Tonight, we are wrapping up Character Relationship month by talking about signs our characters are not working in the roles we have given them. 

 

Maybe they need to be recast in a different role. Maybe they don't need to be in the book at all. Much to Stephen King's disappointment, his editor for the first edition of The Stand, left a character, 'the kid' on the cutting room floor. 

 

I own both versions and the absence of 'the kid' did not change my enjoyment of the book. Of course, in a first edition, I didn't miss anything at all. It was just that good.

 

After reading the uncut version of The Stand, well, 'the kid' added a creep factor and I never really bonded with him. In my readerly opinion, 'the kid' should have been cut from the first round. 

 

Join us in the Chatroom, tonight at 7PM EST. 

 

Do you design all of your characters at the start of your project?

 

Do you keep files on each character or just main characters or do you let them grow wild?

 

Do you have a protocol for keeping track of what a character was driving when he showed up in Chapter Four to save the day?

 

What do you do with them between scenes or when you are away from your computer? 

 

Join us tonight and share your Character Building Tips and Tricks.

 

7PM EDT at The Writer's Chatroom

As a nod to St. Valentine’s Day we are going to talk about our favorite literary couples.

I am pleased to see contemporary fiction mixed in with some of the timeless classics. The Bronte Sisters made the list. My Senior Thesis Paper saw Heathcliff as a Hero. I got an A- and a good story to go with it. How, I Made a Thesis Paper Look Like I Was the Person Who Typed It.

 

Come, chat with us, Sunday, 14 February at 7PM EST

 

Here are 8 of the most messed up, romantic, page-turning couples from literature, ever (spoiler-alert).

 

Scarlett and Rhett – Gone With The Wind

 

‘No, I don’t think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, by someone who knows what he’s doing.’

 

Estella and Pip – Great Expectations

 

‘The unqualified truth is, that when I loved Estella with the love of a man, I loved her simply because I found her irresistible.’

 

Ron and Hermoine – Harry Potter

 

There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione’s arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth…’

 

Cathy and Heathcliff – Wuthering Heights

 

‘Nelly I am Heathcliff…He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.’

 

Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy – Pride and Prejudice

 

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife’ 

 

Jane and Mr. Rochester – Jane Eyre

 

To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character—perfect concord is the result.’

 

Romeo and Juliet – Romeo and Juliet

 

‘Romeo, Romeo, whereforart thou Romeo?’ and ‘But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!”

 

Peeta & Katniss – The Hunger Games

 

You love me. Real or not real?” I tell him, “Real.”’ – (Mockingjay)

Character Types in Literature will be our February Focus

For our first topic chat we will refer to the 7 Character Roles in Stories as found at Writing 101: All the Different Types of Characters in Literature.

 

There has been a tradition at The Writer’s Chatroom making February Romance Month. For obvious reasons. This year we are attempting to make the topics a bit more inclusive for those who aren’t writing in the Romance Genre.

 

7 Character Roles in Stories

 

1. Protagonist
2. Antagonist
3. Love interest
4. Confidant
5. Deuteragonists
6. Tertiary characters
7. Foil

For clarification on items numbered 5 and 6 use the link in the List Header.