Character Troubles and a Fundraiser!

A shorter one for the middle of June!

In a week or so, I’ll be hanging up my high school teaching shoes, and I’m very excited about this! I’m looking forward to diving into course creation and having more time to work on the queer romance ebook. I’m currently editing the third book in a cowboy MM romance series and also completing a beta-edit on a historical gay novel.

I have spaces open from October, so if you have a queer romance, crime, mystery, or thriller in the works, let me know!

Character troubles

A common issue with characters at the developmental stage (I had these same issues in Tea, No Sugar!) is making the main character relatable, engaging, and most importantly, compelling.

Characters don’t need to be likeable or even nice, but they do have to grab the readers and pull them into the story and along for the ride. Here are three areas to consider if your client, editor, or critique partners suggest your MC is not feeling relatable, interesting, or is just a bit flat.

Backstory:

What drives a character can be one of the most interesting aspects of their persona. When this is combined with what they are afraid of, and what they seek or need from the world around them, the result is a character who feels three-dimensional and fully formed.

I’ve found ‘writer’s block’ is usually related to not knowing what will happen next in the story, and this can be fixed by brainstorming or free writing some rough scenes with the MC in a new situation or location.

Why did they get into trouble at school?

Are they still friends with their hometown besties?

Or, if a waiter messed up their order, how would they react?

Getting to know your characters on a deeper level serves the story well!

In my early drafts, I was guilty of some head-hopping, and switching POV too many times is a surefire way to lose a reader. The first few pages and chapters are really the primary time for readers to connect and fall in love/hate with your MC, so sticking with 1-2 POVs early on works best (genre-specific, of course, but I’ve seen too many POV changes being an issue in romance and mystery).

Growth and Change: A flat character arc can work, but it’s usually found in series where the external conflicts are fast-paced and there are puzzles and mysteries to solve. An unchanging (or slowly changing) character can be comforting to readers because they know what to expect. But, this is harder to pull off!

The struggles that a character goes through, and their world view changing as a result, are what make the best characters garner empathy and support. The obstacles, internal conflicts, external struggles, inner flaws, or big wins can all be used to shake up the story world. I’ve found the news provides numerous real-world examples of strife and struggles for a spark of inspiration.

In Tea, No Sugar, Ali was initially quite unlikeable, so I needed to make his arc more pronounced; I needed readers to like or relate to him early on, so he became a champion teacher, and then the chance of losing his job (stakes), and how he navigates the troubles of his relationship and the case against him became more compelling for the reader.

Consistency

Internal consistency is a key area for copy editors working at the word and sentence level, but it’s also crucial for a developmental editor to ensure characters act consistently to what’s been presented within the same book, series, and story world (and of course checking their blue eyes haven’t unintentionally become green by the end of the book!).

But Sam, people don’t always act consistently, and this is true! But it’s a more satisfying reading experience if characters grow and develop based on what the reader knows from earlier in the story. A twist is always welcome, but it’ll serve you well to embed it in something related to the character from earlier in the story. If we had an inkling that MC1 hated spiders, and then they overcome that fear in order to rescue handsome MC2 from a burning spider-research facility, then it feels both consistent and satisfying because goal achieved (love), fear overcome (spiders!) and it’s consistent because we heard MC1 screeching in the shower when a spider crawled out of the plughole in chapter 1.

This really is a huge topic, and I’m still learning everyday (thanks, Club Ed!), but I hope you can see that there are numerous ways to grab your readers, and starting with getting to know your main characters is likely a good place to start!

Let’s do some Pride!

I wanted to share with you a new fundraising campaign from the LGBTQ+ Editors Association. This organisation has helped me on multiple levels over the past 18 months. Having the chance to work with such dedicated LGBTQIA+ professionals has been a wonderful experience.

My roles include membership coordinator, and I’m also learning about grants and bids for the fundraising committee. Off the back of joining, I’ve become more confident as a queer person, met a number of members from the queer romance workshop, and found a community of people who truly understand and experience similar challenges to me. I’ll be doing everything I can to ensure this platform continues, and I’d love it if you could too!

Join the LGBTQ+ Editors Association in celebrating Pride Month with our special fundraiser, Punctuation Pride!

This month, we're raising funds to support our organization. Every donation helps us continue providing resources, networking opportunities, and advocacy for inclusivity in the editing community.

Donate today and make a difference! Together, we can create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all editors.

Click this link to contribute: punctuatepride.flipcause.com

Thanks for being awesome!

See you next time,

Sam