Jan is Jan Fields, moderator of this interview/workshop with Alma Fullerton, and Web Editor of the ICL Web Site. Green shows names or usernames of people and the questions they asked Alma.

Jan: WELCOME to GUEST SPEAKER CHAT with Alma Fullerton. I'm your host, moderator, and resident pontificator -- Jan Fields. I'm looking forward to learning a lot about creating compelling characters from our guest tonight. Welcome Alma and thanks for joining us tonight!

Alma: Thanks for having me!

Jan: Did you have a good writing day, Alma -- what are you working on these days?

Alma: Actually I worked today so not much writing. I'm working on several things. A chapter book series and two YA novels.

Jan: Oh, cool, is the chapter book series your first thing for younger readers?

Alma: Yes, the contract should be in my agents office this week or next

Jan: So, tonight we're going to start with some tips, right?

Alma: Right, we're here to talk about characters so whether you’re writing a picture book, novel, or short story one of the most important things you need to have is a believable character. Sometimes a really good plot can do that can pull a reader into the story, but if your character isn’t believable your reader isn’t going to keep reading. If they do, they won’t care what happens. The reader needs to relate in some way to the character they’re reading about to care.

Alma: Make your character FEEL and make the reader feel with them. Make your characters well rounded – 3 dimensional. If you have kids the same ages of your characters – watch them. They’re well rounded people. Even if they have a problem they do other things as well. Life continues on around them – whether they believe that or not. Give your characters emotions that are also 3 dimensional. Avoid clichés when trying to show emotion. When description is overused it doesn’t convey what the writer is trying to get across.

Alma: Important -Don’t make your characters puppets. Just because your plot outline says they have to do a certain thing at a certain time if your character wouldn’t normally do that you can’t make them. Think about it this way – if you ask your teen to clean their room as they’re on their way out the door to hang with friends they probably wouldn’t listen right? They’d probably say, ‘I’ll do it when I come back.’ And then go bum around the mall with their friends. Well if you tell a character that is afraid of heights to jump out of a plane for fun because the plot says they need to, they probably shouldn’t be listening either.

Alma: Next point – dialogue. Keep it as even as possible whether internal or external don’t have your character start using words they’d never know. Listen to children speak. They don’t use correct grammar – not many adults use correct grammar. Don’t have them use it unless they’re some kind of grammar expert. If your setting is somewhere where they have a certain slang you had best use that slang. Know your characters more than you know you children.

Alma: Somewhat yes. I don't try to use all their aspects but I do take different points from different people.

Jan: Do you ever use any of the "character building exercises" we see -- interview your character, and stuff like that?

Alma: All the time. As well as role playing. I will listen to the music my character listens to too. I don't interview my characters though I prefer to sort of become them - but not leave myself behind.

Alma: I think before you really can show your character’s personality to others you have to know him more than anyone else. More than your spouse, child, even in some cases yourself. You need to know what happened to them before the story started. For instance, in IN THE GARAGE I had to show why my female mc BJ acted the way she did and the best way to show that was through a flashback scene where her mother abandons her in a parked car. I knew her mother abandoned her before I wrote the book but to really understand her, the reader needed to know what happened as well. Sometimes flashbacks aren’t necessary and you can use current relationships and situations to show your character’s personality and motives. Sometimes with thoughts, actions or reactions to certain situations. But whatever the experiences, they have to relate directly to the story and move it forward.

Alma: Emotion also shows personality. Make sure you show emotions. If fiction they have to be three dimensional and more pronounced than in real-life. Motives – just follow your character’s lead. You know what he wants.

Alma: That depends on whether your child can read :) guestspeaker and which traites you're using. Or will their friends ask - Is that you?

Alma: Character charts – know every aspect of your character even if you never use those things in your books. You have to know more about the character than you do about your best friends from who they were named after (why) to their most annoying habits. Put yourself fully in their shoes. Role-play – find a quiet place and become your character. Listen to the type of music they listen to. Eat the food they may have to eat. Experience things from their eyes. (***NOTE - if your character is an axe murderer I don’t suggest you go on a killing spree – keep things legal).

Alma: Interview them. Sometimes to know your characters you really have to dig deep inside yourself - if that makes sense.

Alma: Not really. I have three brothers as well as three sisters and I mostly hung around boys growing up. I am a people watcher (not in a stalking-peeping-tom sort of way). I take in their actions and reactions – inwardly and outwardly. I watch the way they move, listen to the way they talk. You’d be surprised what you learn if you take the time to stop really pay attention to people. Younger children are pretty much open books because most of them haven’t learned to hide inside themselves yet.

Alma: A character chart is a bunch of questions. Things like color of hair, annoying habits, where did their names come from, what is there biggest fear?

Alma: You can usually find character charts online if you google them.

Jan: Here are a few links to charts to get you started:
http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html
http://www.simegen.com/romance/charchart.html
http://www.markpeterhughes.com/SCBWICharWorkshop.html

Alma: Probably as much as I put into naming my own children - except now my hubby doesn't have a say. I try to make the name match the character though and have sometimes changed it.

Jan: Do you ever look for photos of your characters -- like in magazines and such? I know some folks do that.

Alma: Yes, I really think that helps. In one of my novels I was supposed to kill off the brother - according to the plot however I had a picture of him and couldn't do it. His character didn't want to die, so he didn't.

Alma: I try to become the character too however I do leave the character behind when I stop writing.

Jan: Do you find you get emotionally involved in the tough moments of the story?

Alma: If you can't cry with your characters even when you know what's coming your reader won't cry with them either. I still cry when I read a certain scene from In the Garage. I don't read that scene at school visits.

Alma: I don't decide who to write for. Usually I let my characters decide. The character comes first. I let them lead me through the story then almost always just hold on and hope I don't fall off.

Alma: Err… umm… did you have a webcam hidden in my house yesterday while my dog was searching for marshmallows to roast over the fire on my stove? Honestly, yes I do forget about other things while I’m at home alone writing. The key word is ALONE. Sometimes it takes me an hour of rereading what I’ve written before I get back into a character’s head. I’m interrupted by my children or husband I’m brought right back to this world and have to start over. That gets extremely frustrating when I’m on a deadline. How do I not forget while doing other things like day jobs, driving kids around ect – carry note pads and pens or sometimes I text message myself if I have nothing but my phone.

Alma: I think kids these days grow up too fast… The age of my characters kind of sets itself by the actions of my character and the story. I don’t know if I even have an actual age for most of my characters in my books. I have an idea but I don’t state it. If there’s an age, it was set by an editor or critic on the cover or something. Write the book. Let the character do what he needs to do to get you to the end. If you need a specific age you can set it later. For YA, though, it’s best to have an older character. Some believe children don’t like to read books about children younger than themselves.

Alma: Very carefully. I work full time outside the home as well, but try to take time to spend with my children. Time management is very important. I'm very lucky to have a husband that cooks better than I do and is willing to do laundry and other things.

Alma: I work retail. I like having something I really don't have to think about so I can think write. It doesn't pay much but it pays some of the bills.

Alma: I write usually between 8pm until 12ish but some of those hours are spent doing promotional things. I also try to write some on my days off if it falls on a school day. So it varies. Some weeks I don't get much of anything done and some weeks a lot.

Alma: If you’re talking magazine articles I was first published in 1999 soon after I started submitting. If you’re talking about books – I sold Walking on Glass to HarperCollins in 2004 by way of a query. Before the offer came, I acquired my agent – actually the offer came the same day as I signed with her. The book didn’t come out until 2007. In March 2006 I signed the contract for In the Garage and that book came out Nov 2006 – quite the whirlwind of contract – revision – release date for that one.

Alma: No, at least I try not to. I'm pretty easy going when it comes to edits. However I may fight for a character trait. I also have a very good critique group.

Alma: I think music helps me a lot. I love music. I listen to it when I write and it will bring me back to the character or the character back to me. If I'm still having problems it helps to reread from the beginning. Usually if you're blocked there's a reason. There's either a piece of the puzzle missing or the last scene you wrote doesn't fall correctly to land to the next. It doesn't move the story; you have to make that scene move. Sometimes too fear can block your muse - fear to fail, succeed - whatever.

Jan: Okay, I'm going to hog the speaker for a minute -- tell me, how much do you use "trendy" slang with your dialogue? Do you think it helps with characterization or threatens to date a book?

Alma: I think Catcher and the Rye has trendy slang from that time but people are still reading it. If you're using any slang, make sure it's slang your character would use to begin with.

Jan: Now I know poetry has played a bit part in your first two novels -- is that true of the ones you're working on now? What made you go toward poetry?

Alma: For the books I'm working on -- My chapter books are prose. One of my YA novels is prose, one is Verse. I have two more verse novels with editors. I think when the story demands verse, it comes out that way. It's not a choice I've ever consciously made. They wouldn't work in any other form. I've tried to change them but it didn't flow.

Alma: In the Garage is both Prose and Verse. One character is prose the other verse. Walking on Glass is all verse.

Alma: The only character I have ever really described is BJ in In the Garage. I normally write in first person. I don't believe in looking in the mirror for characters so unless someone else mentions it it doesn't get said. BJ, though, was different because her looks were important to the story. The reader had to know. You do need to slide little descriptions in but don't do it in a major dump.

Alma: I don't always write them out but I do have their complete histories in my head. Some people need to write them out. I need to remember them. I need everything engraved sort of in my head and that way I know my characters. I do this before I write the first sentence.

Alma: It depends on the character. I dreamed BJ. Alex was based on my friend when I was younger. Darwin (the character in Walking on Glass who doesn't really have a name) I heard his voice first. Well not 'heard' I don't actually hear voices. I get a picture in my head of who they are. Sometimes I see a teen or child at the store and know that is the kid I was looking for. so I guess it's mostly an idea of what he looks like.

Alma: My characters handle their own conflicts; I develop them well enough before I write that they lead.

Alma: Watch people. Not Stalk them. but watch them. Take in everything. their movements, speech patterns, expressions everything. Sometimes I will say something to someone - not in a nasty way but in an unexpected way - just to see their reaction. Study people.

Jan: Who are some writers that you think do a particularly great job with characterization? -- It's always fun to read a master

Alma: Kit Pearson. ER Frank, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green. There are more but those are off the top of my head.

Alma: Sometimes but not too trendy - timeless is better. Master the voice of your character and then any trendy stuff will either fit or not fit.

Alma: I didn't start the group. I joined the group. There are posts sometimes on verla kay's messege boards for critique groups -- http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php -- if there's not a post to join one, you can post that you want to start one. But make sure you try to get into a group where they write the same sort of things as you do.

Jan: So, what are you reading -- do you have time to read with all you do?

Alma: I just finished A crooked kind of Perfect by Linda Urban. Loved it. Also just read Crank, Bras and Broomsticks, Project Fashion, TattooSo totally Emily Ebers, Out of focus, City of Bones - among others. I think to write character well you have to read a lot. But you don't want to imitate other people's voices; you have to have your own to make it work well.

Jan: So, you said your first sales were to magazines...just out of curiosity -- what did you write and for whom?

Alma: There were a couple of online magazines - not sure they exist anymore and then I sold articles to the CWIM. I'll have one in the 2009 CWIM on agents.

Jan: Cool - congratz

Alma: Mostly writing articles. but also poems, and short stories

Jan: How big of a cast of characters do you normally work with, do you keep it fairly small or end up with a zillion people to keep up with?

Alma: It depends on how many books I'm writing at once. The book I'm working on now has a lot of characters but only one POV. The other characters have to be well developed though so I do charts for everyone. I've even done a plot structure for all of them because they have separate stories that all run together using the mc as a tie.

Jan: Do you ever scrap a character in the revision process or while you're writing -- ever find the person just isn't working?

Alma: I've often killed off characters. Even ones who worked well but didn't fit into the plot of things or slowed things down.

Alma: I like to do a dramatic structure for my stories. Freytag pyramid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure. Where you start with the exposition, then rising action, climax, falling action, Denouement or catastrophe resolution. I think it's important to have some kind of structure - though I don't necessarily follow that structure I've laid out. To be honest ... my characters usually say NO, and I end up drawing up a new thing in my head. But whatever you do, you just have to let one scene lead to the next. Like dominoes.

Alma: I never used to outline, but now that I have several things on the go I'm finding I have to. Chapter by chapter works well for me - or has - as long as I keep letting the characters lead and allow myself to change things to suit them. Otherwise you end up with puppets and children and teens see right through puppets. Make those characters believable and let them tell you where they want to go.

Alma: It could be. Or it could be you don't know your plot well enough. Every action leads to a reaction. Actions lead to conflicts. Give your characters true emotions; their emotions have to be more pronounced that real life. Real life is boring at times.

Jan: How much time do you spend in the revision process, once you finish your novel?

Alma: Editorial revisions or clean up the puke on paper revisions? Clean up the puke are usually longer than editorial. By the time I took away daytime job hours, family hours, sleep hours, I had about three days to do the editorial revisions on In the Garage. I was very lucky there weren't many Walking on Glass editorial revisions were fairly easy as well and didn't take long. I've been working on 'clean up the puke on paper revisions' for my wip for about a year. There was a lot of puke on paper.

Alma: You avoid cliches. You show not tell. Actually a great book for character emotion is called Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood - fantastic. If you really want to learn about emotions that's the book.

Alma: I took college courses for writing articles. Nothing for writing for children. But when I had to write a short story for a course, the instructor said, 'Oh this is a children's story?' And I wrote it for adults but there was a child in it and somehow I guess the pov was from the child. so that was my first children's story.

Jan: So, what kinds of things have helped you the most in learning to write for young people?

Alma: Spending a lot of time with children. I guess I'm really a big kid too because I love to get silly with my daughters. I was a daycare worker for a long time as well.

Jan: Is there any area of writing where you look at it and think, I'd never write that -- like picture books? Nonfiction books?

Alma: I've written picture book. I actually love writing picture books and maybe if I didn't have so many novels being submitted we might actually submit one of those books. Nonfiction I find hard. Not so much an article but an entire book. I know people who write them really well. I don't think it's my forte so I'll leave them to those people. I don't want to write an adult book.

Alma: I prefer not to. But I got two yesterday - on the same story. And I was fine with them. because they were for valid reasons and the editors said why and now I know what I have to change. It wasn't a matter of my writing just that there was another series out there similar. But I also got a contract yesterday and another coming so even though rejections come - good things come too. And that's the way I like to look at it, you have to take the good with the bad.

Jan: So, now a related question...how do you handle reviews? Have they been consistently good? Or are there any that ouched a bit?

Alma: Reviews have been good. Even Kirkus was good for Kirkus though I haven't had many for In the Garage, the ones I've had were excellent. There was only one that ouched for Walking on Glass and even then it was good too. But mostly reviews are one person's opinions. Children don't pick up a book because it got a good or bad review; they pick up a book by word of mouth, not official reviews.

Alma: Mostly I think my agent doesn't but sometimes she does. I have several manuscripts with her so we haven't really had to sim sub them. My editor does have two of my manuscripts though but because she asked for them both

Alma: No. Not at this moment. I hope to someday though.

Alma: I was looking for an agent, yes. The house that actually took on Walking on Glass is an agented-only house though. I think, agents are important but not necessary all the time. I love my agent but I also loved submitting. I just feel its better to let someone else handle contracts so you can concentrate on writing. Your editor/author relationship should be about the book not the contract. Sometimes negotiations get in the way and cause hard feelings. I knew my agent long before I subbed to her and the book was taken to acquisitions by two different houses. I did not want to handle that so brought her in. I don't mean to say that I submit now and my agent just handles the contracts, I meant that some authors need agents, some don't. It depends entirely on your personality.

Jan: Okay, we're running down on time...is there anything else you wish folks had asked? Any extra wisdomy goodness to impart?

Alma: Most off when you’re writing know your characters enough that even though you know what’s coming, you laugh with them, cry with them, become angry with them and cheer for them. If you can’t feel what your characters are feeling how can you expect your readers to?

Jan: Thank you so much for this ... I really got some new perspective here on characters.

Alma: I'm glad. There's so much more to cover than in two hours though but as long as you all got the basics.

Jan: You gave us all a lot to think about. And thanks so much to our audience for coming out and asking questions. Chat is no fun without questions!