Casting the Movie of Your Novel by Sandie Bricker

If you know me and my experience as a writer, you know I started as an aspiring screenwriter. Movies, television, visual mediums of all kinds have been a passion of mine since a very young age. So it should come as no real surprise that I’ve retained that passion and adjusted it accordingly for writing novels.

In most cases, each of my book concepts start with the germ of a character. Something quirky about them draws me to wanting to develop them further, and before I know it … I’m lost in imagining what kind of trouble they’ll stir up, how their fish-out-of-waterness will have them reacting to certain situations, what kind of person might offset their personality in an interesting way. Before that phase is complete, I’ve almost always “cast them” in my mind by choosing an actor/actress to play the part as I’m dreaming up their storyline.

While I’ve never been a real fan of character profiles – pages and pages of questions to answer about people I haven’t fully drawn in my own mind yet – I do find that a storyboard is helpful. I  usually use a white board in my office to post those casting photos and make general shorthand notes. For instance, here’s an example of what I created while writing the Jessie Stanton series.

STORYBOARD: JESSIE STANTON SERIES - SANDRA D. BRICKER

As novelists, it is our responsibility to take the reader from shadowy sketch to clear identification with the character on the page. And yet how many times have entertainment headlines reflected outrage of eager viewers when a casting decision has been made that failed to resonate with their impression of a beloved character? Ben Affleck as Batman? Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones? Never mind acting abilities! These were not the faces in the minds of moviegoers. While this sort of thing is certainly regrettable for filmmakers hoping to round up those entertainment dollars by cashing in on commitment to translating the written word to the big screen, it speaks to the adeptness of those authors who created the original material.

Imagine the repercussions if actress Kaley Cuoco, for instance, had been cast as Sheldon’s girlfriend Amy instead of Penny on The Big Bang Theory. Even though Kaley’s acting prowess might have allowed her to suitably characterize Amy in her own way, Mayim Bialik – through wardrobe, makeup, facial expression, and the like – personifies Amy Farrah Fowler in every subtle way. Viewers can’t imagine anyone else playing Amy, which is what we aim for in creating characters on the written page as well.

In the original draft of Star Wars, the character of Han Solo was scripted as a green-skinned alien. It wasn’t until the third draft that visionary George Lucas decided to morph Han into “a tough, James Dean-style starpilot about twenty-five years old. A cowboy in a starship—simple, sentimental and cocksure of himself.” Try for a moment to imagine Star Wars without that dramatic revision to one of its most beloved characters.

When I’ve conducted workshops for authors about characterization, one of the exercises attendees have found particularly helpful is one that helps them define a main character by avoiding physical stereotypes while still relying on the general nuances of appearance.

Have a look at these two people:

Now use your visual imagination to define character distinctions, quirks, etc. of each of them. Ask yourself about their details. Where are their hometowns? What do they do for a living? Give each of them a unique character trait, habit,  or vice. Explore their greatest fears, their moral/ethical beliefs, and their greatest passions in life. 

After doing so for the first set of main characters, repeat the exercise for this second set of actors:

When you’re finished, they are sure to be very different. And if they're not, go a little deeper. Ask yourself why.

So now it's your turn to weigh in on this subject. What are YOUR secrets to creating memorable and unique characters?

~~~~~

SANDRAD. BRICKER was an entertainment publicist in Los Angeles for 15+ years where she attended school to learn screenwriting and eventually taught the craft for several semesters. When she put Hollywood in the rear view mirror and headed across the country to take care of her mom until she passed away, she traded her scripts for books, and a best-selling, award-winning author of Live-Out-Loud fiction for the inspirational market was born. Sandie is best known for her Another Emma Rae Creation and Jessie Stanton series for Abingdon Press, and she was also recently named ACFW’s Editor of the Year for her work as managing editor of Bling!, an edgy romance imprint for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. As an ovarian cancer survivor, Sandie also gears time and effort toward raising awareness and funds for research, diagnostics and a cure.  

Connect with Sandie:

Author website: http://sandradbricker.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SandieBricker

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandradbricker

 

Writing Nutrition 101 by Sandie Bricker

Author/Editor Sandra D. Bricker

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you probably know I had bariatric surgery in September of last year. In the six months since that adventure, I’ve lost 80+ pounds and learned more than I ever thought there was to learn about portions, proteins, carbs, vitamins, and exercise.

While working out at the gym last week, my thoughts wandered to a new writing project I planned to start that afternoon … which led me to think about trimming the fat and strengthening my writing. I thought you all might like to read about the results. With the end goal of getting in (writerly) shape, here are some tips that might be helpful:

Cut the extras. You know how snacking gets in the way of a balanced eating plan, right? Yeah. That. When a word or two will do, refrain from using the four or five you nearly chose. This is a good first step toward overall health as a writer.

Avoid fatty choices. Lean chicken and fish are often recommended over beef and pork, right? In that vein, if you have what I like to call whack-a-words – words you tend to throw in by rote (e.g., really, very, actually, and then) – get into the habit of performing a search of your finished document to evaluate where you can make other, more nutritional choices instead … or even delete them entirely.

No pain, no gain. Every writer fights the urge to tell a detailed backstory before the real action ever gets started. It can be a hard pill to swallow when editors tell you – often in more than one or two instances – that your real story begins with Chapter Two (or three or…). Part of improving your writing and developing stronger muscles is learning to take those frequent reminders and apply them on your own (so they become less frequent!). Yes, I realize those first couple of chapters are rife with pertinent details and stellar turns of phrase, and it might really pain you to remove them. But at the cost of remaining stagnant in your development as a writer, do you really want to allow them to linger, thwarting your progression? As Nike encourages, “just do it.” Bite the bullet and cut them. You’ll be stronger for it.

Fight your inner couch potato. Passive voice can give your story a jiggly, somewhat lazy quality that no writer wants to share with the world. As both an editor and an author, I have a low tolerance for the potholes passive writing brings to a story’s road. I certainly don’t recommend that every WAS and WERE be eliminated; however, I do suggest revisions wherever it seems natural and/or possible to do so.

So there you have it. Losing dead weight and toning your body is never easy. But by taking some baby steps, you can see some real progress. That’s true in developing as a writer as well.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SANDRA D. BRICKER was an entertainment publicist in Los Angeles for 15+ years where she attended school to learn screenwriting and eventually taught the craft for several semesters. When she put Hollywood in the rear view mirror and headed across the country to take care of her mom until she passed away, she traded her scripts for books, and a best-selling, award-winning author of Live-Out-Loud fiction for the inspirational market was born. Sandie is best known for her Another Emma Rae Creation and Jessie Stanton series for Abingdon Press, and she was also recently named ACFW’s Editor of the Year for her work as managing editor of Bling! Romance, an edgy romance imprint for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. As an ovarian cancer survivor, Sandie also gears time and effort toward raising awareness and funds for research, diagnostics and a cure.

HOW TO CONNECT WITH SANDIE:

Author website

Twitter

Author Facebook

Brilliant Advice (from famous writers)

Author & Editor Sandra D. Bricker

One of the questions I’m asked most often – both as a writer and as an editor – is, “What advice do you have for new, aspiring authors?” … And my immediate thought is always, “Who am I to give someone advice?” In so many ways, I’m still trying to figure it out for myself!

The truth is there are greater minds than mine … talents bigger than mine … names more famous than mine … all of whom are far more qualified than I am to tell writers what it takes to become everything they can be. To prove that, I’ve gone back into my files of articles I’ve written and workshops I’ve taught, and I’ve assembled those slices of guidance I’ve thought valuable enough to offer … and then sought out more exciting mentor types to validate me. You know, in that way we writers often do.

Madeleine L’Engle: “It’s the great writers who teach us how to write.”

See what I did there? So here we go.

Sandie Bricker: “Even though every other pedestrian on the street believes they can write the next great novel, only one in about three million of them actually lift a finger to do the work. What’s the difference between us and them? We can’t help ourselves. We can no more NOT WRITE than they can put their fanny in the chair for eight hours straight in the spirit of telling the story.”

Joss Whedon:  “You either have to write or you shouldn’t be writing. That’s all.”

Sandie Bricker: “You know how they say youth is wasted on the young? I think it’s the same concept with writers. As youngsters, we think we have a compelling story to tell; but very often, it’s not until we’ve put a little life under our belts that we actually have something to say.”

William Faulkner: “Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error.”

Sandie Bricker: “Reading is one of the most important skills to develop as you learn to write. And it’s not as much because you want to know what works for other writers as it is because it’s an imperative part of learning your craft.”

Stephen King:  “I am always chilled and astonished by the would-be writers who ask me for advice and admit, quite blithely, that they ‘don’t have time to read.’ This is like a guy starting up Mount Everest saying that he didn’t have time to buy any rope or pitons.”

Sandie Bricker: “Try not to over-think your words on the page, or edit to the point of leaving them raw and bloody. Just tell your story. Get it on paper. You can always edit later if need be, but I can guarantee readers will never respond to your truth if you fail to get it into their hands.”

Tina Fey: “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it…You have to let people see what you wrote!”

Sandie Bricker: “One of the biggest mistakes new writers make is quitting their day jobs too early, convinced that their road to success will be fast and furious. In the beginning, keep your expectations low, and just write for the sake of improving your craft. The chances are pretty good that you’re not going to make a million dollars and retire on your first book.”

Maya Angelou:  “Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.”

Sandie Bricker: “Don’t make the mistake of believing your best friend, your mom, your Aunt Ethel, or your kids’ nanny about your extraordinary talent. The most unfortunate truth in any writing career comes in that moment when your first professional critique disproves every one of them and you realize you are actually not going to be to publishing what sliced bread became to carbohydrate consumption.”

Paul Theroux: “Writing is not figure skating or skiing. Your mother will not make you a writer. My advice to any young person who wants to write is: Leave home.”

Sandie Bricker: “Avoid the mistake of trying to recreate the wheel. In this world of remakes and ‘story inspired by’ sub-titles, commit yourself to developing new and fresh ideas. Let your imagination lead the way and guide you to that idea no one has thought of yet or executed in quite the same way.”

Anne Rice: “The world is crying for new writing. It is crying for fresh and original voices and new characters and new stories. If you won’t write the classics of tomorrow, well, we will not have any.”

So there you have it! My kernels of guidance for new and aspiring authors … and the wisdom of greater minds than mine to prove their validity.

~~~~~ 

SANDRA D. BRICKER was an entertainment publicist in Los Angeles for 15+ years where she attended school to learn screenwriting and eventually taught the craft for several semesters. When she put Hollywood in the rear view mirror and headed across the country to take care of her mom until she passed away, she traded her scripts for books, and a best-selling, award-winning author of Live-Out-Loud fiction for the inspirational market was born. Sandie is best known for her Another Emma Rae Creation and Jessie Stanton series for Abingdon Press, and she was also recently named ACFW’s Editor of the Year for her work as managing editor of Bling!, an edgy romance imprint for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. As an ovarian cancer survivor, Sandie also gears time and effort toward raising awareness and funds for research, diagnostics and a cure.  

HOW TO CONNECT WITH SANDIE:

Author website: http://sandradbricker.com/

Latest book website:  http://www.moments-of-truth.net/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SandieBricker

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandradbricker

Bling! Romance Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/BlingRomanceLPC