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Character "Branding"
We have a new CD for my BodyPump class, and as I’ve stated before (without exaggeration) this is basically my only experience with music that is not sung by George Strait or Brad Paisley. My newest brush with relatively current pop culture: Candyman by Christina Aguilera. God, I love that song. I could YouTube it all day long if I didn’t think my co-workers would take my computer away.
I met him out for dinner on a Friday night
He really had me working up an appetite
He had tattoos up and down his arm
There's nothing more dangerous than a boy with charm
He's a one stop shop, makes the panties drop
He's a sweet-talkin', sugar coated candy man
A sweet-talkin', sugar coated candyman
Man, do I love the Candyman. I'm a charm-lover all the way. Oh, and tattoos.
We talk about Alphas and Betas a lot. A lot. And the mysterious Gamma, who’s the best of both worlds. But that’s like picking “extrovert” versus “introvert”—it’s rather broad. One of the few writing books I paw through frequently (I have dozens, but few are as dogearred as this one) is The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines. I like it because I already have an idea what my character is like, but strangely, I don’t know how to brand him.
Debra Dixon teaches this fabulous class about GMC (Goal, Motivation, & Conflict). If you ever have an opportunity to go to it, do so. One of the assignments we did in her day-long seminar was, basically, brand the characters. You defined who the character was in two words. Essentially an adjective and noun that sums up the core of your character. For instance, you might refer to Mr. Darcy as: “stuffy prig” or “honorable gentleman”—both of those would rather fit, but at the core, Mr. Darcy is more the latter. Anyway, when branding my characters, I usually read through the descriptions for the heroes for inspiration. It sometimes jogs my brain into finding the right adjective.
Then I try to tape the character name and descriptors somewhere so they are there in my mind. (This is a necessary step. I forget about my breakfast toast most mornings until about 11 am or so, so taping the reminders keeps the core branding words in my mind as I’m letting the scenes I’m writing unfold.)
For me, it’s like improv acting. You give the actor the type of character they’re playing and then tell them to make up a dialogue with that character. The grumpy professor is going to have a different sort of scene than the perky cheerleader. It helps me keep in character. Otherwise everyone would act like Captain Jack Sparrow in my books all the time. Which doesn’t work nearly as much as you might think.
If you want a brief breakdown of the character types, go here: http://www.tamicowden.com/heroes.htm. They’re really good. Me, Candyman lover, find Charmers the most irresistible. Though Charmers with a layer of Swashbuckler are even better.
Hardy Cates is the protective bad-boy. Or maybe the bad-boy warrior. Your pick. He definitely has a core of protecting those he loves, but he's so clearly from the wrong side of the tracks.
Gage from Sugar Daddy was the overbearing chief. Which is why I spent so much of the book thinking, "What a jerk."
One of my other favorite heroes, Richard, from Jill Barnett's Dreaming was the "Lost Soul" sort, but also a hero, protector. Like a "brooding warrior." He wanted to protect Lettie from himself, because he believed he was unworthy of love. Lettie on the other hand was a cross between a waif and a free spirit, with the free spirit predominant. Definitely a girl who marched to her own drummer. She was an "innocent optimist" which Richard tried to rub out of her again and again, to protect her. In every scene, you'd see the innocent optimist crop up and play against the brooding warrior. Everyone learned from each other until it all worked out to the happy ending. Everyone stayed in character with their branding.
If I were to character brand one of my characters, just for practice, let's use Luc: Luc is definitely the charmer type. Easily the charmer. With a wide streak of swashbuckler thrown in to make up for the fact he hasn’t been able to do anything for thousands of years. A dash of bad boy to account for his cynicism. But definitely the charmer because he’s got irresponsibility down to an artform. Luc is my “Machiavellian charmer” and that is unlikely to change much.
There. Done. Taped on my keyboard for easy reference. Scenes might go a little more smoothly when I improv along now. Now it’s your turn.
Okay, so can you guys “brand” your characters in two words? Give it a whirl.
Books by the Crew
52 comments:
I've come to rely on this blog to kick start my brain each morning and Hellion luv, you never fail me!
*desperately groping for something intelligent to say*
I suspect that authors try too hard to 'think' about characters, analytically filing each one away in the appropriate cabinet.
They may worry about minutia such as character names or amusing peccadilloes. In my experience though (non existent as yet...but you ain't seen nuthin yet!) it is vital not to over intellectualise. Be synthetic rather than analytical.
The source of creativity lies in the sub conscious mind and the trick to achieving the delightful romantically whimsical characters that can elevate a book to stardom is to tap into that creativity.
I don't advise opium but a simple pendulum may be one way to start tapping into the subconscious energy (see 'pendulum power' by Nielsen and Polansky), but by far the best, if you are able, is meditation.
When you can achieve a meditative state and want to work on your characters, I suggest that you choose a suitable mantra for the purpose and use it to tune your aura appropriately. Try "HEY YOU, panties off, NOW" You may be amazed!
Well is that intelligent or is that dumb?
Give me a break ladies...Its early! *g*
Oh the question....When using a pendulum you must ask questions with a YES or NO answer. Does a girl need anything else?
I'm not sure how I can follow Q, but I'm going to try. Though prepare for your IQ to drop back down at this point.
For my heroine, Celi - Damaged goods.
For my hero, Bryan - Determined something.
I'll have to think a bit more. I haven't had my half a bagel yet. :)
I would say my Julian, if using the archetype, is a lost soul. I am having a hard time coming up with two words that are interesting enough. Scorned gentleman? Not very interesting, but it fits I suppose.
Will think more about it.
Noah is like Indiana Jones meets Gregory Peck. So he's a swashbuckler.
Ethan, my lawyer/the new book, is the very reluctant warrior. The rock star is a bad boy to the core.
Q, I see Sin's blog from yesterday is still dazzling your brain. *LOL* And yes, I have some friends (Males, clearly) who'd say: "Hell, yes, women think everything to death. Why can't you all let it be? Oh, that's right. It's because you're crazy."
They don't say this when I have PMS, of course. They're smarter than that.
But I am cracking up at the pendelum test. Mainly because you're so optimistic a woman could possibly answer a question with a simple yes or no. (In fact, the only question I've known a woman to answer with a simple yes or no is "Do you want to have sex now?"--there is never any quantifiers or whatever with that answer because once you do, that can be fixed.) Anyway, THAT exception aside: all yes or no questions for us are immediately followed by a BUT.
Or maybe all my yes-no questions have gotten complicated the older I've gotten and the more gray area I have in my life rather than black and white. But that's another blog.
I am trying to be more organic, Q. People are more than 2 word descriptors; and people can sometimes surprise you by acting outside of their norm (you can't underestimate them)--but I assure you, sometimes this helps. It helps to make you sit and write--and for me that's more important.
Terri--OUCH--"Damaged goods"--you make the poor girl sound like some ruined debutante! It's very descriptive though; and it certainly does play how she behaves in most of her scenes. Bryan strikes me as "ambitious"--ambitious in his career...and in winning over a girl who so doesn't want to be won over.
Marnee, some aren't very interesting. They just are who they are. (Why do you think I used Lucifer as my example? His descriptor was far more interesting than Adam's! Adam is just this...farmer. He's like a jilted farmer. Jilted, dumped, unappreciated...I mean, Adam is downright sulky...and he's a farmer. I just think of him as this farm boy gone to Vegas. A farm boy who plays golf, of course.)
I like the scorned gentleman...I think that fits Julian.
*LOL* I love both Indiana Jones and Gregory Peck (who wouldn't?)--and I think Ethan's descriptor is perfect. I can totally see this lawyer type who has to keep tabs on this rock star. *LOL* You know Ethan is totally trying to figure out who he pissed off in a past life to be riding herd on this kid. *LOL*
Oh, you give me an idea for Bryan. How about "Misplaced ambition"? You'd have to know the story to understand the "misplaced" part, but it fits.
For Adam I'd say "simple man". I know some would say that sounds insulting, but it really isn't. I don't mean simple as in stupid, I mean simple as in just that - simple. Which is why the complicated Eve is such a challenge for him.
Simple man probably does fit Adam profoundly. Maybe I'll make him a Lynard Skynard fan. *LOL*
I understand about the misplaced ambition...and not to make you follow the class assignment to the letter, but I was looking for a "noun" for him. He's not really "Ambition" is he? I think the misplaced ambition is good to know and to keep in mind when writing him though.
You know when we read those blogs about what sort of "hats" we wear--and we say, "Mother", "Daughter", "Writer", "Sister", "Friend", "Pirate", "Feminist"--etc... what are some titles you'd use to describe Bryan?
I'm loving these archetypes, Hellion! I'm going to have track down this book.
I think in mine the hero is a desperate warrior, desperate because he's trying to make up for past mistakes. The heroine is a bit of a free-spirit, but I'm not coming up with a good description on hers.
I was thinking about this last night, about the overall theme of the story. As I've started revisions, I've noticed that at the beginning (when I didn't know enough about the theme or characters), I was kind of all over the map. So I was hoping thinking about the theme could help me in what scenes need to go and which need to stay.
On the same note, I love your idea about branding characters and keeping that in mind as you write. This will really help me to make sure I'm on the right track and keeping everything tight and moving forward as I slog my way through revisions! Thanks Hellion *g*
Yeah, I knew that noun didn't describe him as a person. I was just hoping no one would notice. LOL! Should have known better.
Bryan is a total guy. He's strong, he's in charge, he likes control and he protects. This is going to take some thinking (and the thesaurus) to find the perfect noun.
Hm. I don't know how to answer this question. I like the bad boys so I try to write my favorite version of them. Which I suppose is a cross between- bad boy, the chief and the professor- but he's almost unapproachable with his feelings. I just read a book where the heroine seemed to break out the tears every time I turned around. I'm beginning to think that's why I didn't like the book the first time I read it six years ago. I don't like feelings. They jumble everything up. Better to be emotionally detached and go about business and that's how I write my guys. Very blunt and to the point, but eluding all the answers. For me, part of the excitement and thrill of a relationship is to keep me guessing (though, I do get tired of it occasionally).
For me, Ash is bad boy-professor type. He's gotta learn to play outside the box for Sadie.
Ruiz is the bad boy- chief. He is Sadie's best friend and sometimes that doesn't help their "working" relationship.
It's hard because I don't associate my characters with actors who've played characters in movies. Hm. I need to think on this more.
I was thinking. I watched Fringe the other night. Ash is very much the JJ character in Fringe. Brilliant but a troulemaker.
I hate it when I find typos after I clicked submit. LOL
Renee
Ruiz is harder to pin down.
Oh well good gravy. First I have to get my blurb in 25 words or less and now...now I can only use two words for to describe my hero? Hmmm...soulless warrior, nope. Tortured warrior, nope. Cynical warrior, hmmm that's the closest, I think I'm going to get. His heroine, well she's more like a Tortured Mother Theresa.
As for Liam, the hero in my second book, I'd have to come up with something similar to supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, like overbearroganticfacetious Scottsman. And Anne, his English heroine, temid banshee.
When I thought about my western, I couldn't get my heroine into two words. Garrison, he's a God-fearing lawman, Darby she's a train robbing, cigar smoking, gambling avenging angel.
Thanks for waking up my brain.
Renee
Sin - I liked JJ on Fringe. perfect for Ash *g*
Hal- It's hard not to like JJ's character in anything he plays. He's that rough sort of hotness I like in a man. Not to mention he's got the troublemaker's gleam in his pretty eyes.
rough sort of hotness with a troublemaker gleam - that might just be the best definition of a guy. I'm going to remember that!
I "brand" my characters in my query letter (draft):
Margaux -- struggling artist
Charlie -- newspaper photographer
Fredrick -- ex-boyfriend-cum-partner-in-crime (Hey, that's only one word! I get another word!)
Not very useful, though, is it?
Let's try again:
Margaux -- recovering wishywashy-er
Charlie -- responsible. (to the point of self-sacrificing)
Fredrick -- responsible. (for everything.)
... Well, I'm amused.
Alright, here goes...
Drake-charming chief
Sarah-nurturing free-spirit
Di
Jordan - we too are amused. LOL! And I love the one long hyphenated word. That tells me everything I need to know about him. And I like him already. LOL!
Di - I like the one for Sarah. What time period are we talking here?
I'm thinking about savior for Bryan's noun. But I'm still debating. If only I had more than half a brain cell right now, this would be easier.
Terrio
It is a regency.
Or more accurately it is the begining of a regency.
Di
Hal, I'm loving the desperate warrior title. That's a great one! That can really play into how your hero goes into every scene... (And totally, it plays into theme! I love themes! English major!)
Sin: the only descriptor you need for Ash and Ruiz is: SEX ON A STICK. That pretty much sums up how they behave in every scene anyway. :)
Terri: Ambitious protector?
"Rough sort of hotness with a troublemaker's gleam"--SIGN ME UP AND SEND ME OUT TO SEA WITH HIM....
*LOL* Renee, I love the overbeararrogantious Scotsman--that's perfect! I know, I know...it's hard to limit yourself to two words. I mean, can you limit ME to two words?
Actually you probably could: "over-sexed pirate" would probably do it.
Jordan: combining your two, but not sure if this works for you....
Margaux — indecisive artist
Charlie — martyr-complex journalist
Fredrick — dependable best friend
Di, I love these:
Drake--charming chief
Sarah--nurturing free-spirit
Charming--you know I love CHARMING! And I can totally see the free-spirit who nurtures everyone! :)
I've got my noun!
Boy-next-door.
If fits literally and figuratively! LOL! Now for the adjective. Hmmmmm....
And who plays this JJ dude. I need to check this boy out. LOVING that description. And too funny about the sex on a stick. I'm thinking Sin would be hard pressed to write a guy that DOESN'T fit that description.
I can't remember what his character's name is, but it's Joshua Jackson who plays his character on Fringe and I love me some Joshua Jackson.
jinx *g*
Terri - Joshua Jackson who plays Peter on Fringe. He plays a brilliant scientist who would rather run around Baghdad playing poker than work. Charming and irresponsible with such a cute smile :)
Pinch-poke you owe me a coke. LOL
I honestly don't think of my guys as sex-on-a-stick men. Arrogant SOB's maybe. Detemined. Rough. Wickedly bad to the bone. And sharp. But never sex on a stick.
(Oh, they're sex on a stick, Sin, don't you doubt it. But I see now that "oversexed pirate" is fitting me more and more.)
Boy-next-door is PERFECT. You don't like ambitious boy-next-door?
Oh, the dude from Dawson's Creek? Really? I never would have thought of him that way. But he does have that gleam in his eye. And the charm Captain has been talking about. I'm a total sucker for charm and wit. You throw in a sense of humor and I'm done.
How about Distracting Boy-Next-Door?
I want something that describes his effect on her so that fits. But I knows there's a better one. I just have to find it.
Ambitious makes him sound more like a CEO. He's too laid back for that. The drive behind him making the restaurant a success is a promise to his dead fiance more than ambition.
*scratching chin* I don't think "Distracting" works. Is his CORE distracting? I mean, does everyone find him distracting?
I can understand the ambitious bit, I guess.
Distracting is sorta like charming...and I know you think of Bryan as charming, but charming is more "irresponsible" which isn't how I imagine Bryan (or pretty much any Beta.) What about his tragic background. What about a "Brooding Boy-Next-Door" or "tenacious Boy-Next-Door"--he's tenacious about tearing down her defenses.
Though tenacious isn't very romantic sounding. He's sexy too. Maybe I should just stick with sexy boy-next-door.
Tenacious might be our winner!
Sad this took all day. *sigh*
LOL!
You're not using this in your query letter. This is only to keep you in touch with how Bryan should be behaving in your story. (I grant you, you don't have this problem, I think because you say that your characters tell you how the story goes rather than "improv-ing" which is how I write.)
Sexy should be a given regardless.
Ben is a "secretive charmer"...or a "charasmatic smooth operator"...to me, he's more the first. He's got a broody, LOST SOUL quality, a light frosting layer over the Devil's Food Cake of his CHARMER core. *LOL*
Can anyone tell what I'd like to have right now?
Cake. Get me some CAKE.
Livie is more "cynical spunky kid" or maybe, "repressed spunky kid"--but again, I'd go with the first one. She doesn't take much to unrepress once you get her on board.
CAKE. Where is the freaking cake around here?
Anyway, I share Ben's 2-word descriptor because everyone who's read Ben says, "SEX ON A STICK" (except for the one bookstore owner who said she despised him, but that was an EARLY draft)...you don't need sexy in the descriptor.
I likely can't pin it down because I haven't written in so long. LOL! Though Bryan is always much more in my head than Celi. Celi just wishes I'd leave her the hell alone. And keep Bryan out of her way. LOL!
I'm thinking words like incorrigable (sp?) and irreverent and inescapable for Ben. :)
Terri - You like Fredrick, eh? Eeeeexcellent. (Where's my evil smiley face?)
Hellion - That's actually great for Margaux and Charlie, but not so much for Fredrick. (Again, I need an evil smiley. I love/hate Fredrick.)
Q - Seeing as I am obviously a sneaky female, I'll take that as a compliment. (Seriously, where IS that evil smiley?!)
Jordan - please tell me Fredrick isn't the creepy, killer dude. LOL! And we do need some smiley options around here. Wish there was someone who knew something about this HTML stuff that might be able to do that for us...
*whistles innocently*
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