A Primer on Regency Era Women’s Fashion

This week and next, we’re going to take a look at how people dressed in the Regency Era. This week we’re going to focus on Regency Era Women’s Fashion and all the different pieces of apparel they were changing in and out of multiple times per day. This list isn’t exhaustive by any means and is rather representative of the upper classes rather than the working classes. However, it should give a good foundation in recognizing what an author is talking about and why they’re so focused on their characters being fashion conscious.

A Matter of Formality

Before we get into the details of Regency Era Women’s Fashion, it’s important to realize some phrases didn’t mean quite the same thing 200 years ago. For example, unlike when we say “She was in a state of undress.” or “She was caught en dishabille.”, people of the Regency era wouldn’t have batted an eye. Ladies quite commonly entertained guests in their boudoirs while dressed in comfortable, but concealing gowns and robes. Therefore, the fashionable terms “undress”, “half-dress” and “full-dress” were degrees of formality, not coverage.

“Undress” simply meant casual, informal dress in the Regency period. This type of dress was worn from early morning to noon or perhaps as late as four or five, depending on one’s engagements for the day. Undress was more comfortable, more casual, much warmer, and cheaper than Half Dress or Full Dress.

“Half Dress” is one of the more difficult concepts of Regency Fashion. Basically, it is any dress halfway between Undress and Full Dress. In modern terms it might be thought of as dressy casual or casual business attire in terms of formality, if not style.

“Full Dress” was the most formal kind of Regency clothing. Full dress was worn for the most formal occasions — evening concerts and card parties, soirees, balls, and court occasions. Similarly, “Evening dress” indicated outfits suitable only at evening events, a specific subset of “full dress”.

Regency Era Women’s Fashion

There’s a great post over at Word Wenches where author Kalen Hughes goes through the steps of dressing your Regency heroine from the skin out. If you visit that post, you’ll get better idea of how long it took to dress and the order everything goes on or off in.

Underclothes

shifts/chemise: The forerunner of the slip, the basic white linen garment underneath everything, often short-sleeved or sleeveless. Easy to wash compared to stays.
stays/corset: Less uncomfortable than those of Georgian or Victorian Eras and typically stays were worn instead of full corsets though the term corset was being applied to both. The ones we think of when someone mentions “corset” today are the Victorian ones.
petticoat: Usually only one was required and not a lot of volume was required for the high-waisted fashions.
stockings/garters, pantaloons: No panty hose for these ladies, but rather cotton or silk stockings, held up by garters.
chemisette: Basically a white lawn dickey with a high collar.
drawers: Proper ladies didn’t wear drawers, since they were considered to be quite “fast” and racy.

Gowns & Dresses

Regency Era Women's Fashion: Riding Habit — Riding Habit

Regency Era Women's Fashion: Spencer jacket over a white muslin gown, 1798 — Spencer jacket over a white muslin gown, 1798 – Wikimedia Commons

Author Candice Hern also has a great page that details the various styles of dresses a woman would wear throughout the day named and appropriate for specific activities. These included:

morning gowns
visiting gowns
walking gowns
promenade dresses
carriage dresses
riding habits
dinner dresses/gowns
ball gowns

Outerwear

Regency Era Women's Fashion: Pelisse coat, October 1820, Ackermann's Repository — Pelisse coat, October 1820, Ackermann

wraps & shawls: A wide variety of wraps and shawls were worn for warmth during this time period.
spencer: A close-fitting, tight sleeved, waist length jacket modeled on a gentleman’s riding coat, but without tails.
pelisse: An overdress or coat dress. The pelisse fit relatively close to the figure (though not tight) and had the same high-waisted lines as the dress of the day. Pelisses were also heavily and variously trimmed with fur, swansdown, contrasting fabric, frog fastenings, etc. practically from their beginning. In fashionable circles, pelisses more or less replaced the fur-lined cloaks of the earlier periods.
redingote: From the French corruption of “riding coat”, a long, fitted woman’s coat, belted and open to reveal the skirt of the dress beneath.
cloak or mantles (a short hip- or thigh-length cape) or Mantelets: Worn in the evening, often as part of an ensemble for the opera. Short cloaks with upstanding collars would also be worn to the theatre.
capes: These were fading out of fashion for women during the Regency, but some still present

Footwear

slippers/simple pumps: The basic shoe pattern resembled a ballet slipper (without points, of course) and might be made from kid leather, satin, or velvet.
mules: Backless slip-on shoes with a slight heel.
half-boots: An ankle boot made of sturdy leather for outdoors or velvet/satin for evening.
pattens: A metal contraption strapped onto the lady’s shoes in inclement weather, to lift her above the mud, snow, or rainwater in the street.

Accessories

fichu: A standard accessory for any modest miss who felt too much cleavage was showing. Also called a “tucker” as you tucked it into the bodice of your gown.
tippets (boa), pelerines (a broad collar-like cape which covers the shoulders.) & muffs: Warming aids, but also fashionable.
parasol: One mustn’t get spots! Freckles were quite unfashionable during the Regency.
reticule or ridicule: Some people argue that ‘ridicule’ is the only proper Regency term for a ladies purse, but you’ll see ‘reticule’ used almost exclusively.
gloves: For propriety’s sake and during the day, to limit sun exposure.
hats, bonnets: Again, propriety insisted that one’s hair be covered and the bonnets helped keep that porcelain complexion spot-free!
turbans, bandeaux: Favored more by older women, these were quite fashionable.
veils: Mostly in conjunction with widows and mourning.

In the Boudoir or Bedchamber

nightrail or night dress: Practical and high-necked, probably cotton.
dressing gown: A long, comfortable house garment that covered the night dress
wrapper: A thin gown or robe worn for modesty

Next week, we’ll take a look at Regency Era Men’s Fashions.

Another source of entertainment are these digital Regency Paper Dolls for your Hero and Heroine.

Visit my post on Men’s Regency Fashions or my Regency Resource page for more information regarding a variety of other Regency-themed topics. If you’d like more information on a specific place or topic, please let me know in the comments section below.

Research

One of the Poetical Sketches of Scarborough: Twenty-one engravings on humorous subjects, coloured from original designs, made upon the spot by J. Green and etched by T Rowlandson. Published by R. Ackermann, 1818. — The Circulating Library in Scarborough around 1818

This week my accountability group is blogging about how we go about doing research for our books. Last week’s post on developing characters is also part of our How I Write series.

Market Research: I read voraciously in my chosen genre of Regency set Historical Romances. I read other genres too, but these are my favorites.

Setting Research: I’d love to be able to travel to England and visit all the places I read and write about. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen for a while. So, instead I use my honed skills of google-fu and live vicariously through other people’s first hand experiences and pictures. Besides music videos and stranger stuff, YouTube has a wide variety of obscure topics you can explore. For example, the restoration of Attingham Park can be found there. Another great resource is the Royal Society’s Archives which have been made permanently free.

Society & Culture Research: You can’t rely on other people’s fiction as a research source. You can however begin building your vocabulary and feel for the society from it. ALWAYS double or triple check anything you want to use with a reliable non-fiction source or you may find yourself embarrassed by a visit from some frustrated readers who know and care infinitely more than you do. That being said, there’s a wide selection of resources available on the web and through GoogleBooks available. I do have a few reference books on my shelf, but even then not all are created equal, be sure to read some reviews before you buy and rely on them.

Character Research: I LOVE to people watch. I’m more likely to be the one sitting back at a gathering watching other people instead of being anywhere near the center of attention. Human nature hasn’t changed that much in 200 years just the outer trappings and modern ideas about subjects like psychology might not be spouted by my historical characters, but it can be useful to explore their character. I think this is part of what is really meant by “write what you know” — not necessarily specific skills or places, though that can sure make life easier, but feelings, reactions, situations and the like. It brings a whole other level of authenticity to your writing.

One thing I do is try to keep all my internet research bookmarks in one handy place. If you’re interested in the Regency Era, my Regency Primer Series and my Regency Resource page probably has a lot of articles you’d find interesting and may even have read before. I keep a lot

YOUR TURN: Where do you do your research for whatever interests you? Do you head to the library and check out the books, fire up your browser and go surfing, or do you go directly to the source?

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my group approaches their research, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney *
* Angeleque Ford * Kimberly Farris *

Building Character

This week my accountability group is blogging about how we flesh out/develop a fiction character for our stories. Last week’s post on our bookshelves and influential authors is also part of our How I Write series.

In order to answer the question about HOW, I think I need to share what character depth & complexity mean to me. I enjoy reading rich characters, ones who feel like real people, albeit a bit larger than life, but real. I think authors can make this happen through a variety of tools available to them. It bothers me when characters are flat or indistinguishable from one another, even and especially secondary characters. I read for the emotional journey and flat characters just don’t cut it for me as a reader, whatever the plot may be.

I was pondering how to pull this post together and find meaningful photos to use for it when I thought about my daughter’s interests in anime and cosplay (costume play or dressing up and getting into the character of your favorite roles). She’s been enthusiastically gathering materials to portray a number of different characters lately. Putting together a Halloween costume or working with big visual symbols of someone else’s character instead of coming up with your own is a bit easier, but you also employ the same essential steps. You start with the basics and then dress it up with all the bells and whistles until you’re happy with it.

The BASICS

Photo of my daughter when she first started putting together a cosplay outfit for this character. — The Basics: What Absolutely Defines Your Character

For me, the basics of any given character are those things that make them uniquely themselves. If you took any of those things away, they wouldn’t be the same person, right? At first, they may feel a bit two-dimensional and you’ll want to build on that, but you need a good base. I don’t tend to go in any particular order once I have the general idea of my character in mind. Go where your interest and whimsy take you.

GMC — I’ve never read Deb Dixon‘s Goals, Motivation, Conflict (GMC), but I’ve heard it recommended enough times that I probably should read it over at some point to get it from the source. But I do try to include some of the concepts when creating and then developing the characters for my stories. Characters have to have WANTS and NEEDS as well as CONFLICTS or at least some OBSTACLES to reach them. Otherwise, it’s not interesting or satisfying and I think these fall under the basics of what you need to write a story. Without them, well, it’s just gonna flop around on the page.

Establishing Connections — Michael Hauge recommends using at least 2 of the 5 following ways to establishing rapport between your main character and your audience:

1) likeability — a nice person
2) skill/expertise — they are good at something
3) sympathetic — the victim of some undeserved misfortune
4) funny — not always an appropriate choice, depending on your genre
5) jeopardy — they are in danger of loss of anything of vital importance

These ways are meant to be used at the beginning of your story with your protagonist, but I think they can also be useful to pull readers closer to any character, especially your supporting secondary cast who will have a lot of time on stage.

Strengths/Weaknesses — Knowing your character’s strengths and weaknesses are ways to make sure you’re taking them on a story arc that changes. Not all characters have to, but it’s often more interesting to me if either the hero, the heroine or both of them learn something and grow as people during the course of the story. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses also makes it easier to test your characters and place effective obstacles in their path.

At Least 5 Whys — This tool is most helpful in figuring out motivations for goals and so many other things. Never stop at the first answer you think of. One way to avoid writing clichés is to brainstorm and dig down deeper, don’t settle for the first thing that comes to mind. Let your inner toddler have free reign with this one!

Biggest Fear & how you will make them face it — this one is a bit more tied to plot development, but I think it’s important when you’re fleshing out the character. This may be part and parcel of the next item, but knowing it before you get too far along can be helpful in figuring out ways you can torture your protagonist that will actually move the plot along in ways that should engage your reader in that emotional roller coaster.
Finally, Jodi Henley‘s idea of a Core Event is another concept that I’ve come to view as essential to character development. She explains this much better on her blog and in her workshops, but it is essentially what happened to make this person who they are when you begin their story. It is NOT the inciting incident. It’s most likely backstory that colors their perceptions of the world and the people around them. It is what drives how they make decisions and react under stress.

BELLS & WHISTLES

Another photo of my daughter after she'd put the finer touches on her cosplay outfit for this character. — Bells & Whistles: What touches add depth, complexity & believability?

This is where the fun comes in. Also the depth, the complexity and the versimilitude. Oh, yeah. I used that big word. The sum of all these little details are what make the characters even more unique and memorable. I’m sure we all have friends who have “THAT” laugh. You know the one. Or that aunt or uncle who has always used that same tired greeting that makes you cringe since you were old enough to remember?

Tics, expressions, rituals, habits — These can be nervous or verbal tics. Pick a few from each category and ONLY use them for one character. Give them each their own voice and personality.

Friends, possessions & pets — Who was it who said we are defined by what and whom we surround ourselves? Definitely have friends and acquaintances make observations about your other characters, especially your main characters. Are they showing their true selves to the world or does the reader get a special perspective on them?

Some of these things may seem small and frivolous in comparison to the items you use when building your character’s identity, but little things we can easily picture in our heads are sticky. Think about Sherlock Holmes’ deerstalker and his pipe. And no one would ever mistake Wolverine with his claws out for Cyclops. Ok, those are swinging back into the world of comics, anime and cosplay, but it’s an easy visual example.

WHAT I DON’T USE

Character Sheets — You’ve seen the ones: star sign, height, weight, occupation, model of car driven, all full of useless trivia that probably won’t make a difference in how your character will react to the things you need them to. Oh, and I always read them with much amusement considering I write historical fiction. I don’t think I’d find them very useful even if I wrote contemporaries.

Stereotypes/Archetypes — Ok, I TRY not to use stereotypes and I was re-introduced to the notion of using archetypes again this summer, but I’m not sure that I’ll ever dig too deeply in that direction as something to build a foundation on. Some people may find them useful, but I also think the temptation to slide back into stereotype is too strong for me.

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my group develops their characters, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford *
* Emma G. Delaney * Kimberly Farris *

#WritersDuel

My friend Cassandra Curtis is hosting #WritersDuel – But because Twitter limits to 140 characters, the challenges are posted to twitter, but answered on FB or blogs, and shared through links on Twitter or other social media.

You can find the #WritersDuel Rules on Cass’ site.

I received the following Duel Challenge:

“Your heroine wakes up at bus station in robe & slippers. Include a scary looking stranger & an umbrella.”

This was a bit tricky for me as I write Regency set Historical Romance. There weren’t buses even stations, so I had to think of an equivalent since I didn’t want to get into time travel either. My heroine is a demirep — a kept woman, and she’s an adept player of Whist. So here’s how I imagined the challenge might have happened for her.

A draft woke Amanda with the thought that her bedchamber shouldn’t be this chilly.

It also shouldn’t be rumbling and shaking.

That realization brought her fully conscious enough to examine her surroundings. She was dressed in an inadequate silk dressing gown and a pair of slippers dangled loosely on her feet. The ribbons tied hastily and far too sloppily to have been her own handiwork. No wonder her limbs felt encased in ice.

“We’re on the mailcoach, hurtling up the North Road toward Scotland.” The strange gentleman turned to look out the window as the rocking of the coach slowed and pulled up before an inn.

They watched as the yard sprang to life, rushing to change the horses.

“To Scotland?” No one willingly traveled to there. Did they? Well, maybe if one wished to elope. But her marriage prospects had been lost long ago.

Confused, she looked up to find the imposing gentleman staring at her from between the brim of his hat and the scarf wound round his neck and lower face, making him impossible to identify. His gloved hands folded neatly over the carved, wooden handle of the umbrella planted firmly between his boots.

He didn’t directly answer her question, but said, “We should be there in a few hours. I thought you might want to freshen up, change into some respectable clothing and perhaps break your fast.”

Unsure of the man’s game, Amanda nodded. That he played long and deep was evident and a chill seeped deeper into her bones than the temperature alone could account for. Her memories of last night’s card game were sharp and specific. Brandy and champagne had flowed freely, but she never drank as much as her companions believed she did. It was one of her secrets weapons in her arsenal for winning at cards.

Jack Hartley and his brother had provided last night’s entertainment as they played a flawless game of Whist. Even she had to admit she admired the way the man played cards. Her protector had proven a sore loser and had tried to take out his frustrations on her, but she had slipped out of the club at nearly two o’clock in the morning and into her own bed, alone, shortly after.

“I should like that very much. I trust you have provided something suitable to wear?” A delicate sniff, was all she allowed to show of her displeasure.

“Of course. Your bag is beneath your seat.” The man clambered out of the coach and shrugged out of his great coat. “Unfortunately, we were unable to bring your cloak.”

Amanda accepted the coat and settled it around her shoulders, savoring the warmth of his body retained by the heavy material. She reached under the seat, found the bag and clutched it to her.

The driver called out that he would be leaving within a half hour, with or without them, before he ducked into the inn.

Without a trace of urgency, the gentleman leaned heavily on the handle of his umbrella and extended a hand to assist her. He obviously wasn’t going to tell her anything now, but perhaps in the next thirty minutes, she could pry some additional information from her mysterious companion.

So, what do you think?

If you’d like to become an active player in the #WritersDuel challenges, just search Twitter for the hashtag #WritersDuel and say hi and that you want to be added, and we’ll know you’re interested in playing. Just be prepared to be challenged! LOL.

Coming Up With Ideas

Image of a playing card from Hall & Sons, early 19th century. — The Jack of Hearts. Early 19th c. playing card from Hall & Sons. Notice the face card has a single head and centered eyes compared to modern cards. The backs also would have been plain white.

This week my accountability group is blogging about where we got the idea for our current WIP as a follow up to last week’s more general discussion of Inspiration.

Coming up with ideas is the easy part. Executing them is the part that gives me trouble. Generating ideas is something we can train ourselves to do easily. Identifying the good ones… now that’s the trick!

I’d say in general I start with characters and then brainstorm situations to put them into. Very rarely do I come up with an idea that begins as a conflict and needs characters to play it out. Sometimes they start with the title, but that’s usually most suggestive of the characters. I’ve been known to get ideas from song lyrics, obscure folk tales or playing games of “What if…?” with characters.

Beneath His Touch came about that way. From there I found the characters and explored their situations to find the conflict that would sustain the story and eventually drive them together instead of apart. Revealed or what I still call in my head OTS, short for On The Shelf, also started with a title. One that’s evolved for sure, but we’re talking about how these stories are sparked.

The newest story that I’m working on has a couple of working titles that float through my head. Jack of Hearts and Love, According to Hoyle are the two that get my brain clicking though. Combine those with the saying “Lucky at cards, unlucky at love.”, toss in a game of Whist, and add a dollop of workshop on character development using archetypes and you’ve got a juicy story spark with lots of possibilities.

And what do you know. I just had one of those ‘AHA!’ moments while writing this post. Just like a hand of whist, this story needs 13 chapters — one for each trick. This also just set off a bunch of other what if’s bouncing around in my head. Look out WIP, here I come!

Your Turn: What are you working on and what sparked your initial interest in it? It can be a story or any other creative project you might be working on, but I’m curious to hear about how other creative types work. So go add your thoughts in the comments section!

If you’d like to read about what the rest of my group is working on and where they got their ideas, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford *
* Emma G. Delaney * Kimberly Farris *

Excerpt Monday, Take 2!

Bria and Mel are at it again! I’m late to the party, but wanted to play along again. I’ll be back in a bit with more links to follow

I think this excerpt started life as a response to a challenge on Divas and never made it anywhere because I’d cheated in the challenge and used characters other than the ones Andi meant for me to use. I still liked it enough to keep it. The challenge was “Your 1800’s heroine loves a man she shouldn’t, a man her family she knows won’t approve. WHY does she love him? Show us.” So here’s part of Juliet’s story.

It’s still pretty rough and suffers from a bad case of the talking heads at the end, but I hope it does what I set out to answer above.

Continue reading “Excerpt Monday, Take 2!” →

Conflict Revisited

Doesn't the tension just crackle between them? — Doesn't the tension simply crackle between them?

Scriptwriters and directors have it easy compared to novelists. They ask for a charged look to pass between the characters and it happens (Ok, it may need a couple of takes to get the right one!). Audiences must infer from outward reactions between characters to know what they think and feel. We imagine, with a few helpful clues, why they behave the way they do.

The job of the novelist or short story writer is a bit tougher, since they can’t just just TELL you how a character feels but must SHOW you, and they have to use words, not images to do it. Novelists also have to sustain it for a much longer time since most movies condense down to short stories or novella length. (This is why the book is always better than the screen adaptation. 😉 There’s more time and space to get more details in there.)

One of the ideas I keep coming back to is how to go about building sustainable conflict that’s going to last long enough and still reach a satisfying resolution. Pile on some sexual tension! It’s necessary in a romance, but it’s not the most satisfying conflict to resolve for me as a reader. Maybe that’s because so many romance novels have that bit of tension resolved by page 138 or so.

I don’t feel like I’m much closer to figuring this out, but I haven’t given up on trying. I do feel as if my characters are becoming better suited for one another in the sense that they’re arguing more, have goals that appear to be mutually exclusive to them at first and they aren’t just along for the ride.

Now, I just have to go write them. BICHOK.

Irrevocable Commitment

"Do small things with great love." -- Mother Teresa

In Chapter 8 of Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, Donald Maass spends a lot of time on the idea of why we do what we do. Not just the big things, but the little ones too. He says it’s because we care. Without feeling like what we do matters, there’s no sense in getting out of bed in the morning.

So what happens when life presents us (or our characters) with a serious test? When faced by the ultimate stakes, we call up our deepest beliefs and convictions. Maass insists we find that point in our manuscript where the protagonist’s stakes hit home, a point of no return, and suggests writing out a paragraph to show the final unfolding of the character’s most primary motivation. Then, he asks us to imagine it as the opening paragraph.

He goes on to say it likely won’t work as an opening paragraph, but that you should be thinking in terms of that character’s irrevocable commitment from the start. What commitment has the character made that he just cannot turn away from that drives his actions and decisions and gives him the means to move forward? Why does he continue to get out of bed in the morning? Piling on heavy commitment and smothering your character with it at the beginning isn’t necessary, but giving them something to care passionately about at the beginning shouldn’t be overlooked. If it can connect to that emotionally charged moment later, even if it’s buried deep, all the better.

Maass claims this emotionally charged moment also has an opposite: a moment where of irresolution, aversion, justified selfishness or some similar reaction occurs. Identify that moment for your character. Find a place earlier in your manuscript, well before the moment of commitment, and place this juxtaposing bit there.

The idea behind this exercise isn’t necessarily to create usable paragraphs, but to enrich and deepen your characters actions with his inner commitment. If you have co-protagonists, make sure they both have strong commitments. Don’t leave out your antagonist too. Maass believes, all this conviction and emotional commitment from your characters will only increase that of your readers. It certainly can’t hurt.

Again, I think this is one of those things that makes sense on the surface, but is so much easier said than done and if done correctly, will really enrich your writing. As a reader, this is exactly the kind of thing I enjoy and appreciate when the author takes the time to work it in.

Can I do it myself? I don’t know. Thinking about Marcia and what makes her tick, I’m having a hard time with it, but I am seeing a common thread between her and Tabitha. I don’t think it’s THE thing in this instance, but it’s interesting nonetheless. I know the hero of this story needs a lot of work in this regard. I’m frustrated with his obstinate cardboard consistency.

Jodi’s got a great post about Internal Dialogue on her blog and I was teasing her about how many volumes would be in her book on craft of writing. In the comments section, she talks about wanting three sections for it. Groundwork, Technique and Layering. If you haven’t read her blog yet, go now. Great stuff there!

Anyway, my point here is I see this first section of Maass’ book as Groundwork. The stronger the foundation, the easier and strong everything else should be. It helps to know your characters inside and out to be able to tailor the plot to their particular idiosyncracies, fears, hopes, and dreams. Otherwise, the result can feel flat, formulaic and unsatisfying.

Personal Stakes

Gambling was a part of life in the Regency Era. Card games abounded: faro, whist, hazard. Fortunes were won and lost on a nightly basis in the clubs, gaming hells, and card rooms of London. But I don’t want to talk about those kinds of stakes today.

Moving forward again in Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass to chapter 7: Defining Personal Stakes.

This is digging in even deeper on the WHYs instead of just the WHATs that your protagonists are doing. Why does it matter in some profound and personal way? How does the plot shape, mold, twist, and otherwise reveal your protagonist and what do they stand to gain if they succeed in their goals or lose if they fail or just walk away?

In many ways, this is another digging down deep exercise. The question here isn’t WHY so much as “What would make their goal, need, desire, conflict, yearning matter even more?” Also, we’re supposed to be looking for inner motives more than outer motives here.

Maass asks us to exhaust our imaginations not once, not twice, but three times in coming up with ways to increase these personal stakes. He notes that when he teaches this in a workshop setting, the participants say the resulting lists look like plot complications. You want the character to be driven forward using as many of the possibilities you come up with. The more rocks you throw at your protagonist while (s)he’s up in that tree, the more interesting their journey should be.

I suspect this exercise is going to take some thinking and percolation since for the book I’m working on this area also seems to be rather weak or at least one sided. My heroine has some personal stakes she’s up against, but the hero remains a little lump of latent clay. And looking at some of the books I’ve really enjoyed lately, this is a make or break part of a book for me.

Reversing Motives

digging deeper And with this post, I’m diving back into Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass. I didn’t completely abandon it over the last week, but I haven’t had big chunks of time to work without distractions, so this exercise has taken longer than usual.

I think the title of this exercise is a little misleading. The main point of the exercise seems to be digging down through the characters and their motivations so that you don’t just stop at “the easy or obvious answer” but there’s no focus whatsoever on taking an opposite approach to the scene, just a different one. Maass has you take any scene with your protagonist and figure what their motivation is as written and what their objective for the scene is. Then, you brainstorm a list of ALL the possible reasons why they might want this objective. Once you’ve created a list, you take the last one and rewrite the scene with that reason in mind as their primary motivation.

Maybe I’ve done this one incorrectly and missed the original intent, but I played the Why Game. Maybe you just need to get a variety of UN-related reasons on your list, but since these characters are pretty defined in my head, the resulting ideas I came up with related to one another. Anything else didn’t seem appropriate. So, I started out with my hero and came up with the following:

Goal: Get heroine to open up to him during dinner — she’s shy and ignoring him and he takes it as a personal challenge.

Why?

He wants to prove he can be a good boy.

Why?

He’s annoyed his hostess sat him next to her to keep an eye on him.

Why?

He’s scared his hosts were serious about kicking him out of their household.

Why?

He’s tired of being considered just barely socially acceptable.

Yes, let your inner toddler free to explore and keep asking why as long as you can stand it. Personally, I hate when my kids (tweens now) decide to be silly and play that game, but it is useful here in writing. Too often the first idea to pop into your head is very simplistic or very obvious. The deeper you dig into the why’s of the piece, the more interesting, fresher and honest it can become.

So I’m off to finish rewriting this particular scene, picking one for my heroine and then doing at least 3 more for each of them. Fun, huh? You betcha.

Tag: Characters

A Primer on Regency Era Women’s Fashion

A Matter of Formality