Basics to Create Dynamic Characters - Lesson 2

Do you know where your character comes from? To have three dimensional characters, you need to create a physical, sociological and psychological environment for them.

Physical Environment
My story has two main locations. It starts with a Prologue set in the 17th century in the same Essex village that the majority of the novel is set in, in the present day. The first chapter takes place in London where Annie and her daughter live before they move to the village, and the busy city will be a big contrast to life in the country. In the village there’s a village green which is the place where Annie’s ancestor (Rachel) was burnt as a witch in the Prologue. Some of the buildings from then still exist in the present day, e.g. the church, the inn/pub, and the stables (now converted).

Annie arrives in the village in the spring. The story takes place over the following few months, finishing in November, a few days after Halloween, on the anniversary of Rachel’s death. The weather is very varied, i.e. typically English!

Plants are an important part of the book as lots will be needed for various spells, potions, etc. I need to make sure that the ones I use are in season. There are several animals including owls and ravens with mystic links to things in the book.

Sociological Environment
In London there’s little interaction between neighbours, most keep to themselves, although Annie does have some people she’s close too. Rose doesn’t fit in that well at school. She’s not bullied, she’s happy as a solitary child. The village people are mostly friendly. Her gran is well thought of, but some people are wary of her because she’s descended from a witch, and this will cause some conflict.

Annie has a job in a small clothes shop in London, but doesn’t have one to begin with when they move to the country. She may start up her own cottage industry selling jam, honey, dried herbs, etc., that she’s made herself but I haven’t decided that yet. She will need to do something to support herself and Rose. Rose likes to help in the garden; she used to help a neighbour on his allotment in London.

In the village people mainly work in the local area (village shops, post office, hairdressers, library, pub, etc.), but there are some who commute to work in larger towns nearby. There are also some farms in the area.

Most of the villagers are Anglican; one of the secondary characters has a brother who’s a Catholic priest, who is called to do an exorcism later in the book. Gran and her family have always been pagans but Annie (who grew up without knowing her background) has no particular belief.

Gran celebrates traditional pagan holidays over the year including Beltane which is celebrated on May 1st. Local villagers also celebrate May Day with traditional maypole dancing on the green and there is conflict between some in the community who feel this shouldn’t be allowed because of its pagan roots.

In the village there is a pub and a small library, and a cinema in a nearby town. The publican is thinking of setting up a museum of local history in some converted stables, hoping that it will attract people to stay in his pub.

Annie and Rose lived in a tower block in London; the area had a reputation of being a bit rough. The village has always been a sleepy country one, but it is changing as people commute to other towns to work.

Psychological Environment
The publican tries to inflict his viewpoint on how things should be run, but the people who work out of the village don’t really care. Gran carries on doing her own things and the majority of people in the village are happy to let her.

In London most people don’t like to get involved in other peoples’ lives and Annie and Rose don’t have many friends. The village is very welcoming to them, sometimes a little too interested.

The main local legends are based on the history of the witch burnings that had happened there in the 17th century. The publican wants to capitalise on them to attract visitors to the village (and his pub). The area has a reputation for being haunted.

Annie finds life in London quite stressful so the village (to begin with) is a very restful change. In the village most people are friendly, there are just a few who dislike Gran and therefore any members of her family. There are some negative undercurrents and rumours about what Gran and Annie are doing when the presence of the ghosts becomes more widely known.

Get Well Soon Hamster!!

The Vampire.

Its top speed is estimated to be 370mph. It accelerates at 0-272mph in six seconds. It's powered by a Rolls Royce Orpheus jet engine. It holds the Outright British Land Speed Record of 300.3mph. And last Tuesday it crashed at 300mph. It veered off the runway and flipped over several times, landing upside down. The driver didn't quite walk away from it, but he did say he had to do a piece to camera!



Richard Hammond (aka the Hamster) is one of the presenters of the BBC show Top Gear. It's more than just a show about cars, they do challenges and stunts and it's wonderfully funny and entertaining. It could be argued that this was a challenge (setting a new record) too far, but that's not important at the moment.

Richard was airlifted to hospital by Air Ambulance and was said to be 'critical but stable' in the Intensive Care Unit with 'serious brain injuries'. A couple of days later he was put into High Dependancy, and now he's on a general ward. He's walking a bit (he didn't break a single bone, apparently because they're strapped in so tightly) and the hospital say they are hopeful he will make a good recovery :-D

Fans set up a website to raise money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance hoping to raise about £30,000. By this morning it's already raised £144,219.22 and they've set a revised target of £500,000! YAA are planning to put the donations towards buying a second helicopter - Hammy's Heli.

I just wanted to add to all the good wishes to Richard and his family.

Get well soon!!

What Can You Say?!

3 Brits die each year testing if a 9v battery works on their tongue.

142 Brits were injured in 1999 by not removing all pins from new shirts.

58 Brits are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers.

31 Brits have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.

19 Brits have died in the last 3 years believing that Christmas decorations were chocolate.

British Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after cracker pulling accidents.

101 people since 1999 have had broken parts of plastic toys pulled out of the soles of their feet.

18 Brits had serious burns in 2000 trying on a new jumper (sweater) with a lit cigarette in their mouth.

A massive 543 Brits were admitted to A&E in the last two years after opening bottles of beer with their teeth.

5 Brits were injured last year in accidents involving out-of-control Scalextric cars.

And finally.........

In 2000 8 Brits cracked their skull whilst throwing up into the toilet.

Basics to Create Dynamic Characters - Lesson 1

The first assignment is looking at the names we've picked for our characters.

My novel is a ghost story with aspects of witchcraft/paganism in it. There are four primary characters, two are from the 17th century and two from the present day.

My present-day main character's name is Annie, and I'm not sure where I got the idea from for that (I've been planning this book for years!). Her daughter is called Rose (Rosie). Originally I was going to call her Caitlin (Cait), because I like the name, but I decided it didn't look so good written down. I've joined a Wiccan Forum and been given a lot of help and advice from one of the Mods there. Part of her online name is Rose, so I decided to use that, and I think a flower name fits in well with the pagan aspects of the book.

The main character from the 17th century is called Cramer. He is a Witch-finder, and I took his name from one of the authors (Heinrich Kramer) of a witch hunter's handbook called "Malleus Maleficarum" ("The Hammer of Witches") which was published @ 1486. The title of my novel is "The Witches' Hammer" so I thought using his name was a nice reference to that. The other 17th century character is Rachel, one of Annie's ancestors, who Cramer burnt as a witch. As with Annie, I'm not sure where I got the idea for her name from.

Test

I'm getting an error message....my blog's disappeared!!!

September

Start of the new school and college year. A couple of years ago I took a college course, "Writing and Publishing", and I wanted to do another one. The only creative writing courses that my local collage are running are during the day - obviously only unemployed or retired people want to write creatively!

I'd thought about doing an online course for a while, and I did the free short F2K course at the beginning of the year. One thing that had put me off was the cost. But then I thought, I was happy to pay £40 for the ten week course at the local college, so what's the difference of paying for an online one? I've joined the Writers' Village University for a year, and it doesn't cost that much more.

There are over 200 courses available, of varying lengths. My first one is four weeks long and starts today...

Basics to Create Dynamic Characters
How can you ensure your reader will care about your characters? Are your characters three dimensional or are they flat and lifeless? This course will show you step by step how to create memorable characters which will captivate your reader.

I'm going to do what I did before, and post my assignments here as well as on my WVU class posting board. I'm excited about doing the courses, I feel like it will give me a real kick-start to my writing, and stop me prevaricating.

So I might actually manage to write in my blog a bit more! If I don't post you'll have to nag me to make sure I'm doing my homework!!

Some quizzes...

I know I've not written here for a while. I have been doing some book writing though, so that's a good thing.

I've done a few quizzes so here I am...

You Are From Pluto

You are a dark, mysterious soul, full of magic and the secrets of the universe. You can get the scoop on anything, but you keep your own secrets locked in your heart. You love change and you use it to your advantage, whether by choice or chance. You don't like to compromise, to the point of being self-destructive with your stubborness. Live life with love, and your deep powers will open the world to you.

What Planet Are You From?

You Are Sunshine

Soothing and calm You are often held up by others as the ideal But too much of you, and they'll get burned You are best known for: your warmth Your dominant state: connecting

What Type of Weather Are You?

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"Nice doggy."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?