Wet Noodle Posse

Friday, February 15, 2008

Q and A and Prize Day

You have all been very very good, so, as promised here is a photo of my talking Leonidas doll (excuse me, I mean Talking Leonidas Action Figure) He is 12 inches high and comes with an extra head, one without the helmet. He says things like, "Spartans, ready your breakfast and eat hearty. For tonight we dine in HELL."

Even better, because you have been good, one of you has been randomly selected to win Dianna Love's RITA winning Silhouette Intimate Moments, Worth Every Risk. And so you can read in bed, Dianna is also giving away a reading light.

The winner of Worth Every Risk and a reading light is........

Terry ODell

Terry, email me at diane@dianegaston.com with your address. Let me hear from you by next Friday, February 22, or I'll have to award the prize to someone else and I don't want to do that.

Next prize is Jill Monroe's blazing Blaze, Hitting the Mark. I'll choose that winner on Feb 29, Leap year day!

On to questions!

I missed one from last week. Eden Sharpe asked:

My question: I know GMC and all the other components involved in discovering these characteristics are supposed to help us to get to our character's core, but sometimes it feels that I'm "assigning" these when I should be uncovering them. How do you know when you've hit the authentic GMC? After several lectures and classes, this is still a big snag for me. (My manuscript is unfinished.)

Wow. Good question, Eden. I love the concepts of Debra Dixon's GMC and Hauge's Identity and Essence, but I'm not very good at applying them. I think it is for the reason you mention, it can become forced, something made to fit the concept, instead of the concept serving the character development.

I try to imagine people. I think about their past lives and about what they are like now. I try to think about what their vulnerabilities are. I try to imagine them as real people and then I see if the GMC or Identity and Essence concepts can fit, but my applications to the concepts always sound dumb to me. The important thing is for me to remember the people, not the concepts.

Some of my friends need to write several chapters until they get to know their characters. When they reach that point, they apply the concepts and see if they fit. If they don't, then my friends rethink things and tweak .

Noodlers and our noodlettes, lend a hand here. How do you keep your characters real instead of acting out "assigned" characteristics?

What other questions do you noodlettes have? What character concepts give you problems? Are there any leftover questions from this week's blogs?

Today is your day to ask!

Labels: 300, GMC, Hauge, Leonidas, Q and A