I hate decisions. Who doesn't. Going through the process of making them can have serious repercussions. Then there's the whole final decision that can still leave you with questions.
As you know, I've been fighting with trying to get to know my characters. I can SEE them in my mind, but they just were not telling me anything about themselves... until about a week ago. Since then, I've been piecing their history together and I'll be sharing their backgrounds in future posts.
For instance, did you know that Italians are typically blonde and blue-eyed. NOT the dark hair'd folks portrayed in television? The coloring comes from immigration of Central European descent. Why is that important?
I KNEW my heroine, Katie, had blonde hair and blue eyes. That she always wears her hair in a high pony tail (think Sandy from Grease). From that, I had to look at the immigration of ethnicity into the NW Arkansas area in the late 1800's- early 1900's. Mostly Central European.
See, even when writing contemporary fiction, we have to know WHERE our characters came from. Even if we don't tell the reader everything, knowing their background is important in knowing their strengths, weaknesses, basic characteristics as well as things from their heritage that might influence their inner conflicts.
Through research and a long chat with my friend (author) Tara Manderino, I got a handle on Katie. I found out why she has this sense of people walking out on her. I'll explain more of that to you tomorrow.
In the meantime, here's a clip from Dharma and Greg. Dharma's dad is a good portrayal physically of Katie's dad.
As you know, I've been fighting with trying to get to know my characters. I can SEE them in my mind, but they just were not telling me anything about themselves... until about a week ago. Since then, I've been piecing their history together and I'll be sharing their backgrounds in future posts.
For instance, did you know that Italians are typically blonde and blue-eyed. NOT the dark hair'd folks portrayed in television? The coloring comes from immigration of Central European descent. Why is that important?
I KNEW my heroine, Katie, had blonde hair and blue eyes. That she always wears her hair in a high pony tail (think Sandy from Grease). From that, I had to look at the immigration of ethnicity into the NW Arkansas area in the late 1800's- early 1900's. Mostly Central European.
See, even when writing contemporary fiction, we have to know WHERE our characters came from. Even if we don't tell the reader everything, knowing their background is important in knowing their strengths, weaknesses, basic characteristics as well as things from their heritage that might influence their inner conflicts.
Through research and a long chat with my friend (author) Tara Manderino, I got a handle on Katie. I found out why she has this sense of people walking out on her. I'll explain more of that to you tomorrow.
In the meantime, here's a clip from Dharma and Greg. Dharma's dad is a good portrayal physically of Katie's dad.
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