How to Draw Characters

When people know they’re going to die, they always try and console their loved ones with ‘I’ll always be looking down on you from heaven’. Thing is, that doesn’t really comfort anyone. It only makes things harder to take, especially after the one you love is gone. Derek and Izzie contemplate just what the view from heaven might be from Meredith and Denny’s point of view. MerDer. Dizzie. NOTE: Again, black and white are memories. Normal are generally happening in the present. This video is actually focused more on Denny/Izzie as the death is permanent on that end, but I needed an excuse to use all the beautiful ‘heaven’ type scenes from Some Kind of Miracle. So you MerDer fans get something from me, too.

Blame it on LOST. The ABC show set the precedent of killing a major character every sweeps period and the result was pure ratings gold. LOST managed to dominate every sweeps period by keeping fans guessing which of their most beloved characters would be biting the dust. For a while, the formula rapidly proliferated through other prime time shows, until it nearly became a requirement for a prime time drama, one that pricy lead actors were none-too-fond of.

As you might imagine, like any good side-show attraction, it eventually lost its gravity and became passé. Tension was replaced with groans. NBC’s fledgling serial ‘Heroes’ made it part of its formula from the get-go, managing to draw almost universal scolding from fans and a media that had grown weary of the trick. So why, then was it so successful for Grey’s Anatomy?

February 16th was one of the biggest days in the history of Grey’s Anatomy’s ratings. Grey’s Anatomy played the tired death card and found success never before equaled. What did Grey’s Anatomy do so differently in summoning the reaper that brought it such success? Something which is likely not to be repeated: it killed its lead character.

Killing ‘a’ lead character is one thing, but when you dispatch the character for which your show is named, you invite all sorts of controversy. No, retroactively you wouldn’t expect this to impact the ratings, but Grey’s Anatomy producers and writers are smarter than the average bear. It would seem that Grey’s Anatomy producers created a controlled leak of information that their lead character, Dr. Meredith Grey, was going to bite the dust. This is where the side-show analogy comes full circle.

Grey’s Anatomy fans around the world buzzed that it just wasn’t possible despite the powerful rumors that the Grey’s production staff would even consider killing off the character that the show was named for. It seemed to horrible to be wrong. Heavy hearted Grey’s Anatomy fans everywhere braced for the worst.

In the end, it was Meredith who died, which was in a way one of the biggest payoffs ever of this tired old device. Grey’s Anatomy producers put their necks on the line and pulled off the impossible, they killed their lead star. But there was a catch. They crafted a death for Meredith which left room for a rather obvious resuscitation. Many in the media, fans included, were left to decry the move as one that could have devastating impact on the credibility of the show. A prime example, Buddytv’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy: So, Who Died?’ which decried the death as a shameless gimmick from the get go.

So while the death of Meredith Grey, the namesake of Grey’s Anatomy, was shocking and brought huge ratings, will the subsequent resurrection do the same? More? Or will it repel Grey’s fans tired of being dealt the death card? As of this writing, Grey’s Anatomy is three days away from answering that question, and if the internet buzz is any indication, death is alive and well.

For more information about Grey’s Anatomy and especially about Grey’s Anatomy: So, Who Died? please review this web site http://www.buddytv.com

Groshan Fabiola

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The most critical lesson in writing a love scene is that it is similar to making love in the real world: when done well, it is messy, chaotic and somewhat animalistic. The civilized approach does not work; it leads to the greatest drawback of all: predictability.

Does this sound familiar? The leading man and woman dislike one another intensely; something happens and they see another side of the other; in spite of their best efforts to deny it, they find themselves attracted to one another; and they ultimately fall into a passionate embrace. Do you really want to write that one again?

The Best Love Scenes

The best love scenes are the ones in which the participants are not perfect specimens and the circumstances are obscure and somewhat confused. They are the scenes in which the reader has to work for it. In a word, they are authentic.

For example, here is the opening paragraph of my book, Point and Shoot:

This is how you make love to a woman undergoing cancer treatments. You ignore the metallic taste of her kiss; the slight snorting sound she makes when you press into her; the bony feel of her body, covered by skin that lacks tensile strength; the hairless scalp. You close your eyes and remember what it was like before. You move gently, until you forget yourself, as you should. You savor the moment because there might not be many more. And one more thing: you move very gently.

How to Get Started on Your Love Scene

I would suggest that you start by imagining your most interesting and emotionally-moving encounter with the opposite (or the same) sex. Write out a free association narrative about the images; scents; colorings; texture; dialogue; weather; and other aspects that trigger your memory.

Then, complicate it. You must assume that your memory of the event has been neutered by the passage of time. You remember your past, as we all tend to do, in an unrealistic light, obscuring and shading over the petty annoyances (Could you stop that whistling?); the inconvenient bodily functions (I have to pee.); and the wanderings of your mind (Did I lock the car door?) . So instead of writing that simplistic and ultimately, predictable story, shake it up.

Have your female character imagining a former lover, while her words are only about the man in her arms. Have your male character fear that he will not achieve arousal, and keep this truth from his lover until it can no longer be hidden. Have your characters wear blindfolds, so that all of the narrative description is tactile. In other words, create some kind of slanted, asymmetrical aspect to the story. Make your characters, and the reader, work for it.

Sure, Sex Sells, But Don’t Make it Porn

One of the most frequently asked questions is how explicit to make the love scene. The answer is simple: less explicit than what you would want to read.

It is axiomatic that the most sexually-charged organ of the body is the mind. That is where your story will be experienced, and you need to cater to the mind’s unique way of perceiving. The best caricaturists will use nothing more than a curved line or a geometric shape to suggest an instantly recognizable celebrity. They draw the most memorable aspect of the person’s face, for example the ears. By that alone, the viewer can instantly discern the subject’s identity.

Likewise, a writer must suggest rather than explain. Describe how it feels to run a finger along a thigh; to feel blankets bunched between your body and your lover’s; to be out of breath and not really know why. To paraphrase a long-ago Presidential campaign, make it subtle, stupid.

Here is another excerpt from that scene in Point and Shoot which illustrates the point:

“Are you getting there?”
“I told you never to ask me that question. It doesn’t matter. Keep going. Finish.”
“If I’m hurting you.”
“Keep going.”
I sped up. She shifted her hips to make it easier. After a while, I could see a tear well up at the corner of her eye. The tip of her nose flushed. She patted my shoulder again. “I said keep going.”
A wave of remorse and self-pity, a heavy, deadening feeling, yanked me back.
I stopped for good and rolled off her.
She lay there, splayed out, staring at the ceiling. Unmoving.
I propped myself on one elbow, stroking her abdomen.
We were silent for a long while.

Conclusion

To sum up, love scenes are done best when they follow no particular formula, but instead, come from the heart. Less is more. Of course, you should also keep in mind that the research is frequently much more fun than the actual writing. But take a few moments to get it down on paper, anyway. We readers like to watch.

G.D. Baum

Please read disclaimer noted farther down.. all you have to do is scroll… Scene 13 Little Shop of Horrors Starring; Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene Featuring; Steve Martin Lyrics; Howard Ashman Disclaimer; This channel has the Little Shop of Horrors (LSOH) Movie. I do not own the movie, the music, or any part of it. All rights go to the original owners. Please, do not get this taken down for the people who do love this movie. This is just here for the fans. I am not gaining anything from this, and neither are you for reporting it. The only ones who are gaining anything from this experience is the fans who might be able to learn something by watching it and talking to other fans. Thank you.

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Just about everyone enjoys looking at baby photos but what is it about a baby that is so appealing? And what makes the little bundles of joy so very hard to capture on film? This article addresses some of the reasons that we swoon over baby photos and it provides some suggestions for capturing the right picture at home.

Babies are naturally cute (though some may argue that a newborn is a little unattractive) because they are helpless. Cuteness may be a survival mechanism built right into your little one. Anyone who feels warm while looking at a baby photo understands that there is a drive to nurture and cuddle this little creature. There is a purpose for the cuteness.

An artist who specializes in portraits will assert that babies are cute because of their eyes. The eye is the only organ in the human body that does not grow. Your eyes are the same size as they were on the day you were born.

Don’t believe it? Look at your baby photos and see. Better yet, hold an infant next to you while looking in a mirror. You and the little tyke will have eyes that are about the same size. This also makes infants a challenge for artists to draw because they are relatively disproportionate.

It is the lack of proportion that makes the baby photos so appealing. Think about the cute cartoon characters you have known and loved. Most of them have large, wide eyes. The most appealing characters have bigger eyes just like the big peepers found in baby pictures.

Okay. We know they are cute but we still need to find a way of capturing the cuteness on film or on our digital cameras. The first thing we need is patience. Babies are not natural models and they don’t particularily care about their baby photos. They have other things on their minds. Bear with them.

Luck is also handy but you can work around that. Make sure that the focus is on the infant’s puss. The cutest baby photos are close-ups. Avoid using extravagant backgrounds because they may pull the focus away from the subject.

Getting the infant to smile can be one of the biggest challenges. Here is where luck and fortune would do wonders but we all know that they don’t always work in our favor. You have to use what you know about your little one in order to catch those perfect smiles for your baby photos.

Remember what makes your baby make those precious faces and engage the infant in that activity. Someone else needs to take the baby photos while you encourage the smiles.

Dave W Jones

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For many reenactors, military and civilian, one of the pleasures of a weekend spent in the field is that elusive moment when everything works. I’ve heard the sensation called “the bubble,” or simply “the magic.” There’s no way to predict exactly when it will happen. The feeling may last only seconds. But once you’ve experienced a moment that suddenly looks, smells, sounds, and feels so real that you completely forget your modern existence, you’ll be hungry for more.

I know I am. After a decade of reenacting, I’m not able to participate much any more. Instead I read, disappearing into the magic of good historical novels. And I write historical fiction as well, a hobby-turned-career that lets me spend time in imaginary scenes of my own creation. My most recent novel, Hearts of Stone, grew out of a Civil War refugee camp scenario at an event in Tennessee. And one of those “bubble” moments provided the kernel of raw inspiration.

Is there a novel in your future? If, like a number of reenactors I know, you’re interested in trying your hand at fiction, why wait until someday?

Reenactors are well poised to write historical fiction-much more so than many of the beginning writers I meet when I teach general workshops on the genre. As a serious reenactor, you’re already steeped in the history and social fabric of your chosen period. You know a lot about material culture and historical process. You’re experienced a
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t traditional research, and you conduct experiential research every time you participate in a new event or try your hand at a new activity. And you probably have an innate sense of story. The things that you find most interesting about your hobby would likely make a strong foundation for a novel.

If you are ready to get to work, here are a few suggestions.

1. Develop a fresh story idea. If you want to write a children’s book about the Civil War, see how many stories about drummer boys exist before writing one of your own.

2. Once you’ve settled on your idea, focus first on writing your story, not publishing your novel. Enjoy the process. Take a class. Learn your craft. Let the marketing stuff come later.

3. Create a compelling, memorable main character. The best fiction is character-driven, so spend a lot of time thinking about the people you’ll be writing about. Develop a complete history for them. All the information won’t make it into the story, but it will help you present a complex, believable, consistent character.

4. Once you have a strong sense of your character, shape your plot. Think in terms of having your character struggle to achieve something. Short stories and books for young children may have one clear plotline. More complex novels have multiple plotlines. I like to think in terms of “outer” and “inner” struggles. In Hearts of Stone, my main character Hannah’s outer plot involves struggling to keep her family together after she and her younger siblings become orphaned and homeless during the Civil War. Her inner plot focuses on her emotional struggle to accept both her father’s decision to fight for the Union Army and her best friend’s support of the Confederacy.

5. Some writers outline their novels in advance; some don’t. Choose whatever approach works for you. I don’t outline, but I do build a graphic organizer as I go. I create a table with four headings across the top: Chapter, Date, Scenes, Historical Events. That helps me keep track of what my characters are doing, and how their actions fit into the actual timeline of events that form the backdrop for my story.

6. Research, of course, is essential and ongoing. The historical details we love can also bog down a novel’s pace. If you fall in love with some fact or process, don’t just describe it in your fiction. Use that information to help reveal something new about your character, or to advance your plot.

7. Also, decide in advance where you are going to draw the line on historical accuracy. Are you willing to fictionalize weather details, or to make up business names for the merchants in a particular town? Reenactors are often fanatical about getting the details right. At some point, you’ll have to say: Enough. I’m done.

8. Keep a journal when you are at events. With a well-chosen pencil and notebook, you can even make it part of your impression. Make a point of recording specific, sensory details. Those details will bring your fiction to life, and will signal to readers that you are a trustworthy narrator.

9. Read as many different primary accounts as possible. Becoming steeped in period literature of all kinds will help you impart the flavor of period-appropriate speech in your fiction. (Note I said “flavor.” You don’t want to overwhelm readers with period-perfect but hard-to-understand speech.)

10. Join a professional writers’ organization. Membership can be an excellent way to learn more about both writing and publishing. The groups’ informative newsletters are often worth the price of membership. Most groups also hold regular conferences, which let pre-published authors meet other writers, agents and editors. The Historical Novel Society is an umbrella group for all historical fiction writers. Genre-specific groups like the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Mystery Writers of America, and Romance Writers of America may help you find professional success.

Once your story is as good as you can make it, you have options for publishing. If your top priority is creating a book that your family and friends can enjoy, sooner than later, you may want to self-publish. If your only dream is a book contract from a major publisher, hunker down for the long haul. Learn everything you can about the industry. Read what’s being published and make note of what different presses are looking for.

Having a book published is an amazing experience. Still, if someone told me that I’d never be published again, I wouldn’t stop writing. The process of researching, imagining, and writing my stories brings its own rewards. I hope you can find that magic as well.

Kathleen Ernst

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