I shared with my Revenge shipmates a few weeks ago that I was leaving my current day job after seven years for a new position I'm really excited about.

Now, it wasn't that I didn't enjoy my current job. I did. It also wasn't that I didn't like my co-workers, because they are the main reason I stayed so long. I mean every job has it bad points (like overworking you all the time!), but for the most part I was mostly happy with it.

So why did I decide to take a new job and leave what felt familiar. Why rock the boat and have to reinvent myself and prove my worth again for a new group of co-workers?

Because something just didn't feel right anymore. From not feeling challenged in my projects, to a sense that I had started to just flow through everyday without pushing myself to be more, kind of scared me. I don't want to live that life.

And I don't want my writing to be like that either.

So, I'm starting the new book over. Fresh. Bright and shiny new.

Not because it wasn't flowing or because it wasn't good, but because it just felt off. Something isn't right with the tone and characters yet. I'm just not feeling as if the story is electrifying me as much as the ideas in my head do.

As I start this new phase in my career, I've also decided to make a clean start on this new book. I love the characters and plot and want to make sure what I'm putting on the page makes me proud.

At this point I'm insanely excited about both new starts, but nervous too. I put a lot of pressure on myself to exceed expectations and I don't want to set the bar too high, but I always want to be pushing forward.

I'm not doing any more research on the story, but I'm going to spend more time getting to know my characters. My heroine needs to speak to me a little more so I can capture her correctly. My hero needs to step it up too since he's been shy about letting me know his secrets. Ah, the possibilities!

So, here's to new beginnings!

Have you ever started a story over from scratch because you felt you just hadn't captured the tone and characters just right? Were you excited about it, or overwhelmed? Any suggestions on how to make a great first impression at a new job? Lastly, what are you starting fresh and new lately?

 

So I've been working on the new story and the original snippet of the idea started with my heroine. I was sitting in Debra Dixon workshop at RWA Nationals in Orlando and she challenged us to write an opening line for a story. Out of the blue a heroine came to me almost fully formed. 

Likewise, the path she would need to undertake to grow came around not long after. I can see her story in my mind and know how she should begin and end. The plot too has been swirling around in various forms.

 

What I don't have is my hero. 

I've been drawing a big goose egg when trying to flesh him out. Who he is and how exactly their stories come together just isn't coming to me. 

I even forced myself this weekend to write the meeting scene between them. And you know what? The guy who appeared was flat. Also, totally not the type of guy I'd been thinking my heroine needed. 

He wasn't an alpha. 

Can you do a non-alpha hero in a paranormal? LOL! Scratch that question. I'll try to stay on one topic first. :)

 

So I have...a beta hero I can now see rising up to alpha status when the story calls for it. 

But he still feels flat. 

So my dear crew, my questions for you today are: 

 

When you've fully formed your protagonist, how do you manage to make the love interest equally compelling? What happens when the character that starts to write themselves isn't what you had in mind at all? Besides character worksheets (because we all know I'll never get past filling them out in order to actually write) do you have any suggestions for rounding  out my poor flat hero? 

*Note - This song came to my mind for this post, but after listening to it again and looking up the lyrics I think it might have totally inspired me.

 

It’s the day of love. Cupids abound, hearts of every shade of pink and red, and people buying their special ones loads of chocolate in an attempt to prove their love through excessive caloric offerings. Those out there with no one to buy them chocolate do it for themselves – or should – resulting in the majority of us being edgy and sleepless this evening from too much sugar and caffeine. Harness that energy as you will, dear wenches.

There are mixed emotions about Valentine’s Day. Not just among the population at large, but here on the boat as well. The range of course runs from “awh, it’s sweet” to “if I have to see one more red paper heart I’ll stab my eyes out.” (Feel free to try and figure out where each of the pirates fall on that continuum. Could be entertaining for all of us.) *g*

My husband despises Valentine’s Day, claims that if you love someone that you shouldn’t need the day exploited by Hallmark to “prove” it to them. This might sound like he’s just trying to get out of buying me a gift, but this is the same guy who never let me run out of my favorite ice cream while 8 months pregnant (Turkey Hill Mint Choco Chip), remembers to scrape my car off if it’s snowing, does the vacuuming and laundry (though admittedly doesn’t fold well), and has scaled back on his snoozes from 6 to 1 – on most days – because he knows I sleep so lightly. So, while he makes a fuss and boycotts Valentine’s Day, I let him happily, knowing that he’ll do plenty of things all year long that show me he loves me best.

*A skirmish breaks out aboard the ship as pirates equal parts retch and threaten to throw their gunner overboard. Gunner Marnee attempts to hold them at bay, tossing the crew a bag of truffles and a fifth of rum as a distraction.*

Gimme a second wenches! I swear I’m not trying to touch any nerves today. *The testy pirates settle into the chocolate and liquor, placated for now but casting suspicious glances in GM’s direction.* Let me just get to the point. *Captain Hellion, mouth full of chocolate, gestures a grudging go-ahead with her pistol.*

*GM continues quickly before they change their minds.*

One of the reasons so many hate Valentine’s Day is because it can tend to feel fake. Grand gestures one day that aren’t supported by the day before or the day after and plenty of empty words.

This is a huge case of show don’t tell if I’ve ever seen it.

When heroes, or heroines for that matter, act uncharacteristically in novels, our mind and our hearts rebel against them. For example, we mentioned yesterday that we doubt the happy ending when a hero and heroine who fight the entire book have a miraculous make up at the end. Without enough support, enough characterization, we don’t believe it –just like at Valentine’s Day.

Characterization has to be built in the little things characters do quietly, even when no one else is watching. We can believe a rough-around-the-edges man with a soft spot for a stray dog would develop a similar soft spot for our heroine. We can believe a tortured widower who’s afraid to love again, but is tender and loving to his children can eventually find room in his heart for our heroine. Because if we build their characteristics appropriately, their grand profession of love isn’t a stand-alone moment; it’s the culmination of many smaller moments.

Just like Valentine’s Day’s grand gesture should be a culmination of a year’s worth of small loving gestures.

So, wenches, what authors do this creation of character through small acts well? Any practical ways to help build characters? How does everyone else feel about V-Day? Any big plans today?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve found people, men in particular, to be fascinating. While the love of the written word has been in my blood for as long as I can remember, the very nature of human nature never ceases to amaze me. And as a writer, I find my male characters, both hero and secondary, enthralling. And I wonder to myself – Just what are they thinking?