Selected Articles from Cross & Quill

Andrea Boeshaar and her husband, Daniel have been married for over 25 years. They have three sons. Andrea has written stories and poems since she was little, but not until 1984 did she submit work for publication. Eight years later she began writing exclusively for the Christian market. God has blessed her decision to write novels, articles, and devotions that honor Him. Andrea has had more than a dozen novels and an half-dozen novellas. She has a full-length women's fiction series in the works. Her publisher is Barbour Publishing. Andrea has written devotionals and articles for several writers publications. For three years she served as "MarketLines" editor for Cross & Quill. She is now the "Special Projects" editor. Web: http://www.andreaboeshaar.com. This article was in the September/ October, 2000 issue of Cross & Quill.

INTERVIEWS: Liz Curtis Higgs and Pamela K. Tracy

Andrea Boeshaar, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Liz Curtis Higgs on Characterization

"The goal with Bookends was, as the name implies, to create two characters who were as different as possible, looking at life in totally different ways, the opposite ends of the same bookshelf. Their core values and backgrounds were, in many ways, much the same—both grew up in small towns, both have their doctorates (although we won't know that right off) and both are Christians. Creating their characters, then, was a two-step process. Using the Myers-Briggs-Type Indicator, a method of categorizing various personalities, I wrote out four pages of personality characteristics for Emilie first: She is private, territorial, sensible, practical, idea-driven, a perfectionist. She follows the rules, hides her feelings, she likes structure, she keeps a detailed calendar, she's serious, a neatnick, drinks a particular tea, drives a tidy old car....you get the idea.

"Once I came up with Emilie's list, I began making a list for Jonas, my hero. I simply took Emilie's traits and pushed them in the opposite direction. That is, she likes antiques, he likes everything new and shiny; she thinks before she speaks, he thinks after he speaks (sometimes). She's the indoor type, he's the outdoor type. She hates animals, he loves animals (and gives her 4 or 5 of them before the book is over). Not only does this method allow you to create very different characters, it writes your plot for you. Conflict comes from putting two people together with different goals, yes? When you have two opposite characters, that conflict is a guarantee!

"It is the characters my readers comment about most, so I owe it to them to invest lots of prep time on getting to know my fictional characters and understanding what makes them tick. There's only one drawback: when I reach the last scene of the book, my writing slows down to a crawl because I don't want to say goodbye to these dear friends!"

Visit Liz's website at: www.lizcurtishiggs.com

Pamela K. Tracy on Description

Pamela Kaye Tracy, author of Letters to Timothy, stresses that description is: "painting a vivid picture with words. Below you see how a 'too busy' scenario creates different pictures, but a 'too vague' scenario commits the same bland mental image."

"He grabbed the lady's purse and ran, shoving his way through the crowd. I watched him snake toward the alley and wanted to chase him, but then he was gone. The cops were there within moments. "Ma'am," one asked. "Did you see what he looked like?"

"Yes," I said. "He was tall and wore a brown . . ."

"No," said my boyfriend who stood next to me. His mouth was turned down in disbelief. "That man was short, about 5'3", and he wore a blue . . ."

"Description takes the reader out of the easy chair and puts them into the story. Sensory details bring your hero and heroine to life. The main goal of the writer is to choose sensory details that are appealing. We all know the staple five: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Truthfully, a master author goes beyond that. Sensory details are dominant impressions that separate your heroine or hero from the last fifty heroines and heroes that the typical romance readers has recently read. For example, if you're working on the sensory detail sound, turn that sound into a character trait also. One of my heroines wears jangle bracelets. They move up and down her graceful wrist and arm, and they make noise. Even when the heroine is not with the hero, if he hears the sound jewelry clanking together, he thinks of the heroine. Voila!! I've made sure that my heroine may be out of sight, but never out of mind! I did that with a simple description.

"Figurative language is also a mainstay for effective description. Comparing something everyday with something magical really draws the reader in. We've all heard bells ring, but in It's a Wonderful Life we find out that when they ring, an angel receives his wings. The word 'clanking' is not a positive sounding word for jewelry, but description can leave a lasting impression in the reader's mind.

"Last, make sure to balance the amount of narration and description. Narrative is necessary to advance the story, but description illustrates. As the proverb goes, "One picture is worth a thousand words." Well, since we're enthralled with the written word, our pictures are keyboard strokes of imagination."

Visit Pamela's website at: www.getset.com/hsal

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