Building Character

We all go through changes. I’m not the same person after some of my past military experiences. It’s been six years since my daughter Randie’s passing, and no doubt, this has impacted my life greatly. I miss our long, heart-to-heart talks about anything and everything. Noticeably, my writings have certainly changed over the past few years, and I would like to share with you some of my storytelling lessons. Hands down, one of the most important aspects of storytelling is character development. Were there any changes in your main character’s life? If so, how did these changes influenced your character’s outlook? In real life, none of us are the same as we were a few years ago. Your characters are no different. In telling your story be sure to show your character’s growth. And equally essential, make sure none of your characters sound the same. We each have our unique way of expressing ourselves. No two characters in your story should ever sound the same. As writers, we run the risk of confusing the reader if we don’t distinguish one character from the next. I wish you continued success in whatever you’re pursuing. Don’t ever give up and keep climbing that ladder! – Randolph Randy Camp More at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp

Author's Note: Let Your Characters Speak

Author's Note: When I started writing ’29 Dimes’ I almost quit because I had let my own inhibitions get in the way. Some of the characters I created in ’29 Dimes’ had a lot to say and they definitely weren’t too shy to make some noise. But the problem I ran into was that I let myself, as the writer, get in the way of the story. In the end, I got rid of my own inhibitions and let the characters speak freely so that they could tell their own story. - Randolph Randy Camp

Character Development: Vicki and Timmy

Whether you’re working on your next manuscript, or writing something for a school assignment, or simply writing something for your own pleasure, it’s imperative to show some type of growth within your characters. How are your characters different at the end of your story than from the beginning? Have there been any changes in your characters’ lives within the story? As in real life, we all go through changes, good and bad. These changes definitely have an impact on us. In my own personal life, there are some traumatic events that happened while I was in the Air Force that I still have trouble coping with. People going through life-changing events sometimes will have their whole thought patterns drastically rearranged. And this is the same for the characters we create for our stories. It’s vital that you, as the writer, show and tell your readers how your characters have changed due to certain events within your story. In creating the characters Vicki and Timmy for ‘Coreville Park’, it was a challenge for me to show both Vicki’s and Timmy’s reaction after Vicki had revealed to Timmy something so deeply personal, something in which she had never told anyone ever before. After this revelation halfway in the story, I challenged myself as a writer to come up with interesting scenes and interactions between Vicki and Timmy as the story unfolded towards the end. Making sure that your characters don’t all sound the same, and showing interesting character growth have been valuable lessons and tools for me. I hope that whatever writing project you maybe currently working on that these helpful reminders will benefit and make your story stronger. – Randolph Randy Camp Learn more at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp

Writers' Stuff: A Pinch of Salt

Along with never having your characters sound the same, I think that adding a little spice to your character is one of the best tools in creative writing because it makes your characters more realistic and it certainly adds flavor and depth to your story as well. In my novel ‘WET MATCHES’, the backstory of one of my adult characters named Jack was revealed as the plot unfolded. In the story, the reader connects a childhood incident in which Jack experiences in the 6th grade with his current, sometimes unpredictable behavior when he’s interacting with certain individuals.
Providing your readers with some insight into your characters’ childhood experiences or their backstory is a very valuable tool. Showing how your characters are different or may have grown from chapter one through chapter ten is another valuable tool in creative writing, and it’s clear evidence of your characters’ growth.
In real life, no two humans are the same and this should be the same in your stories. No two characters should sound or behave in the same manner. Revealing a character’s backstory is a great method of adding spice and seasoning to your character, which will only enhance and make your whole story more interesting and tasty to your readers.  – Randolph Randy Camp
More Writing Tips at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

First Person Tip

Writing in someone else’s voice is certainly not an easy task. When I wrote ’29 Dimes’, I wanted to make the reader feel as though he or she was walking or sitting right beside the main characters, making the readers feel as though they were physically there “in the room” with the characters. When you’re writing your narrative in the first person, or from the character’s point of view, you’re pulling the reader closer to the character without them realizing it. It’s a way of bringing the reader deeper into the story and into the main characters’ consciousness.

When I was writing the thoughts and dialogue for the characters in ’29 Dimes’, I had to totally clear my brain of my own upbringing and thoughts, and then I began to briefly reprogram my brain and body to think, eat, drink, walk, and talk like Valerie, Pepe, Kalib, Teki, Tip, Brittany, and Ronnie, the seven colorful characters in ’29 Dimes’. I absolutely believe that you, as a writer, have to mentally walk in your characters’ shoes to get a sense of who they are and where they came from, which will help to better explain why they are currently in whatever predicament or situation you had written them into. Walking in your character’s shoes leads to great dialogue and character development because you are assuring the reader that “this voice” is not yours.

Writing the ’29 Dimes’ characters in the first person was an exciting and fun experience for me. If you haven’t tried this writing technique before then I certainly encourage and recommend that you do so. Writing voices from the first person perspective is a creative way to draw your readers right into your character’s living room. Keep writing! – Randolph Randy Camp

More at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp

Another Dimension: Randy's Writing Tips

Writers are told and often reminded not to create one dimensional characters. In real life we all have different sides and layers. I’ve always loved music and I use songs and pop bands as helpful tools when I’m trying to give extra depth to my characters. If you’re an aspiring writer and you’re having trouble developing one of your characters then give this a shot: Try to figure out what type of music that particular character likes, which may lead to something interesting and surprisingly deeper about that character. For instance, your readers may discover, as your story unfolds, that the reason this particular character quietly cries every time she hears a gospel song is because the church music reminds her of her childhood before she became a professional escort.
Keep writing and don’t forget to add another dimension to your characters. – Randolph Randy Camp
More at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp

Writing Advice: Different Voices

The thing that I enjoy most when I’m invited for a  meet-the-author/ book talk event is when an aspiring writer asks for any writing tips. My number one advice for any writer is to make sure that your characters have different voices. No two people in real life sounds the same. As a writer, you must reflect this in your characters and in your stories.


For practice, try writing the same character dialogue (in a sentence or a question) three or four different ways, using the same basic words. Remember that your creative writing style will take shape as you develop your own unique use of commas, the apostrophe, and contraction words. And simultaneously, while practicing this particular exercise, you will become better at ensuring that your characters aren’t sounding the same. Hint: It’s important to note that the apostrophe takes place of a missing letter (or letters), especially when writing dialogue. Good luck with your current or next writing project. – Randolph Randy Camp


More at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp

A Pinch of Salt: Character Growth

One of the many joys I get from being an author is having discussions or answering questions from aspiring writers via email or during classroom book talk sessions. Due to my recent move from New York to Iowa, I haven’t had a chance to check my inbox as I normally would. After checking my (overflowing) mailbox yesterday, I thought that it might be best to write this post, as it may answer a wide variety of questions regarding character development, and simultaneously offer what I consider to be my greatest advice to aspiring writers of any age.
Along with never having your characters sound the same, I think that adding a little spice to your character is one of the best tools in creative writing because it makes your characters more realistic and it certainly adds flavor and depth to your story as well. In my novel ‘WET MATCHES’, the backstory of one of my adult characters named Jack was revealed as the plot unfolded. In the story, the reader connects a childhood incident in which Jack experiences in the 6th grade with his current, sometimes unpredictable behavior when he’s interacting with certain individuals.
Providing your readers with some insight into your characters’ childhood experiences or their backstory is a very valuable tool. Showing how your characters are different or may have grown from chapter one through chapter ten is another valuable tool in creative writing, and it’s clear evidence of your characters’ growth.
In real life, no two humans are the same and this should be the same in your stories. No two characters should sound or behave in the same manner. Revealing a character’s backstory is a great method of adding spice and seasoning to your character, which will only enhance and make your whole story more interesting and tasty to your readers.  – Randolph Randy Camp
More Writing Tips at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

Writing Voices

Writing in someone else’s voice is certainly not an easy task. When I wrote ’29 Dimes’, I wanted to make the reader feel as though he or she was walking or sitting right beside the main characters, making the readers feel as though they were physically there “in the room” with the characters. When you’re writing your narrative in the first person, or from the character’s point of view, you’re pulling the reader closer to the character without them realizing it. It’s a way of bringing the reader deeper into the story and into the main characters’ consciousness.
When I was writing the thoughts and dialogue for the characters in ’29 Dimes’, I had to totally clear my brain of my own upbringing and thoughts, and then I began to briefly reprogram my brain and body to think, eat, drink, walk, and talk like Valerie, Pepe, Kalib, Teki, Tip, Brittany, and Ronnie, the seven colorful characters in ’29 Dimes’. I absolutely believe that you, as a writer, have to mentally walk in your characters’ shoes to get a sense of who they are and where they came from, which will help to better explain why they are currently in whatever predicament or situation you had written them into. Walking in your character’s shoes leads to great dialogue and character development because you are assuring the reader that “this voice” is not yours.
Writing the ’29 Dimes’ characters in the first person was an exciting and fun experience for me. If you haven’t tried this writing technique before then I certainly encourage and recommend that you do so. Writing voices from the first person perspective is a creative way to draw your readers right into your character’s living room. – Randolph Randy Camp
More at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp