Cliche or Classic? Why I Challenge Another Blogger's Take on Overused Literary Devices in YA

by Kasey Tross

The other day on Pinterest I came across the following link that one of our own very successful MMWs, Lana Krumwiede, had pinned:

Because my current WIP is YA, I decided I should take a look at this list. When I did, I got a little bit annoyed (not with Lana- she didn't write it, she just pinned it!)

Now, part of this was because, as they say in the Book of Mormon, "the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center." Yes, I'll admit, I got a little bit cut. I have some of these cliches in my book. 

But then I thought, Wait a minute- are they cliches or are they common because they're relatable and entertaining? 

1. First, the whole "teen angst" thing. Personally, I get a little bit irritated when I'm reading YA fiction and the main character is behaving like a mature, responsible adult. Because...you know, they aren't. They're teenagers. And while I am a healthy, well-functioning adult, I was a hot mess as a teen. I was a brat-and-a-half to my family, though people on the outside would have been shocked to know it. I have yet to meet a parent of a teen who says their child is an angel (even those whose halos I think I can see over their heads) and never talks back and is even keel all the time. Unless you have teenagers living in your home, I would avoid calling teen angst a cliche. The struggle is real.

2. Next the girl who doesn't realize she's pretty until a boy tells her so. I just read a book with that very thing in it (Delirium by Lauren Oliver). I didn't mind it one bit, because I related to that. When I was a teenage girl I had fairly good self-esteem- I didn't think I was a dog or anything. But yes, the first time a boy told me I was pretty I was like, "Whoa! I really AM pretty?" I don't think this is an uncommon thing for teenage girls. And besides, I still like to be told I'm pretty, because there are still times when my confidence falters, and it still boosts my self-esteem to have that external validation. Does that make me shallow and weak? Maybe. Oh, well.

3. Characters involved in love triangles- Hannah Heath says, "real-life teenagers don’t usually find themselves in the middle of dramatic love triangles, making it very unrealistic for them to be so commonplace in YA fiction." Umm...that's why it's called FICTION, right? What girl doesn't want to be wanted by not just one, but TWO guys at once? I mean, if you're going to escape into a fictional story, it might as well be fun, right?

4. The Chosen One- Okay, I get that. I can see how it gets old. But who doesn't want to feel special and unique and needed and wanted, to be validated just for existing? Again, this is an example of the escapism that I think is okay for YA literature. Plus, it's a great set-up for all kinds of character growth.

5. Next, the one with horrible parents. I had awesome parents but I thought they were horrible because I was a teenager. Is that not normal?

6. Strong female character- yeah, I get where she's coming from with this one. Strong does not need to be equivalent to standoffish or obnoxious. 

7. The brooding bad boy- Once more, it's FICTION, right? Like, escapism? Fantasy? The reason this guy is so popular in fiction is because as women, it makes us feel absolutely all-powerful if we can take this brooding bad boy and get him wrapped around our little finger. I mean, the super hot vampire that wants to suck your blood so bad it hurts but he can't because he is just so madly in love with you he would rather die than hurt you? My teenage self is saying, "Yes, please!!"

So here is my question, friends: Am I just totally missing something here? I feel like there is this great question YA authors need to ask themselves: 

Am I writing to entertain or to teach?

Can you do both at the same time? 

Do we need to get away from these "cliches" so we can change the lives of teens and expand their hormone-riddled minds, or should we be writing to them so they can relate? 

Should we avoid these common characters and plot lines because they are overused and stale or can we keep including them just for the simple reason that they're fun?

Should we be pushing teens outside of their comfort zone or can we meet them where they're comfortable, because as teens the world is so uncomfortable?

Am I just being obnoxious? I would love your two cents on this, guys.

Thou shalt complete your manuscript ....eventually.....

By Lacey Gunter

Coming up with a great ending is usually the hardest part of writing stories for me. I have been to several conferences where other writers have preached about the importance of finishing your manuscripts, rather than shelving them for a while and moving on to different projects. I understand the wisdom in this advice and usually try to follow it. But sometimes I just have to move on or I will stop writing altogether.

For example, I have this manuscript that is so frustrating. The concept is funny and fresh. Everyone I have shared the idea with so far has thought it sounds hilarious. I know it could be a really funny picture book, but I just can't figure out the ending.

I have mulled over it for hours, played with several ideas and even tried Google searching related scenarios for inspiration and guidance. Still, I am stumped. So there is sits on my window menu bar waiting for lightening to strike.

Meanwhile, I have 3 different monthly critique groups I am expected to share work at. So what choice do I have? Sure, I could just put on a super lame ending and take it to the critique group in hopes of getting some feedback that will lead me to a better ending. But you only get fresh eyes for a manuscript once in a critique group, and I hate wasting those on a crappy ending.

So, instead, I have started and finished 3 new pictures book manuscripts. They all started out as manuscripts to avoiding dealing with the ending on my difficult manuscript, but at least two out of the three have turned out to be pretty good work, and all of them have kept me writing.

So what are your thoughts on the 'finishing what you start' rule? Are there times you make exceptions? Do you have any good techniques for muscling your way through a sticking point?  It may be different for novel writing, but I would still love to hear your ideas and feedback on this topic.

Literary Estrangement

By Nikki Wilson

I love to read. I always have. I remember my excitement as I first learned to read. Reading has always been there for me. Books have been my stress reliever and my best friends for many years. Yet in the past 5 weeks I found myself not enjoying to read. Oh the horror!

I've been stressed out and needing to escape into a book. I would open a book to read it only to get distracted by my thoughts, or unable to focus on the words on the page. It felt like too much work to read a book. How could that be? Reading had never been a chore for me. Even in high school when I had to read some pretty boring stuff.

But there I was too stressed out to even read. I continued to try to engage in reading but couldn't get into a book. Finally, one night while perusing the Phoenix digital library I found a book from an author I have read before. The book was about a woman about my age and with more similar problems than some of the other books I'd been trying to read. So I downloaded it. It was about 10pm when I started reading it and it was 1am when I finished reading it. I couldn't put it down. When the book was over I was tired but happiness coursed through me. I read a book! A whole book! And I felt so much better. I think I just needed a book where the character was closer to my situation. I didn't need an escape from my life like I thought. I needed a friend that understood my life. I needed to see a part of my life from a different perspective. Not that the character had the same exact problems as me, but she too was married with children and working a job. This was all the connection I needed to feel us bond. I was able to make a new literary friend.

So when I look at all the books on the market these days, I'm grateful there are so many chances for me to make a new literary friend. Because sometimes I need friends I can escape with, and sometimes I just need friends that understand me. But whatever I need, I know I can eventually find it in a book!

Spinner Ring with a Twist

by Patricia Cates



Center stone dirty from too much lotion on wedding day.

Right off the bat here I’m going to need to make a confession. My wedding ring comes off all the time. On purpose! Yes, I know that is sacrilege for a lot of people out there, so I am sorry if I offend. However I need to be honest to tell this story. You see I take it off just about every time I use lotion... which is a lot. I rarely wear it when bathing, exercising, gardening, sleeping or immersing myself in any type of water. I like it to shine, but somehow even after all my fussing to keep it pristine, it becomes cloudy. So I will also take it off occasionally to be scrubbed and cleaned.  My ring is very valuable to me, not monetarily, but symbolically.

My husband is an entirely different story.

He has never taken his off…for any reason. If you look close it has a few superficial scratches. It is made of one of the harder metals known to man, tungsten carbide, (which apparently makes extremely durable saw blades.) It has a raised and notched black ceramic center line. He is a blue collar guy who works on cars, and his hands are black just about every day. He’s the one who should not be a wearing such an expensive item on his hand. Over the years he has worked on farm equipment in the snow, and changed tires on semis on the interstate. He’s always in mud and using heavy equipment of some sort. But that ring stays on! We picked it out not only because it was tough, but it also fits his very manly size 13 ring finger. He doesn't clean the ring, but somehow it always looks good. He made a great choice.  

Funny thing about this ring of ours, the raised center started spinning about a year after we were married. It actually orbits around the band. It isn’t crooked or anything. It isn’t even loose. It just isn’t intended to spin? We think it’s definitely unique. So far we don’t know of anyone else out there with one like it.

I share this with you because it is symbolic of what we are going through as a couple right now. My other half is working on a job in another city for the next two years. It’s been three months now and it has actually flown by. He is a quick 2.5 hours away and we know we can wing it. Most importantly it is what we have been hoping and praying for. We just had no idea it would come this soon. That being said we took a huge leap of faith in matters regarding finances and children and housing. It’s been quite an upheaval. We know that we have been blessed with this opportunity, but it is still a test due to some new-fangled types of stress.

On the bright side I’m pretty dang excited to go back to dating my husband. When you only get to see someone on the weekend, or even have to go three weeks, it is definitely something to look forward to. I miss him sleeping next to me, but it’s so fun to talk and giggle on the phone at the end of each day. If I want to edit out the messy details of a lousy afternoon, I can and often do. Also not living under the same roof means he doesn’t have to see me running ragged all the time. When I know he’s coming home I shower. I actually dress (up) for him…which might just mean jeans and a shirt, and shoes on with my hair brushed. But hey, it’s better than the alternative of the person seen perpetually clad in sweats and a pony tail. I will polish the furniture and make sure everything is neat and tidy for him when he walks in on Saturday night. So I’ve been pampering and caring for him (and me) a bit more, sort of like my ring.

He was home just this past weekend and I was playing with his ring in church and spinning the center. I noticed that it is a lot like our marriage right now. Sure it might appear screwy to many an eye perhaps, but it’s definitely solid. It's not going anywhere really. We are proving that just like that ring, one part can move without the other and that’s actually quite alright.

Then I started wondering if anyone else bought that same groom’s band and returned it because it started spinning after a year. Or maybe they’ve gone easy on theirs. Heck some rings might take 20 years to show the flaw, or maybe we just got lucky with the one and only amazing spinner ring.

Either way we are glad that ours showed what it can do early on. We would never take it back. It reflects what we are experiencing right now and to us it’s really cool, and apparently it’s indestructible. Just like us. And it’s wrapped around the hardest working hands I have ever touched or seen. Those hands hold me up and lift me and soothe me…always with that spinner ring on. A flawed ring wrapped around a faithful finger that’s mine.

Except...
There's a bit of a twist now.

photo courtesy of ctrringshop.com

You see I wrote this blog Tuesday night inspired by the weekend's events. I even came up with the term "spinner ring" all by myself. I promise I have never heard of such a thing. Then this morning I drove to Salt Lake City to drop off my teenage nieces at the airport, who'd been staying with us for 9 days. I asked them if they wanted to get their dad something to bring home for his birthday, as we had a few minutes to shop. We live in Idaho and had been at a Walmart the day before and to my knowledge they had only found him a card. With all of my girl's shopping as well, we had been split up at check out. 

I escorted them to the gate and while we were sitting and waiting for their boarding call, my niece opens up her backpack and drops an item into my hand. She tells me to look and see what she found for her dad at Walmart. They are not Mormon. Yet, there in my palm, she places a very beautiful men's CTR ring. I fiddled with it and had to ask her if it was broken, because it had a center section that spun around. The perplexity I felt at that very moment was indescribable. Truly. Mind blowing. 

Upon arriving home I ferociously opened up my laptop to see if I could sleuth out if that CTR ring was perhaps faulty as well. What would the odds be of that? A simple web search brought up dozens of images of men's rings that are actually designed to spin. I couldn't believe my eyes. I laughed and then cried happy tears at the ridiculousness of it all. How uncanny that just a few hours prior I had written and scheduled a blog about something so obscure as my husband's defective wedding band.

Aside from that, to suddenly find out that his (ours)is not the sole spinning ring, made my entire analogy bogus. We are the one's who have been under the impression for the past four years that the ring was one in a million, and like my husband says, it still is because it belongs to us. On many levels I can only hope that this odd incident is maybe just a little wink and nod from above.
 




 

Don't be Afraid of Drastic Changes

By Kathy Lipscomb

         I’ve been in a lot of critique groups, and I’ve recently noticed something about authors. We hate making drastic changes to our novels even if it’ll improve it. It shouldn’t surprise me, because people in general hate change.

         And what’s different from change in life to changing something big in our manuscripts? Nothing. We created these worlds and the characters. Why would we want to change it? It’s hard.

         When you get a suggestion you don’t like, don’t resist it. You don’t have to accept it, but think about it. There have been plenty of times in my life where I received advice I did NOT like, so I ignored it. But eventually, I learned to think about it. Some suggestions didn’t work for my novel, so after careful consideration, I didn’t make the change. However, some of the advice I was most resistant to have improved my novels so much, I was stunned.

         The other thing that stops us from making needed drastic changes, is the work. We’ve already put in so much work—why would we want to basically do it all over again?

         I had a novel that was written in third person and the flow just wasn’t there. After critiques, a lot of thought, and a lot of banging my head against the keyboard over what I knew I needed to do, I rewrote the entire thing in first person. The voice and flow were so much better. My critiques came back with more positives than negatives. It was the right thing to do in my case.

         I’ve seen this a lot with many authors. Recently, I gave a suggestion to a member in one of my critique groups (an amazing writing buddy) to think about writing her novel in 3^rd person instead of 1^st. The 1^st person was fine, but something about the style and voice felt like it would be stronger in 3^rd person. She wrote me an email several days later. She told me that her response to my suggestion was, “Oh, no way! First of all, I couldn’t see that it would make any difference and second, that is a TON of work.” She then told me that she was on a writer’s forum where she told them my suggestion and the whole forum blew up with protests, all saying that it was crazy and too much work.

         My friend then said that experience made her realize something. People who want their best work published put in the effort no matter what it is.

         Making drastic changes is hard work and not typically a fun thing to do. But if it makes your novel better, it’s worth it. Don’t resist big change. Let the idea marinate for a few weeks, and make the decision based on what’s best for your novel. 

Past-Present-Future: All in one place

My grandfather passed away a couple of weeks ago (that is why I have been AWOL).This was a sudden thing, especially after his heart attack last year and his valve replacement four months ago. No one thought a gal bladder removal would turn for the worst. My grandfather was 85 years old, had 7 children, one of them passed away a few years ago from a heat attack, 28 grandchildren, one also passed away a few years ago, and 83(and counting) great-grandchildren. Needless to say I come from a large family.
Many of my family members sat around my grandmother's living room staring at the floor while fidgeting in our seats. What do you say in those close moments after? Nothing felt real. My grandmother kept the happy memories flowing and soon we were laughing and crying about ketchup, root beer band aids and quarters. Sorry you have to be a part of the family to understand.
Soon we had a funeral date and hundreds of texts were flying across the states to bring our family together.
Recently my grandfather expressed his desire to have a talk on the plan of salvation given at his funeral, when this memory returned to my grandmother, the talk was added to the funeral program along with the eulogy and all the grand/great-grand children singing Families Can Be Together Forever. Calls and texts continued to buzz around the nation while flights were book and hard choices were made for those who would not be able to attend.

As I sat and listened to my cousin an aunt work on the article for the news paper the topic turned to those who have passed before him, a head count of everyone who is here, and how to add the one who will be born in a couple of months. My eyes moistened as a picture came to my mind. My grand father opening his arms to his son and grandson, who stood at the front of a crowd of angels. They embraced, tears of joy staining their cheeks. His parents hugged him next. A blurred shape slapped  him on the back and waved as they walked away. I thought this was the spirit about to join our earthly family. At that very moment a reunion started in heaven, while we were planing and preparing for our reunion on earth.
A great comfort came over me as I pondered the idea that everyone person, earthly and heavenly, that is a part of my family will be spending the next few days together. This idea never left me and as we all gathered for a picture i could feel all the angles squeezing in with us.
The Plan of Salvation brings me great comfort to know that I will be with my grandfather again, I will not be without my children and my grand children. My family numbers will only grow larger.
-Tiffany Williams
If you would like to learn more about the Plan of Salvation visit Mormon.org

When I Realized I Was Doing Something I Never Thought I Would Do- And I Was Doing It to My Own Son

by Kasey Tross

source

My son is a creative type like me, and for a few years now, he's been saying he wants to be an artist when he grows up. He's also very mathematically minded, and he's good at figuring things out and making them work. So when he says he wants to be an artist, I say things like, "You know architects use a lot of art. You should think about going into architecture," or, "What about engineering? Engineers always have to visualize the outcome, just like in art."

But did I ever say, "Yeah, art! Follow your dreams son, be an ARTIST!"?

No. No, I did not.

Oddly enough, my response was given out of love. I love my son. I don't want to see him living in a 1-bedroom apartment with 3 other starving artists eating ketchup packets for breakfast and spending his weekends in a blood donation center selling his plasma to pay the rent. So I discounted his dream. And it never occurred to me that that made me a- I shudder at the word- naysayer.

Then I saw this:

An Artist's Before-And-After Drawings Show What Happens When You Actually Stick to Your Dreams

Lightbulb moment.

I was so moved by the article and the incredible artwork that I knew I wanted to share this inspiring story with my kids. And then I realized that if I did that, my son might realize that being an artist was actually an attainable thing and might want to do it more.

And I hesitated.

And then I smacked myself in the head and said, "Hello, SELF?! If your son WANTS to be an artist and it is his passion and his dream are you seriously going to sit there and try to convince him not to??! If you don't believe in him, how the heck is he ever supposed to believe in himSELF?!"

Then I got some ice for my sore head and called my son in to sit next to me on the couch. I said, "Sweetie, there's something I want you to see." I opened up the article and read it again with him, watching his face light up, hearing him gasp and say, "That's SO awesome!" as we scrolled through the incredible images.

When we were done, I looked at him and said, "Son, if you want to be an artist, then I want you to be an artist. But, as you can see, it requires work. But if you want it, I know you can do it, and I will be behind you one hundred percent."

I think he said something like, "Cool, Mom," and went off to do Legos or something, but it was definitely a wake-up call for me.

What if I was aching to be a writer but constantly had someone saying, "Well, yeah, but...secretaries write. Why don't you think about being a secretary?" or, "Advertisers use a lot of writing. You should think about getting into advertising." Well-meaning, caring people are not the same as people who believe in you and push you to follow your dreams.

I don't want to be well-meaning and caring. I want to be my kids' champion. I want to be their biggest fan. I want to root for them and cheer them on all the way and tell them they CAN.

And while I'm doing that for them...well, I think I might just do it for myself as well. After all, look what happens when you actually stick to your dreams...

Incredible artwork by Noah Bradley

MIne eyes have seen...

By Beckie Carlson

www.imgbuddy.com

2004 was a memorable year for me due to several things. First of all, it was the year I earned a free cruise with my company. I was able to take my husband on a free trip to Alaska for a week. Looking back, that was our only escape together after we had kids. It was an amazing trip. Another think that happened that year was that we moved to Florida from Alabama. A move I had dreaded, but ended up being wonderful for our family.  The highlight of the year would have to be getting Lasik on my eyes.

I was a goofy kid. Don't let my mom tell you otherwise, she lies. I dressed funny, wore my hair funny, had a big overbite, and wore hideous glasses. Okay, a lot of those things happened because I was a kid in the 70s, but I was extra weird. The kids at school sometimes had a hard time deciding which name to call me. Four eyes? Bucky? Becky with a Y? Decisions. I tended to try and blend in with the avocado green background of that time period as much as possible. It worked for the most part....

I didn't say much as a kid. I had great ideas, but I was so afraid they would come out as a bark or something stupid, I kept them to myself. I remember laughing to myself at my hilarity, wishing I could share. It's terrifying to be a kid that is 'different'. Looking back, I think what I missed was that all kids are 'different'. Why can't we see that til the time has passed?
Glasses were a pain for me. My nose just isn't built to hold them. I'd get headaches if I didn't wear them, and headaches if I did. Thankfully, after much begging, my parents got me contacts when I was fourteen (I think). Life became so much better when I could see stuff! Sure, I still had to deal with saline and contact cases and swimming blind, but it was much better. I threw the glasses out and only wore them when I was pregnant. Thanks for that, hormones...

Getting Lasik was a dream I'd had for a long time. For some reason, we had a bit of money in 2004 and that is what we decided to spend it on. The process itself was borderline horror movie. Remember, I'm a big baby. Something about having your eyeball hardened to a rock and a laser blasted into it, on purpose, really scared the c+$&# out of me. But I did it. It was easy, and totally worth it!

Here I am, eleven years later, and guess what? My eye doctor has decided I need reading glasses. My days of carefree reading have started to fade. I told him I would eat more fish, I'd drink more water, I'd stop turning on the lights in my house.....anything that would help. He told me I was getting older and this is what happens to everyone. I didn't hit him or kick him or even cuss him out. I shot him some dirty looks, and went home. Eleven years of perfect vision is great, but I'd like more.

As a kid, we something thought it would be so glamorous to be an adult. We could do whatever we wanted, go wherever we wanted, spend money like we wanted.... Now that we are actually here, we realize that all those things come with a price. We are responsible for all those choices and we have to work hard to do what we want before our bodies wear out on us. I'm not doing seeing stuff. I'm not done reading and writing and drawing doodles all over every inch of paper I own. I need my eyes, like, a lot. So, regardless of what my YOUNGER eye doctor says, I'm not giving into the 'my eyes are just going to fail cuz I'm getting a bit older' routing. I'm going to eat lots of fish, drink lots of water, and wear my sunglasses at night. Who knows, maybe it will help....maybe I'll just be the coolest kid around. Cause I said so.

Emotional Kidnapping and Why It Can Be a Good Thing

Let me tell you a story.

Actually, let me tell you about this dream I had. Many Most of the details are fuzzy and forgotten, because it was a dream, after all. But it goes like this:

I am a part of a group of women who are going on an adventure. We are excited, nervous, scared, and a little sad. We’ve been told we are saving our families, but also that we are never going to see our families again. We were only given minutes to prepare to leave and I had a garbage bag full of clothing that my husband grabbed from the dryer.

Gathered with my friends, I dump out my bag o’clothes to see what supplies I had, and out falls my Simon’s Spiderman blanket with armholes cut into it.

Cue Hiroshima in my heart and I crumple to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

My alarm goes off and my eyes open to a soggy face as I was crying in my sleep.

It took me fifteen minutes of sobbing into my pillow to get control of myself that afternoon so that I could get ready for work.

Thinking about it now makes my eyes leak a little bit. My heartbeat speeds up and I feel myself breathing just a fraction of a bit harder.

Something else that happened last week that has me thinking.  Okay, back story: I had two cats for ten years. I was single and fancy-free, and love animals, so these were my kids (in a totally not neurotic way). A few months before I met my husband, there was a fire at my home and the cats were so sickened by the smoke that they had to be euthanized (the story is really more traumatic than that, but  it’s not the point).  Pebbles, the older one, was a fairly unique-looking cat. Her name actually comes from rock, not the Flintstones.  I still miss her terribly; she was a pretty awesome little friend.

So I’m walking out from my office the other day, and as I approach my car, there is a cat sitting on my hood. She looks exactly—EXACTLY—like Pebbles. She sits there and stares at me, and I stop in my tracks and stare at her, for a long time. Then I remember that I need to go home, and my cat is dead, so this is not my cat. I sort of shoo the cat off my hood, but she won’t jump down. I pick her up to put her on the floor and she immediately starts purring, this loud throaty purr just like Pebbles used to do. Again, something in my brainheartgutsoul activates and I’m back on the first terrible days after the fire.

What is it that causes these reactions? Better yet, since we’re writers, how do I make YOU feel what I feel? I can tell you about my dream, and while I can still taste the air I was breathing when I saw that blanket, it’s much harder to get YOU to feel that way. Part of what makes us love stories is feeling those genuine emotions as we vicariously live the adventures or misadventures of the characters.

So what can we do?

I’ve discovered that some of the best places for “real” writing advice, meaning advice on “real” writing—novels and the such—comes from sites catering to business people, advertising writers, bloggers, etc. One such website has an interesting/useful article, “Hijacking Emotion is the Key to Engaging Your Audience,” by Helio Fred Garcia. He talks about how our brain is actually 3 “brains” working together, and sometimes not cooperating at all. Our physical survival depends on the instinctual reactions to stimuli and so our brain tends to pay very close attention. The same systems are linked to our emotional responses—so the attention carries over. Mr. Garcia says the following:

The default to emotion is part of the human condition. The amygdala governs the fight-or-flight impulse, the triggering of powerful emotions, and the release of chemicals that put humans in a heightened state of arousal. Humans are not thinking machines. We’re feeling machines who also think. We feel first, and then we think. As a result, leaders need to meet emotion with emotion before they can move audiences with reason.

Pretend I’m grabbing my red pen to cross out “leaders” and add “writers.” Let’s replace “reason” with “plot” while we’re at it. The part of our readers that dives into the story is the emotional, instinctual brain. Once we’ve established that salience, we can amaze them with our clever plot twists and flowery wordplay.

How do we activate the amygdala and establish the tractor beam to pull the reader irrevocably into our story? Here are a few ideas, gleaned from all over the place:

*The “bang”—Helio Garcia talked about suddenly playing very loud music when it was time for his class to start. The resultant startle “hijacked” the amygdalae of his students and they instinctually focused their attention on him. We can do the same thing by beginning our story with some sort of “bang”—the awesome first line that awakens the amygdala like a tap with a defibrillator.

          “It was a pleasure to burn.” FAHRENHEIT 451, Ray Bradbury

"The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed.” THE GUNSLINGER, Stephen King

An extended example of the “bang” can be found in I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER by Dan Wells. He starts with “Mrs. Anderson was dead.” One would think that this would be the “bang.” It’s not. The bang comes after a short explanation that she died naturally, and it was two days before something tore the guts out of another of the town’s citizens. Everyone else was killed by “The Clayton Killer.” The rest of the bang is the next line, “Well, most of them. All but one.” 

             

The hairs stood up on the back of my neck just typing that, and I know what happens in the book. There you go—amygdala activated like Leslie Hall’s tight pants (Google it. Totally not writing related but you’ll get the metaphor).

*Relatable/sympathetic characters.  I was talking about this one the other night with a coworker. Stephen King’s THE MIST has the most relatable protagonist ever, for me—a parent, stuck in a terrible situation, with a child asking “Are we gonna be okay?” Trust me. Every. Single. Thing. that happened to that dad, I was right there. When the Things happened, I felt what he felt. If you haven’t read it or seen the movie, I’m not sure you should. It left me traumatized—because I related SO much to the dad. That’s pretty powerful stuff right there.  So how do you do it? Play on commonalities. Show, don’t tell. Add personality to your characters. KNOW your characters, so that even if you don’t write it all in your story, you are intimately aware of how they would react to situations. It shows in the story when you know your people that well.

A corollary to this is to make characters who are so terrible, such train wrecks that you can’t help but hate them. Then you turn them loose on all the other characters and make sure to mine the crap out of their emotions.

I read an article somewhere from a Facebook link about why we HATE Professor Umbridge so much more than we do Voldemort.  Who didn’t get a pit in the bottom of your stomach when Harry was called into her office and she smiled that hideously benign smile? I know I felt the ickiness much more viscerally towards her than towards He Who Shall Not Be Named. It boils down to the fact that most of us haven’t had our parents killed by a dark wizard, or seen people eaten by a giant snake. But just about everyone has had a teacher, boss, parent, or other authority figure be cruel and vindictive when there was no escape, just because they could. The “evil” doesn’t have to be soul-eating world annihilation—the mundane cruelties of life’s regular villains will do the trick just as well, if not better.

There are so many more methods to “hijack the amygdala”—I chose the ones above because they can be done right in the first few pages of your story.

The sooner you do them in your book the better, as a matter of fact. You want to grab onto that little almond-shaped gold mine of grey matter as soon as the first page is turned, and then Never. Let. Go.

Go forth and conquer!! 

Why We Love the Bad Boys

Ah, the romantic and intriguing Byronic hero. Girls swoon over him and guys aspire to be like him.  Who can resist the dark, brooding character that hides in the shadows? Modern literature and pop culture are littered with examples:

Batman,

  

(Dark Knight)

Edward Cullen,

(Twilight)

James Bond,

 (007)

Han Solo,

(Star Wars)

Captain Jack Sparrow,

(Pirates of the Caribbean)

Severus Snape

(Harry Potter)

and, for you anime fans, Edward Elric.

(Fullmetal Alchemist)

Why are we so drawn into these characters struggles? Why does our attention and hearts bond to them whenever they walk across our pages or our screens? Let’s go back to the beginning and look at what a Byronic hero consists of.

The Byronic hero, while still the antagonist of the story, is the antithesis of what we consider a hero to be.  Their characteristics are not exactly admirable, yet if well done, the reader likes them anyway. There are several traits, mostly unattractive, that these dark heroes share:

• Intelligent
• Cunning
• Ruthless
• Arrogant
• Depressive
• Violent
• Self-aware
• Emotionally and intellectually tortured
• Traumatized
• Highly emotional
• Manipulative
• Self-serving
• Spiritually doubtful
• Often reckless or suicidal
• Prone to bursts of anger
• Decidedly prone to substance abuse
• Dedicated to pursuing matters of justice over matters of legality
• Given to self-destructive impulses (study.com)

 Take Edward Elric for example. The series Fullmetal Alchemist is centered on the science of alchemy. (Remember this is all fantasy and this stuff doesn’t really exist.) The number one rule in alchemy is that you cannot create something from nothing, meaning that things don’t just appear out of thin air. Alchemists can break apart materials using their powers and reassemble said materials into something else, but there is always an equivalent exchange. Most alchemists use a chalk drawing on the ground in order to channel their powers, but the Elric brothers are different. When they were only ten and nine, they committed the Great Taboo: they tried to bring someone back from the dead using alchemy. In a desperate attempt to regain their beloved mother, the two brothers learned the law of equivalent exchange the hard way. Edward lost the lower part of one of his legs, and Alphonse lost everything: body and soul. Seeing what he had done, Ed dragged his bloody body to a suit of armor and bound his brother’s soul to it, in exchange for his right arm. (Again, all fantasy.)

Alphonse, waking up as a suit of armor and seeing a mutilated Ed, saves his older brother by taking him to a nearby neighbor. For the rest of the series, Edward struggles with the fact that it was his fault his brother has to live life as a bodiless suit of armor. Edward gets outfitted with a metal arm and leg and he has such a strong will and sense of determination, he makes a full recovery after just one year instead of the projected three.  Edward and Alphonse start working for the government as State Alchemists in order to have access to restricted materials they would otherwise not have. Taking the weight of the brothers’ mistake on his shoulders, Edward leads the way to finding a way to get their bodies back.

At the age of fifteen, Edward has literally been through hell and back. He isn’t perfect. He makes plenty of mistakes, and gets beaten to a pulp on multiple occasions, but he is clever enough to win the battle in the end, or at least escape to fight another day. He is quick to anger and often broods about his past mistakes. There is a moment when his childhood friend starts to cry after seeing a secret scrawled message. When Edward asks why she is crying, she says, “Because you won’t cry. Someone has to.”

I think part of the reason we connect so well to Byronic characters is because we can relate to them. Unlike the usual hero in fantasy or romantic fiction, these tortured heroes are in no way perfect. They make mistakes, and they suffer for those mistakes. They get knocked down again and again, only to get right back up. They fight, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because they believe in the fight. Really, they don’t even want to be the hero, but there is no one else who can do what they can do.

Also, Byronic heroes are incredibly complex to create. There is a skill to making a character dark and brooding without coming off as whiny and self-absorbed. There have been series where one of the main characters is supposed to be a Byronic hero, but he has no redeeming qualities. Just a piece of advice, if you are going to purposely make someone unlikable, he has to have something to make the audience connect to him/her.

I love reading about Byronic heroes. There is something about seeing someone fight and claw toward a goal that is inspirational. We all have struggles, but in order to reach our goal, we have to keep pushing. It’s never going to be easy, and there will be set backs, but with perseverance, any dream can come true.

Below is a clip from Fullmetal Alchemist. It’s a bit of a spoiler, so if you plan on reading/watching the series, just skip to the end of this post. Or if you don’t mind, keep reading.

*SPOILER ALERT*
Ok, so you’re still reading. You have been warned…

In this scene, Edward has gone through the Door of Truth for a second time where he finds his brother, Alphonse’s emancipated, yet alive, body. It shows that there is still hope for the two brothers to return to normal. Near the end of the clip, through sheer stubbornness, Edward fights against the little hands of Truth that are pulling him back to reality to make a fierce promise to his brother.

https://youtu.be/-JhaYY1u1Rw

Looking at this from an outsider it may seem cheesy, but trust me, this scene is a tear jerker.

*END OF SPOILER*

So what other Byronic heroes can you think of? What do you think makes us love the dark hero? Also, do you think a Byronic hero could ever be a female protagonist? I look forward to reading your comments!