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| Youngest granddaughter and I in Maui |
My favorite thing about writing. I have two, but the leader is building, layering, and molding the story, the setting/emotions, and the characters. My second favorite is that people like to read the stories my imagination conjures up.
Building: Coming up with an idea, even if it's just a tiny niggling, that would make an interesting story. For instance: my book Perfectly Good Nanny that won an EPPIE started with something I heard on the radio while driving home from a writer's meeting. A talk show personality was telling about packages arriving at a person's house and they didn't order them. Only to find out their child had used their credit card and order the items over the internet. I thought of a remote ranch where the twelve-year-old girl is tired of taking care of her toddler brother because her single father is always busy with the ranch. She enlists the help of an older neighbor to order a nanny. And that was the premise of the story.
Or in the case of my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series, my brother, who is an artist told me about how a statue could be taken apart to move it and how that would make it a great murder weapon. That kept tapping at my brain until I came up with my Native American potter, Shandra Higheagle, and her first mystery.
The building of a story starts my imagination churning and begins my journey into the story that unfolds.
Layering: This is adding the pitfalls and triumphs, the setting, and the trajectory of the story. If it's a romance, I know there has to be a happy ending, but what can I throw in the way of the couple before that is attained? With the mystery, it's coming up with suspects, red herrings, and ways to thwart the detective to keep the story rolling for the correct amount of time, until- the murderer is revealed.
The layering needs to enhance the story. It could be bad weather that causes the problems, or good weather than makes things look sunny and bright when there is really something sinister or wrong brewing underneath. It could be characters motivations or lack of motivations that keeps the reader wondering if they will in fact fall in love or if they really do know how to solve a murder?
Layering is about adding the right amount of will she/won't she in a romance or he's the murderer/no she's the murderer to keep the reader on their toes and guessing what will happen next and hoepfully, I do the opposite of what they predict and take them on a ride they won't forget.
Molding: Of the three this would have to be my favorite. This is when I take a glimpse of a character and I begin seeing them in 3D in my mind. I see how they move, talk, act. And as I write the character I work hard and making the reader see the character in their own eyes but with just enough of the essence of the character I want to portray. I do this with my main characters and secondary characters. I want even the character who is just a walk on to have something about them that the reader notices them. I like books that have strong characters that I remember. I may not always remember the plot to a story but if the character is believable, I will remember them.
That is what I want readers to do with my books. Remember the characters and hopefully some of the interesting information I try to put in every book. Whether it's a romance or a mystery, I like to have some tidbit that not everyone may know. It my be history, it could be an occupation, an area, a way of life. I have always loved reading because no matter what book I read, I always learned something from it. Fiction can teach you something while you are being entertained. That is my motto when I write my books.
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| Riding my horse on a blustery day |
Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 44 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.
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8 comments:
Paty - love your way of labeling your process. I think it depends on the book what I remember most. Although memorable characters stand out the most, setting is important to me, because it helps me place the character in a scene. And certainly for a series, the setting becomes a character, and all the characters that are brought back in each subsequent book become memorable.
Hi Deb, I agree, setting can make or break a story. However, I'm a character reader and writer at heart. ;) Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Have a fabulous day!
What do they wear? What color are their eyes? What does the room look like? Who knows? Who cares? I do notice at the time or at least it vaguely registers. What does keep me intrigued? The characters' story. Are they interesting? People I'd like to get to know? How do the approach life? Are they fighters? Determined? Cautious? What would I do in that situation in that time in history (or today)? I have no patience for characters to whine, angst, bewail, etc. I also have no patience for characters whose first choice is a fight (physical or verbal) although depending on the story line, I'll hang in there for a few chapters to see if they grow and change.
I think the patience you show in your mysteries in particular is something I've yet to and, in truth have no desire to develop. Mystery writers are a breed apart. I'm grateful you keep on writing, Paty.
Paty, I like how you separated your process into three zones. My favourite is Building, getting that first glimmer of an idea and letting it expand to see where it leads. Next favourite is Molding, especially the opportunity to really mess with my characters' lives. I love discovering who they are, deep down, all their dirty secrets, because then I can slap them in the face with their secrets, sit back, and watch the fireworks, hehe.
Judith, I agree about whiners. I'll stop reading a book if the characters are too needy or whiny. Thank you for you kind words about my writing.
Luanna, you're one of those mean authors! LOL Yes, the first stage of any book is the most exciting and fun. Coming up with a good premise and reason for the book. I enjoy the books where you can tell the author put a lot o thought into the characters. Thanks for commenting!
Excellent way to describe the writing process: building, layering, molding. Although I've heard of those conceptually, I haven't heard anyone put it together like you described. Very useful to both new and long-time writers to compare to their own process. I'm looking forward to your next book.
HI Maggie, Thanks! All the writing workshops and classes I've attended over the years, I soaked in what they talked about and then put it into a way my mind could figure it all out. So I have different words for the writing process than most. LOL I'm excited for the next book to come out. That means it will be done. LOL Thaks for commenting!
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