Today on Write Better Fiction we’ll cover the First Time A Character Appears. Write Better Fiction is a process to help you critique your own manuscript and give yourself feedback. This will help you improve your novel, so you’re ready to submit it to an editor. Check the bottom of this post for links to previous Write Better Fiction articles.

In previous blogs, we’ve discussed listing the protagonist, antagonist, and all characters in a scene, but there’s more to keeping track of your characters.

I have a column to list the first time a character appears in a novel.

When I see this, I check the scene to evaluate if I’ve described the character clearly. Is there something in the description or action that will help the reader remember this character?

I don’t list unnamed characters unless they are important to the plot or story throughout the novel. I’ll explain.

• If your protagonist is in a bar and is served by a bartender, that’s there for setting, but not really for plot. The bartender doesn’t get listed in this column.
• If you’re writing a story where your protagonist is losing their mind and sees an unnamed character repeatedly, this is important to the plot and the character would get listed in this column.

I use this column to draw character arcs. I can see where characters enter the novel. You’ve probably guessed that I have a column to note when a character exits the novel.

This columns helps if I move scenes around. I don’t want end up having a scene with a character after they have already died. Although, in a paranormal novel, this may be okay. You as the writer have to decide.

I create a separate tab in my spreadsheet for character names. Every time I add a new character to this column, I add them to my character list. This helps me check for names that are too similar. Readers have a hard time distinguishing between Bob and Bill. They read the first letter, the eye skips the rest of the word, and unlucky for the writer, the reader is now confused. I try not to have any characters whose names start with the same letter. Sometimes this doesn’t work, but then I’m careful to make sure the reader is anchored when I refer to one of the characters.

Your challenge this week is to create a character arc with your characters. Check the scenes where a new character is introduced and see if you have described them well to your reader.

I critiqued DESCENT and BLAZE using the techniques I’m sharing in Write Better Fiction, and I believe this helped me sign with a publisher.

Please me know in the comments below if noting when your characters enter your novel is helpful to your writing process.

Thanks for reading…

Author, book reviewer, and blogger,  Robin Leigh Morgan joins us today to discuss changing genres. Robin is a member of the RWA [Romance Writers of America] and the SCBWI [Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators].

CHANGING GENRES by Robin Leigh Morgan

Some of us who have chosen to write fiction come from a variety of places. And by “a variety of places,” I’m not referring to a physical location; I’m referring to our writing experiences.

There are some of us who have enjoyed writing since we were children, and each year, by writing something in school, it improved. For some of us, it continued until we graduated college and began working. Some of us entered the work force taking jobs, which required us to write, whether it was procedures, handbooks/manuals, or news stories. But all of these are non-fiction, and each one has a set of “rules” that need to be followed to write something well enough to be acceptable.

As for myself, while my regular job did not require me to write, for eleven years I wrote articles [commentaries/viewpoints] of what was happening in my community and my feelings about it. When I started to write these items, my writing skills were not honed. I didn’t have my ideas organized in a tight manner, although my writing had been informative. By the time I’d written my last item, I’d become quite adept at it.

When I started to write fiction, I somehow drifted to writing a contemporary romance story with a paranormal element running through the storyline, but after almost 9 years I still hadn’t completed it. That is, until someone suggested I should try writing for a much younger audience, which is what I did; cumulating in my first YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance novel entitled I Kissed a Ghost.

Anyway, making the transition from non-fiction to fiction, I’ve had to learn a new set of rules on how to write. Most of these involved dialogue, showing not telling, where before I just told. I now had to learn about the use of tags. I had to learn not to be overly descriptive of something, but allow my reader to create the image for themselves in their minds. In the beginning I found it hard to break my old writing habits. Now I’m finding myself with these habits essentially gone. The biggest issue I still have and am trying to get a good handle on, is POV [Point of View]. Regardless of what’s happening or being said it has to be in one character’s perspective, and you can’t flip-flop between two characters within a scene. There needs to be a transition from one character to another.

All these things have helped me mold myself into the author I’m today. I’ve also learned there are additional rules within a genre, depending on the sub-genre you’ve decided to write in. These rules apply to the dialogue spoken, which needs to be true to the time period you’re writing in, as well as how your characters are dressed, and their titles, if any, as is the case with the regencies sub-genre of romance novels.

So as you can see, writing is not merely a string of words you put together. There are rules that need to be followed if you’re to be well received by your readers. And not wanting to pegged to only one genre I decided to expanded my reach.

For about two years, starting in January 2013, I wrote a Five Sentence Flash Fiction in response to the prompt word given by Lillie McFerrin her website: http://www.lilliemcferrin.com. And on December 2, 2014, I published my second book, “Micro Fiction – An Anthology,” which is a collection of 100 hundred of these flash fictions I’ve posted on my blogs and others which I responded to only in the book. In the editing process some of these items increased in the number of sentences they contain, and with the longest of these containing about 390 words. The collection contains various genres.

Here’s the link to check out my two books:

http://www.amazon.com/Robin-Leigh-Morgan/e/B00BWXT4VU

While I’ve had quite a lot of personal and family distractions this year, I’m still in the midst of several writing endeavors, which are currently on the back burner. I’m writing an adult Contemporary romance, with a working title of “His Darkest Secret.” The story has a paranormal element running through parts of the storyline. I’m also writing a YA Urban Fantasy entitled “The Secret of the Well,” which is a stand-alone sequel to “I Kissed a Ghost.”

Wanting to increase my knowledge of writing I decided to become a serious Book Reviewer at the end of August/beginning of September so I can be exposed to different genres and styles of writing with each genre. As of November 10, 2015, I’ve read/reviewed a total of 204 books on Amazon. I apparently have become quite good at writing reviews since my Amazon approval rating is fluctuating between 95% and my Amazon Reviewer Ranking as of this date is 5,870. And I can’t tell you how much more about writing I’ve already learned about writing simply by reading other authors. I also post my reviews on GoodReads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, and my two blog sites.

PLEASE NOTE: I DO NOT accept requests to do reviews, all the reviews I do I’ve either won through the countless giveaways I enter for books I’m interested in reading, or those I choose myself to read. If you looking for your next book to read, you’re invited

The best place to go to learn more about me, my writing and my links is to go to: http://www.about.me/rlmorgan51 If you would like to interview me or have me post this on your blog, please contact me through one of my links listed here,