Blog

Cares:
May is here and May is busy. Especially for teachers, who are in a mad-dash to squeeze in two months worth of teaching into twenty days, finish report cards (wait…did I say finish? I haven’t even started yet), get end-of-the-year projects wrapped up, and clean, organize, and pack up the classroom so we can be home free on the last day (all while managing a class full of hyperactive, spring-fevered children). I’m not one of those teachers who likes coming to school to tinker around in the summer. Summer is summer, which means NO school. With that said, I’m busy. Very, very busy. Especially since Brogan’s been sick, which means calling in a sub, which means even more work to make up. The logical thing to do is take a blogging break. I’m not always logical, but this time I’m going to be. No blogging for me until Friday, May 28th, during which I will hoot and holler because summer break will be here!

If anything awesome happens with my writing career between then and now, I will, of course, come back early to really hoot and holler, but let’s not hold our breath for that. I’m still waiting, and May 28th is only 3 weeks away, which is chump change in the publishing world. Hopefully no bad news comes between then and now, and if it does, I shall sulk in privacy and update you all accordingly on the 28th.

Concerns:
Busy. Very, very busy.

Celebrations:
I’m pumped to start plotting my new story. The characters are solid. Research is packed away in my brain. GMC charts filled out. Now it’s time to throw the story together. Plotting is always an exhilarating, magical, stomach-tingly time for me. I’m hoping to finish plotting and start the rough draft by June 1st. It’s an ambitious goal.

My students took MAP tests this week (Measures of Academic Progress). These are high-stakes tests taken on the computer. They take the test in the fall, and then again in the spring. See, I’m sort of anti-test. I hate standardized testing. I think they deflate children, but we’re forced to give them anyway. However, I love the MAP tests. They’re the coolest thing. They’re the opposite of standardized. They’re completely individualized. As you get problems right or wrong, the questions get easier or harder, until the test narrows down exactly where each student is as a reader and a math student. No two tests are the same. Then, when they take the tests again in the spring, it shows their growth from the beginning of the year until now. So instead of competing against their peers, they are competing against themselves. I had several of my struggling readers just BLOW this test out of the water. I mean, they did phenomenal. Just completely crushed their fall scores. The proud smiles on their faces were priceless. It’s like something clicked in their head and they finally believed what I’ve been telling them all year, “You are smart! You can do this!” Those smiles reminded me of why I teach.

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations today?

See you on the 28th!removetweetmeme

A couple Mondays ago, I asked the question: What makes a character likable?

I got a bunch of responses.

The most popular was vulnerability. A character can be hardened, or cynical, or even rude….so long as the writer gives us a glimpse of something soft, a glimpse of a relatable insecurity. I really resonated with what my friend Holly said:

…you see their awful, socially inept side. But then you get these quiet glimpses into the times when they are alone and you start to see a vulnerable side or something that begins to answer why they are the way they are. That seems to always draw me in and keep me in a state of conflict about how I feel about the character…and that’s what keeps me watching/reading and then thinking about it long after the story is done!

This leads us to the second most popular answer regarding character likability, which was motivation. A character can do pretty much anything and get away with it IF (and this is a huge if) the character has a strong, believable motivation driving his or her behavior.

Here is a list of other “likable” characteristics you came up with in the comment section:
– loyalty
– growth (as opposed to stagnation)
– self-recrimination (Erica Vetsch believes a little regret goes a long way)
– bravery
– gumption
– resilience
– passion
– tenderness toward animals/children
– empathetic
– compassionate
– integrity
– redeemable
– quirky
– stubborn (interesting, since this isn’t actually a positive characteristic)

A couple people commented that liking a character isn’t so much about the character having likable qualities as it is about the character being real and complex. Rebecca doesn’t want her characters predictable. She likes nuanced characters with complicated motivations, because that’s real. Elana Johnson likes real, complex, emotional characters with strong opinions and reasons for these opinions.

The comment I found the most interesting was from Jason Black, who said:

I’m not sure you actually do need likability. It is perfectly possible to create completely compelling characters who are utter bastards. Here’s an analysis of one such character, Dr. House, from the tv show “House.”

He then gave a link to a blog post about exactly this type of character. You can check it out here.

My opinion?

I suppose I’m more concerned about writing memorable characters, than I am about creating likable ones. I’m sort of like my friend Holly. I like to be in conflict about characters. Sometimes I like them. Other times I don’t. But somehow, the writer has me rooting for them regardless. Like Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler. Scarlett is the epitome of selfish and Rhett’s a swine if ever there was one. But man, did I root for those two in Gone with the Wind. And man, did I remember them long after I finished the book. Or Julia in the Mark of the Lion series. Francine Rivers had me simultaneously loving and despising Julia Valerian. She was a character I couldn’t get out of my head.

So maybe the question shouldn’t be what makes a character likable. Maybe it should be: What makes a character memorable?

Questions to Ponder: So what about you? What makes a character memorable? Which fictitious character has stuck with you the longest and why? Is it necessary for you to like a character in order to root for them or keep reading about them?

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