

The perfect Knockout rose bud
photo by Catherine

First Echinacea of the season
photo by Catherine

Dusty Miller ready to bloom
photo by Catherine

5/23/12 Quilting Your Book

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articles, mystery quilting, Quilting, Quilting your book, romance author

Irish Chain Quilt

One of the hobbies I enjoy is quilting. I’m not terribly skilled at it. More often than not my corners don’t match,  and I have only completed about three quilts. I have a lot more unfinished projects than finished, but nonetheless, it is a hobby I indulge in whenever I’m not gardening, writing, or blogging, and it’s one I enjoy a lot.

Once a year I attend Joy Quilters Mystery Day and start a mystery quilt. I’ve been doing this for several years now and have several unfinished quilt tops. The interesting part of the mystery quilt challenge, and most nerve-racking for me, is choosing my fabrics without any idea of what I’m making. Don’t misunderstand. I love fabric and have a big stash, but it’s rather eclectic. I always start fresh for the mystery quilt and purchase just little more than I think I’ll need, which is why my stash is eclectic.

The instructions tell me how much material to get; whether it should be light, dark, or medium values; big, or little patterns, or no pattern at all; what shape to cut the material into; and how big the finished quilt will be. Since there’s not always clear color information, I usually look for a piece of material with color combinations that I like and build my quilt around that. Beyond that, I’m flying blind. I don’t know what a single block will look like, much less the whole quilt.

At the Mystery Quilt session we get one clue at a time. Often the leaders will say, “Take one dark square and sew it to a light one, then sew your long, medium value rectangle to that.” Easy enough, I think. But as I work, and get distracted talking to my tablemates, I often find myself stitching the pieces together incorrectly. False starts. Mistakes. So I rip the square, sometimes many squares, apart and start over, triple checking myself each time I lay new pieces together. After a bit, I get in the rhythm, chain stitching pieces together without lifting my sewing machine foot or breaking the thread. The repetitive pattern of hold together, feed under the foot, and stitch makes my progress hum, and I do okay until the leader adds the next step.

During a pressing break, I’ll look around the room to see what everyone else is making, and I begin doubting my choices. Some ladies have chosen only two colors, but four different shades of each color. Their quilt tops look coordinated—and very pretty. Others might have twenty shades of blue, or browns or reds. They always look very striking and very planned out. The print I’ve chosen as my base looks good by itself and my other colors are complimentary, but when I have my twenty different fat quarter fabrics  cut up and stitched back together, I’m never sure I like what I’ve created. And if I don’t like it, I usually don’t finish the quilt.

When I write without a clear plan, by the seat of my pants, without any idea of what my scenes, chapters, or plot points are, or where the turning points happen, I feel like I’m making mystery books.  I struggle with sagging middles, false starts, the dreaded blank screen, and a book that’s either too short or too long. I’ve tried writing scenes out of sequence as the ideas came to me—it took seven years to write that book, and I’m still not sure I’m happy with the ending. I’ve done writing without knowing the skeletal structure of my plot, and I’ve written from very detailed outlines. The books that I’ve written the fastest, with the least revisions, are always the ones that I have a clear pattern for and a clear picture of. If I have any holes in my story (and there’s always some wiggle room in the best laid out plans, be it quilts or books), my characters, whom I know rather well, because I’ve taken the time to get to know them, usually fill the holes in for me. Knowing each part of my book supports the other and which section of the story to piece to another makes the job go swiftly, unlike my mystery quilts which get stalled after I lay out the first blocks and discover I don’t like what I’ve created.

All those unfinished mystery quilts, which I have laid so carefully into paper bags with their cutout pieces and instructions, are on my sewing bucket list. But I’ve lost interest in them, just like the books I blindly started.  I plan to get back to them someday—the quilts and the books—but for now, I’ll try to concentrate on the projects I can see clearly.  Maybe, if I can stay out of the fabric store, I won’t start anything new until I’m finished with the old projects.

Then, again … maybe not. I am, after all, a fabri-holic.  Just ask my husband.

How do you quilt your books together … by having a detailed pattern or by mystery quilting?

You might be a garden junkie if …

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blog, Catherine Castle, Garden photos, gardening, humor, romance author

Snowball bush in my garden
photo by Catherine Hershberger

At my house, garden season is in full swing. From bug killing (see my earlier post about Garden Wars), to spring cleaning; to mulching; to planting; the garden is taking every spare minute that blogging doesn’t. I’ve come to the conclusion, as I do every year, that I’m a garden junkie. If you are a gardener, are you a junkie too? Take this quick quiz to find out your junkie status.

You might be a garden junkie if…

1. A picture of a garden … any garden … makes you gasp in ecstasy.
2. You love the smell of newly laid mulch.
3. You subscribe to every garden magazine you find.
4. You carefully replant every earthworm you accidently dig up.
5. Horse sh**t isn’t a curse word to you, but a source of free fertilizer.
6. You plan your vacations around spring cleaning, summer blooms, fall blooms, and winter cleanup.
7. You know the exact number and species of every tree, bush, and flower in your garden, and most of the weeds too.
8. You always buy more plants than you can plant in one day.
9. You know the garden center employees by name.
10. You have more pictures of your garden in your smart phone than family members.

If you answered yes to number 1 you are definitely a beginning gardener. Don’t despair, just keep on digging and you’ll eventually reach junkie status. If you answered yes to numbers 1-5, you are well on your way to joining the elite. If you said yes to 1-9 then you are an avid gardener.

And if you said yes to all 10, statements, you, my friend, are a garden junkie.

Welcome to the club!

Garden Wars

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battling bugs, blog, Catherine Castle, creative writing, Garden photos, Gardening blog, humor, romance author

Spring down Catherine's garden path

Saul slew his thousands, David his ten thousands … and me … I’ve slain my hundreds. Flies, that is.

Today in between weeding sessions in my garden I stalked my prey with a yellow fly swatter, creeping across the deck carefully so I wouldn’t make the boards vibrate. I mashed sluggish flies ranging from the size of a speck to nearly a quarter-inch. Funny thing was, after I’d smashed a few on the deck boards, I’d come back from a weeding session and find three or four flies crowded around the flattened remains of their compatriots.

Wham! Three for one shot. I had no qualms about that. But I whacked them so hard I broke the edge off of my fly swatter more than once.

I left my swatter on the deck table and when I returned it was lousy with flies crawling around the black and red fly bits left on the surface, like cannibals dancing around a boiling soup pot. No kidding! I’ve never seen flies congregate around their dead like that before. They stayed there making my slaughter easy, unlike shooting wasps.

Two years ago I was in a wasp war. Every day after I’d finished my gardening chores I’d stalk wasps around the yard, shooting at least a dozen until they started to get agitated and move toward, not away from, me. Even with a 20-foot stream of insecticide I knew better than to stick around when I became the target. Seeing the deck peppered with hordes of flies brought back those memories. At least these flies aren’t biting … yet … and when they’re not congregating around bits of their smashed friends they take off when I get too near instead of dive bombing me.

After five hours of gardening and swatting I finally came inside. The throng of bugs appears to be gone for the moment. But I don’t know what tomorrow holds. Will my tan deck be black again? Will I have to do more stalking? More creeping toward my prey on tippy toes? If I’m lucky the sun will be behind the clouds. Shadows give the multi-eyed pests too much warning. Maybe I should try fly paper, but in the windy conditions we have it would probably end up a big yellow, sticky ball that leaves adhesive all over the banisters, but catches no flies. Or maybe I need to invest in a gross of 20-foot shot insecticide.

From Microsoft clip art

One thing is for sure, I need to buy a dozen more  fly swatters … or learn to kill them with a kinder, gentler hand.

Nah. I’ll go for more fly swatters.

Have you ever dealt with huge amounts of flies? Any suggestions for getting rid of the pests?

Eleven Tips to Quick Organization for P.H.D. Pilers

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11 tips for file organization, April holidays, Catherine Castle, humor, Organize Your Files Week, romance author, unusual holidays

photo from Microsoft Clip Art

April 15-21 is 0rganize Your Files Week. While it’s a bit late to make any difference for tax day, there is still plenty of time to organize your other files. I’m not thinking computer files, which I suck at organizing (I have doubles all over the hard drives), but paper files, which I’m not much better at. One of my goals for this year was to deal with some of the many piles of paper in my office that need to be organized. I’m still working on that. I figure slow and steady like the tortoise might win me this P.H.D (Pile it Higher and Deeper) race instead of marathon sessions.

In the meantime, here are some handy tips I’ve used to conquer my piles, at least some of them.

• Buy a file cabinet … or two … or three … or four. I have seven and it’s still not enough. I’m on the hunt for another one, which makes my poor husband want to pull out his hair. He’s more of a pitch-it-out or keep it on the computer type. That’s why we could never share an office, and why I always get the bigger one. After all, those file drawers take up a lot of space.
• Divide your file cabinets into categories. One cabinet (or drawer if you don’t have much) for household stuff; one for writing stuff; one for manuscript hard copies (yes, I really do keep those); one for supplies like hanging folders, file folders, card stock (you get the idea); one for magazines you’re keeping; and an empty drawer for stuff to deal with later in. Mix the cabinets’ uses to your needs. The possibilities are endless and it really works if you do it.
• Set an alarm to go through the drop-in file cabinet so you actually get the junk filed, otherwise this is a wasted exercise, because if you’re like me, out-of-sight equals out-of-mind.
• Alphabetize your files. This makes it easy to find what you want. I might have to stand in front of the cabinet and recite my ABCs (after all, who really knows what comes after H without saying “H, I, J, K”?), but this way I have a chance of locating what I want. If I can’t remember where I filed it synonyms come in handy. Maps might also be filed under D for directions, or A for Addresses, R for routes, or C for cartograms. If all else fails, I check the files behind and in front of the Map file.
• Use hanging files. I love hanging files because they slide easier than the other kind, and you can place interior folding files in each hanging file. Under hanging file A I might have sub-files like antiques, ancestry charts, arthritis information, or absurd facts.
• Use colored files for your sub-files, alternating colors to make the files easier to see. This tip gets more important as my eyes age and can’t see those two red folders stuck together.
• Make a sub-file for every category you can think of. Some of mine are labeled craft writing articles; idea file; writing clips; diets I should try, but probably won’t; home décor; research; writing conference materials; home business letters, rejection letters.
• Use staples for multiple pages instead of paper clips. Staples take up less room in the file, won’t catch other stored pages, and keep me from losing stuff.
• Don’t put it on your desk. I’m a bad drop-it-and-do-it-later kinda gal. It’s the procrastinator in me, and it gets me in trouble. If you must drop it on the desk and run, take care of the pile the next time you’re in the office to avoid losing those important papers on the bottom of a stack.  Many an unwanted book has arrived in my mailbox because I “lost” the decline-the-featured-selection slip in a 12-inch high pile.
• For the need-to-do-soon things, like agent and publisher contacts, queries and submissions, my gardening journal and blog journals, and my ever-growing to-do-list, I keep labeled, pocket binders on my desk. Easy to access and hard to lose.

If after trying all these tips you still fail miserably at file organization, and I have done so on many occasions, there’s always one more option:

• Buy a basket.

Or in my case another basket. It’s amazing how many papers you can “file” in these woven marvels!

How are your organization skills? Are you a piler or a filer?

Holy Humor Sunday-Laughing with the Lord

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April 15 2012, blog, Catherine Castle, Holy Humor Sunday, humor, Laughing with the Lord, religious holidays, romance author, unusual holidays

  “…a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.”

Proverbs 15: 13

Everyone loves a good joke, even God. If he didn’t he wouldn’t have made some of the strange creatures that inhabit this world like long-necked giraffes, blobfish, proboscis monkeys, komodor dogs, and aye-ayes.

Now, there’s a new-to-us, old Christian holiday on the rise that gives us a good reason to have a few belly laughs in church: it’s called Holy Humor Sunday and will be celebrated in 2012 on April 15th.

A number of American churches have recently begun celebrating Holy Humor Sunday, resurrecting an old Easter custom begun by the Greeks. In the early centuries of Christianity, the faithful in Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant countries celebrated the week following Easter Sunday as “days of joy and laughter” with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. The celebration, which included the Sunday after Easter known as “Bright Sunday”, included practical jokes played on and by pastors and parishioners, singing, dancing, and telling jokes. The custom, called the Risus paschalis—the Easter laugh, is rooted in comments from  early church leaders who suggested God played a practical joke on the devil by resurrecting Jesus.

In 1988, the Fellowship of Merry Christians encouraged churches to resurrect Bright Sunday celebrations, renaming the celebration “Holy Humor Sunday.” “Jesus is the LIFE of the party” became the new theme of the holiday.

“Holy Humor Sunday services not only give Christians an opportunity for ongoing celebrations of the greatest miracle in human history – Jesus’ resurrection – it also gives each of us an opportunity to celebrate, and give thanks for, our own smaller resurrections in this world and this life.”— from The Joyfulnoiseletter website.

Since 1988, churches from many denominations have adopted the holiday, bringing large crowds back to church on the Sunday after Easter, when church attendance typically drops significantly.

As a nod to this unusual, but happy holiday, I’ve included a few Christian jokes on today’s blog. Even if your church isn’t celebrating Holy Humor Sunday on this April 15th, you can brighten someone’s life with a little bit of humor. So, go forth, tell a few jokes, and spread some cheer.

Hymns for People Over 50

Give Me the Old Timers Religion

Precious Lord, Take My Hand, And Help Me Up

Just a Slower Walk with Thee

Go Tell It on the Mountain, But Speak Up

Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Seeing

Guide Me O Thou Great Lord God, I’ve Forgotten Where I’ve Parked The Car

Count Your Many Birthdays, Count Them One By One

Blessed Insurance

It Is Well With My Soul, But My Knees Hurt

Holy One liners

Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?

ANSWER: Pharaoh’s daughter. She went down to the Nile and drew out a little prophet.

Three Hymns

One Sunday a pastor told his congregation that the church needed some extra money and asked the people to prayerfully consider giving a little extra in the offering plate. He said that whoever gave the most would be able to pick out three hymns.

After the offering plates were passed, the pastor glanced down and noticed that someone had placed a $1,000 bill in offering. He was so excited that he immediately shared his joy with his congregation and said he’d like to personally thank the person who placed the money in the plate.

And there sat our Rosie all the way in the back shyly raised her hand. The pastor asked her to come to the front. Slowly she made her way to the pastor. He told her how wonderful it was that she gave so much and in thanksgiving asked her to pick out three hymns.

Her eyes brightened as she looked over the congregation, pointed to the three most handsome men in the building and said, “I’ll take him and him and him!”

Dust to Dust

A little boy had just got home from Sunday School and mom was cooking lunch. “Mommy, is it true that before you’re born you’re just dust and after you die you go back to being dust?”

“That’s right son, why?”

“Well that’s just what they said at church today.”

“Run up stairs and wash your hands son, lunch will be ready in a few minutes.”

About 10 minutes went by and she called out for him to come down.

As they were about to sit down at the table, the little boy asked again about being dust before being born and after you die. Once again mother said yes son.

The little boy looked at her and said, then you better get up to my room pretty quick, because something under my bed is either coming or going!!

Coffee, Anyone?

How do we know that men, not women, made the coffee in Biblical times?

ANSWER: It clearly states that He-brews.

A Resurrection Joke

(told by my minister Easter Sunday Morning)

 At Sunday School teacher asked her grade school students if anyone knew what Jesus said when he rose from the dead.

 A little girl jumped up, waving her arms in the air, shouting “I do! I do.”

“So,” said the teacher, “what did Jesus say?”

The child raised her arms over her head, hands fisted Rocky-style and shouted, “Ta Da!”

Sports Shorts

 Do you know what sport played today is mentioned in the Bible?

 Answer:

Baseball. Because in the Big-Inning God created the heavens and the earth.

And that, folks, as Porky Pig says, is all there is!

Do you have a favorite religious joke you’d like to share?

Do You Know Homer?

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blog about writing, books, Catherine Castle, creative writing, greek author, Homer, Novels, reading habits, romance author, The Oddessy

While interviewing for colleges, a group of prospective students were asked by the college staff, “What is the oldest book you have read this year?”  My niece, who is an honor student, was among the group and answered, “Homer’s Odyssey—in Greek.”

The staff was suitably impressed.

So was I.

The staff’s question, and my niece’s answer, sent me on a search to discover the oldest book I had recently read. What was on my shelves that passed the “Homer test of age?” Since I typically read a lot of mass market fiction and know there is very little on my bookshelves older than 20 years, I went to my Kindle to see what classics I’d downloaded.  The classics are usually free on Kindle, and free is good.

I found a copy of :

• Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart  published in 1909
• The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt , published in 1899
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, published in 1909 but started by Franklin in 1771
• Jane Eyre, by  Charlotte Bronte, originally published in 1847
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, originally published in 1813
• The Oregon Trail: sketches of prairie and Rocky Mountain life, by Francis Parkman and Frederic Remington, published in 1892
• Steep Trail California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, the Grand Canyon, by John Muir,  published in 1918
• People of the Mist, by H. Rider Haggard, published in 1894

Every book but the one by John Muir had bookmarks in it, but the only one I had completed was People of the Mist, which was the very first free book I downloaded onto my Kindle. Nothing earlier than 1771 was in my e-book library.

Feeling a bit challenged by my niece’s reading zeal, I turned my eye to the bookshelves searching for anything earlier than 1800s. There I found:

• Richard Carvel, by Winston Churchill published in 1899
• The Sheik, by Edith Maude Hull, published in 1919

I had read both of these books many years ago, but neither of them stood up to the “Homer” test, so I kept searching. Then I came upon:

• The Complete Works of Josephus, written somewhere around 70 A.D. by Josephus Flavius, Biblical historian, and translated by William Whiston, A.M., published in 1998

I own The Complete Works of Josephus, but have never read it. Finally, I discovered the book that passed the “Homer” test. Tucked in a cubby on my computer desk lay The Holy Bible—the oldest book I’ve read recently.

It isn’t ancient mythology. It isn’t written by Homer, and my translation isn’t in Greek. Parts of the book, however, the five books of the Old Testament which comprise the Jewish Torah, are about 3,300 years old.  Homer aside, I’d say that was pretty good company.

What’s the oldest book you’ve read and the oldest book, besides the Bible, on your bookshelves—paper or e-book?