Jamie Provencher

Author Archives: Jamie Provencher

• Outline Failure

  Posted at 3:12 am by Jamie Provencher, on March 2, 2012

  In December, I made a decision to finish my book in 90 days. Why 90 days? Well during one of my many motivational hunts, I found a quote from Stephen King saying that first drafts should take no more than 90 days. Now, I had already mastered my 500 words a day. This was only taking about 10 to 20 minutes, so in order to write 150k in 90 days that would be around 1680 words a day. So like an hour of writing when you add in typing and thinking time. Easy. I can do this!

  So I started on my journey, following one of my carefully created outlines, yes I have many of these and yet no finished product. I started on December 16th and wrote without an issue for about a month. And then it happened. While writing, my book went one way. I hurriedly revised my outline and continued to push on. January got a little hairy with a few missed dates…and then the unthinkable happened again. With 75k of my book typed up, I found myself at the end of the revised outline. My outline had failed me, and fears, doubt, and the dreaded writer’s block engulfed me.

  As a writer, this is a moment that, if not treated well, we may not bounce back from. My writing had completely halted and instead I found myself face to face with trying to outline the ending of the book. Without knowing what came next, I didn’t know what to write. As I didn’t write, the guilt piled on, and the thought of even looking at the outline infuriated me.

  So what does one do when your outline fails you? When writer’s block has crept up on you, and you find it is impossible to continue forward? The answer came to a shock to me.

  A good friend of mine, Jeremiah, who has been helping coach me through this writing process, told me to take a week off. I had gone from barely writing, to writing constantly. I had done this almost flawlessly for over a month, something I wasn’t used to. My creative juices were on autopilot. I looked at my detailed outline like a cheat sheet and wrote the next scene that was listed. But taking a week off? Whenever I missed a day, I felt so guilty, found myself beating myself up. How was not writing for a week going to help? How was that going to make me feel less guilty?

  Jeremiah informed me that there is a difference between feeling guilty because I’m supposed to be writing versus taking time off to re-stimulate my creativity. So as alien as taking a week off sounded to me, I embraced it.

  I listened to my accountability partner and took the week off. I spent the week catching up on some of my reading, video games, and basic chores that had fallen to the side while I had been writing like a fiend.

  What I found was that Jeremiah was absolutely correct. I felt less stressed, the guilt removed from my block. After a week of no writing, I found myself looking at my outline with a fresh pair of eyes. Even though I hadn’t really been thinking about my book on my week off, I was able to think up the transition scenes needed to get my book through the end.

  Creativity needs to be recharged, but it’s important to still stay focused. Hopefully all of you who have shelved projects due to outline failures or writer’s block will find the next bullet points helpful in dusting off and finishing them.

  HAVE AN OUTLINE DAY

  When working on a long project, creativity sometimes tends to take you on a wild ride. Some writers are very well organized while some of us are more chaotic. Sometimes just having an outline isn’t enough. Choose a day each week where you spend your writing time on your outline. Review it. Think about what has happened; where your characters or plot are going. Are you still on track? You are? Great! Then it’s an easy day for you. Go back to writing if you want or grab a cookie and sit back. If not, what needs to change? Don’t wait till last minute when you no longer have an outline to help keep you going.

  WHEN WRITER’S BLOCK STRIKES, TAKE A BREAK

  Let your creativity have a chance to strike back. It will save you heartache and anger later in an editing stage. If you are trying to create a daily writing habit, write something else. Step away from the project. Spend the day reflecting even if it’s just writing a vignette about what you think is causing your writer’s block. These thoughtful moments will help you get back on track. But make a firm decision that you are going to take this many days off, then back to typing or else your project might find itself back on that dusty shelf.

  DON’T RELY ON YOUR OUTLINE

  I personally have very detailed outlines. Detailed down to the scene. As soon as I finish a scene, I know exactly what is next. Unfortunately, because I rely so heavily on my outline, I find myself in a sticky pickle when my main character decides to suddenly have a very close sister mid book. Or when she suddenly changes her love interest. Stephen King also is quoted saying just write. First drafts are first drafts. You will most likely always have to go back and do editing. If you have a looser outline, it allows for those changes in story. It also teaches you to not rely heavily an outline. I may know the major scenes, but not the little transition scenes. When you get into this situation, remember your subplots, your other characters. Focus on them and let them be your transitions.

  GET AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER

  I could not have pulled the cobwebs from this project and dusted it off without the help of my friend, Jeremiah. Find someone who has time for you. Someone who will make you meet your daily word count and email it to them daily. They will keep you on track but also be able to tell you when you need a break. Every writer should have one.

  Until next time!

  Posted in Writing Corner: How to Be a Better Writer | 1 Comment

• We’re all mad down here…

  Posted at 1:02 pm by Jamie Provencher, on July 13, 2011

  I absolutely love fractured fairy tales.   I think the easiest answer to why is because I think every story has several different tellings and due to things like the Christian coalition and coddling our children in hopes to not “traumatize” them, we only see one side of the story.  Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” is a story about a child who escapes into a world deep in her imagination but the story was a very frightening one.  However, companies like Disney capitalized on the madness in a humorous ridiculous way instead of really exploring the “madness” of it all, and this story of madness became a story of silliness.

  …Which is why I think I love American McGee’s Alice so much.

  By hiding the world from your children, they will never have to see anything horrific… except the one time they do… and they can’t process/deal with it because they are so sheltered…

  I recently picked up a copy of Alice: Madness Returns which is the sequel to 2000’s American McGee’s Alice in Wonderland.  If you buy the Xbox 360 or PS3 version, you also get a copy of the original game (I greatly suggest picking it up and playing it – while outdated, this is still a fantastic quick play through).

  I am only on chapter 2 and will have a much more comprehensive review later… but a few things I’d like to note:

  

  While Alice still has her original blue dress with the white apron – which she starts in at the beginning of each chapter, Alice also gets a new dress as you progress through the chapters.  This one, the siren/mermaid dress is by far my favorite so far, though it is the second chapter’s dress and I am only on the second chapter.   Each dress signifies the theme of that chapter (siren dress = water level).

  

  There is a lot more to do in Alice: the Madness Returns.  The original game is a fun quick platformer which would take maybe 6 hours at most to complete.   There isn’t any huge “replay” value in it which was remedied in its sequel.  Travel through the world and find all of Alice’s memories, pig snouts for the Duchess (didn’t I kill that bitch?), answering riddles, and find the mysterious bottles.  Even as watchful as I tried to be, I still missed 3 memories (out of 26) in chapter 1, a few pig snouts, and a few bottles.  I didn’t find a single radula either…  The chapters are long though, which makes me wonder, as I have not tried it yet, how much of the chapter you have to play when just searching for these items.  That could definitely be tedious (Chapter = 1 to 2 hours).

  These are just my initial thoughts… More to come.  I’m excited to see what new characters pop up since most met their demise in the first game.

  Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment

• Dancing….

  Posted at 1:16 am by Jamie Provencher, on July 13, 2011

  It’s finally here =D

  

  I wish I could say I’ve been waiting patiently for this book since 05 but realistically, I just finished Feast Of Crows last year.  While I loved the series, a certain ex-husband spoiled Feast of Crows for me before I was even done with Game of Thrones.  I knew every twist and turn of Feast of Crows as well as finding out that it was a pretty boring book because it was missing the best characters stories…

  And had a plethora of Cersei chapters (Gag).

  So even before reading Feast of Crows, I agonized over the release date of this book.  And now it’s here =D.  Finished the prologue during the down time at work today and am greedily reading through the first Tyrion chapter.  Oh how I miss that little dwarf…

  Posted in Personal | 0 Comments

• Game of Thrones: Episode 2 The Kingsroad

  Posted at 12:29 am by Jamie Provencher, on July 13, 2011

  After the stellar first episode of Game of Thrones, Sunday has officially become the new geek night.  As we gathered again for episode 2, I found myself both nervous and excited.   What if the first episode was a fluke?  It should be no surprise that when creating a TV show, the premier and finale of a show are the “most important” episodes.  They build the show and set up for the next season.   If these episodes aren’t polished to be perfect, it can leave a sour taste in the viewer’s mouth and cause a promising TV show’s life to be cut short.  Would I find a series of mediocre episodes following the fantastic premiere of Game of Thrones?  My fears were quickly laid to rest.  While some events have been cut or shortened, which should be expected, the second episode shines as bright as the first.

  The thing about books being made into movies and TV shows is that you end up having to condense everything.  That being said, there are so many things that COULD have been edited out that I am very thankful they didn’t.

  The first scene that easily could have been edited out is the conversation between Robert and Ned.  They begin discussing how great it is to be together again, then to old stories about whores and bastards, and finally to Robert’s need to assassinate Danerys.  As a script-writer, I know the conversation surrounding Jon Snow’s mother as well as Robert telling Ned that Danerys should be killed, serves little purpose.  It’s a scene that the audience can get easily bored with because we already have several scenes that establish that Snow’s mother is not Caitlyn and that no one knows who his mother is.  We also already have a scene where Robert is alerted to Danerys wedding to the Dothraki Lord.  So why not cut this scene for say… some more nudity?  Characterization.  The fact that they left this scene alone absolutely thrills me because it means the writers recognize the power of this scene.  Not only does it show the differences between Ned and Robert but also gives us an intimate look at their relationship.

  Why is this such a big deal?  Recently the show has come under attack for it’s “poor script” by the New York Times Ginia Bellafonte and renown Science Fiction writer Orson Scott Card.  Bellafonte argues that the “Game of Thrones is boy fiction”, though one can argue that if nudity and war makes it boy fiction then why is there such a huge female following for Tru Blood’s nudity and violence.   Card states “Combine that with the screenwriters’ aforesaid incompetence at creating character and relationship in a script, and what you have is a deeply ruined adaptation.” And yet we have a useless scene that could have easily been cut, but was left in to do exactly that: Build character.

  On the topic of nudity, almost all the poor reviews of the series have been based on the amount of nudity in the series.  Card says, “Martin never, not once, uses sex pornographically,” which is something I highly disagree with.  There is a lot of graphic sex in these books and unfortunately, when you show sex on screen it’s going to end up looking pornographic.

  That being said, my biggest complaint with these first two episodes is Danerys.  In the first episode, which was pointed out by several fans, Danerys is “raped” which is a huge disservice to her character.  In the books, Danerys is worried about her wedding night but greatly enjoys it as the Dothraki lord, Khal Drogo, takes her under the stars.  In the show, she is raped on a cliff, and in the second episode is seen crying during another sex scene.  They then have a scene from the book that shows Danerys asking how to please her the Khal.  Her lady servant then shows her how to ride like a Dothraki.  This scene made sense in the book because Danerys enjoyed having sex with the Khal but wanted more power.  The whole point is that she didn’t want to be “rode like a Dothraki horse”, but because of the way she is portrayed on the TV show her scene of asking how to please the Khal is confusing and redundant.  While I don’t think this scene should have been cut, I think that there should have been some visual change that would have caused Danerys to want to take part in the sexual relationship.

  As Sunday approaches again, I am excited to see how life at the Wall and with the men of the black is going to be portrayed in “Lord Snow”.

  Posted in Reviews | 0 Comments

• Winter is Here

  Posted at 4:29 pm by Jamie Provencher, on April 30, 2011

  In a previous article, I mentioned my severe hatred for books that are made into movies and TV shows.  There are several reasons for this and most are unavoidable.  Books have to be condensed, certain scenes are lost, characters aren’t portrayed well, oh and of course the need for artistic liberties, which is something I will never understand.  Why do you need to take something that isn’t yours, with a HUGE fan base, and try to make it yours by completely changing things [See Legend of the Seeker –  A new take on Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind]?  So when I first heard that one of my favorite books, George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones was being made into a TV mini series, I was pretty ticked.  Then I heard that HBO was going to be doing it and I thought “Well at least it’s the appropriate medium VS trying to stick it on the CW”.  I had hope that HBO would be operating with a movie budget and that Game of Thrones would be filled with violence, sex, intrigue, and high quality actors/costumes/sets as some of their other shows are.  So I decided to see if they would destroy my favorite book and waited impatiently for winter.

  Winter is here and I am pleasantly surprised.  I have always been a huge knit-picker of the Harry Potter movies and my friends waited for me to go postal on my Panasonic.  I was ready – but it was really good.  For those who haven’t seen the first episode, I suggest not reading any farther as there are some spoilers.

  The first episode starts with the prologue of Game of Thrones and ends with Bran’s fall.  The opening scene is fantastic: seeing the Wall in all its glory as well as our first brush with the cold ones was dead on.  My second breath taking moment was Ned in the Gods’ Wood.   The set was beautiful and captured not only the beauty of the imagery but also gave it that magical touch.

  The dialogue for the most part is pulled directly from the books which is what I would expect since Martin had a hand in the making and writing of the series.  The characters were fantastic, though Cersei’s hair in some parts did seem wig-like and unnatural.  I was very impressed with the casting and was pleasantly surprised that the actors captured and portrayed the characters perfectly.  I don’t think they ever mention Theon Greyjoy’s name and yet, the moment he spoke, I knew who he was.  Tyrion was fantastic – As one of my favorite characters, I wanted to know that Peter Dinklage was going to be able to catch the essence of this dynamic character.  He was funny, witty, and most of all the brooding dwarf that I had always pictured.

  In Pentos, the Targaryens’ were amazing.  Viserys gave me goose bumps with “You do not want to wake the dragon”.  Daenrys already shows her courage and power just from stepping into the heated pool.  The Dothraki culture and life style was also right on the mark and made a beautiful contrast of yellows and sun against the bleak grey and white of Winterfell.

  Sure there are a few things that can be picked at such as Danerys’ marriage to Khal Drogo is a few chapters after Bran’s fall but even this can be argued.  Martin has said that several of the events that occur in the books happen at the same time so certain chapters are either different takes on one event or are occurring at the same time the previous chapter did.  Another example is the scene with the dire wolf pups.  In the book, Robb sees them yet in the first episode, Ned is the one who follows the dead elk to the pups.  Very small changes and for the most part, not noticeable.  I eagerly await, Episode 2: The Kingsroad on April 24^th.

  Posted in Reviews | 0 Comments

• Pick a Genre and STICK with it

  Posted at 8:57 pm by Jamie Provencher, on April 22, 2011

  About the time characters begin rifling through your brain, there is usually some sort of story that is following them.  While it maybe something as simple as Character X is a low born who is going to go on an adventure, defeat a monster, fall in love, and become King/Queen, you should have some idea what is going to befall that character.  If you don’t, it’s definitely something you might want to start thinking about.  Either way, this advice and information will be good for you.

  There are several different types of genre’s that saturate today’s market.  There are pros and cons to this saturation.  Genre novels have a higher rate of getting published versus contemporary fiction.  Also, genre publication expects series where contemporary fiction expects single stories that can stand on their own.  So why does it matter so much to understand these genres before starting to write?  While there are several reasons that we will explore, the most important advice I can give is to choose a genre and stick with it!

  First lets go over a quick over view of a few popular genres:

  First you have high fantasy.

  This fantasy is what I call high quality fantasy.  It is also known as epic fantasy.  These would be your stories where fantastical worlds have been created and include original or  “re-imagined” races, creatures, etc.  In my opinion the father of this genre is J. R. R. Tolkien, so keep his great works in mind as a model when you think about this genre.  Some popular authors would be: Robert Jordan, Peter Rothfuss, Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan etc.  They are your kings and queens, sorcerers and sorcery though they mainly focus on that deep fantasy vs just your run of the mill D&D campaign turned into a story.

  Then there is Science Fantasy.

  Ok everyone.   If you’ve ever saw a spaceship on or in a description of a book and say ugh I hate science fiction, put your hands up.  I’ve done this so many times.  But science fiction and science fantasy are really two different genres.  Unfortunately, everyone mashes them up.  Science Fantasy are your fantastical stories that are filled with science but are not accurate, nor are they things that could actually happen.  They are fantasy stories that want to seem scientific.  For example: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is science fantasy.

  So what is Science Fiction then?

  Science Fiction are stories that are told many times in the future.  These stories are plausible and based on actual scientific facts.  If you look at a lot of these stories, specifically older stories, you will find that a lot of what they wrote about, in aspects and regards to technology, have come true.  Some true Science Fiction would be Philip K Dick and Arthur C Clark.

  You also have Urban Fantasy.

  Urban fantasy is basically taking fantastical things such as witches, being able to cast fire balls, demons, etc and putting them in an urban setting.  A modern time, with a similar world, and seems parallel to ours.  While the supernatural series can either follow under supernatural horror, romance, or fantasy, I think it is best defined as Urban Fantasy.  Kim Harrison and Kelly Armstrong fit into this series.

  So why do I have to choose a genre?  Many of the genres listed here are actually offshoots where people didn’t really choose a genre.  It does look like all these genres took a little from each and from there a new genre was born, doesn’t it?

  Well here are some of the faults trying to do this one.  There is a lot of work and research that needs to be done to properly pull it off.  Science fantasy is looked down upon by a lot of science fiction fans because it looks (and are) piggy backing on fantasy and science fiction and falling short.  Also a lot of supernatural stories are confusing to figure out.  Should it be in the fantasy, horror, or the romance section?

  Also many our favorite writers who are in these subgenres, decided from day one what genre they wanted to be in and made tweaks when they started the outline.  Changing midway through a book from fantasy to suddenly adding science can be confusing.  As stated in a previous review, I picked up a book that I definitely knew was fantasy, but the first fifty or so pages were contemporary fiction so when the element of fantasy began to seep in, it felt weird and uncomfortable.

  For my novice and first time writers, I suggest choosing a genre that really calls to you from the four I listed and STICK with it.   This will help you avoid falling into a rut where your story suddenly feels awkward because you delved into another genre mid way through the book.  Take a few minutes and think about your story and the little wisps of ideas and plot that have begun to build from the hell of your imagination.  They will plague your for the rest of your lives.  Now think hard about which genre you think your story will thrive in.   Once you find it, it’s time to research, research, research!  Now you must find a way to make YOUR STORY, YOUR PROTAGONIST, and YOUR WORLD stand out against all the other books in that genre.  The next several articles will explore fantasy-building exercises to make your story stand out from the rest.

  Posted in Writing Corner: How to Be a Better Writer | 0 Comments

• Book of Lost Things By John Connelly – Review

  Posted at 10:41 pm by Jamie Provencher, on March 18, 2011

  The first time I “read” The Book of Lost Things, I was on an eight-hour trip from Maine to Ithaca, NY.  Before I left, I stopped by Borders and searched endlessly for something decent to listen to on audio and took a chance with The Book of Lost Things.  It was definitely a great choice.

   

  A Short Summary:

  The Book of Lost Things starts off in World War 2.  The main character, David, a boy of 10, is mourning the loss of his mother who died of cancer.  His father marries the nurse who took care of his ailing wife and together they have a new baby.  David does not take to his new brother, or his new stepmother.  He begins to retreat back to the books that his mother introduced him to and begins to hear the books speak.  Soon he begins to see the Crooked Man who has taken an interest in his little brother.  The Crooked Man steals away his brother and David chases after as bombs drop from Nazis.  He slips into a crack in an ancient wall in his backyard and finds himself in a fantastical world.  In this world, he battles forward in search of the Crooked Man to save his brother.  Along the way, he finds himself immersed in ancient fairy tales: some who torment and try to kill him; others who try to help him in his quest.  A unique story that starts off as historical fiction but soon becomes a story of fantasy and adventure while resurrecting fairytales that have long been told.

   

  Review:

  I really liked this story but the beginning of the book definitely starts off slow.  Now this may be because I bought a fantasy audio book, and was confused when it started off during World War II.  I wanted to jump directly into the fantasy, which is not something that Connolly does and I wasn’t completely sure where it was going.  He slowly brings in the aspects of fantasy before he enters the world of fantasy.  To use a metaphor, it’s as if the fantasy slowly seeps out of the crack in the wall and only when David goes through the ancient wall do we actually get into the fantasy.  By Chapter 4, we begin to get whispers of fantasy and once David travels through the ancient wall, the story is completely consumed by fantasy.

  The story is filled with fractured fairy tales.  We explore some fairy tales that are old and terrifying and others that are familiar, such as Snow White, with an unexpected (and funny) twist.  As we follow young David on his quest, he definitely grows from a spoiled bratty kid to a hero.

  The story is dark and full of violence.  There are some parts in the book that are gory and terrifying.  There are dwarves, dragons, nymphs, wolves, and many other fantastical characters.  While I do state that it’s filled with fairytales, they are similar to Grimm’s fairytales BEFORE Disney got a hold of them.  Even with a ten-year-old protagonist, this is an adult story.   The best way to describe this story is to think of books like The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland combined with a little Edgar Allen Poe.  David grows to understand and accept his stepmother, death, and his new brother through his many trials and tribulations.  I suggest this book for someone who enjoys dark fantasy, with some dark humor, combines with some gore and terror.  You won’t be disappointed.  Eight Stars.

   

  Posted in Reviews | 0 Comments

• The Rebirth of Game of Thrones

  Posted at 10:40 pm by Jamie Provencher, on March 18, 2011

  Game of Thrones (further know as GoT) came out in 1996.   It was the first book in the Song of Ice and fire series and was followed by three other books: A Clash of Kings (1999); Storm of Swords (2000); Feast for Crows (2005).  Currently, George RR Martin’s rabid fans await A Dance with Dragons, which at this time does not have a release date. While it has had a strong cult following, it has never received the national attention that it is currently facing now.  Why on earth, 14 years later, is GoT everywhere a fantasy reader looks?  There are few reasons, but first a back-story.

  My first introduction to GoT was in high school.  My best friend and I both wrote stories; my characters changed monthly as I could never settle on just working one story. My friend on the other hand always wrote about her original character’s name was inspired by a name she had read in a book.  She showed me GoT and while I picked up a copy of the book, I never read it.  Ten years later, after getting married, I saw that my then husband had the book on his shelf and finally I found time to read GoT… and so began my personal obsession.

  GoT has a unique style.  While there are several characters (whom many of us struggle to keep all the names and families straight), each chapter features a single character. What I mean by this is: usually there are six to eight characters in each book whom gets their own chapter, which is told through their point of view. Sometimes you’ll have two chapters about the same event, where you get to see how two completely different characters (maybe even characters who are on opposite factions) react to said event.  There are several households in the stories that all share a theme: The Stark’s always say, “Winter is coming” when some would say, “I have a bad feeling about this”.  It’s an ominous phrase that is unique to these Lords of the North.  On the other hand, the Lannister’s say, “A Lannister always pays his debts”.  This can be something that is said in an annoyed manner when someone thinks that a Lannister is going to rip him or her off, or a promise of revenge.  Martin leads you on a roller coaster of death (no one is safe from the all mighty Martin’s pen), intriguing politics, and intense characters.  But even though it was recently rated by this site as the number one  (out of 25) as the best fantasy series on the market, why the sudden rage of new fans and sudden burst of sales.  Yeah, we know it’s becoming an HBO special but lets face it.  Lots of books get turned into TV shows such as Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth’s series which was turned into the travesty Legend of the Seeker.  What makes this book series and the upcoming show so special?

  HBO is the network that has obtained the rights and produced the show.  For most people this just means that we’ll have to pay $9.99 a month to watch one TV show.  But having HBO behind GoT is actually one of the reasons that GoT has now gone mainstream. The first thing one should note is the distinct difference between a channel such as The CW and HBO.  The CW who ran Legend of the Seeker is a public broadcasting station with a low budget.  While some of their shows (Supernatural) are wonderful, they still have a limited budget.  HBO on the other hand is a premium channel that one must subscribe to and is separate from your normal TV package.  They do not have that limited budget that other networks have and they tend to go all out.  Most of their TV shows have a huge following and they don’t have to censor because HBO is a premium channel.  This means that GoT doesn’t have to be cut back, cut to pieces, and have a major portions of the book left out (or made up) to be aired.  GoT will be portrayed in its sexy, bloody, and violent way.  HBO has also been marketing it like crazy.

  Each character has been selected with care and Martin has been directly involved.  HBO has also pulled in some very talented actors.  Sean Bean will play Ned Stark; Mark Addy will play Robert Baratheon; Peter Dinklage will play Tyrion Lannister for example.

  What this means is HBO will be true to the story, will portray GoT uncensored, and have found a very talented cast of actors that fit and mirror the characters from GoT vs. finding a pretty boy to play the main character and then creating new episodes that have nothing to do with the book that has plenty of material to work from (which is exactly what Legend of the Seeker) has done.

  And so HBO has rebirthed GoT, remarketed it, and has introduced it to a whole new select audience.  Fantasy-lovers, new and old are scrambling to pick this gem up and get through GoT before it premieres on HBO on April 17^th for the US and April 18^th for the UK.  And those already familiar with GoT?  Well what better time to pick up our old favorite and reacquaint ourselves with it.  Hopefully with the HBO mini-series as well as the graphic novel of GoT which was just announced will inspire our favorite author to return to the world of Westeros and bring out the long awaited Dance of Dragons. We await patiently, but at least we now have something to entertain us until then.

   

  Posted in Reviews | 0 Comments | Tagged Game of Thrones, GoT, SoIaF

• Additional exercises – Turning your Protagonist from 2D to 3D

  Posted at 6:00 pm by Jamie Provencher, on March 1, 2011

  Earlier this week I wrote an article for Fantasy Faction called “FLESHING OUT YOUR PROTAGONIST – WHO AM I?“

  Here are a few more exercises to help that Protagonist go from 2D to 3D –

  Exercise 4:

  So now that we have explored the values and morals of your protagonist, researched your character, and identified your protagonist’s unique quirks, it’s time to give your protagonist a voice.  The best way to do this is to find a sheet of questions and then “interview” your protagonist.  Pretend she/he is sitting across from you and as you ask each question, answer the questions as if you were her.

  For example:

  Who was your first boyfriend?   Amanda: Wow.. that’s a tad personal isn’t it.  How is this relevant to anything?  Well if I have to answer, hmm, I guess it was Todd Hobert, this sort of geeky ninja boy I went to school with at the ninja academy.. wait no.  Do you mean boyfriend boyfriend or the first guy I snogged?  Oh well it doesn’t matter.  Todd Hobert was my first boyfriend, though not my first kiss, that was Scott Fish.  He was such a great kisser (dreamy eyes – look of confusion as she realizes people are watching her) What was I saying? Oh yes Scott.. We weren’t dating.  We just liked to kiss every now and then..

  Etc.

  You can find these lists online by googling them.  My favorite is: http://www.writing4success.com/dl/character-interview.pdf

  Answer the questions being as true to your protagonist as possible.  Even if you feel like these questions can’t possible benefit you or your writing, it gets you into your protagonist’s head and you may learn something you didn’t know before.

  Exercise 5:

  Now that we have your protagonist’s voice, what is your protagonist’s backstory?  My suggestion here is to create a timeline.  This is also great if you have want to map out the history of your world.  Anyways, back to your protagonist: Create a timeline that starts at their birth.  Who are their parents?  Create 10 events that happened to your character before they were sixteen.  Continue creating the timeline up to where you begin your story.  If you know what’s going to happen in your story, keep going with the timeline.  Later you can have your protagonist reflect on these moments and give him/her some depth.  Your character wasn’t born the moment you started your story.  They had a whole life before you got a hold of them and began to subject them to your nefarious plots.  Listen to your character while you create your timeline and do these exercises.  They will speak up; let them guide you – don’t force something that your character wouldn’t want to do.

  Exercise 6:

  Lastly, it’s time to create a fact sheet for your protagonist’s binder: This is just basic information to keep at the front of you binder to review so you don’t forget important facts (like me: before I made this my protagonist’s hair color and eye color would change constantly throughout the story!)

  The fact sheet should list these things:

  Name, Gender, Ethnicity or Species, Education Level, Current Occupation, Income, Previous Occupation/s, Date of Birth, Birth Location, Current Age, Current Location, Housing (Rent, Own), Bad Habits, Redeeming Traits, Career Goals, Marital Status, Height, Hair Color/Style, Astrological Sign, Aspirations Fears, Illegal Activities, Skills/Training, Physical Ailments, Blood Type, Identifying Features/Scars Mental Conditions, Religious Beliefs.

  Character’s Past: Parental info – Name, Date of Birth, Date of Death, Occupation, Parent’s Religious Beliefs, Ethnicity/Species.  Answer the same for any Siblings, Former Spouse or Significant Other (For Spouse/Significant Other – add Date of Marriage, how long they’ve been together, Where and how did they meet.

  Character’s Present: Current Spouse or Significant Other (*Same info as above), What’s currently going on in the character’s life.

  There you go! Stay tuned for more articles and more exercises to help make you a better writer and increase your chances of getting published!

  Posted in Character Exercises, Writing Corner: How to Be a Better Writer | 0 Comments

• FLESHING OUT YOUR PROTAGONIST – WHO AM I?

  Posted at 5:33 pm by Jamie Provencher, on March 1, 2011

  Writing is not something someone wakes up and just decides to do one day.  Oh, writers will claim that, but when it comes down to it, writers are haunted by characters that just beg to have their stories told.  It’s our job to capture that character and share them to the world (and keep ourselves slightly sane)!   A couple month’s ago, a fellow employee approached me.  He had heard that I was a writer and felt that need to talk to someone who could understand the “crazy”.  “Do you ever feel so consumed by a character that you can’t focus?”  I chuckled, knowing that just that morning I had made the 1-hour trip to work without actually remembering the drive but during that time I had fleshed out another piece of Rally’s back-story.  I then asked him “Well who is this person?”  He began to tell me about his protagonist and the rough sketches of a story.  What he really had was a rough sketch of a promising protagonist and an interesting plot.  His first question to me, “Where do I start?”

  TURNING THAT PROTAGONIST FROM 2D TO 3D!

  For a moment, think about your favorite character.  Why do you like that character?   What makes you relate to them?  How much do you know about them?  Can you picture them?  Lets face it; characters are what make the book especially when it comes to genre.  You can have the most interesting story but if your readers can’t relate to your protagonist, your story is dead in the water.  On that same note, you can have a cliché story, with sub par writing, but it seems new and interesting because of a great characters.  As a writer, it’s your job to take those characters living in your noggin, and make them sing on paper.  Unfortunately, the number one issues writers face is that their character falls flat.

  Just because your protagonist is 2D on paper doesn’t mean he isn’t 3D.  What I mean is that many of our characters are 3D in our minds.  Unfortunately, without the proper research, tools, and preparation, they seem 2D on paper.  So how do you add flesh to your character?  Rest assured, I have a couple exercises to assist you with this!

  BEFORE DOING ANY EXERCISES!

  One of the things I suggest (and by suggest I mean strongly advise) my writing circle is to keep binders for their protagonist and supporting characters (as well as a binder for unused characters).  Why is this important?  Because all that information is now at your fingertips!  All your research, history, back story etc. , is localized in one place.  This will help you be more organized and consistent when writing about your character.

  EXERCISE 1:

  Who is your protagonist?  Many writers will tell you “Write what you know” but unfortunately in sci-fi and fantasy, sometimes we want to be someone we aren’t -isn’t that the whole point of writing?!  Unfortunately if your protagonist is a butcher, and I grew up in a family of butchers, I may not find your character believable if you have not done the proper research.  So for the first exercise, I always suggest that you write down important things to your character and then assess how much do you really know about those things.  For example: Amanda Tourney is a PI who hunts Chimeras.  She uses a samurai sword, a revolver, and her mad ninja skills to capture them.  Sounds interesting?  So the first items on my research list are:

  1. What kind of revolver?  What would be the best revolver for her size/type?  Is there are recoil?  Is said revolver going to do enough damage against a chimera?  What kind of bullets am I going to use?  Does she have a name for the revolver?
  2. Similarly, I may ask the same questions about the samurai sword.  What kind of cuts, slashes, jabs does she use?  Where did she learn to sword-fight?  What kind of samurai sword?
  3. What do I know about Chimeras?  Do I want to stick to known fantasy-lore or am I going to mix it up with my own ideas for the chimera?  Why does Amanda need to hunt Chimeras?  How important are Chimeras to my world?
  4. What type of ninja skills does Amanda have?  Is she an apprentice ninja?   Why would a ninja have a gun?

  And so on and so forth… After some research, not only have I made my protagonist more believable and relatable for all your Chimera-hunting ninjas out there but I also have come up with some back-story I didn’t have before.  Maybe I just learned a little more about my protagonist.

  EXERCISE 2:

  Take a few minutes and think about your protagonist.  What kind of behaviors, values, and beliefs does your protagonist have?  Would Amanda kill a baby chimera?  What happens if Amanda found out that chimeras are just misunderstood and no more dangerous than a dog?  Would she still do her job?  One great way I have found to get an idea of your characters personality and values is to take a look at character types.  Take a look at the traditional Astrology.  Ignore the date your character was born, and instead look at common traits of each sign.  Which fits your character the best?  Take a look at Chinese Astrology.  Ignore what year your protagonist was born in and figure out whether her/she fits more with the Year of the Rat or the Year of the Monkey.  You can also look at Japanese blood types, AD&D personality types, as well as the four temperaments.  Do at least three of these for your protagonist and get intimate with them.  Write a page on how your protagonist is Type A; a page on what Virgo attributes she has and how it effects her life.  This will help you be more consistent when it comes to how your protagonist reacts to situations as well as how intimately you know that character.

  EXERCISE 3:

  Does Amanda have any quirks that make her unique?  I sure hope so! No one wants to read about a super god like ninja girl who has no quirks, problems, setbacks, etc.  They want to read about someone they can relate to.  They want to have that strong female who kills chimeras but sleeps with a penguin.  Why?  Because that makes her human!  It makes her relatable and believable.  Having some trouble finding some quirks or weaknesses?  Take a look at a Gurps character sheet.  Gurps is a pen and paper (table-top) role-playing system and I like how they encourage players to create quirks and disadvantages.  For every quirk or disadvantage you take, the more points you get to sink into making them more powerful.  Take a few minutes and plug your protagonist into this Gurps Character Sheet and see how you can flesh out some quirks for your characters.

  So let’s do a quick revisit of Amanda Tourney?  Amanda is an apprentice ninja who couldn’t cut it as a ninja after a chimera nearly took off her leg.  She walks with a slight limp, but makes up for it with her lightening quick reflexes.  Because of her accident, Amanda carries a Browning Revolver just in case.  In her world, chimeras run rampant: eating small children, causing traffic jams, and destroying houses.   While Chimeras are a traditional mythological beast, Amanda’s chimeras have a slight twist.  If someone survives a chimera’s attack, they slowly begin to become one.  This can take many years.  Amanda struggles to keep her humanity and is searching for information about how to reverse the change.  She is a Virgo: creative, independent, but can become too absorbed in her work that she misses the obvious.

  Definitely we can go on and on but this gives you and idea of some of Amanda’s weaknesses, some of her baggage, a little more about her world, which is something we didn’t have before.  Remember, you don’t want to hit your readers’ over the head with all this information!  Give them just a little at a time and slowly work it into the story by showing NOT telling.  Keep them wanting to know more and more about your protagonist’s and his/her world.

  –

  Check back in with me next time where we’ll explore why choosing a genre and sticking to it is important to your character, world, and readers!

  Posted in Character Exercises, Writing Corner: How to Be a Better Writer | 0 Comments

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