Shelley Munro Blog

My special guest today is author, Mechele Armstrong who writes for Loose Id and also co-writes under the name Melany Logen for Ellora’s Cave and Loose Id. Mechele says that while growing up she had a vivid imagination and lots of imaginary playmates to keep her company. After reading some of her paranormal and sci-fi tales I can report her rich childhood imagination continues into adulthood and translates to some wonderful tales!

Today Mechele is talking about the small details you’ll find in romances, the ones that make all the difference. She’s also giving away a download from her backlist to one lucky reader. All you need to do to go into the draw is post a comment. The winner will be chosen the following day so don’t forget to come back to see if you’re the lucky one.

Every author wants to create characters that live in people’s memories. That they don’t want to leave at the end of the book. An in-depth characterization that carries the character off the page. And to do that, I think you have to focus on the small stuff. Little actions and dialogue go a long way toward creating a memorable character.

What do I mean by small stuff?

One of the best examples to highlight what I’m talking about is a movie. Aliens. Bear with me a minute.

In that movie, a group of marines go to see what’s happened at a facility that they’ve lost contact with. They are going to face some nasty aliens that Ripley faced in Alien, the first movie. There are lots of marines and a short amount of time before they start dying, but yet for us to care about them, they have to develop the characters somewhat. They do this by dialogue. By visual cues. Yet none of the developing scenes is long. They don’t have time in the movie for long scenes.

The sergeant wakes up from hypersleep and immediately goes for his cigar. He spouts off about a day in the corps. Hudson gets up and complains about the cold floor. Sarge picks on him and uses an age old hand signal to tell him off.

Almost immediately, these two characters have developed by using very small actions and a small amount of dialogue. A lot is revealed in a scene that’s maybe two minutes tops. Sarge doesn’t have much screen time at all in the movie but we know him by the time he dies. He’s a career marine, who has a sense of humor and sticks to the code. How doe we know? By the small stuff that he shows us about his personality.

The same with Vasquez, the tough woman, Drake, Frost and a host of others. We get short tidbits about their personalities from their brief time talking and actions they show us.

Hicks is another character, who all in all, doesn’t have much screen time. But it’s what he does with it that makes him memorable. When they are discussing the aliens, and all the others are mouthing off, he asks quietly, “What are we dealing with?” When they are dropping down to the planet, almost ready to land after a very bumpy ride that has most nervous, sarge says, “Somebody wake up Hicks.” When the girl, Newt, first comes on scene, Hicks is the one who figures out it’s a person, stops them from shooting her, and tells Ripley to come there to her, hoping that a woman will not scare the child as much. My favorite scene is when they are all discussing plans after the aliens have been found and they are looking at schematics up on this raised monitor. Newt can’t see and starts jumping up, trying to see what’s going on. Hicks picks her up and sets her on the table so she can see. No one comments on his action. It’s a scene where if you blink, you miss it, but it says so much about his character. He’s a calm, thoughtful individual who picks up on everything, doesn’t scare easily, and is inherently a nice guy. Again, he doesn’t have much screen time, so this all is revealed in short bursts.

Are there grand sweeping scenes with most characters in that movie? No. Except for Ripley, not really. Are there little nugget scenes? Yes. Do I remember most of the characters even though most die early? Yes. And it’s why when the aliens start killing the people that I care. It’s the little scenes that sometimes stand out the most in my memory for characters.

Julie Garwood’s Honor’s Splendor has a similar effect with the heroine. I will never forget the heroine, Madelyne warming the hero, Duncan’s feet. It’s a simple gesture. Yet, it’s what brings them together. And yes, it says what kind of woman Madelyne is, both to me and to Duncan.

In SL Carpenter and Sahara Kelly’s No Limits, Marcus is washing the heroine’s hair and he molds it up to play with it. It’s a two second read. Read fast and you miss the whole context. But, I loved that scene and how playful Marcus is in it even as he’s comforting the heroine. I can so imagine him sculpting the heroine’s soapy hair. The action fits his character, a creative man, and works so much to telling me about him.

I try to use little things about characters in my own writing. A touch of a hand that means more to the character than the other knows like in Settler’s Mine: The Rivals with Orion and Balt taking Layla’s hand. A look of passion that the heroine has never known before like with Nick and Sarah in Blood Lines: Blood Kiss. Or like in the one I just finished, Settler’s Mine: The Woman, one of the characters has a thing for cats. I don’t use that on every page but enough so that it’s obvious, when a cat comes up, he’s the one speaking or thinking. It’s really small in the grand scheme of the book but I think it tells about his personality. The villain in Blood Lines: Conduit doesn’t curse. It’s a way of revealing her personality without overdoing her need to be controlled.

Another easy way to help blend a character is with clothes and cars. A man in a three piece suit exudes a different statement than a man in jeans and cowboy boots. A man driving a beaten up truck says something different than a man in a red sports car. In Blood Lines: Crimson’s Rose, Rojo drives a small compact Honda despite the fact he’s a big guy. Why? Because it’s practical and he can be non-descript in it, which suits his line of work as a mercenary. Nick from Blood Lines: Blood Kiss wears a lot of tailored clothes. Why? Because he wants to rise above his animalistic nature. Bumper stickers on cars are a great addition to say something about a character without being obtrusive, too. That’s something I really just thought about today. Reading about a character with a Peace bumper sticker will give off a different feel than one who has a Bite Me bumper sticker.

So when you’re reading or writing that next book, do sweat the small stuff. I think you’ll find some great characterizations.

Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen