Author: Terry Connelly

Terry Connelly is a retired high school English teacher. She earned her BA and Single Subject Teaching credential from California State University of the East Bay, in Hayward, California. Her short story "The Visitor" was published in the Noyo River Review after winning first place at the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference in 2019. Another short story, "Swept Sway" is in the CWC Literary Review. She taught for 18 years at Newark Memorial High School in Newark, California. She was gifted to work with both College Prep students and those with learning disabilities.

Exploring

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Today I flew in a tiny propeller plane high over and through the mountains of southern New Zealand. I was terrified until we were in the air and then I relaxed and enjoyed the view.

Your characters also need to try new things. With your character in mind, make a list of things she might be afraid to do. Think extreme, such as jumping off a bridge or letting a tarantula walk on her arm.

Next imagine how he would behave just imagining the experience. Think fear, terror, panic, anxiety.

Write the scene using descriptions that let the reader be with your character.

Have fun with this one.

On Vacation

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Since I am on vacation, it got me to thinking about our characters. They go places, do things, see things.

Why not send them on a trip? Design the vacation to fit her personal interests.

For example, if she loves Shakespeare, why not go to London?

If he’s into wine, then off to California’s Napa Valley.

Your task is to write a scene in which your character travels. Choose a location that you’ve been to so that you can speak with authority.

Have fun with this one.

 

Companions

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The vast majority of us do not walk through life alone. We have best friends who listen to us, support us, advise us when we need it the most. They go places with us, visit when we are ill, bring us happiness and stand by us when we are afraid.

Sometimes our friends come to see us, sometimes we go see them, and often we meet somewhere in between. We go out for lunch, dinner or drinks. We go to movies or the theater. We walk in parks, sit on benches, sip coffee in a coffee house.

What about your characters? Do they have best friends? If not, is there a reason why they don’t?

For example, some mentally ill people see conspirators wherever they go, so they hide alone, in some cramped room, terrified to live.

But most of us do meet with others. So must your characters. Reread one of your stories or a scene from your novel. Is there a substantial friend? Not just a convenient conversationalist, but someone to whom the character leans?

Add in a good friend. Give them meaningful dialogue. Have them walk together, go someplace together, meet up regularly. Make this acquaintance not just a one-time occurrence, but something that happens with regularity.

After you’ve done this, go back and reread. How is the story now? Does it have a more natural flow? Is your protagonist more interesting? Does she have more depth? Do we get to see inside her and understand her better?

Hopefully this is so.

Have fun with this one.

Character Flaws

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A character’s flaws are not always visible. For example, a hearing loss will not show unless the individual is wearing a hearing aid. Because of this, no one meeting the person for the first time, or even the tenth time, will suspect a thing unless the individual repeatedly asks for clarification.

Mental and emotional disabilities are the same. There is no physical sign that indicates that a person is suffering or unstable. Unless, of course, the person is staggering around talking to himself.

But on first meeting a person, we would not know if she was bipolar, suicidal or developmentally disabled. It would take heart-to-heart talks and even then the information might not be revealed.

How do you write about a character who’s disability is not visible? You show it by building it in slow degrees. Perhaps some element is disclosed in a casual conversation. Or maybe the character comes right out and admits that he is deaf.

Jennifer Niven, who has published several YA books, expertly handles the invisible disabilities. Read All the Bright Places or Holding up the Universe. In both books you meet characters who are suffering. In the first book, both protagonists hurt inside. One, Finch, tends to “disappear” or “sleep” when his anxieties take over his life. The other, Violet, is depressed over the death of her sister. But we don’t learn these things in the first chapter. Niven slowly develops the characters’ flaws through the things they say, do, and think.

Your task is to write a scene in which a character has an invisible disability. Before you begin, do some research into that disability. Find out how it manifests itself and how it affects life. Then make a list of things your character would say or do based upon your research.

Then tell her story.

Have fun with this one.

Tropes in Literature

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In Taylor Holden’s novel The Sense of Paper, the image of paper binds together the lives of the main characters. For example, Charlie, a journalist who actively sought out dangerous places in the world, is now researching the different types of paper used by artists, information which she is using to write her own book.

Alan, an artist, prefers a particular paper for his work, which he uses to paint a picture for Charlie. He also puts her in contact with researchers in the field of art, who help Charlie understand the importance of paper.

This is an example of a trope, a literary device that is carried throughout a story, maintaining a crucial tie to characters and events.

Can you think of a story that you’ve recently read that aptly uses a trope? I suppose the Fifty Shades trilogy relied on the trope of sexual bondage as both reward and punishment.

Any other stories?

Have you ever written a story that contained a trope? If so, pull up that story and see if the trope helped or hurt the story. If it helped, in what ways? Is it possible for its meaning to be strengthened? Are there more instances in which the trope can be utilized?

What is you’ve never played with the idea of a trope? Now might be the time to do so.

Think of an object that has multiple meanings or usages. Create a character for each meaning. Now bring the characters together and see what happens.

This will not be an easy task. Many wonderful books are written without a single trope. But at least you will have played with the idea.

Have fun with this one.

 

Character Strength

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Recently I had a bout of pneumonia, followed by an asthma attack. It has left me weak and tired. I am not able to do much in any given day.

This has led me to think about strength, in all its various forms.

Physical strength is what usually comes to mind first. It is a truth that some people are stronger than others. We hear stories about individuals who, in times of need, lift one end of a car up in the air. There are those who are required for a job to display prowess in a challenge, such as a rope course or an obstacle course in order to be accepted into the military, fire or police departments.

What about emotional strength? I’m the type who cries at anything. Cute kittens, cartoons, a love scene in a movie, all bring me to tears. But I am strong in that I have been able to overcome doubters, people who said I’d never graduate from college, or ones who doubted by husband’s love. I’ve stood up to bullies as a teen and as an adult.

But I’ve known individuals who backed down whenever threatened. Who refused to fight for their rights or speak up when denigrated by a boss.

Stop and think about one of your characters. What kind of strength does he/she have? There has to be something or your character will not be able to carry the weight of a story. No one wants to read about a weakling, a whiner, a defeatist.

Read a section of your story. Find instances where your character shows strength, or, if no strength exhibited, places where you can make slight changes to give your character the skills he/she needs to stand up to the world.

Rewrite a scene or two. Then reread. Do you sense the difference? How do you feel about your character now? If nothing changes, then rework the scene.

Have fun with this one.

Gender Awareness

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Gender has always been, and will continue to be, an important issue. Much has been said recently about workplace discrimination in terms or hiring, promoting, and paying.

Gender influences the way students are perceived and tracked. For example, there is an assumption that boys are better at math and science, girls at English and languages. While there are many examples in which this is disproved, teachers, parents and other students still cling to this stereotype.

Gender influences how we dress when we go to work, school and out in the public. There are perceived notions about what a boy wears and what a girl wears, and they are quite different.

At some point in your life you have encountered gender stereotypes, either as the recipient or the observer.

Your task is to write about a time in which you became aware of gender. For me, it was when I was a hot little girl who wanted nothing more than to take off my top like my brother had, and found, with a spanking, that it was unacceptable for me to be bare.

What about you? Try to tell the story with as much candor as possible, retaining the innocence that you held at the time. Include dialogue that might have taken place. Actions that you witnessed or that were imposed upon you. Things that you felt, heard, perceived even if no words were spoken.

Humor is okay if it is appropriate to the telling.

Work on this one. Be honest.

 

 

Characters Have Friends

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Just as in real life, our characters do not walk alone. At least interesting ones don’t. They must have someone they care about, someone to share ideas with, someone to go places with.

Friendships are developed over time, and if well-founded, can survive illness, an argument, and even separations caused by time and place.

Some people believe that you are who you are with, so choose friends for appearance, for stature, for success. For example, a teen who wants to be popular will seek out popular kids and attempt to befriend them. A business woman who wants a job in the tech field, will associate with other techies.

Your character’s world must be populated with friends as well as potential friends. A story in which interpersonal interactions are casual meetings, is an in-your-head story and might not be too appealing. The pace would be slow and tedious.

We must have conflict. Not punches and beatings, but words that force characters out of their shells and to face the situations that arise. Friends help to accomplish this.

For example, a middle grade student hates his teacher and so talks back and disrupts class. He ends up hanging with the tough kids, those that regularly defy authority. Imagine the trouble that ensues as the student finds himself more and more enmeshed in this group.

Your task is to take one of your stories and add in a close friendship. First decide the purpose of the relationship. Is it to become a love interest? A daring-do combative contest? A study partner with equal interests in college?

Once you’ve defined the purpose, then think about how the relationship factors into the story. Does the friend push the protagonist to new heights or drag him down? Does the friend want something out of the relationship that maybe the protagonist isn’t interested in at this time?

Rework your story, adding in the friend. Something has to happen. They have a fight or fall in love. They design new apps for cell phones or open an antique business. They go on a vacation together or rent an apartment.

Make things happen that drive the story along and add interest.

When you are finished, think about what has happened. Does the friendship enrich the story? Why or why not? If not, then go back and rewrite until it does.

Just remember that friendships count in the fiction world as well as in real life.

Have fun with this one.

What to do at Night?

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Our characters don’t just move around in the day time. And they don’t just curl up and go to sleep when the sun sets. They do things.

If they’re young enough, they might go to the park and hang out. They might go to parties, football games or visit friends.

As young adults, they might go to clubs and dance. Attend concerts and go to the theater. Dinners with friends and coworkers. Sit at home and cheer for favorite sports teams.

Once we have kids, activities center on gymnastics, swim lessons, school performances and religious functions. We go to playgrounds and parks. We hang out with couples with children, leaving behind single friends. We go to pot lucks at the swim club and monitor bingo as a fund raiser for the school.

And as we get even older, we settle down. Curl up with a good book at night. Watch TV. Go to movies on Senior Day. Lunch at the Senior Center.

We stay busy, well into the night. So when you write, make sure that your character has places to go and things to do.

Your task is to write a scene that takes place after school or after work. Surround your character with friends. Write engaging dialogue. Make things happen that are interesting to read. Be logical and realistic in your approach. When you are finished, reread and look for places to add detail that enriches the scene.

Have fun with this one.

Autobiographical Fiction

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When I was a small child, maybe three or four years old, my father worked at a union-based factory in Dayton, Ohio.

Every winter there was a huge party in which Santa came and distributed gifts, a large cake was shared and some type of entertainment kept the kids from getting into trouble. One such entertainer was the famous Sherry Lewis with her sock puppets. Another time it was a TV comic cowboy. My memories of the events are few and scattered, the bulk of them most likely built by stories told about me as I was growing up.

There are no pictures of the events for me to rely on, so if I chose to retell the stories, I would have to fabricate much of the setting and action.

We can use these stories to create original characters and situations, informed by the basis of those few facts stored in our memory.

Your task is to think of an event that occurred when you were quite small. If possible, pull out photos that take you back to that time and place. Then begin constructing a list.

Setting: where were you and what did it look like? Adding in your senses, what smells might there have been? What foods might have been served? Was it indoors or outside? In a house or apartment? Backyard, playground or school?

Appearance: your approximate age. Were you small compared to others your age, the same, or larger? Were you thin or heavy? Did you have short legs and arms or long? What color was your hair? How long was it? In what style did you wear it?

Clothing styles: In my story, I wore dresses, white socks turned down to create cuffs, and saddle shoes. What would you have been wearing? What was the fabric like? Scratchy? Stiff or soft from many washings. Threadbare or rich?

Characters: Who was present in your story? Brother or sister? Aunts or uncles? Grandparents? Parents? Outsiders, such as would be in my story, just people that my dad worked with. What did the principle characters look like? How did they behave toward you? Did they laugh at your funny ways or smirk? Chastise you or praise? Were they harsh or gentle?

Action: Every story must have action or it isn’t a story. So what happens? When you write, try to emphasize what makes it unique, original, interesting. Include conflict of some kind. Remember that there needs to be rising action, a series of events that lead to the climax. And, of course, resolution.

Tone: You have to choose whether your piece has a comic sense to it or whether it is a serious event. If comic, then your story has to be light, energetic and humorous. If serious, then there must be trauma of some kind that is resolved.

This will not be an easy task.

Have fun with this one.