James R. Callan: The Importance of Eccentric

I was looking at maps of Ireland this morning, planning on a trip to the Emerald Island this summer. It reminded me of the old Irish story about the leprechaun who is captured. To obtain his release, he has to tell his captor where the leprechaun’s pot of gold is hidden. He tells the man that it is buried at the base of a tree and promises to tie a yellow ribbon around the tree if the man will free him. The man releases the leprechaun. The next morning the man races to the forest. To his dismay, every tree has a yellow ribbon tied around it. The leprechaun has kept his promise. But the man has no idea which tree is the right one. 

The man was expecting an exceptional tree, one which stood out. One with a yellow ribbon tied around it.

Your readers are expecting a protagonist who stands out. An exceptional person, a character she will remember. Your goal is to create memorable characters. So, I would ask you to write “Eccentric” on a card and pin it above your computer. Then, aim to craft eccentric characters for your protagonist, sidekick, and antagonist. The dictionary defines eccentric as “deviating from the norm.” You need characters that deviate from the norm, who stand out, who are…memorable. If your character looks like everybody else’s character, why will the reader remember your character?

William Doonan’s Grave Passage has an octogenarian detective who falls asleep. He forgets things. But you remember him. Eccentric.

Lisa Brackman, in Rock, Paper, Tiger, has a Viet Nam veteran with PTSD. But her character is a female. That’s different. Most of the stories dealing with PTSD center on male vets. You’ll remember her.

 Take a look at your protagonist. Is she like a lot of other characters you’ve met in other books? What is different about her? Yes, she has a different task to accomplish, but is she different? Is she memorable? Or is she just another tree with a yellow ribbon tied around her, like all the other trees? 

Then, ask yourself, how can I make her different?  How can I make her stand out?  No, having a father who wanted a boy does not make her different. No, many kids have a mother who abuses alcohol or drugs. Yes, you can use those, but you must interject something to make this protagonist different, unique, eccentric, memorable.

The sidekick offers great opportunities. She doesn’t have to save the world, or the project, or anything. She will help the protagonist. But it’s not her fight. She can be truly distinctive.

Look at your antagonist. Is he or she memorable? Or is he just like another rotten peach in the orchard? It’s not enough to create another mean person. Craft a unique villain.

The plot of a novel can be considered the engine. Without it, the book goes nowhere. But the characters are the heart of the novel. Without memorable characters, who cares where the story goes? What causes a person to seek the next book in a series? The characters. Make your characters eccentric, unique, memorable.

Take a lesson from the leprechaun. If your character looks, sounds, acts like everyone else, not only will she not stand out, she’ll be lost in the woods.

These ideas come from Callan’s book on character development -- Character: The Heartbeat of the Novel.  The second edition is available in paperback and Kindle editions.  Check it out at:  http://amzn.to/19l69jd

Character: The Heartbeat of the Novel

This eighty page book lays out what you need to do to develop memorable characters, and tells you how to do it. With clear explanations and examples, Callan presents a clear road map to creating characters your readers will connect with, love (or hate) and tell their friends about. In addition, most chapters end with exercises to help you put into practice what was covered in the text.

Chapters cover such things as—

· considerations if this character will be part of a series

· the importance of selecting the right name

· setting the goals for you character

· the importance of first impressions

· the power of internalization, and the dangers

· how similies & metaphors can enhance your character

· the fourth dimension

· conflict, the necessary element

· why you want a sidekick for your protagonist, and what you don’t want

· why you must have a strong antagonist

· how to make character bios

· and much more.

“I am impressed, because it’s absolutely the best book I’ve read so far on character development.” Ginnie Siena Bivona, former Acquisition Editor for The Republic of Texas Press, and Publisher at Atriad Press.

About James R. Callan:

After a successful career in mathematics and computer science, receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, and being listed in Who’s Who in Computer Science and Two Thousand Notable Americans, James R. Callan turned to his first love—writing.  He wrote a monthly column for a national magazine for two years, and published several non-fiction books.  He now concentrates on his favorite genre, mystery/suspense, with his sixth book release in Spring, 2015.

Website:                 www.jamesrcallan.com

Blog:                      www.jamesrcallan.com/blog

Amazon Author page:         http://amzn.to/1eeykvG

Twitter:                           @jamesrcallan

James R. Callan: The Importance of Eccentric

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James Callan: The Sidekick

James R. Callan

In most novels, it is a good idea for the protagonist to have a sidekick. Generally, this will be a friend of the protagonist. It is certainly possible that it is a stranger who enters the plot, and either attaches himself to the protagonist, or is somehow brought into close contact with the hero and ends up helping him or her.

If you are not convinced of the importance of the sidekick, imagine the Lone Ranger without Tonto, or Batman without Robin, or The Green Hornet without Kato.

The sidekick is a very helpful friend for you, the author.

The key to a good sidekick is to have him be a contrast to the protagonist. Why? If they are friends, wouldn’t they be a lot alike? If you make the sidekick a carbon copy of the leading person, all you really gain is another pair of hands. Make the sidekick a contrast, a different personality, and you have added a new dimension to the story.

 

By being different, the sidekick can highlight those characteristics of the protagonist that you want to emphasize. This secondary player can offer a separate perspective on the problems and perhaps additional paths to a solution.

I said the sidekick was a friend of the author. Suppose your protagonist is very serious. The sidekick can offer some comic relief. What if you get your principal character in a spot and don’t know how to get her out? The sidekick can provide the answer. Many problems you face as the author can be solved by use of the sidekick. Here’s an example. Abe is so honest and law abiding, he won’t even drive over the speed limit. He and Ethan stand in front of a house they need to search. The door is locked and Abe won’t break in. “Would you go in if the door was open?” asks Ethan. “Yeah. But it isn’t.” Ethan disappears and two minutes later the front door opens. “Come right in,” says a smiling Ethan. He has broken into a back door. You can’t let Abe move out of the character you’ve developed, but Ethan can help.

In A Ton of Gold, my leading person is a near-Ph.D. research scientist. Her friend, Brandi, barely made it out of high school. But Brandi is street smart, and when they find themselves in the seedier side of society, it is Brandi who knows how to deal with it.

The protagonist and the sidekick can have the same goal, but the sidekick can have a different motive, thus adding another layer to your story. And the sidekick could be the driving force for a subplot.

So think of the sidekick as your friend. Craft your sidekick carefully and whatever problem arises, there’s a good chance the sidekick can solve it, allowing the protagonist to keep her focus on the main goal of the book. When you create the sidekick, think “Contrast.” Your book will benefit.

About James Callan:

After a successful career in mathematics and computer science, receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, and being listed in Who’s Who in Computer Science and Two Thousand Notable Americans, James R. Callan turned to his first love—writing.  He wrote a monthly column for a national magazine for two years, and published several non-fiction books.  He now concentrates on his favorite genre, mysteries, with his sixth book releasing in Spring, 2014.

 

Website

Blog

Amazon Author page

Twitter

A Ton of Gold, (Oak Tree Press, 2013)

On Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions:   http://amzn.to/UQrqsZ

James R. Callan: What the Great Indian Warrior Crazy Horse Taught Me About Writing

My wife and I had visited all fifty of these United States, except North Dakota. So we made a point a few years ago to visit North Dakota. On the way home, we toured South Dakota and stopped at the monument to Crazy Horse.

While there, I discovered this quote by that great Indian warrior.

   

“You are only as strong as your enemy.”

(c) CanStockPhoto.com / Oralleff

I realized he was speaking not only to his people, but to writers. And what he was saying was this. Your protagonist is only as good as your antagonist. If you have a weak antagonist, you cannot have a strong protagonist. You hero must have a formidable opponent to be a strong character. Create a weak, poorly defined antagonist and your main character has nothing to work against. It would be like a six foot seven inch college basketball star playing one-on-one against a five foot tall twelve year-old. No suspense. No conflict. No fun. No interest.

You cannot develop much suspense, or even much conflict, if there is not a strong force trying to defeat the hero. Even if the reader believes that the protagonist will certainly win, there needs to be some doubt. There needs to be some concern over what this will cost your hero, even if he wins. What collateral damage will be done? How will the protagonist’s friends, or people he is trying to protect, be affected?

To this end, it is often a good ploy to make the antagonist stronger than the protagonist. Perhaps smarter, as well. This may be the time the antagonist wins. It is worthwhile to actually build an antagonist and a plan so that he will win. Think like you are a backer of the antagonist. And let this come across in the book.

Then, you must work to let the good guy win at the last minute. But, he cannot win by luck. You don’t want the gods to save him. So, how do you accomplish his win?
Early in the book, you put in place the flaw in the antagonist and the asset in the protagonist that will provide the means for the good guy to defeat the bad guy. You do this casually, at a time when it makes little difference, in a manner that catches little attention. But, those qualities are there. Then, three hundred pages later, those very things provide a logical and believable way for the protagonist to win.

Does this take a good bit of work and planning? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. The conclusion is logical. No one can cry foul. The tools were there, just unnoticed until the crucial time.

So, develop a strong, worthy opponent (with just one little flaw). Now, the protagonist has her work cut out for her. But in the end, she will rise to the occasion and save the day. Good hero. Good job. Good book.


About James R. Callan:
After a successful career in mathematics and computer science, receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, and being listed in Who’s Who in Computer Science and Two Thousand Notable Americans, James R. Callan turned to his first love—writing.  He wrote a monthly column for a national magazine for two years, and published four non-fiction books.  He now concentrates on his favorite genre, mysteries, with his sixth book releasing in Spring, 2014.

Website 
Blog
Amazon Author page
Twitter:   @jamesrcallan

Character: The Heartbeat of the Novel
(Oak Tree Press, 2013)

Find it on Amazon