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4 Ways To Write Dynamic Character Descriptions

September 18, 2018 by Lisa Hall-Wilson Leave a Comment

Last week, I shared about describing minor characters and how we shouldn’t let these opportunities pass us by. This week, I wanted to dive deep into how our protagonists (and antagonists) describe themselves. This often trips up new writers and offers particular challenges if you’ve chosen to write your whole novel in deep point of view.

Avoid The Obvious

I’ll begin by restating a point I made last week that you need to avoid the obvious unless there’s something remarkable about it. Everyone has two eyes, a nose, two ears, a chin, hair, etc. If there’s something about one of those features that shows readers either something about the character being described or the one doing the describing, then that’s fine. Otherwise, you might not need to tell readers things they already assume to be true.

Avoid Cliche

The protagonist who looks in the mirror and catalogues their appearance is a bit tired. Same with the character who walks past a mirror or store front window and notes their appearance. Unless this character is often checking themselves out, this has become cliche.

Particularly in deep point of view, one common violation is the protagonist who touches their curly red hair. Who thinks that to themselves? I sure don’t. I might push the hair out of my face and think – ugh, I need a hat. I am not going to think: my unruly and frizzy black hair is driving me crazy. There may be an argument to be made for someone choosing an outfit and holding up dresses in front of herself in a mirror, but even then, they’re not going to think: which outfit highlights my hourglass shape and full-figured bosom?

Remember, the character is telling the story–you aren’t. What would the character think? What does the character see?

What Does Your Character See?

This leads to my next point. There are many occassions that we look into a mirror to examine a particular part of our face or figures. We might focus on the pimple on our chin or study our neck to see if the cat’s claws left a mark. This is fine if it serves the story, but avoid the temptation to have the protagonist catalogue their appearance while they’re in front of the mirror.

What does the character see? What do they focus on or zero in on? People who aren’t particularly self-confident will avoid looking at particular parts of their body. They go to great pains to only look the parts of themselves they like. What don’t they notice? What do they continuously overlook? And what does that show readers?

Examples

In Adrienne Young’s Sky In The Deep, the main character Eelyn never describes herself or her appearance. Instead, we get a sense of what she looks like, what fashions she wears, by the way she notices her partner’s hair, expressions and clothing. Her fighting partner, Myra wears her long hair in long braids, keeps the hair on one side of her head shorn (brush cut) to the scalp. Eelyn adjusts Myra’s armour and so on, so readers understand what Eelyn’s wearing by how she notes problems or adjusts Myra’s clothing and vice versa.

We get a sense of what Eelyn sees as normal when she is kidnapped by another people group and all she can see are the differences and how foreign they look to her. Readers have no problem understanding the dress, culture or appearance of the characters though the author doesn’t tell us what she’s wearing or how she wears her hair directly appart from where it differs from what’s normal to her.

In Claire Douglas’ Local Girl Missing, we’re not told what the two main characters look like. We see them through the eyes of the other twenty years apart. This novel had a unique construction in that one character tells her story in the present and the other character tells her story through a journal twenty years in the past. It’s interesting to see what has and hasn’t changed, which fits a small-town setting quite well.

What Stands Out Or Isn’t Normal For Your Point Of View Character?

If your character is tall, does she notice the one man she doesn’t have to look down on? That could be one way to show readers she’s very tall for a woman in her society.

A character with blue eyes, who feels those blue eyes are her best feature, may spend time only choosing tops that complement or bring out the blue in her eyes.

There are innumerable workarounds for this. But don’t stop there. Dive deeper into character. Physical beauty is often in the eye of the beholder. One man sees a scrawny woman and another sees a woman who’s lithe and toned. Let the physical details you choose to bring out share something about the character doing the describing, even if they’re noting their own appearance. This is easily contrasted by the views and reactions of other characters — do they have a realistic or authentic view of themselves?

“I’m a sight this morning: two shirts, heavy pants, a scarf wrapped twice around my neck and tucked into a thick sweater knitted by my daughter thirty birthdays ago…and still my body shivers with a cold that will never go away, a cold that has been eighty years in the making.” The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks

Sure, we know what Noah, the point of view character above, is wearing but that doesn’t show us anything about his character. It’s how he feels about what he’s wearing–that shows us much more than his clothes do, right. Someone who’s eighty can have a variety of perspectives about their current season of life, but Noah here — seems tired. He’s worn down.

Missed last week’s post on writing descriptions of minor characters? Find it here.

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Write Minor Character Descriptions Like A Pro Even If You’re A Beginner

September 11, 2018 by Lisa Hall-Wilson 1 Comment

There are serious pitfalls in adhereing only to “show don’t tell” when it comes to character descriptions because there’s so much more you can do than simply catalogue a character’s appearance. The goal with any character description should be to paint a word picture for readers, but more than that — what can the description show us about the character doing the describing?

Minor character descriptions are often overlooked by busy writers, because these characters don’t influence the plot a whole lot. They’re often walk-on characters. We have to jot down their names or we forget them. However, every description should move the story forward, so if the character themselves doesn’t influence the plot or character arc then what the description says about the point of view character should!

Avoid Cataloguing Common-To-All Features

If you meet someone and they have no lips, for instance, that would definitely draw the eye no matter how hard you tried not to stare. Most of the time, however, the characters in our stories will have a few common-to-everyone features that we don’t notice unless there’s something remarkable about it.

Noting eye colour, curly hair, great boobs, or an aristocratic jawline will only tell readers what a character looks like. More important, for the sake of story, is what kind of person the main character thinks they are, because that gives readers insight into their motives and opinions. Remember, you’re not telling this story, your main character is. What would your point of view character notice, what would draw their eye?

Have Descriptions Pull Double Duty

What do I mean by pulling double duty? Let your descriptions of minor characters describe what’s important to the point of view character. Show don’t tell is great — it’s a beginning writer’s lesson. Up your game and make descriptions do more than describe a character’s appearance or dress.

What a pov character notices about someone else can serve two important story functions:

- it shows readers what’s important or remarkable to the point of view character based on what they notice and overlook
- shows what the pov character discerns about another character’s values and motives

Whether the pov character’s evaluation is accurate, whether they are a reliable narrator, can be fleshed out in another part of the story.

Examples of Minor Character Descriptions

“Marguerite was dark, greasy skinned and morose-looking, wearing a shiny purple dress that appeared to have been bought when she was a little thinner.” The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith (a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling)

The point of view character here is Strike, an army veteran turned private detective. How does Strike feel about this woman presented to him as a potential love interest? We get to see Marguerite as Strike perceives her — we see her through his perspective.

What Strike notices shows us many things not just about the person he’s observing and evaluating, but about his character as well. From this we get a good guess about what’s important to him and what he’s avoiding. A woman wearing a dress a little too small is trying too hard, she wants to be something she’s not — this woman would need reassurance and comfort to find her confidence. Is he the kind of guy to offer a woman those things?

Her dress isn’t lavender, periwinkle or plum — it’s purple. Maybe this makes him a stereotypical male and maybe he’s the kind of person who doesn’t concern himself with variations – it is what it is.

He doesn’t notice if Marguerite’s hair is curly or if she has long legs. Do you get the sense that even if she possessed features he found attractive, he still wouldn’t be interested based on what he’s assumed about her character?

“Catherine is one of only four women in the class of ’31 and her cruelty knew no bounds. I’ve lost track of all the times I’ve thought Oh God, oh God, she’s finally going to let me, only to be hit in the face with Dear God, she wants me to stop NOW?” Water For Elephants, Sara Gruen

Jacob is the point of view character here. This is the first time we hear of Catherine. Jacob doesn’t tell us what Catherine looks like, maybe it doesn’t matter to him. He feels that Catherine is a tease and a flirt and has decided she finds pleasure in playing these games. What does it show us about him that he continues to play her games knowing the likely outcome — does that make him desperate, a fool, a glutton for punishment, an optimist? And what does this show us of his opinion of women in general — his ideas about consent and other things? This is a guy we can cheer for, right.

“The Windward Spirit, the store boat for all the light stations along that part of the coast, was an old tub, but trusty as a cattle dog, Ralph Addicott said. Old Ralph had skippered the vessel for donkey’s years, and always boasted he had the best job in the world.” The Light Between Oceans, M. L. Stedman

Tom is the point of view character here. Maybe it’s just me, but every time I read this I can’t help but think that the description of the boat is actually a description of Old Ralph: old, well-seasoned, but trustworthy. Tom’s perception is that Ralph won’t let him down. Now, keep in mind that Tom doesn’t actually know Old Ralph, they’ve only just met.

What does this tell us of Tom? Perhaps he’s an exceptional judge of character? Moreso, Tom is the kind of person who likes to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. He doesn’t like to think poorly of anyone or assume anyone has unpure motives. You can bet this bit of character insight is important later on in the story.

What Function Does The Description Serve For Your Story?

In each of these descriptions by main characters about minor characters, they serve the story by showing readers insight into the protagonist’s goals and opinions. We get to see what’s important to them and how they see the world. In each of these stories, knowing this about the main characters provides foreshadow.

These small descriptions build upon one another like blocks in a foundation. A reader, an intelligent reader, may be able to say what kind of person the main character is — what they like about them, but they won’t tell you why they think that. These are subtle descriptions of character that readers pick up on even if they can’t articulate how they’ve come to their opinions about the protagonist.

Come back for Part 2 where we look at describing main characters to readers.

Know what function your description needs to or could serve in your story. Don’t let a description only serve to tell readers what someone looks like.

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3 Ways To Ramp Up Setting And Description With Subtext

May 30, 2018 by Lisa Hall-Wilson 1 Comment

How do we use subtext to communicate setting and description?

Subtext is all about what’s not said. It’s about what’s implied, the innuendo and euphemism; it’s layered implication, it’s infused into facial expressions and tone of voice–it’s illusive. Subtext is about the underlying or secondary meanings we want to convey to readers.

I’ve had a few emails asking for help with setting. These tips help pull my readers deeper into the story every time.

What Forces Are At Work?

You must take into account all of the forces at work for and against your POV character in any scene and let that influence their words, their body language, their thoughts, and how they see and interact with the world around them. You shouldn’t need to TELL your readers anything, they will infer how your character FEELS through your description and setting — that’s subtext.

Let’s consider this scenario:

Ed and Sarah are in love and want to make plans together for that night.

Ed and Sarah are in love, but Sarah is Ed’s boss’ daughter and if Dad finds out Ed will lose his job, so they hide their love.

Ed and Sarah are in love and want to make plans without Dad finding out, but Ed also doesn’t want Sarah to think he’s ashamed of her or afraid to tell her father.

Ed and Sarah are in love and want to make plans without Dad finding out. Ed doesn’t want Sarah to think he’s ashamed of being with her and then his boss asks him to work late.

All of these things are at play in Ed’s head and heart. How would these factors color how he sees and interacts with the world? Because how he views the world at any given time will affect the way he describes settings and people.

If Ed is hopeful he can keep all the balls in the air, then that arrogance and confidence will shine through.

Ed strode into the office, the room lit with the last orange rays of the day promising a warm evening.

If he’s tired and questioning whether the girl or the job is worth all the trouble, that will similarly affect the way he interprets and filters the world around him.

Ed trudged into the office and shut the door with a soft click. The boss wouldn’t turn on the lights until the sun had gone completely down and the only light in the room was the glow from his calculator display.

Consider if he’s afraid, or prone to anger? This whole thing could go sideways and then what?

There would be a mighty push/pull tug-of-war going on inside him because he has a lot at stake. With subtext, always be aware of what the character has at stake, what they need to communicate but not say outright.

Use Setting To Mirror How A Character Feels

This is building on the last point. By using devices like personification, pathetic fallacy, and others you can infuse the setting and description with feelings. By giving the natural world and inanimate objects feelings and human behavior, readers can infer how the character feels. Let’s look at some examples.

“Nothing says hell has to be fire, thought Ralph Truitt, standing in his sober clothes on the platform of the tiny train station in the froze middle of frozen nowhere. Hell could be like this. It could be darker every minute. It could be cold enough to sear the skin from your bones.”

A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrick

Standing on the train platform in the frozen middle of frozen nowhere. How does Ralph Truitt feel about where he lives? About having to wait on the train platform? Does it matter what the train platform looks like? Can you picture a tiny frozen train platform? Readers will do 90% of the work with description.

“He bought a ticket for the first bus out, no matter where it was going. Which turned out to be an end-of-the-line place way north and west, on the shore of Lake Superior. Fundamentally the wrong direction. Colder, not warmer. But rules were rules, so he climbed aboard. He sat and watched out the window. Wisconsin flashed by, it’s hayfields baled and stubbly, it’s pastures worn, its trees dark and heavy. It was the end of summer.” The Midnight Line, Lee Child

How does Jack Reacher describe Wisconsin in fall? Not terribly flattering is it. It’s actually quite beautiful there in fall, but Reacher is headed somewhere he doesn’t want to be, alone-again, leaving town after a relationship has ended. Do you see that how Reacher FEELS colors everything he sees. He’s going to an “end-of-the-line place” that’s “colder, not warmer” where the pastures look worn and the trees dark and heavy.

He doesn’t see the bounty of harvest, the colored leaves, or the sunsets over pastures. He doesn’t sigh with relief at the cooler temperatures or welcome the approach of fall. The way Reacher describes the setting mirrors how he feels and allows readers to infer through subtext how he feels.

Precise Word Choice For Description With Punch

Once again, we’re building on the last two points. Here’s an example:

“Yes, father,” Bran told him. He looked up. Wrapped in his furs and leathers, mounted on his great warhorse, his lord father loomed over him like a giant.” Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin

Martin emphasizes his point of view character’s stature (a child) as well as how he feels about his father. Bran is impressed and intimidated by his father, yet knows he holds a privileged position. His lord father loomed. Bran could have described his father a million different ways, but Bran sees that his father casts a long shadow. Just a word and we can infer how Bran feels about his father through his description.

“But I ain’t never seen a baby yell like Mae Mobley Leefolt. First day I walk in the door, there she be, red-hot and hollering with the colic, fighting the bottle like it’s a rotten turnip.” The Help, Kathryn Stockett

The baby is red-hot and hollering — that’s not a normal sight for this character. We can infer she isn’t used to seeing infants this upset. The baby is fighting the bottle like it’s a rotten turnip. 0_0 What’s that tell us about the point of view character?

We use items we’re familiar with for comparisons. Turnips, typically, aren’t the chosen fare of the wealthy is it? Do you see the subtext at play here?

“I was dreaming of cool flesh and sheets the color of blood.” Blue Moon, Laurell Hamilton

Not how one typically describes their bed or their dreams, is it? What’s the subtext here? First, Anita is the point of view character and her lover is a vampire. Now, with that context does this line of description help with the subtext? Her lover isn’t normal and the sex is HOT – at least, that’s the subtext I drew from that line. What can we infer about Anita from that? Hmmm…

The setting and description should mirror how the character feels. The setting and description should lend subtext to a character’s goals and motivations. That seems like a lot, but it’s simply precise word choice and word associations.

Share your best line of description or setting and see what others infer from the subtext.

Don’t forget, you can get the free Writing Emotions in Layers 5-day e course here.

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4 Ways To Create Unique Character Voice That Work For Any Novel

May 2, 2018 by Lisa Hall-Wilson 1 Comment

Creating unique character voice for your characters is essential for great fiction. Even classical writers like Tolkien writing in omniscient point of view were able to imbue their characters with enough uniqueness that you felt like they were an individual. Yes, precious.

In writing styles like deep point of view where the writer needs to become invisible and let the character tell the story entirely, creating unique voices for each pov character can be challenging.

Before I turned to writing and teaching writing full time, I worked as a freelancer which roughly translated to writing anything for practically anyone. I did quite a bit of ghostwriting, usually for a president or CEO or founder of a non-profit. Oh – you thought they actually sat down and personally wrote all those direct mail campaigns and emails? 0_0

I had to completely disappear and write a piece that read like it had come from someone else. The best compliment I could get was to have a client tell me people commented that they sounded just like their blog, newsletter, whatever. That was the job. So, what’s the key to creating a unique voice and disappearing as the writer? (You might find this post – 4 ways to become invisible with deep pov interesting.)

Catchphrases and Signature Exclamations

When ghostwriting, I listened for a turn of phrase — something they repeated. One client kept saying to me he was “neck deep in alligators.” These little snippets were amazing glimpses into personalities and priorities.

How does the way your character phrases things show their personality or priorities?

“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
Kathryn Stockett, The Help

Does your character have a signature phrase or exclamation? The phrase above tells us a lot about the character, doesn’t it. This character isn’t overly educated, but very kind and very wise.

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!”
Claire Fraser — Outlander, Diana Gabaldon

Claire is a character familiar with faith but not a strict adherent and doesn’t care who knows that, nor is she particularly lady-like given the time-period, or conventionally feminine. It just says so much about her character.

“You got some ‘splainin to do, Lucy!”
Ricky Ricardo — I Love Lucy!

“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
The Godfather

“Bah! Humbug!”
Ebenezer Scrooge — A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Each of these catchphrases signature exclamations gave audiences a good deal of insight into the character and how they saw the world.

You really only have to sprinkle in a few of these signature phrases or turns of speech to give credibility to character voice. Used sparingly, as you might add spice, it can be effective.

Metaphors and Similes

Metaphors and similes are perhaps the most common literary devices fiction writers use. Metaphors are more precise than similes but both can be effective. A simile is a comparison using “like” or “as” whereas a metaphor is a comparison not using like or as.

“. . . she tried to get rid of the kitten which had scrambled up her back and stuck like a burr just out of reach.”
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

“Elderly American ladies leaning on their canes listed toward me like towers of Pisa.”
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

An easy way to add character voice is have the character use those things they are most familiar with as metaphors and similes to describe things. She’s angrier than a hornet in a Coke can – what would that tell you about the character who said it?

“The café was like a battleship stripped for action.”
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

“The other was fair, as fair as can be, with great masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphires.” D
Dracula, Bram Stoker

Just remember to use metaphors and similes sparingly, for emphasis. In the quote from Stoker above, it would’ve been easy to slip in more than one simile there, but he’s only used one for punch. Love that.

Apply Filters

Everyone sees the world in their own unique way. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure and all that. What one person values has no value at all for another. What your character places value on shows readers what they care about, what they’re willing to fight for, die for, etc.

Your character’s perspective should color every word you use. Characters can show readers what they’re seeing by describing how they feel. Are they an optimist? Are they driven – what would they find annoying or ignore? Do they have an artist’s aesthetic appreciations or more of a soldier’s utilitarian focus?

Here’s an example of filters. Sarah is the point of view character in both bits below, but I’ll give Sarah two different “filters” that will affect how she describes what’s happening. Can you tell how Sarah feels in each example?

First Example

Catherine answered the door and invited Sarah to the back patio. She followed Catherine, tucking her elbows in and hunching her shoulders to avoid touching anything. If you-break-it-you-bought-it applies here, she’ll be broke before they get to the kitchen. Sarah asked questions about the different pieces of art and furniture, more questions than necessary to be polite. She pretended to brush dirt off the patio chair before sitting. Out of time.

Second Example

Sarah checked her watch again. Catherine opened the door finally and invited her to the back patio. Sarah could see the patio doors from the front entry, but Catherine insisted on taking the long way through the living room and kitchen. Catherine’s ability to decorate wasn’t going to get them out of this mess.

Remove Yourself

Some writing teachers place too much emphasis on developing their writer’s voice. I chased it for a good long time too, but I’ve come to learn that my author voice is simply which stories I choose to tell and how I choose to tell it.

Will you use profanity or not? Will your stories be fast-paced, dark, or always end happily-ever-after? Sometimes genre must dictate some of these choices, but please don’t mistake your writer’s voice for character voice.

Character voice will be distinct to one character and can and will change from novel to novel. How you tell a story and which stories you choose to tell, that will have more consistency between all your work.

Make sure you check out my book Method Acting for Writers: Learn Deep Point Of View Using Emotional Layering.

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Buffy vs Bella: Why Your Characters Need To Be Proactive

April 25, 2018 by Lisa Hall-Wilson Leave a Comment

Characters who make decisions that push the story forward are more engaging, more interesting, and more like-able than characters who are passive. This is a mistake I continue to make over and over. It doesn’t seem to matter how well I know this lesson, it still creeps into my writing.

Bella Swan Is Passive

Bella Swan from Twlight is a passive character in at least the first 1.5 books of that series. She decides to go to Forks to live with her father, and then the rest of the book is stuff happening to her. She doesn’t make very many decisions that influence the outcome of the next plot event. She’s nearly hit by a truck. Edward decides to date her even though his family doesn’t want him to. He decides to take her home to meet this family and play baseball. He’s the one who recognizes the danger she’s in and decides they have to leave. Over and over this happens where someone else decides what Bella will do, where she will go, etc. She makes proactive decisions here and there, but mostly she just lets life pummel her and does her best to survive.

Buffy Summers

Buffy of Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a proactive character. Buffy decides to fall in love with a vampire. Buffy decides to sneak out of class, to take on a vamp by herself, to lie to her mom, etc. Buffy gets herself into and out of trouble in every episode–all while wearing cute shoes.

Diagnosing A Passive Character

When you’re trying to diagnose whether a character is passive or not, for each new plot event ask yourself what that character did to get themselves in that predicament. The inciting incident, the problem that kicks off the story, happens to the character. They’re sucker punched and left for dead on the side of the story road – what are they going to do about it? They have to DO something to get the story started. I’m going to outline a story of mine that’s been sitting in a drawer for years that will probably never see the light of day.

Laurel loses her job, can’t pay her rent, and can’t find another job. (This is a story problem that’s happened TO Laurel. Almost every inciting incident forces the character into a passive role.)
Laurel reconciles with her estranged husband. (This is OK as long as Laurel is the one initiating the reconciliation. If the ex happens to come to her and offers her a place to live because he’s heard she lost her job – that makes her passive.)
Laurel finds out she’s pregnant. (This is OK as long as Laurel’s made the decision that put her in this predicament. If she’s pregnant because she got drunk and her ex took advantage of her, she’s passive.)
Laurel gets offered her dream job. (This is OK as long as Laurel has sought out this opportunity–she’s reached out to a friend, answered a job ad, secretively met with an old flame she knows has a connection – whatever. If this job opportunity falls out of the sky, Laurel is once again passive because she’s not directing the action of the story.)
Laurel chooses to keep baby and stay with ex, but has to give up her dream job. (She actively makes a decision, but the decision has to cost her something and it has to be directly related to the initial story problem. In this case, the job loss forced her to lose her independence so choosing to stay with her ex and give up her dream job — that would restore her independence, directly answers her initial story problem.)

This is pretty simplified. Credit to Les Edgerton for the process. (He runs a great 12 week critique class a few times a year that really hones in on these types of plot problems if you’re struggling.) Do you see how each story plot point could make a character passive/reactive or proactive? It’s all determined by whether the character put themselves in that predicament or it just happened to them. Be really objective about this. It’s crucial.

Why Do We Create Passive Characters?

When I’m stuck and can’t move ahead with a story, when I just can’t figure out where to go next or where to take my characters, passive characters creep in. Mostly, this is because I begin engineering the story instead of letting the characters lead the way. When I’m not sure where the character should go, what they should do, how they should react, I create plot events to keep the story moving and often that makes my character passive.

How well do you know your character? Like, really know them? Try interviewing them. When I get stuck, I drill down into the why. Why did you say that or act that way? What are you afraid will happen — what’s the worst case scenario here for you? What’s your goal for this scene/chapter? What would you rather say/do and why? Often, by the time I drill down through the why’s of a scene, it becomes clear that the character is reacting to events rather than causing them.

It’s A Setback, Not A Failure

Remember, learning that you have a passive character isn’t the end of the world. Depending on when your character became passive, it might require a serious rewrite but your story will be stronger, your character will be more engaging, and you’ll hook readers and keep them reading. Those are all wins. How you get there is just details. Keep going.

Dive Deep!

Want to learn more about deep point of view? Heard about it and don’t know what it’s really about? Been told readers struggle to connect with your characters emotionally? Know about deep point of view, but stumped trying to find intermediate-level resources? Registration is now open for Method Acting For Writers: Learn To Write In Deep Point Of View. Class begins May 7 and the cost is $165CDN (approx $130USD).

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7 Ways To Be A Confident Writer Even If You’re Not A Bestseller

April 4, 2018 by Lisa Hall-Wilson Leave a Comment

Artists of all stripes seem riddled with self-doubt. Part of that is because we so closely identify with our work that a rejection of our work is felt as a personal rejection. Learning to be a confident writer, not even all of the time but at least some of the time, requires a shift in how we think of ourselves and our work.

Your Confidence Doesn’t Have To Correlate With “Success”

Being confident in your ability to write doesn’t have to directly correlate to financial success. Confidence is easier when our skills are recognized by awards or achievements, but they don’t have to be. Define for yourself what financial success looks like. Do you need to make seven figures off your writing to find confidence?

Here’s the honest truth. When your personal confidence about your writing, your art, is defined by an outside circumstance or situation you have no control over — you’re fighting a losing battle. You can’t control if people will buy your book. You can write the best book possible, learn marketing, and do everything right. Does that feed your confidence or do you need to make it onto a bestseller list to be confident? Really think that through.

Our Work Is A Reflection Of The Artist But Our Work Doesn’t Define Us

Whether you’re writing, performing, painting, dancing, acting — we must bring so much of ourselves to the art that it can feel as though we are one with our art. We become our characters, we see things as they do and feel as they do — there’s no other way to be authentic. But when we step away from the laptop, we have to separate our self-worth from how others perceive the work we’ve created.

I grew up in a rural township with a small soccer league. At a certain age, I couldn’t play with the boys or afford to travel to a city to play in a girl’s league, so I became a referee. I refereed small children, teenagers, house league, competitive, and even men’s league games. I got yelled at a lot because it seems yelling at the ref is just what you do.

You can’t cry. You can’t stop the game and insist they apologize because their remark was unkind, unfair, or point out they don’t know the rules. And the next day when you run into that player or the parents at the post office, everyone would nod and smile and “how’s school” or “how’s work” and it was like the game never happened. It wasn’t personal.

Are you able to receive criticism about your work (whether it’s kind or unkind) without spiraling into a bucket of ice cream? Will it sting? Of course. The comment might linger, if there’s truth to it consider it, but you have to learn to shake it off and get back to writing.

Give yourself permission to produce something that stinks every once in a while. I had an editor send back a piece I’d written as not good enough. He shrugged it off. “Not everything can be top drawer. You wouldn’t be human if it was.” I reworked it and he loved it and published it. Stay humble.

Keep Learning

Part of what I love about writing is that I’ve never learned it all. There is always more to learn. Even with my deep point of view course, each time I run it I often include new info I’ve learned because I’m always striving to be better. Do I cringe when I read my early work? Yeah, sometimes. But it’s part of learning. Don’t ever become so arrogant that you stop reading craft books or blogs, or interviews with other authors. Read – everything. We’re all learning from one another and helping one another to get where we want to be. Be teachable. Having the confidence of knowing that if something isn’t working but you can figure it out is art-changing (instead of life-changing – get it bahahaha. K – so it wasn’t that funny.)

Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

This requires a bit of humility because you often can’t learn what your weaknesses or strengths are without soliciting feedback. And sometimes that feedback can sting. But instead of letting it crush you, learn from it. My personal weakness is description. I write very sparse. My beta readers are constantly telling me they can’t picture a setting or a character. That’s something I have to actively work on getting better at. Every writer is weak at something. Know what it is and work on it. Your weakness may shift or change the longer you write and the more you study to fix another weakness. This isn’t a one and done kind of career — it’s a learning arc with pain points along the way you have to work through.

Take Care Of Your Health

Confidence is directly tied to your personal health. If you are always working in the fringe hours of the day, chances are good that you’re tired. Take time to rest and refresh. Fiction is an imitation of real life, so make sure you go out and experience some life so you can write about it. Get out of the writing cave often and live. Be mindful of your back and neck, your elbows and wrists. It’s really hard to write well if you’re in pain and I have so much respect for those who write through injury or long-term illness.

Routine And Creativity

Your mileage with this advice may vary, but learn when your best creative hours are. Are you more alert and creative in the morning or evening? Guard your creative hours. Guard your creative mind space. Maybe that means you have to write in a coffee shop to get some peace from your kids, or you put a lock on your office door for a couple of hours a day. Maybe you turn off your phone or wifi and remove the temptation to surf the internet when you should be writing.

How does this play into confidence? I’ve found that when I do this (the steps above) I can get into my creative zone faster and maintain it longer. There’s no lost time staring at a screen. Also, my confidence rises because I know I get into that head space when I need to. There’s no writer’s block, there’s simply writing time. Experts say you only have about six hours of creative time in a day. Guard how you use those six hours.

Doubt Will Creep In

Even the most confident writers have seasons when doubt creeps in. That makes you human, don’t beat yourself up over it. Being a confident writer doesn’t mean you’re confident ALL THE TIME. My problem is that I know if I just set that manuscript aside for a bit, I’d know so much more than I do now. I hate closing the final page on a book because I’m never convinced it’s my best work. Is that perfectionism? Maybe. Whatever aspect of doubt that creeps in for you, push through it. Keep writing even if you’re convinced the work is terrible. First drafts are allowed to be terrible. No one publishes their first draft (or at least, they probably shouldn’t).

Your turn. How do you push the doubts and fears aside and keep writing anyway?

Want to learn more about deep point of view? Heard about it and don’t know what it’s really about? Been told readers struggle to connect with your characters emotionally? Know about deep point of view, but stumped trying to find intermediate-level resources? Registration is now open for Method Acting For Writers: Learn To Write In Deep Point Of View. Class begins May 7 and the cost is $165CDN (approx $130USD).

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