Extra - An Interesting Writing Prompt

I enjoy learning, mostly about history and science and after retiring, returned to school to add a B.S. in Natural Science to a list of other degrees and certificates. However, learning does not stop at the ivy arch so the Internet just keeps me stoked because of articles like this which appeared in the recent Discovery magazine's eFile. (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/06/21/a-beautiful-web-of-poison-extends-a-new-strand/#.VJBrr133yPR)

During the first part of November a wanna-be writer said he wasn't participating in the annual National Writing challenge because he couldn't think of anything to write about. One look at this story and how many different stories pop out in different genres? You better believe this little gem is going to appear in my writing sometime in the near future in at least one short story and woven into a novel.

A Beautiful Web of Poison Extends A New Strand

By Carl Zimmer 

June 21, 2011 12:51 pm I just got back yesterday from the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution. It took place in a big hotel on the outskirts of Norman, Oklahoma, during a windy heat wave that felt like the Hair Dryer of the Gods. It had been a few years since I had last been to an SSE meeting, and I was struck by how genomic everything has gotten. No matter how obscure the species scientists are studying, they seem to have outrageous heaps of DNA sequence to analyze. A few years ago, they would have been content with a few scraps. Fortunately, SSE hasn’t turned its back on good old natural history. There were lots of fascinating discoveries on offer, about species that I had assumed had been studied to death. My favorite was a talk about the rough-skinned newt, the most ridiculously poisonous animal in America.

The scientific tale of the rough-skinned newt begins five decades ago, with a story about three dead hunters in Oregon. Reportedly, the bodies of the hunters were discovered around a camp fire. They showed no signs of injury, and nothing had been stolen. The only strange thing about the scene was the coffee pot. Curled up inside was a newt.

In the 1960s, a biologist named Butch Brodie got curious about the story. The newt in the coffee pot–known as the rough-skinned newt–has a dull brown back, but when it is disturbed, it bends its head backward like a contortionist to reveal an orange belly as bright as candy corn. Bright colors are common among poisonous animals. It’s a signal that says, in effect, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave me alone.” Brodie wondered if the newts were toxic, too.

Toxic, it turns out, doesn’t do the newts justice. They are little death machines. The newts produce a chemical in their skin called tetrodotoxin, or TTX for short, that’s made by other poisonous animals like pufferfish. Locking onto sodium channels on the surface of neurons, TTX blocks signals in the nervous system, leading to a quick death. In fact, TTX is 10,000 times deadlier than cyanide. While we may never know for sure what killed those three Oregon hunters, we do know that a single rough-skinned newt could have easily produced enough TTX to kill them, and have plenty of poison left over to kill dozens more.

Now, if the whole idea of evolution makes you uneasy, you might react by saying, “That couldn’t possibly have evolved.” Experience has shown that this is not a wise thing to say. Brodie said something different: the most plausible explanation for a ridiculously poisonous animal is that it is locked in a coevolutionary arms race with a ridiculously well-defended predator. Another biologist mentioned to him that he’d seen garter snakes dining on rough-skinned newts, and so Brodie investigated. He discovered that garter snakes in rough-skinned newt territory have evolved peculiar shape to the receptors on their neurons that TTX would normally grab.

The co-evolution of newts and snakes became a family business. Brodie’s son, Edmund, grew up catching newts, and today he’s a biologist at the University of Virginia. Father and son and colleagues have discovered that snakes have independently evolved the same mutations to their receptors in some populations, while evolving other mutations with the same effect in other populations. They’ve also found that both newts and snakes pay a cost for their weaponry. The newts put in a lot of energy into making TTX that could be directed to growing and making baby newts. The evolved receptors in garter snakes don’t just protect them from TTX; they also leave the snakes slower than vulnerable snakes. They’ve studied newts and snakes up and down the west coast of North America and found a huge range of TTX potency and resistance. That’s what you’d expect from a coevolutionary process in which local populations are adapting to each other in different environments, with different costs and benefits to escalating the fight.

This story is so irresistible that I’ve written about it twice: first, ten years ago in Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea,, and then in updated form last year in The Tangled Bank. I figured that the Brodies et. al. had pretty much discovered all there was to know about these creatures. But in Oklahoma, I discovered that they had missed what is arguably the coolest part of the whole story.

Think about it: you’re a female newt, you’ve fended off attackers with a staggering amounts of poison in your skin, and now you want to pass on your genes to your descendants. You lay a heap of eggs in a pond, and what happens? A bunch of pond creatures come rushing in and have a feast of amphibian caviar.

What could you possibly do to ensure at least some of your offspring survived? Well, you have an awful lot of TTX in your system. You have enough of the stuff to give your eggs a parting gift to help them out there in the cruel, predator-infested world. Make your eggs poisonous.

That is exactly what female newts do. In fact, they load their eggs with TTX. To figure out if this poison provided a defense against predators, the Brodies and their students traveled to a group of ponds in central Oregon that are home to thousands of rough-skinned newts apiece. They collected dragonflies and other aquatic predators from the ponds and put them in buckets filled with newt eggs, along with muck from the pond bottoms. The scientists found that almost none of the predators would touch the newt eggs. Since these predators eat plenty of eggs of other species, this result shows that TTX does indeed help the newt eggs survive.

But there was one exception. Caddisfly larvae turned out to relish the newt eggs. In fact, the caddisflies actually grew bigger if they were supplied with newt eggs and pond muck than with pond muck alone. And yet the Brodies and their students estimate that there’s enough TTX in one newt egg to kill somewhere between 500 and 3700 caddisflies.

You know where this is going. At the evolution meeting, one of their students, Brian Gall, described feeding newt skin to caddisflies both from the central Oregon ponds and from ponds elsewhere without newts. The newt-free caddisflies would happily munch on newt skin from which all the TTX was removed. But if there was more than a trace TTX in the skin, they refused to eat. The caddisflies that fed on newt eggs, on the other hand, would eat the most toxic skin Gall could provide.

It appears that the caddisflies have evolved much like the garter snakes. In ponds where rough-skinned newts lived, the caddisflies have evolved defenses against TTX. In fact, Gall reported, the caddisflies appear to put the snakes to shame. Evolved snakes are 34 times more resistant to TTX than vulnerable ones. The caddisflies have increased their resistance 175 times.

It’s not clear whether the caddisflies and the newts are truly co-evolving, however. The Brodies will have to find out whether adding extra TTX to eggs increases their survival in the presence of caddisflies. Another intriguing possibility arises from their discovery that the caddisflies actually harbor some of the TTX they eat in their tissues for weeks after eating the eggs. Perhaps the caddisflies are stealing the poison to protect themselves, as happens in monarch butterflies eating toxic milkweed.

In other words, this wonderfully deadly story isn’t over yet.

[For more information, see this new paper in Can. J. Zool., and Understanding Evolution, an educational web site. Ed Brodie tells much of the story pre-caddisfly in a chapter of the new book, In The Light of Evolution (full disclosure: I wrote a chapter in it, too, which you can read as a pdf here)]

Image: California Herps

Have a tremendously productive new year and Happy Writing.

--Sean

Which Way Did They go?

Bubbling at the top of a pot of characters is the hero and the villain, and the idea is to develop both and show how they are different and maybe not so different. That is easily done when they interact, but what if there is a long-distance relationship? Case in point, the main character or characters are moving about, preparing to launch an attack on the villain to free kidnapped victims. The villain is moving about several hundreds of miles away laying a trap and preparing for the attack. How to bridge the gap and develop each character? A technique is to use multiple points of view.

Typically, using different points of view has advantages.

1. It solves the problem of the main point of view character being unreliable.
2. It shows how the hero appears to others.
3. It is one way to contrast the hero and villain which is central to a good story.
4. It can show precisely how dangerous the villain is.

When using this technique the writer must be wary of a couple things. One is to give sufficient warning that a shift occurs if within a chapter, and two, be careful about "head-hopping" which can confuse and/or pull the reader out of the story. So, why and how am I applying this technique?

In a work under development, the hero and villain are miles apart. Yes, it is possible to TELL that the villain is evil, but SHOWing that he is evil and why may be preferable. The simplest method is to devote a chapter that introduces the villain, describe the kidnapping, and a disregard of the lives of innocent people; however, this story is part of a series that has another villain, an individual who will become a serious threat to the hero's family, who is responsible for launching a 400-year vendetta that focuses on the hero of the parallel series occurring in our era. It is in this chapter that he is also re-introduced. The relatively brief appearance and in another chapter later is all that is necessary as the focus is on the villain of this story. In order to further flesh out this character, I switched the viewpoint in additional chapters to demonstrate just how vicious and depraved he is and his justification for such behavior. As the story is told by an omniscient narrator and the shifts are done within entire chapters, the reader shouldn't become lost or distracted. There is a different aspect to using multiple points of view, and that relates to scene-hopping within a chapter.

Switching points of view within a chapter can work as long as the writer gives sufficient warning of the changes. How the writer does this is up to them. I use the same technique as if making a shift in time, a visual page break, centered on its own line.  Sometimes I use ~, other times *, whatever works so that the reader is alerted to a change and can easily keep up. Utilizing this shifting technique is important as the story unfolds into the rescue of the wife and son of the protagonist's mentor, who were kidnapped and supposedly being held for ransom -- actually a way to lure the mentor into a trap to kill him. Underlying is the hope this tactic will lure the main hero, too, as the villain really, really wants revenge on him. 

The shifting of view point comes into serious play at the conclusion of the story. From the beginning, the reader is introduced to a number of "minor" characters, each playing a significant part. In the attack, we have the mentor commanding a fleet of four ships that makes a frontal assault on the fortress from the sea. There is also our hero who takes a large force ashore to cross over the island and attack from land. He is also charged with the actual rescue. We also have another player and her ship of children who first spy on the fortress to gain needed info on defences and the exact whereabouts of the kidnap victims. She also establishes a working friendship with the local Carib natives so that a land attack is possible, and then is responsible for taking the rescued wife and son aboard, to getting them out of harm's way.

To accomplish the spying and moving the kidnapped victims to safety are two of her crew who pose as Caribs. When a major complication arises the protagonist's son enters to warn of trouble and while he is supposed to stay out of danger, becomes involved in a fight with defending soldiers. Finally, there is another character, captain of the ship that transported the hero and his troops to the island, and then engages a warship to prevent the villain from attacking their rear. Scene changes within the battle chapter are, in a modest word, as frequent as raindrops in a downpour. This multiple view point approach is important as each change focuses on events and information that the reader will want and need. Transitioning appropriately and smoothly will prevent losing or frustrating the reader so to show what is happening and set the scene for what will or can happen.

There is just a lot more that goes into a story, requirements and tricks that must be learned and practiced before a writer can just sit down and transfer what develops through imagination into a visual media. So, how do you use this technique?

Writing Starts With Inspiration

This is National Write a Novel Month (NaNo) where writers from around the world take the challenge to write 50,000 words (minimum) in 30-days. As this is written there are some 400,000 participants from 200 countries pounding keyboards or scratching on paper. It is a daunting experience for some who unfortunately will not succeed. However, last year 310,000+ did, and in the process learned a great deal about themselves and writing.

When there are 400,000 writers, it is not unrealistic to expect about that many approaches to writing, and only by trial and error does a person find the method that fits them best. However, all approaches to writing the first chapter have one very important thing in common.

Several days into the current challenge an individual complained that he probably wasn't going to write this year because he couldn't think of anything. ? ? ? Perhaps this is harsh, but if a person is unable to get inspiration, they should pack their bags, and move on to something else because inspiration is the germ that spawns stories. If you don't have it or wait until the last minute, you are wasting your time.

After fifty years I can not explain how it happens. It just does. A comment, a song, a picture, even an assignment, but something triggers the creative synapses to start clicking away. What I have learned is to start recording some of those thoughts quickly, adding detail as soon as safely possible because ideas will flow like spring runoff and can dry up just as fast. It makes no difference how you record those ideas, whether they be short-phrased outlines, bullet points, incomplete sentences, or brief synopsis. When the ideas come, grab for the gold ring.

Can't think of anything to write? I have a box in the garage with ideas collected over these many years. Most are worthless because the thoughts are dead and the notes too meager for resurrection. By trial and error I learned to be more detailed and now write a synopsis including ideas about the protagonist, antagonist, how it can start, and where it can end. The twisted journey from start to conclusion falls into place.

The information (often only a page long) is placed in a file for those times when the idea stream seems dry. In the last year alone almost fifty synopsis were added to the file which is has so many it would take a long, second lifetime to develop them all. However, shopping for a story is greatly simplified.

Sometimes inspiration is so strong that the synopsis stretches into more than one page. During a siege of writer's block during work on a novel this past year, I turned to this file and wrote several short stories. Another idea occurred and the synopsis stretched into a finished story on the spot. That happens.

Once inspired and notes dutifully recorded, the writing process naturally turns to development – sketching out the plot, researching details, and giving thought to the kind of characters that will wade through it, never losing sight of the final goal. Never mind holes, disconnects, bridges, or any of those technical things. Begin transferring the story from your mind to a visible form. Writing is like creating a life-size figure out of clay. Once a supporting skeleton is in place, the artist applies layers of clay. It looks rough and crude, but with a blade, scraper, and hands, the features are refined until it can look to walk off the pedestal.

Can't think of anything to write? If you are a writer, that is the least of your concerns.

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Anyone for Some Red Herring?

This eFile is about one of the fun things an author can do with their writing, but the topic stimulated my hunger and it became necessary to appease a hunger attack. So, before any writing commenced on this article it was off to the grocer for a can of smoked herring and crackers. Smoked oysters and anchovies on pizza are another thought for later.

However, that's not what this is all about. You've just been treated to a “red herring.”




A red herring is some irrelevant information that diverts the audience's attention from the real issue. I remember an old Charlie Chan movie where a number of people each has a motive for killing off their rich relative, and this is exploited by the writer(s). At the end they all assemble in the sitting room and Mr. Chan goes from one to the other noting their motive and reason for not being the perpetrator until coming to the one most of the audience suspected least.

A red herring is a common device used in mystery and thriller stories, distracting the reader from identifying the real culprit and aiming to keep the reader guessing at the possibilities until the end, and thus keep them interested in the story

This is also a favorite ploy of politicians wishing to dodge difficult questions. They do it by referring to a different issue, which of course is irrelevant, pulling attention away from the original issue under discussion. As long as the author does not abuse their audience, they love this tactic. So, how can it work? When dealing with characters, give selected players a reason or opportunity for being suspect.

Characters are not the only opportunity to use this device. Setting has many variables to play with. Of course, there is the physical place, but also time – time of day, week, month. Then there is the weather. Is it hot, windy, rainy, snowy? Use multiple levels of detail.

Objects are another toy/tool – those that are present and those which are missing.  I had the pleasure of helping teach a criminal investigation class and set up various crime scenes. There were items of significance and things designed to mislead or stall the investigation. The students learned that some evidence was missing. For instance, the victim has yellowed fingers from smoking. There is an ash tray, but no butts or ashes. There are peanut shells in the kitchen garbage, but the victim wears a warning on his wrist about a nut allergy. That may be significant or not as the victim likes to bake.

The more ways a reader can interpret a specific item, the more likely they will make a wrong assumption, and that's exactly what the author wants to happen.

However, a word of caution. Too many red herrings can frustrate the reader. And never, ever lie to your reader.

This discussion has focused on the mystery genre, but red herrings are successfully used in other genre. There are usually fewer of them with a different purpose. Instead of teasing the reader to incorrectly guess what has happened, the purpose is to have them guess what might or will happen, especially if the reader is privy to information the protagonist does not have. They will begin to speculate how that person will react when the surprise is sprung.

In a pirate novel series, the protagonist and antagonist literally cross swords. The antagonist is defeated, humiliated, and vanquished. Several years later, the hero is away helping a friend defeat a different villain. Unbeknownst to him the old enemy is now governor of the island where he lives. Being a prominent citizen and the island small, a meeting is unavoidable.

In another story, a young boy's parents are murdered by the father's brother, a major crime boss, so to acquire valuable property. The boy is to meet with an accident to complete the plan. The uncle is relentless, sending his most trusted henchman to find and finish the job, but time and again, the boy escapes, often leaving the reader with the impression this is one very lucky lad. In the end, his uncle is broken by the police, but freed on a technicality. In the final scene, the vindictive uncle orders his henchman to finish the job and see the boy dead. Now, we learn how the boy has been so lucky. The henchman once loved the boy's mother, but would not marry her because of his career, instead seeing that his best friend marry her. He was best man at the wedding and godfather to the boy that could have been his son. All along he secretly orchestrated the boy's escapes from death, and in his last move to protect him, eliminates the last threat to his life. All along the way the use of red herrings diverted attention away from the godfather as being one of the boy's “guardian angels.”

When reading stories, watch to see if the author introduces any red herrings to divert attention from what is actually happening or will happen. If you like puzzle mysteries take a look at a master of the art, Agatha Christie, and see how she drops clues throughout the story, or go to YouTube and watch some Charlie Chan. Examples are all around and should become obvious as you are now aware of the technique.

Which are good clues and which are not?

How can you use red herrings in your story?

EXTRA - Book Review - Titanium Texicans

 I enjoy taking time away from writing to see what other authors are doing, and when stumbling across a good read, it's only right to share.

Alan Black, Titanium Texicans, (2014) 

Kindle Books

(ISBN 978-1500639181)

Science Fiction author, Alan Black, has done another credible job spinning a Young Adult tale in outer space, Titanium Texicans (2014). However, don't let that last phrase, “outer space,” be a turn-off. This is not a story with weird creatures and fantastic places with unpronounceable names. This is a solid story of a mid-teen's coming of age in short two years.

There are certain elements that successful Young Adult stores contain: an orphan who must contend with an adult world, and an antagonist who gets in the way (in this case two on different power trips). The protagonist must overcome challenges to achieve a goal, meet, lose, and win a girl, and somehow come out on top. Titanium Texicans certainly delivers.

In addition, Alan Black has chosen to tell this tale using two ethnic groups of earth people seldom heard from, the Scots and Texicans. If an author doesn't understand these two cultures, the story will fall flat on it's proverbial face.

Texicans are a very diverse ethnic group. The first immigrants to the area we now call Texas were from Spain (not Mexico) who began arriving in the 1600's. They were joined by a massive immigration of Europeans in the 1700's. These people joined together to defeat the Mexican army in an 18-minute battle to win independence from Mexico in 1836 before joining the United States. My youngest son's very best friend's ancestors settled in now southern Texas in the late 1600's. His dad, a good friend, speaks Spanish (not Mexican), and Johnny struggles with the language having grown up in northern Nevada. Over the centuries the Spanish arm of Texicans has become increasingly mis-labeled as Mexicans. Mr. Black skates close to this trap without falling into that pit.

The other group, the Scots, he has pretty well nailed. These hardworking, industrious folk are clannish. (No pun intended). They are a proud, close-knit, tight-lipped, independent, suspicious of government, education-oriented people, and in no way related to the English. My own paternal line traces back to when the Celts migrated from central and southern Europe. My maternal side is German Celts who didn't migrate. I know these people. I grew up with these attitudes. Mr. Black seems to understand them and depicts these traits nicely through his protagonist, Tasso Menzies.

Tasso is orphaned, betrayed by an uncle, has serious anger issues, and consigned to a family-oriented, Spanish Texicans space-freighter of humongous dimensions. In the next two, rocky years he overcomes personal problems because of his Scottish upbringing and the gentle caring of most of the crew. While his goal is to return to reclaim a starvation farm, fate sets his feet on a much different path.

For this reader, Titanium Texicans became one of those enjoyable, hard-to-put-down reads well worth the time.

Preparation – The Click of a Mouse

Fifty-five years ago I began serious writing using a pencil and then a Royal typewriter. There were other essential tools, too; a dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia. There is (and always has been) a bookshelf within easy reach. Looking there as this is written I see my original Webster's New World Dictionary © 1955 and Roget's Thesaurus in Dictionary Form © 1961. Companion references regarding the art of writing fill much of that shelf. Above that are two shelves of historical and scientific references mostly from a lifetime of study in history and archaeology – things that are not available online.

When a writer's imagination is sparked, the first thing that should occur is jotting down an outline or synopsis of what the story is about, giving it a beginning and and end. That in turn suggests what research is necessary.

Several years ago I penned a story that involved the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. The Jemez Mountains west of Sante Fe became the local. The Internet has become the Library of Alexandria in our time and provided a wealth of information about this area in the form of text and pictures. There was also some about the Pueblo people. As in all good references there will be a bibliography at the end pointing to other sources, but I felt the need to visit the area to  drive/walk the land and speak/observe people. Of particular importance was their religion. Problem! Much of their practices are considered sacred and they simply DO NOT discuss it.

Not discouraged, I returned to the Internet (and thank you Google for digitalizing books written in the mid to late 1800's) which provided insight into what I wanted. No, there wasn't the detail I wanted, but coupled with a background in archaeology and religion and noticing some correlations, I indulged in speculation and a bit of fantasy to produce a story with a realistic ring. (Perhaps too realistic because a couple of contacts in New Mexico wanted to know how I found out what went on in the kivas.)

However, a writer should be careful about inundating the reader with too much fact. Present enough to give an authentic flavor. In preparing a series on piracy in the early 1600's, this was not the swashbuckling idiocy of Jack Sparrow, walk the plank, and “avast there.” It was a whole lot more interesting. Columbus came to the New World and introduced slavery, disease, and decimation of the native populace. There were two types of natives – one would embrace you as a friend and invite you TO dinner, while the other cut to the quick and have you FOR dinner. Pirates were ruthless, yet there was a human. Historical events in Europe and the New World occurred to effect and encourage events in the setting (the Caribbean Islands). Sailing in a 100-foot, leaky boat was not a pleasure cruise. What a wonderful palette with which to work.

As an example, I became peripherally involved in the research for James A. Michener's tale, Centennial (1974). Here's a description as found online:

(Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org /w/index.php?title=Centennial_(novel)&oldid=621515363). 

“Centennial is a novel by American author James A. Michener, published in 1974.

 “Centennial traces the history of the plains of northeast Colorado from prehistory until the early 1970s. Geographic details about the fictional town of Centennial and its surroundings indicate that the region is in modern-day Weld County. Since the novel was written, the Denver suburb of Centennial has been incorporated, although its location in Arapahoe County is far from Michener's fictional town of the same name. Much of his book was based on the Weld County town of Greeley.

“Many episodes in the book are loosely based on actual historical events in eastern Colorado and southeast Wyoming, which for novelistic reasons are brought to a single locale. For example, "The Massacre" is based on the Sand Creek Massacre which took place in Kiowa County, Colorado in 1864. Other parts of the book are loosely based on a family from Sterling in Logan County.”

Don't think for a minute that the research for this novel was done overnight or entirely by Mr. Michener. However, there are very important things to note about what and how he used the research which is a good example of how to pull things together within the framework of a story.

The beauty about writing today is that it's all there – literally at our fingertips – as we write: our research notes, dictionary, thesaurus, references. If more detail about a person, place, or thing seems necessary as we write it is simple to make a note and research it later or switch to another working window, quickly look it up or reach to the bookshelf for the printed reference. (Yes, that is contrary to what others will say, but if you have the ability to hold the current story thought or have good notes/outline, go for it. More than once I have had an “Oh, really?” moment and immediately changed directions thus saving a lot of re-writing later.) Of course, if the information does not seem available, perhaps it's time to take a “vacation.”

Method Acting and Writing

Recently a niece who is a developing author and artists posted this on FaceBook:

"Writing this novel is an interesting adventure. I'm getting to know these characters as they grow and change. Today as I was writing a particular scene I felt like I was there like I was feeling everything. It's a strange surreal thing. I wonder if that's how actors feel when they are really into a scene."

Pumping my fist and shouting, "YES!" I could not have been happier for her. Like many folks trying their hand at writing, she has not really had much writing instruction, but she is working at it, and this is a great discovery.

In the dramatic arts there is a style called "Method Acting," which seems to be going out of vogue. This technique is where actors and actresses absorb the thoughts and feelings and apply personal experiences to develop life-like performances. We are talking "A-list" performers here: Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Rod Steigher, Sean Penn, Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp -- the impressive list goes on as does the memory of their works.


As a recent example, Daniel Day-Lewis is said to have spent a full year reading and thinking about nothing else except Abraham Lincoln as preparation for Steven Speilberg's, "Lincoln." When he stepped before the cameras he was no longer Daniel Day-Lewis. He WAS Lincoln. 

Acting and writing have at their core -- telling a story. It's hard to exaggerate the impact of Method Acting. It has given us a legacy full of good works, but above all it gave us sincerity and emotional truth. And therein tells the success of a writer's work. The reply to my niece's observation was:

"If the character feels pain, so do you. If they laugh, you laugh. If they cry, you cry. You must feel what every character feels or the writing becomes flat. You created these folk and just because you've put them out for everyone to see doesn't mean they leave you. They are you."

Our desire as writers is to draw the reader into the story and there are techniques to get them interested, but at the heart, we want the reader (and they want this, too) to become a part of the story. Writers should describe the feelings and emotions of a scene so that the reader applies their feelings and and emotions.

It is not unusual that as I write a scene to find myself emotionally involved. If anyone were to be looking over my shoulder, they might think I've lost it.

In one novel my young protagonist is an orphan (his father is dead and mother is gallivanting around the world as part of her tourist business). He lives with an aunt whom he adores. One day he finds her dead. Shock, denial, fear of the future; he can't cry until a surrogate father sits with him before the funeral. Peers taught this young man that men don't cry until he sees this man, "the strongest man he knew," begin to cry. (My apologies, but that scene was so emotionally powerful it still affects me.) As the adventure progresses he experiences a lot of feelings -- joy, wonder, fear, bravado, and love.

Now, there is a sizeable difference in ages between this author and my niece, almost fifty years, so my reservoir of experiences is much greater, but even in twenty-plus years she has experiences on which to draw and flesh out characters. So, if a character is angry, pull out the anger as you've experienced it. If they are frustrated and cry, you cry. If they are exuberant, you laugh. Why? Because that character is you. It doesn't matter what part they play.

I suppose you can call this Method Writing.