Category: Katie Ganshert

3 C’s – It’s Friday!

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Cares:
God is teaching me two things: time is not my own and I can’t do diddly squat without Him. It’s HIS time and HIS strength. Not mine.

Has anybody heard of Austin Gutwein? He’s this amazing young man who started a foundation called Hoops for Hope four years ago when he was eleven. Since then, he’s raised over a million dollars and has built a medical clinic in Zambia. Every year I tell my 5th graders about Austin and encourage my kiddos to get out there and make a difference. Thomas Nelson is coming out with a book about Austin’s story called Take Your Best Shot. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Want to learn more about my black lab, Bubba? I did an interview at Coffee with Canines.

Concerns:
Overwhelmed by my new routine. So much less time and energy. Sort of in a rut. Exhausted. All that jazz….

I have the best intentions every morning. I spend my quiet time with God. I’m filled with peace and joy and patience. I am bound and determined to be a blessing to my hubby and uplift and encourage my friends and coworkers. But then I close my Bible, I set down my pen, I start my day and all my good intentions go out the window. I’m short with my husband. I’m selfish with my time. I’m negative at work…. Dwight Swains said, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” How true is that?

Ever experience credit card fraud? I did this week. My credit card got denied at a gas station. I called to find out what was up. Found out they suspended the account because of suspicious activity. Somebody racked up big-time bucks making insane charges through UPS. Thankfully, this particular credit card company covers 100% of fraud.

Celebrations:
I have this spunky little girl in my class who loves writing.

Brogan’s laugh is instant happiness. No matter how rotten a mood I’m in, his laugh makes my soul smile. I wish I could bottle it and take it with me.

Brogan’s not waking up at 4 AM anymore. He’s sleeping until 6:30. That’s a HUGE celebration! And his nose is no longer a faucet.

It’s Friday!

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations on this quiet Friday morning?removetweetmeme

Character Tags

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

What is a tag?
It’s a label you slap on your character to make him/her identifiable to your reader.

Tag Categories:
1. Appearance
2. Speech
3. Mannerisms
4. Attitude

Appearance: A tall, broad shouldered man leaves a much different impression than a frail, hunched-over man. Well-dressed vs. sloppy. Manicured fingernails vs. callused palms. Appearance says a lot about your character.

Speech: Does he have an accent? Does she talk fast, without taking any breaths? Does he stutter? Does she use verbose vocabulary or does she stick with monosyllables? How a person talks says a lot about his or her background, level of education, career, and social status. Pay careful attention to the speech tags you give your characters.

Mannerisms: nail-biter, hair twirler, fidgeter, lip licker, eye-batter…the list could go on and on. Be careful to avoid cliche mannerisms. Get creative here. My favorite is by Jill Kemerer, who has this awesome post about a character who picks the same scab on her arm over and over again.

Attitude: AKA Traits. punctual, bitter, energetic, flirtatious, competitive….

The purpose of tags:
1. To distinguish one character from another
2. To characterize

If a woman is flirtatious, show it via tags. Does she bat her eyes at men? Bite her lower lip in order to draw attention to its fullness? Does she touch men on the shoulder or forearm when it’s not necessary? If a man is high-strung, does he pace? Does he mess up his hair when he’s stressed? Is he a chain-smoker who holds his cigarettes with trembling fingers?

That’s basically it about tags. Thus ends my series from Dwight Swain’s book, Techniques of the Selling Writer. Sad, right? I hope they were helpful! I highly recommend the book. It’s wordy, for sure. But chalk-full of insightful information.

Question to Ponder: What tags do you give your characters?removetweetmeme

Using a Gimmick

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I thought this was pretty clever advice from Dwight Swain. The gimmick. To fully understand this post, you’re going to want to read last Wednesday’s post about writing the perfect ending.

What is a gimmick?
It’s a tool you can use to make your character’s choice believable. How will you make your reader believe that your character would really choose principle over personal gain? Enter gimmick.

The gimmick can be anything. A smell. An object. A food. A saying. Music. Anything. As long as it evokes a strong emotional reaction from your character and the emotion is linked to the principle at stake.

For example:
Billy’s father raised him to protect the innocent. Growing up, Billy’s father modeled this principle day in and day out. When Billy turned twelve, his father got cancer and died. Before he died, he gave Billy a medallion he earned while serving in the military. This medallion is the gimmick. Whenever Billy sees it, it reminds him of his father (emotional) and what his father stood for (principle: protect the innocent).

To make the gimmick work, you need to introduce it in the beginning of your story and come back to it at least a couple times throughout the novel. Too little, and the reader won’t understand why the gimmick matters at the end. Too much, and your reader will start rolling his eyes.

During the critical moment, when your character faces the choice between the easy way (personal gain) and the difficult way (principle) and he’s leaning toward the easy way, you bring in the gimmick. Character reacts emotionally and chooses principle. And the reader believes every minute of it.

Example continued:
Billy is in the middle of a bloody civil war in Uganda. Throughout the whole novel, Billy’s goal has been to escape to safety. The climax comes. Billy has the perfect opportunity to escape. It’s sitting right in front of him, ready to grab. But if he leaves, he’ll leave an orphaned boy unprotected. Billy’s so close to his goal. All he has to do is get on the helicopter. Shots ring out. Chaos is everywhere. The helicopter pilot is yelling, “Get on! Or we’re going to die.” Orphan boy is far away, but visible, caught in the midst of the chaos. Billy throws his bag into the helicopter, ready to get inside, but the strap catches on the chain around his neck, and the medallion his father gave him rips off and falls to the ground. He sees it. And he’s reminded of everything his father stood for. He reacts emotionally. He chooses to risk his life to save the orphan boy.

Questions to Ponder: Have you used a gimmick before? Have you read a story where the author uses the gimmick? Do you like this idea?

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