Ready to re-write? Not so fast: You may need to go back to the drawing board.

After the first draft, my next struggle is reading it. I cringe at my bad writing and wonder if I should just throw-in the towel right there. What kind of writer could I possible be to write such dreck? So much telling! So little showing. Ugh. I’m embarrassed for myself.

But then I remember editing, that’s where it all gets fixed. And truth be told, I like editing the best. That’s where the wordplay really comes in. I love the challenge of taking a clunky phrase and turning it into a Cinderella sentence. And often, it’s easier than it looks. Except when it isn’t.

For me, first drafts are a challenge to get down, taking every ounce of my creative energy. Whereas editing is playing with what’s already there. People have asked me: Editing must be so hard, having to throw away all your lovely sentences? These people have not read my first drafts. (No one gets to see those.) It’s pretty easy to pitch those sentences in the dustbin. (I’ve been reading a lot of UK authors lately.)

And if it truly is your first draft, then you definitely need to go back to the drawing board on so many levels. But I’m on my third first draft of the same novel, and at least seven full edits before these last two first-drafts. (I know, painful isn’t it?) A writer friend asked me how I could keep going on the same novel. My reply: Because I had paid a substantive editor to go over my novel. If I didn’t want to take her advice, then my money was wasted. Thankfully, there was much she liked about it, but there were some major plot holes, or maybe a missing plot. (I see you laughing, Lori.) So I decided to start fresh and do two more “first-drafts”. And it’s called persistence. You can read more about that here from writer friend, Donna’s blog: https://ascribewriters.com/press-on-writers/

I was excited by the work I had done and jumped right into editing. I didn’t get too far before I realized something wasn’t right. Why was my secondary character doing that? Does that make sense? I went over my character notes and realized these characters had changed on the re-writes. Their actions no longer made sense. One particular character I was looking at, originally had very liberal parents, but in this version, her dad’s the minister of the church. Clearly her backstory need to change and so would her motivations.

You can have characters act “out-of-character” but you’d better know why. And you better communicate that to your reader. When to reveal backstory is a craft issue for another blog. What I needed to do was delve back into my characters, flush them out. I didn’t know them anymore. Back to the drawing board.

Working on character can be lots of fun. In our first drafts, we can whizz past these these characters, especially secondary ones. They’ll remain flat on the page unless we bring them to life. And what writer of fiction isn’t a psychologist wannabe? Which of you hasn’t tried to psychoanalyze a friend, or enemy? Take those tendencies and apply them to your characters. There’s a wealth of tools you can utilize.

Personality Assessments:

An easy and fun place to start is the many “personality tests” out there. One of the most well-known is the Myers-Briggs personality assessment. (Of course, I always have to try them on myself before trying them on my characters.)

Personality Philosophies:

• Aryuvedic teaching has the three doshas: Pitta, Kapha, Vatta – Each having its own tendencies.
• Rudolph Steiner discusses the four temperaments: Sanguine, Melancholic, Choleric and Phlegmatic.
• Astrology: look up the different sun signs and their personality indicators.

Books!

• Writer’s Guid to Character Traits, by Linda N. Edelstein, PH.D.
• The Positive Trait Thesaurus, by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
• The Negative Trait Thesaurus, by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
• The Emotion Thesaurus, by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi

Writers on the Internet:

One of my go-to resources has been KM Weiland. She has a free download guide on her website: Creating Unforgettable characters: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/ She also points us to Laurie Schnebly who is a writer and psychologist and has a few good resources on her website: http://www.booklaurie.com/workshops.php

Writers’ Groups

Your writers’ group is also a wealth of information. A few of our members have given talks on character and shared great resources. And our members can have some fascinating insights themselves: a lawyer, a journalist, an advocate for women, a veterinarian, and more. Everyone has something to offer. Look around at your own friends and family.

We have a newly joined member to our group who also happens to be a psychologist. She did an informative talk on how we work as human beings somewhere on the spectrum of four polarities: spiritual, emotional, physical or intellectual. Pick the strongest two for your character, and that will be the lens through which your character views the world. Reaction most often starts with emotion. She advised us that in every family there are rules about emotion. Delve into your character’s upbringing to help make sense of their reactions.

There are tons of resources for developing your characters, and lots of interview questions to get to know them better. If you’ve just finished a draft, or a major revision, make sure to look back at your characters and see if they need to change, too. Happy psychoanalyzing!