Purple Prose + release

Guest Post: Say 'No' to Flat Characters

I’m excited to have YA author Medeia Sharif here today to share with us her favorite writing tip for characterization. I do something similiar. It really does help prevent cardboard characters.

(Btw, am I the only one who wants that cupcake???)

<<<3

My favorite writing tip involves writing character journals before I outline and draft. Who are my characters? I want to know before I put them to action.

I have a plethora of notebooks in my endless stationery collection. So I crack one open and, for a few pages per character, I allow my characters to speak. I write as if I’m them. They bring up their pasts, what they want, how they’re doing in school, relationships with people…they ramble, and this is how I find out who they are. I character journaled for the first time with my latest draft. It was easier to write the outline as well as the draft compared to previous manuscripts. I remember how my other first drafts had shallow characters who I had to deepen with revisions, but through journaling the depth has already been created. I have a good feel for who my characters are after getting to know them inside and out. Sure journaling takes days—when I could be outlining or writing the first few chapters—but it’s time well-spent. I’m actually saving time since the flow of my writing improves with this method.

I’m a blog hopper. I follow blogs, comment on them…I adore the blogosphere. I came across this writing tip from following Paul Greci’s blog. Here’s the blog post that started me on a journaling path. Isn’t it amazing how one blog post can change the way one writes?

How many of you journal in the voice of your characters? Is this something you’d be interested in doing?

About BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER.:

During Ramadan, we're not allowed to eat from sunrise to sunset, for a whole month. My family does this every year, even though I've been to a mosque exactly twice in my fifteen years. My exercise-obsessed mom—whose hotness skipped a generation, sadly—says I could stand to lose a few. But is torture really an acceptable method? I think not. Things wouldn't be so bad if I had a boyfriend, but my oppressive parents forbid me to date. This is just cruel and wrong. Especially since Peter, a cute and crushable artist, might be my soul mate. Figures my bestest friend Lisa likes him, too. To top it off, there's a new Muslim girl in school who struts around in super-short skirts, commanding every boy's attention—including Peter's. How can I get him to notice me? And will I ever feel like a typical American girl?

Author Bio:

Medeia Sharif is a high school English teacher residing in Miami Beach. Her young adult debut novel BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. was released July 2011.

Where to find the author:

Her blog
Twitter
Tumblr

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Guest Post: Say 'No' to Flat Characters + release