Who Am I? Rhys wrestles with new characters.

 RHYS BOWEN:

I am just taking the first tentative steps in writing a new book: a new stand-alone that takes place in France and England and Australia in various time periods. So a lot of work ahead of me.

When I start a new Spyness or Molly Murphy book it’s like visiting old friends. I know how my characters speak and react to each other. I know their environment. But with each stand alone it’s a new set of characters and a new setting to be meticulously researched. (Asks self why do I write stand-alones?)

When one starts any book the first question to ask is “whose story is it?” followed up with “what do they want and what is going to stop them from getting it?”

This is a big leap of faith when starting a new book, because obviously I don’t know my characters yet. I haven’t met them. They haven’t said things that surprised me and revealed aspects of themselves I didn’t know about. I’ve toyed with them in my head while I’m driving to the supermarket and come up with their basic traits and situation, but I’m having trouble starting to write this book because of the main character’s relationship with her father.

She doesn’t want to go home to him in England when war breaks out because:

1.They’ve had a contentious relationship

2.He never approved of her marriage. Or

3. He’s an unpleasant man Or

4.He’s a drunk

But I find that I want to like him. So…. I’m thinking he’s the true academic, not at all wordly and lost in the research of a book he’s writing. He’s also much older. An old father when she was born. But we need more…

I know her mother died in the Spanish flu epidemic when she was eight.

So…

So he married again. He wanted someone to take care of him and his daughter. And the woman he married was a war widow who wanted someone to provide for her. But she’s objectionable and doesn’t like my heroine and the father is either so caught up in his books or will do anything for a quiet life that he doesn’t notice how unhappy his daughter is and allows the wife to send her off to boarding school.

So far so good. But is the new wife pushy? Jealous of the daughter? Uneducated? A social climber?  I can’t quite visualize her yet. It will have to come out in dialog. It usually does. I find a character opens her mouth and starts talking and I see who they are.

And the interesting thing is that almost none of this will appear on the page of the story I’m writing. It’s what formed my character and makes her into who she is. Perhaps the step-mother isn’t horrible at all. Perhaps my heroine was so devastated by the loss of her mother that she never forgave her father for marrying again? Perhaps they will reconcile by the end of the story?

So many things to work out before I even type the words chapter 1.

How about the other writers here: do you get to know your characters before you start to write or do they reveal themselves to you as the story goes along? Who plunges ahead blindly with a leap of faith and who works like Elizabeth George and writes long character sketches of every character first?

Writing between the lines with Elizabeth Lyon: Subtext!

HALLIE EPHRON: Today we welcome Elizabeth Lyon, one of the most thoughtful, incisive editors in the business. She's been editing since 1988, and her Editing International typically has a waiting list of authors lined up at the "door." Her book, "Manuscript Makeover," is a classic, and she's written five other books on writing.

Elizabeth's new project, "Writing Subtext," available in print and e-book. In it she shows writers how to craft subtext that develops characters, boosts suspense, and reinforces theme. This is the first of a new series of booklets that each covers a single technique in depth.

I confess, I had several novels under my belt before I heard the term subtext. It's hard to talk about because it's the thing that's NOT on the page but somehow you make it take shape in the reader's mind. For me, it's easier to see in an example of subtext than it is to define. But I'm going to ask Elizabeth to do both.

ELIZABETH LYON:  Subtext is one of the most elusive and powerful elements of craft. Literally meaning what lies beneath the text, it is an undercurrent, a hidden agenda, a vibe, a reinforcement of theme, and it exists in what is implied but not explicitly spelled out. It has impact because what you don’t say is often more powerful than what you do say.

HALLIE: What are some of the undercurrents that you can convey with subtext?

ELIZABETH: Sexual attraction is very common. Menace is common in mystery and suspense. Some stories include subtext generated by unaware and naïve characters, i.e., what they don't know that the reader does.

HALLIE: A master of subtext, playwright David Mamet said,

"Characters might hardly ever say what they mean, but they always say something designed to get what they want."

Do you think he's onto something?

ELIZABETH:  I wish I'd had Mamet's quote for my booklet! Hidden agendas, for good or for ill, are the stuff of subtext. Dialogue is a great place to show “double meanings.” In contrast to plays or screenplays, novels allow writers to develop subtext using other elements of craft as well.

HALLIE: In your new book you offer techniques for developing subtext using character development, nature and human settings, mood and atmosphere, plus imagery and symbolism. Can you give us an example?

ELIZABETH: Consider a literary agent, in the midst of a dozen writers. He looks for a business card in his wallet and in the process flashes a two-inch-thick wad of bills. And they aren’t ones.

Subtext: He’s rich, he’s powerful, he’s manipulative, he’s insecure—any or all of these are possible.

What’s the story about? Money can’t buy you happiness. Money can buy you power. Either one of these themes would be supported by the subtext of his actions. (By the way, I saw a male agent do this at a conference.)

Another example: Sudden gusts of winds, wind damage, or assailing winds could be subtext for volatility, an uncertain future, or inconstancy—symbolizing a character’s inner and outer challenges.

HALLIE: I've heard agents and editors critique writing samples and say "It's too on the nose." How does subtext relate to that?

ELIZABETH: Subtext raises a question that keeps a reader guessing: Is he attracted to her? Is the hardened criminal redeemable?

"On the nose" takes away all the fun by making the answer obvious, usually by telling --
For attraction: "She was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen and if he had the chance, he’d ask her out."

For the redeemable criminal: "At the Sunday service, prisoner 42506 told the priest he wanted to dedicate the rest of his life to God and upon his release, would the church consider him for the monastic life."

Because subtext is often indirect, it can take more words to fully reveal it. But here's a brief revision of the two examples that begins to develop subtext.

Is he attracted to her?

"The man notices the woman’s blue satin pumps and it reminds him of those worn by his date to the prom and how he stepped on her foot when they were dancing."

Is the hardened criminal redeemable?

"The religious service got him out of the cell for a while. He leafed through a bible on the chair while waiting for the priest. What the—'let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' What the hell did that mean? He’d bet the dude with the white collar couldn’t say."

HALLIE: Subtext seems a lot like foreshadowing. Is there a difference?

ELIZABETH: This had me stumped for a while. Foreshadowing signals that something is coming or going to happen.

For instance, a UN representative sent to oversee elections always walks around his car, checks the tires, looks under the car, and then from a distance of 15 feet clicks the automatic door unlock. Will the reader be on edge each and every time he gets into his own or another person’s car? You bet. A vehicle must blow up in this story (not necessarily a car) or the writer is pulling punches with the reader. His actions foreshadow the event.

Foreshadowing is the engine that drives subtext. On a simple level, the subtext in this example is danger. There is nothing subtle in this foreshadowing.

What if this man had a nervous breakdown ten years ago after seeing a friend blown up by an IED? Back-story now adds subtext, and intensifying the reader's expectation of danger. There may be a fragile self that is in peril as much or more so than the physical self.

Perhaps checking the vehicle for explosives occurs anywhere, even on the streets of a placid little town in Ohio. The foreshadowing action is the same but the subtext now refers directly to the character’s breakdown and subsequent coping—and there must still be a scene of something, vehicle or person, exploding or breaking down.

HALLIE: So any questions for Elizabeth? She'll be checking in today so here's your chance to learn from one of the top pros in the field.

An exclusive opportunity you get only here! Post a short (up to 25 words) excerpt from your own work that uses subtext in the Comments section of today's blog and Elizabeth will give you personal feedback. She's offered to comment on up to 20 excerpts.

DRUM ROLL! And we're giving away a copy of "Writing Subtext" to one lucky commenter, e-book or print.

Retreating to Write!

HALLIE EPHRON: Lucy and I are in the middle, once again, of running our sixth (!) Seascape Retreat to Write for mystery writers. This year Hank made a guest appearance, charming everyone and sharing her insights on using  techniques of writing television news stories in writing crime novels.  She positively energized us all after an exhausting day.

I'm writing this Saturday night and we are practically brain dead but exhilarated by another fabulous group of writers.

As the day wound down, we asked: What are your epiphanies so far this weekend. We are happy to share them with you:

• There is a sweet spot in the timeline where the story begins ...Rhonda Lane
• Don't empty your notebook into your story. ...Hank Phillippi Ryan
• When you change your story it's like putting a drop of iodine into a glass of water. It changes the color of everything. ... Hank (again)
• Unpack the tipping points. ... Hallie
• Start the story where something changes. .... Lucy Burdette
• Don't be discouraged if something's not working. It can be revised. Everyone says that and I'm hoping it's true. ... Suellen Wedmore
• Watch your POVs... Gloria Alden
• Start in a place that gives your story somewhere to build to. ... Mary Brookma
• Give characters rememberful names. ... Joan Sawyer
• Anchor a character in an object that makes him easy to remember. ... Reta Hampton
• Write down the the fist 10 things your character thinks, does, feels, or says.. And that gives you a picture of how your reader will think about your character. ... Marie Costanza

Next year, we'll be offering another retreat the last weekend of September. We'll be posting information about registration at http://www.robertaisleib.com/seascape.html.http://www.robertaisleib.com/seascape.html

What are your writing epiphanies?