Dissecting The Male POV

by Patty Smith Hall

All right, class. The weekend is over and now it’s time to settle down because today, we have a lot of information to cover today on the fascinating, yet frustrating subject: The Male Point of View.

Why this particular subject? Because a large number of people who write have the XY chromosome combination and don’t have a clue as to what is going on in the mind of their male characters. It can be difficult to capture the male voice, frustrating at time. So after a great deal of research and in-depth study, I hope I can shed some light on the subject for you today.

The Scientific Facts
As a medical professional with years of research experience, I liked to start with the science behind male communication. Why do men communicate the way they do? Why don’t they talk as much as women? Is there a physiological reason they react the way they do in the heat of an emotional discussion?

First, a brief overview of the center of communication, the human brain. The brain has two hemispheres; the left which is the home of logic and reasoning and the right side which is the center of emotions, feelings, intuition and social relationships.

The differences between the male and female brain begin in utero. Male fetuses experience a testosterone bath between the 18th and 26th week of gestation that damages the connections between both sides of the brain, making each hemisphere work more independently of each other. This makes it harder for men to do things that require the use of both sides(language , expression feelings, managing emotions.) Men function best on one side of the brain than the other where as women(thanks to estrogen) can use both sides of her brain equally as well. Another interesting fact is that men possess a larger amydalae, a tiny set of glands at the base of the skull where highly emotional or frightening experiences are stored. This could explain why men have a greater ‘fight or flight’ response as well as flash back to the horrible even more often and with greater detail than women.

Men Really Are Like Waffles

This one-sidedness is also the reason why men are able to compartmentalize different areas of their lives into boxes and typically live in one box at a time.  When a man is in one box, it’s as if the other compartments don’t exist. They give 100 percent of their attention to whatever they’re involved in at the moment and tend to stay in the box they’re most successful in—that can be anything from work to video games to anything, as long as they feel like they’re achieving something. They can also think of nothing at all and have the ability to ignore everything else around them.

What Does That Mean For A Writer?

We have to keep in mind the why behind the male way of thinking and communicating in order to create a more well-rounded character. It would seem odd to find a hero who loves to spend hours talking on the phone or get in touch with his emotions. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, but if we intend to use such a trait, we’d better have a good explanation as to why our hero is like he is. Another  example might be our hero might not understand why the heroine is having trouble sleeping because he has the ability to think about nothing.

Having a gasp of these facts will help you build realistic male characters.

Come back on October 26th when we’ll be talking about the inherited characteristics of men that shape how he responds to life events.

What are other ways  you’ve incorporated these scientific facts in your male characters?  

 

New Hope Sweethearts

She’s ready to take back her life . . .or what’s left of it.

After ten years of caring for her invalid grandfather, Kallie Huffman is ready to claim her life as her own. Taking a job in the laboratory of New Hope Community Hospital seems like a logic choice while she waits for her nursing license to be reinstated. That is until she meets Lab Director Jefferson Muster. Kind and intelligent, the handsome doctor is everything Kallie has ever wanted in a man. But what about having a life of her own?

He’s never needed anyone’s help. . .until now.

Patients are dying at New Hope Community Hospital, and Jeff needs help to discover the culprit before another family loses a loved one. When help comes in the person of Kallie Huffman, the walls Jeff has constructed around his heart after a family tragedy start to crumble. But Kallie craves a life on her own terms. Can two people shaped by heartache put the past behind them and trust in love?

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5 Novel Crunches For Tightening Your Middle By Rachel Hauck

The middle of a novel is the hardest, isn't it? 

An exciting beginning is usually where our inspirations happens.

Then we imagine some dramatic, overcoming ending and well... what a great story, right?!

But how do we get there? How do we keep the journey going strong in the middle? 

Because a strong middle, or core, is KEY to any great novel.

Like the human body, a strong core is key to the well-being of the head and feet. ;)

A strong core is key to the beginning and end of your  novel. 

Here are a few ways to strengthen your novel's core.

Strong External Journey.  The story has to be about going for something tangible! An obtainable goal. 

In the movie, "The Proposal" Margaret Tate needs to keep her job. Her solution is to marry her assistant. If she doesn't marry Drew, her career, her life, her very existence is over. 

Your protagonist must want something more than “revenge” or “marriage and family.” Or “safety.” They have to want something physical. Something external. 

Make sure your protagonist has a strong external goal that is tied to the internal goals and motivations.

Story layering. Create a story layer that pushing against the protagonist. What is keeping the protagonist from getting what she wants? Create characters who want the opposite of your protagonist. Give them the power to hinder her.

Back to The Proposal. Drew doesn't want to marry Margaret. He is keeping her from easily achieving her goal.

Meanwhile. Drew's relationship with his father is the story layer that creases emotional obstacles for him. This layer also allows Margaret to peek in to his life and begin to have feelings for him. It exposes a wound in Drew’s past and why he’s stuck out a his horrible job as Margaret's assistant.

Cause and Effect. Create a tangible, visible EVENT to show the character's change. Change must happen in a viable scene. Use the power of scenes to show! This also draws in your readers emotionally. 

Avoid "telling" us the characters are doing something off stage that impacts the characters goals or emotions  Show us.

Drew's relationship with his father is meaningless unless we "see" their conflict in a scene. If Drew merely said, "Dad and I don't get along." the emotional power is wasted.

Also, we see Drew is a man of integrity. So even when he’s given a final opportunity to back out of the fake marriage, he refuses. “A deal is a deal.” So we understand why he doesn’t dump Margaret right then and there.

Use an event to push your characters toward confession Use the power of scenes again to show the reader why your hero and heroine finally confess love. Or how your FBI agent discovers the key to a tough case.

Avoid having your characters decide or learn something "out of thin air." In other words, if they are visiting an aunt at her home and all they do is reminisce about the old days, then the next scene shouldn't be, "John figured out a key to this tough case." 

How did he do that? When? Where? So really build your "core" on those scene blocks.

Secondary Characters. Adding fun secondary characters really helps strengthen the middle of your novel.

Drew’s family is the humor and mirrors of truth, along with his ex-girlfriend Gert, in The Proposal. All of these secondary characters reveal who Drew is and why, and who he wants to be.

I always use the family and friends of the protagonists to add layers.

Every Character Must Have a Problem. Every? Yep. With the exception of a walk on with little or no dialog. Why should ever character have a problem?

Because in those sequel scenes or mulling moments, a secondary character with a problem adds tensions to the protagonist. Their problem could also be a reflector of the story theme or the problem with the protagonist.

The TV show Castle uses this method a lot. Castle and Becket, or Castle and his daughter or mother, will have a side issues that usually brings some clue or light to the main problem they are trying to solve. 

The problem between The Proposal's Drew and his parents adds tension. The local guy, Ramon, an outsider trying to fit in is reflective of the story's theme. Ramon tries to be all things to all people. Very subtle but real symbol.

 Ramp up the dialog. This is so key. But you can’t do this unless you have the foundation of “What does the protag want?” 

“What is this story about?”

Dialog must be more than “yes” “no” “okay” “I don’t know" or "Hi" or "Want to get some coffee?"

Dialog helps YOU discover elements of the story you didn't know before. Dialog allows the characters to breath, live a little, and talk to YOU.

I have a motto: TELL THE STORY BETWEEN THE QUOTES.

Put valuable information in dialog rather than prose. Give the characters information to respond and react to instead of just telling it to the readers "on the side."

For example, if you introduce two characters who have a past together, don't tell the reader in prose. Use dialog to introduce their tension.

When Gabe walked into the room, Mike stood, shoulders back. "When did you get back in town?"

"Nice to see you, too, Mikey ole boy."

He hated when Gabe called him Mikey. "You know she still won't see you."

"How do you know I came to see her?"

"Because she's the only reason you'd come to town."

"To see my wife?"

"No, to see mine!" 

So, perhaps Mike is married to Gabe's ex? Don't put that info in prose, use dialog. Use the character's history with one another.

Strengthen that middle!

Even if you’re having a tender moment, recalling their happiest memory, put their thoughts and feelings into dialog. I’ve seen a lot of good stuff that informs the reader of what the protag is feeling but it's "outside the quotes." Use memories and back story in dialog to connect characters to characters and thus readers to your characters and story.

I hope these 5 tips help you discover the power and strength of your "inner novel." 

***

Best-selling, award-winning author Rachel Hauck loves a great story.

With a love for teaching and mentoring, Rachel comes alongside writers to help them craft their novels.

She serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and leads worship for their annual conference. At the fall conference in Indianapolis, she was named ACFW 2013 Mentor of the Year.

She is also the Book Therapist for My Book Therapy.

She lives in Florida, where she is also a worship leader, with her husband and mini schnauzer.

Her novel, The Wedding Dress, was named Romantic Times Inspirational Novel of the Year. Her latest release, Once Upon A Prince, earned starred reviews from Booklist and Publisher's Weekly.

Visit her at www.rachelhauck.com

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Discovering the Story Question

Patty Smith Hall has been making up stories to keep herself occupied since her parents forced her on boring Sunday drives into the Georgia countryside when she was too young to stay home by herself. Now she's happy to share her wild imagination and love of history with others, including her husband of 29 years, Danny, two smart and gorgeous daughters, and a yorkie that she spoils like a grandbaby. She resides in North Georgia.




Discovering the Story Question

Anyone watch the television show, ‘Castle?’ It's one of my favorites but for those who’ve never watched, it revolves around best selling mystery author Richard Castle as he shadows NYC homicide detective Kate Beckett, investigating murders while searching for the killer of Beckett’s mother and fighting their growing feelings. 

The reason I bring it up is that in their season finale, the unthinkable happened--the lead characters took their friendship to the next ‘level.‘ 

So as the ending credits rolled, my husband asked the inevitable question--after four seasons, had the show had ‘jumped the shark,‘ following the example of another detective show, ‘Moonlighting?’ I’m pretty sure my answer surprised him.

An empathic no! The reason why? While ‘Moonlighting’ was based solely on the sexual tension between the two leads, ‘Castle’ has a story question that has yet to be answered. 

Some of you may be wondering what I mean by a story question. For writers, it is the one internal goal or question that can’t be achieved/answered until the very end of the series or story. It’s that driving force behind our stories, the motivation that pulls our characters toward an unavoidable change or a necessary resolution. 

Two Truths of the Story Question

For me, at least, there are two absolutes when developing your main characters internal motive or goal. First, the motivation needs to be strong enough to pull your character through every high and low of the story. And the stronger, more emotional detailed this motivation is, the more your characters evolve trying to obtain it, the more your readers will be vested in the story.

Let’s go back to ‘Castle.’ In this series, the story question isn’t ‘will they or won’t they?’ That’s the easy way out, and once the question is answered, there’s nothing to keep viewers tuning in or readers turning the page. No, the story question for the series revolves around finding the killer of Kate Beckett’s mother before they kill Kate. Yes, the two leads have a more intimate relationship now but it doesn’t answer the story question. In fact, it complicates it, giving way to even more conflict. Sounds like a pretty good motivation to get me (and every other Castle fan) to tune in next fall. 

The second truth about story questions is that it shouldn’t be answered or changed halfway through the  story. Think about it--how annoyed would you be if you are invested in a book, pulling for the characters and they reach their main goal midway through the book. 

Or worse yet, their motivations change midstream. What a breach of trust! That’s why its so important for we as writers to spend some time discovering what really drives your character. Do character charts. Find out what their basic selfish need is. 

To do so will help create a strong story that will stay with your readers long after they turn the last page of your book.




Hearts in Hiding

Engineer Edie Michaels loves her life—she has a good job, close friends, even a chance at romance with former soldier Beau Daniels. But she could lose everything if her secret comes out…that she's the German daughter of a devoted Nazi.

And when her father sends spies to force her loyalty, everything Edie values is at risk.

Time in a Nazi POW camp changed army medic Beau Daniels. When he discovers a letter of Edie's written in German, he can't help his suspicions. Is she truly the woman he's started to love? Or has she been the enemy all along? With Nazis on Edie's trail, the pair must fight for truth, for survival—and for love.

Available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Walmart.

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