Happy July to all writers! And Happy July 4th to Americans. Thank you to Alex Cavanaugh for starting the Insecure Writers' Support Group, where we support and befriend writerly peeps.
I'm excited to be a co-host this month along with Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre, MJ Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard,and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!
Congratulations to Ellen Jacobson (The Cynical Sailor) for her new release, Poisoned by the Pier (Molly McGhie Cozy Sailing Mystery #3). I'm reading it now and it's a lot of fun! Molly's husband is trying a fad diet involving rutabaga--this is not going to end well.
Are you entering the 2019 IWSG Anthology Contest? The genre is middle grade historical adventure/fantasy. I was fortunate to be part of Masquerade: Oddly Suited, Dancing Lemur Press's young adult romance anthology, and I met some wonderful IWSG authors in addition to working with a publisher featuring fast, clear communication. What a pleasure! I encourage you to submit a story for this year's contest.
Speaking of Dancing Lemur Press, they have a BOGO book sale this week! Check it out.
I love the introspective nature of this month's question: What personal trait(s) have you written into your characters?
Wow. What personal traits haven't I written into my characters? I find writing to be therapeutic, so I pour myself into my characters. I'm a psychologist and my books typically feature at least one therapist character. I've infused characters with these personal traits as well: anxious, romantic yet clueless at romance, intellectual, sporty (particularly swimming and volleyball), competitive, sensitive, analytical, passionate, persevering, overeating, loud laugher.
I'm working on a new novel, and my heroine is a smoker. Since I abhor smoking, this is a bit of a challenge for me.
I'm curious to hear your responses to this question! Write on.
Comments
Thank you for co-hosting this month and have a happy fourth.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Thanks for co-hosting this months IWSG blog hop. And cheers to a Happy 4th of July.
Lynn La Vita @ Writers Supporting Writers
Alex, I hope the contest judging goes well!
Hi Lisa, I want to stretch myself a bit. It's odd that cigarette smoking is so vilified but marijuana smoking is celebrated by today's culture, in many ways, though neither is for me.
Hey, cohost Natalie! I do very much enjoy my day job as psychologist.
Lynn, thanks for stopping by, and happy sailing!
I agree~ it would be difficult not to write in a personal trail into our writing!
Thank you for co-hosting, Jennifer!
Thanks for co-hosting today. :)
Thanks so much for co-hosting today. I enjoyed reading how your characters reflect so much of you.
Too funny about your character who smokes. When I was growing up, everyone smoked. Now it's a bit jarring to watch old movies where most of characters have a cigarette in one hand and a cocktail in the other. Good luck with fleshing it out. And thanks for co-hosting today.
I have a character who is a dream therapist. I haven’t written any of my personal traits into her character. But her son has some of my youngest son's traits.
Ellen, I love your chocolate-obsessed characters. Scooter's gotta learn he will never convert Mollie to rutabaga.
Madeline, Ellen's series is excellent.
C. Lee, yes, I'm hoping the smoker will stretch me. And of course I'm going to try to get her to quit as the story progresses!
Ronel, I saw a meme recently that said, "My life is like a romantic comedy only there's no romance and it's me laughing at my own jokes." :-D
Sadira, I never thought of that before but I like the idea of older, wiser characters perhaps representing our older, wiser selves.
Lee, we're lucky to have a fun series to read!
Chrys, glad I'm in good company.
Thank you for stopping by!
Thanks for co-hosting IWSG this month!
Mary at Play off the Page
Thanks for co-hosting!
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Feather/Judy, I like the authenticity of exploring the good and bad in our characters. Also the idea of aspirational traits in our characters. Thanks for visiting the blog--good to hear from you.
Mary, sometimes the choices that my characters make appalls me!
Jacqui, I too enjoy people watching then using that material when writing.
Loni, how interesting! Authors channeling their characters instead of vice versa. *mind blown*
Arlee, good point. I've already had my character label her smoking habit as "disgusting". Hmm, maybe too much moralizing on my part. I agree that without revealing ourselves in our writing, that it might be too sterile.
Debra, I'm glad you enjoyed my "cuties" hee hee. I'm not familiar with this contest's genre, either.
Anna from elements of emaginette
I don't smoke, and I've never written a character who smokes either. What an interesting challenge to undertake. Wishing you luck with it!
Thank you for co-hosting this month!
JQ Rose
Diane, I wish I felt as confident as some of my characters. Ellen's reads are very fun!
Olga, thanks for supporting me in the challenge. :-)
Juneta, we all need laughs in our lives. Thank you for stopping by.
M.J., I'm still trying to figure out why I write romance when I'm perpetually single!
Pat, I definitely enjoy throwing my characters into therapy.
L Diane, I hope the sale is going well.
Fundy, I don't know if it's bravery or difficulty finding the best cover. I didn't expect Blocked to become a series but once I wrote a sequel, I thought I needed to keep a similar cover theme of Abs, abs, abs! Those shirtless men do seem to sell better than my classier covers. Thank you for the compliment on my short story!
And thank you for stopping by, S.E.! I have really enjoyed reading others' answers.
Gwen, I have a lot going on in my scary brain and personality.
J.Q., I tend to plop my characters on the therapist's couch as part of the story! I learn a lot from them that way. We are similar in having a smoking parent. Is your dad still smoking? My mom quit years ago. I am planning on some personal growth for my character that will likely involve her quitting (if that is what she decides to do). How did it go for your character?
Adrienne, sounds like exercise saved the day! Funny that the smoking battle lives on in your writing.
Your characters are so mutli-dimensional and real feeling - not surprised there's so much real you in them. So far you're doing great w/ the smoker---I can practically feel the nicotine staining my teeth as I read her, hehe.
You'll really enjoy Mollie McGhie.
LOL about nicotine-stained teeth! *shudders* Quite the turn on!
Interesting that you're a psychologist. That must lend to some pretty interesting characters.
Like you, I infuse a lot of myself in my characters. The good and not so good traits. But PASSION always tends to bring out both....I'm sure you agree. LOL
Good luck on you WIP... I abhor smoking too. My mother was a chain smoker for over forty years. Yuk!
I can imagine that it's a challenge to write about your smoker character. How do you stop judging him/her, right? Do you write third person omniscient? What inspired you to write such a character?
Julie, I hope you had a great 4th. I saw Chaka Khan and Michael McDonald in concert before some awesome fireworks, and thankfully no rain.
C.D., good point--I also use settings that I know. Much easier that way. Plus, I'm a lazy researcher.
Thanks for stopping by, Kalpana! Yes, I have some judgment for my smoker character but also a lot of compassion. I want to write a character whose life feels like a mess--she needs some love in her life to straighten herself out personally and professionally. She's in a high-pressure career and is buckling under the pressure.
Thanks for co-hosting this month's IWSG post.
Have a great weekend!
I actually have a couple of blogs where I feature authors. Renee's Author Spotlight is for indie and small press authors. Speculative Fiction Spot is for speculative fiction authors.
Balancing Act
Samantha, I agree that research can distract us from productive writing at times. But it's also cool to learn about new hobbies!
Good luck with the writing.
Liesbet, I saw your post and thank you.
Hey Nick, probably inevitable, you're right. Good luck with writing!