Relative–Creating Characters
The perils of writing about real life people is well known. You probably have a disclaimer about it in your book. Our lawsuit-happy society is an effective deterrent. The problem lies in how you create your characters.
What Not to Do
I am not a lawyer. Common sense dictates that you shouldn’t create things too realistically. You should change the names to protect the innocent. You shouldn’t draw too close to real life incidents. Of course, this doesn’t mean common scenarios are off limits, but you certainly need to explore those variations. It shouldn’t be obvious that you’re writing about your crazy neighbor and his equally nutty shih-tzu.
A Special Caution
You might think, what’s left? You may find that you needn’t look further than your own family. Now, if you want to start a war to rival any world conflict, just start using your insane Uncle Frank’s stories and see where it gets you. A tempting as it is, the same precaution applies.
I’m reminded of a scene in Woody Allen’s, “Hannah and Her Sisters
The point is well taken. You should use the same sensitivity with your family as you would acquaintances and friends. They may not sue you, but you may suffer a worse fate. Some things are meant to be kept within the family.
Relative–Stories in Your Past Writing Tip
If you’re looking for a subject to write about, look no further than your own family. There are plenty of ideas to stir up the creative juices. I found many looking into my family’s past.
I began genealogical research on my family because I felt unconnected to the past. Our grandmother lived with us most of our lives, but there was so much I didn’t know about her. She spoke English, but was more comfortable with her native Hungarian. My father and uncle conversed with her in it rather than English.
Grandma was a strong woman, very Catholic and very stubborn. She was also a proud woman. As I delved into my research, a more complex picture emerged. She came to America the second time in 1914. I have no details about the first time as of yet. It was months after the Titantic disaster. It was also just after the start of World War I. I can’t imagine the emotions of someone traveling alone under those circumstances. Here is the fodder for a true story of courage and adventure.
Researching European relatives adds a difficulty that other genealogy study does not–the language barrier. I found records dating back to the 1850s. I traced my family back, but the writing became more difficult to decipher. Pages were missing. It became frustrating as leads dried up simply because the records were ineligible.
I was able to put together a family tree, with a few surprises. I learned of another brother on my mother’s side who died mysteriously at the age of 19. I learned about a curious yet mysterious connection to Pennsylvania. I also learned that my strong grandma was born illegitimate.
That’s not an unusual thing for the time. There was a marriage tax, I’m told, that had to be paid prior to getting married. Some couldn’t afford it, yet took up housekeeping until they saved enough to get married. My maternal grandparents had a child, listed as illegitimate until it was corrected later as legitimate after they got married.
Every family has stories. Of course, I’m not encouraging war among your siblings with present-day stories. Rather, real life has some pretty amazing tales to tell. The best stories aren’t necessarily those of other families, but sometimes, right within your own.
Relative–One Up on My Nephew with the Transformer Prime
Perhaps you can relate. Competitiveness reigns supreme among my sisters. It’s more so for the three younger sisters since we are closer in age. The battles of our younger years are a distant memory, but sometimes rear themselves in subtler ways.
Last year for Christmas, my nephew received a tablet. My sister is trying to encourage him with computers. He enjoys them, so it’s a good approach given the state of technology now. I’m known as the geek in the family, science and otherwise. It drove me a bit nuts not to get in on this bit of technology, so I made the ASUS Transformer Prime TF201
I chose the amethyst color, being as I was born in February. It is more like a steel gray, cool and sleek. The hand feel is wonderful. It’s thin, but has a little heft to it. The screen resolution is what will blow you away. In a word, it is stunning. Movies, videos and yes, games, come to life on the screen. Yet, despite this, it has a decent battery life. I can watch an entire movie on Netflix and still have 80 percent battery.
There are a few nit-picky things with the design. The headphone jack is on the right side, which is a pain if a site or game requires portrait view. It puts a bit of strain on the stress point of the headphones. A little electrical tape will reinforce it. The speaker is located right where your hands will be if you hold it in landscape view. I must mention that the sound is great nevertheless. The last thing is the edges. It’s easy to hold, but the edges will dig in after a bit. A cover is an essential to have your hands.
The performance is reliable and fast. It hasn’t crashed or had any of the issues that have been mentioned in the other blogs. For that, I must commend the manufacturer. I’ve had my TP about a week and already have had two updates pushed to me.
For writing, it is just what you need. I’d definitely recommend getting the Thumb Keyboard
The TP has a generous 32 gig internal storage. There is a slot for a microSD, but you cannot load apps onto it. As one who has viewed my App2SD app as a lifesaver for my smartphone, this took some getting used to. You do however, get 8 gig of free lifetime storage on My Cloud, which can be a game changer.
Overall, the Transformer Prime is a solid, well-oiled machine. It serves my needs famously for writing and blogging. For fun, it takes gaming and movies to a new level of performance. If you’re in the market, certainly, give this one a look.
Relative: About My Sisters
My family is unique. My father lived his life without a son to play catch with. Instead, he had five daughters.
Each of us have our own special talent. I am the creative one. My oldest sister is the athlete. There is the homemaker, the business woman and the actress. I love our differences. Each of us brings unique things to family gatherings.
I don’t share a lot of my writing with my sisters. It is part of my sensitivity and natural competitive spirit. Another part is about a struggle many writers encounter, namely, not being taken seriously as a writer. I don’t have a traditional job–thank goodness. I share that part of my life with my husband instead. It is what it is.
We pride ourselves on the fact that we all get along. Everyone speaks to one another. There are no estrangements. Yet, as each of us is unique talent-wise, each of us has our own personal obstacle. It’s a fascinating thing for a writer to observe. It is essential for character development. No, none of my sisters appear in any of my writing. Are you serious?
The loss of our parents has brought us closer. I am grateful for their support. I can say with certainty that my sisters are my best friends.
Relative: Remembering Dad
I have many regrets about my relationship with my dad. Working two jobs deprived us of knowing my dad as a person. He led an interesting life that none of us quite understood.
My dad was a veteran of World War II. He joined the army late in 1945. He was in Germany at the time that the allied forces freed the Holocaust victims. He spoke little of his time in Europe. I can’t help but imagine what he may witnessed. I later did genealogical research and uncovered more of his past, including his Bronze Star.
I wish that I had talked more to him about his life. There were sore spots as everyone has. I wished I knew more of being a first-generation American. I wish that I asked more about the war, about my grandma, and about his colorful life.
If you are fortunate to still have your dad, take the time to talk. Record them so you can hear his voice when time has claimed your memories. Remember his wisdom when you struggle for an idea or need to recover from a rejection. Your dad always thought you were the best. He was right.
Relative: Remembering My Mom
I lost my mom suddenly five years ago. The pain is still fresh and will likely be so until the day I die. Moms have that kind of effect on you.
My mom spoke her mind. You probably have those memories too of your mom’s favorite phrases. I grew up saying “close the lights.” It was just one of the many of her momisms. There was her German shepherd pie and kooheely for Kahula. I can still hear her to this day warning about giving someone a piece of her mind. They broke the mold and threw away the plans when she passed.
I am grateful for the lessons she taught me. How else would I know that to turn the clocks back at 8 p.m. when daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. that night? She became more like a friend toward the end. I feel fortunate to have talked to her the day before she died. At least I was able to hear her tell me she loved me one last time.
An Important First to End the Month
Today marks an important first for my husband and me. Our second edition book, “101 Things to Do on the Wisconsin Great River Road” went on sale today.
This was truly a labor of love and lots of hard work. I wanted to share our story to encourage you. You can do write the book that lives inside you. You can edit it, format it and convert it to a usable form. You can create a cover and write copy. It begins with a goal and the drive to go forward.
For me, the method varied with the form. They are worlds apart. For e-books,
- Write it in a word processor.
- Convert it to a text file.
- Bring it into an HTML edition to pretty it up and add consist formatting
- Use Calibre E-Book Manager to do the conversion to .mobi for Amazon Kindle
For print editions,
- Write it in a word processor.
- Use a formatting template to add the right margins, headers/footers, etc.
- Choose your font and images. You can get creative in other ways that you may find limits with e-books.
- Convert it to a PDF
- Clean up the PDF with an editing software. I like Smart PDF Editor Pro.
- Publish with CreateSpace
to tap several markets at a very reasonable cost, with some nice returns.
Commitment to the finish line is imperative. Part of my ability to finish lies with the fact that I made peace with my lifestyle. I am a night owl. I tried to convert to an early riser. I decided to strike a deal. If I could be productive at night, I could continue to enjoy my night owl lifestyle. I worked nights while watching TV. Find your groove, and you will succeed.
Get the 101 Book Now!
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