Guest Post by India Drummond
I have a guest post today by the lovely and talented India Drummond. Her book, Ordinary Angels, was recently released by Lyrical Press. More links to check out the book and India’s other work are after the post.
The Difference Between Us
I love people. Truly and genuinely. On my blog I know I come across as quite a smart-ass, and I love a bit of good-natured snark and rant. But at my core, I really adore my fellow human beings. We’re so weird and wonderful.
Every author, I think, has this in common. Oh, sure, some like to hang out in their jammies all day and not venture forth into the sun (who, me?), and some loathe the social networking and platform-building that keep them from just writing more books, dammit. But nothing gets us going more than seeing someone build a giant slingshot and fling themselves across a herd of cattle to make a YouTube video. Okay, maybe not that specifically, but it’s what’s behind it. Human motivation.
I don’t pretend to understand people completely, but I do know motivation is what sets us apart. The “why” is so much more fascinating than the “who”, “when”, or “how”. It’s the heart of a story. It’s the difference between Jack killed Jane because he wanted her money, or Jack killed Jane because she’d just transformed into a six-foot, long-fanged, eight-legged, hairy, mandible-clicking arachnid of doom (of DOOM, I tell you!)
Many authors start their books with characters, rather than setting or even story. I do this myself. But unlike some authors, I don’t start with a typical sheet listing vital statistics, hair and eye colour, job, religion, and marital status. My character sheets, rather, are titled “What do they want?”
We all, as human beings, have two primary motivations: to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Makes sense, we like things that feel good (chocolate, wine, sex) and we don’t like things that feel bad (getting yelled at by the boss, losing a friend, hitting our thumbs with hammers). But people are more complicated than this, because we recognise that too much chocolate makes us fat, too much wine gives us a hangover, and having sex with everyone we fancy can lead to many undesirable things. As we grow and mature, we learn how to anticipate consequences and complications and do more than just follow our baser feel-good motivations.
My companion question to “What do they want” is “What are they afraid of”. Fear is the “avoiding pain” part of the equation. Knowing what a character is afraid of is so much more important than their favourite food. I don’t mean phobias, I mean little things. Fear of looking stupid. Fear of forgetting a name. Fear of growing old. Fear of being forgotten or abandoned.
Let’s say we see a woman who has locked her keys in her car. What does she do? It’s impossible to say without more information. If we know what she wants and what she’s afraid of, her path becomes clearer. If she’s an angry person, upset and wanting to vent her rage at the world, she might grab a nearby 2×4 and smash the window in, screaming at the top of her lungs all the while. On the other hand if she’s a mother, and her biggest ‘want’ in life is to protect the life of a child in the back seat, she might call the fire department. As to fears, if she’s afraid of someone finding out because she doesn’t want to be known as less than perfectly in-control at all times, she might not ask for help. She might catch a cab home to get her spare key rather than admit her mistake.
Understanding people’s deeper motivations helps in everyday situations. The woman that calls to yell because she thinks you overstepped at work? The conversation goes differently if you stop to ask what she really wants, deep inside. It would be easy to write her off as a psycho. But realising that perhaps she wants to feel significant, but she thinks people don’t listen to her… well, that can open up a different path for the conversation.
It works the same with characters. I rarely have to ask myself “What should she do next?” because if I know my characters’ true desires and fears, I can plop them into any situation and see how they’ll work their way through it.
This is why I love people. I love observing and asking “why?” Whether it’s “why teach your cat to play the piano?” (I watch a lot of YouTube) or “why did you break up with that perfectly nice guy and start dating a real jackass?” The whys that drive each individual are what define us, what separates us, what makes us who we are. You just have to love that.
India Drummond
Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Fiction Author
India knew from age nine that writing would be her passion. Since then she’s discovered many more, but none quite so fulfilling as creating a world, a character, or a moment and watching them evolve into something complex and compelling. She has lived in three countries and four American states, is a dual British and American citizen, and currently lives at the base of the Scottish Highlands in a village so small its main attraction is a red phone box. In other words: paradise.
The supernatural and paranormal have always fascinated India. In addition to being an avid sci-fi and fantasy reader, she also enjoys mysteries, thrillers, and romance. This probably explains why her novels have elements of adventure, ghosts (or elves, fairies, angels, aliens, and whatever else she can dream up), and spicy love stories.
Author website and blog: http://www.indiadrummond.com/
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/india.drummond.author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/IndiaDrummond
To arrange an interview or contact the author, please email: author@indiadrummond.com
ORDINARY ANGELS
Lyrical Press, Inc
ISBN-10: 1616502584
ISBN-13: 9781616502584
ASIN: B004V51FZO
Price: $5.50
Publication Date: April 4, 2011
An urban fantasy / paranormal novel in which Zoë Pendergraft falls in love with an angel, frees a soul from necromancers, releases a ghost trapped in the Void, and saves his living grandson from demons.
An angel is about to fall…
Although most of Zoe Pendergraft’s friends are dead, that means nothing to her. After all, they died long before she meet them. What does matter is the angel who took her dancing and turned her world upside down. But grim reality intrudes when she finds a body, and the Higher Angels accuse her friend of the murder.
Knowing she’s the only one who can stand against the Higher Angels, Zoe uses any means necessary to save her friend…all the while, wondering if the tempestuous love she’s feeling is real. The blood on her hands forces Zoe to question herself, and her angel to question her.
Contains strong language and supernatural sizzle.
Buy links:
AMAZON USA: http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Angels-ebook/dp/B004V51FZO/
AMAZON UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ordinary-Angels/dp/B004V51FZO/
BARNESANDNOBLE.COM: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ordinary-Angels/India-Drummond/e/9781616502584/
Who would have thought an urban fantasy author and a psychological suspense author would look at the world in such similar ways? (I should have thought that since we’re all writers, but still …)
The “why” is so much more fascinating than the “who”, “when”, or “how”. It’s the heart of a story. It’s the difference between Jack killed Jane because he wanted her money, or Jack killed Jane because …
This is exactly why I’m drawn to write psychological suspense — including the perpetrator’s POV — because the “why” is a life-long question, while the “who” and “when” doesn’t have that endless fascination.
Amy, thanks for hosting India — this is a great post with lots of good nuggets, such as the complexities of our relationship with chocolate & wine (and I say that in all seriousness).
I think that common ground–the “why”–connects writers across genres. India did indeed give me lots of food for thought in this article.
Thanks for visiting, Cathryn!
Great post. I am constantly in awe of peoples motivations and quirks. Bringing those qualities to the page is a fun challenge.
Indeed, Lara. I agree. I think India summed it all up nicely in this post.
Thanks so much for reading!
@Cathryn, I think it’s something anyone who wants to write character-driven plots needs to look at. But I’m a big suspense reader, so perhaps that colours how I look at fantasy!
@Lara, I couldn’t agree more! It’s much harder to write a consistent and believable motivation in a character than simply a ‘description’, especially as motivation often changes as a story goes on and the character changes and grows and is faced with new things.
@Amy, Thanks again for hosting me!
You are most welcome–anytime!
Count on you, India, to bring up the “six-foot, long-fanged, eight-legged, hairy, mandible-clicking arachnid of doom (of DOOM, I tell you!)”
And of course, it must be destroyed, Lexi Revellian notwithstanding!
Nice post. We love people, hate spiders!
I like spiders. I take them outside and let them go. I like to think this may keep me safe from the “six-foot, long-fanged, eight-legged, hairy, mandible-clicking arachnid of DOOM.” But perhaps I should rethink my strategy…
Thanks for the comment, Perry!
Hee hee.. Perry. I was actually thinking of you when I wrote that! LOL
Great post ! I have a similar method I have a list of questions I ask my characters about who they really are beyond the statistics. It’s helped me build stronger characters since starting to do this and it’s a lot of fun
Elisa, I’ve tried “interviewing” my characters, but I never get very far, and I’m not sure why. It’s such a logical approach, and I know it works for a lot of people. I just have to put people in scenes and see what they do. A lot of times that means I have to cut stuff or put it in a file somewhere because it doesn’t fit the story or it’s just backstory. But on the bright side, I have a lot of bits and pieces I can choose from later if I need to flesh something out…
Thanks for your comment!
I haven’t had much success ‘interviewing’ my characters either. I guess I like to keep a godly distance and I don’t really want them knowing I exist. Wow, can’t decide which sounds crazier!
Fascinating method of skipping the usual glitz: appearances, education, hometown — yanno, the where, what, when. Takes us beyond the everyone being Meg-Ryan-perfect — fluffy, corn-syrup nicely-dressed pretty girls and guys heading for, eventually, happy ever after.
Ms. Drummond’s asking and discovering “What does he/she want?” surely paid off in *Ordinary Angels*. …and it sounds like a super life-skill, as well. Now, if I can just answer that question for myself … hmmm. Kidding, you guys. Very nice guest post.
Girl_Fren, “Meg Ryan perfect”–I love that phrase. Very nice. I’m not much of a fan of happily ever after as a rule. I tend to prefer “happy for now with a fair amount of hope for the future, but we’ll see what happens.”
Thanks for stopping by!
great post! i especially liked the spider bit. but i ask, what does the spider want?
what really interests me is when a character’s want is irrational. the best plots involve characters who have a twisted view of the world and their want, however strong it might be, doesn’t follow the way most other people would think about things.
oohh. that reminds me of story i might go work on . . .
again, great post. thanks.
Jamie, if the spider wants Davis Stew for dinner, it is irrelevant what the spider wants… The spider’s going to get a headful of butcher knife.
You have a great point, too–I think some of the best villains (or even the best antiheroes) are the ones with twisted desires.
Thanks for your comment!
Thanks very much for the kind words!
Yes, I do look at antagonists’ wants as well. Their desires dont’ have to make sense to anyone else, but they do have to make sense from that character’s POV. I wrote a really creepy insane serial killing faerie in Blood Faerie, and did the same thing with him. I wanted to take a shower after thinking too much about what he wanted, but I think it worked in terms of the story!
India, I felt that way after I created the new villain for Bloodbonded. It doesn’t help that he may actually be insane, so his wants are completely irrational. I felt just really gross after working with that character. *shudder*
India, lovely post! As I write flash pieces everyday for my a-Z, I create new characters, and have to always think of what they want/ what they’re afraid of.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Amy, for hosting such a wonderful post!
Damyanti, I am in awe of anyone who can write compelling flash fiction, and to do it every day for the A-Z challenge is, to me, jaw-dropping. I bow to the master. Wow. Thanks for stopping in and commenting!
Brilliant post, India. I don’t plot out my characters in advance either. I love writing stream of consciousness scenes in early drafts, as I find out more and more about them.
Deniz, great minds, as they say.
Thanks for the comment!
Amy, I’m not sure all of them are compelling, but I’m working at making them as good as I can….come read them and tell me
I’m no master, maybe in a few decades of work, or another life, lol
I’ll be sure to stop by and read a few of them, Damyanti.
Awesome post!
I too only have minimal details about how they look. Most often i have an image of a friend/other character or random acquaintance in my head while i write. I find the details about the hair colour or what not are much less important than getting the right reactions.
It annoys me in books when a character does something that is out of character because the author has not thought about how that character will react to the situation. Or perhaps they have not shown this well enough.
To know this, you need to know the things you are talking about above. “What would they lie about”, “What would they kill to protect” “What would make them compromise moral standards they live by…” “What comments would make them punch without thinking”
Great post India and what a great blog!
Thanks
Sarah
Sarah, those are great questions! I’m going to have to remember those. Thanks for the comment and for the compliment on the blog!