Wednesday Writing Workout: Connecting with our Characters

For this, my third and final post celebrating the release of my young-adult historical, Playing by Heart from Vinspire Publishing, I'm sharing a Wednesday Writing Workout based on my experience with not only the novel, but also the nonfiction biography that led to my writing Playing by Heart in the first place.

I've found that whether I'm writing fiction or nonfiction, if I want to create multi-dimensional characters I need to connect with them personally in some way. As I've mentioned before, Playing by Heart was inspired by two amazing sisters who lived in 18th-century Milan, and the novel grew out of my research for a nonfiction biography of linguist and mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi. I was drawn to Maria Gaetana's story because of my interest in math (I have an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science) and in women's history. But when I sat down to write a biography of her, I was stumped. How do you bring a character to life who was born nearly 300 years ago and who lived in a completely foreign society and culture?

The two-volume math text Maria Gaetana Agnesi wrote.
I photographed it at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library in 2008

For me, the answer lay in finding a personal connection with the character. Our mutual love of math was an obvious bond, but it wasn't enough. We're also both firstborn daughters. That didn't feel like enough either. The connection that really clicked for me was Maria Gaetana's relationship with her father. Pietro Agnesi used to hold academic salons in his home for Milan's aristocracy. After discovering Maria Gaetana's talents, he made her a regular part of his meetings, beginning when she was only nine years old. She spoke to his guests about her studies, in Latin, Italian, French, or whatever language her father wanted. By her teen years, she also debated with her tutors about what she'd learned. Maria Gaetana was a shy girl and supposedly hated being made to perform in this way.

Unlike Maria, I wasn't born into an upper-class family. In fact, my Italian-immigrant parents struggled to make ends meet when I was a child. But, like Maria Gaetana's father, when my father learned I had a knack for memorizing things--prayers, songs, baseball stats, etc., he had me "show off" at family gatherings. Like Maria Gaetana, I hated it. After I recognized that we shared that experience/feeling, I was finally able to connect with her as a character and write her biography, which I'm still hoping to eventually see published.

When I decided to take the research I'd done into Maria Gaetana's life and use it as the foundation for a historical romance, I had a new problem. Since the main character of my novel is based on Maria Gaetana's younger sister, musician and composer Maria Teresa Agnesi, I now had to find a way to connect with her as a character. Much less is known about Maria Teresa Agnesi than about her older sister, so finding something we had in common was more challenging.

I've always loved music but I wouldn’t call myself a musician. When I was six, we moved into a house that had an old upright piano in the basement. I used to pick out simple tunes on it, like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” I longed to study piano, but that wasn’t one of the instruments my Catholic elementary school offered for instruction. Instead, I studied the clarinet. I played clarinet in high school marching band and orchestra, but haven’t touched it in decades. I never lost my desire to learn piano though, and even considered studying it as an adult but never did.

courtesy of pixabay

To connect with my character Emilia, who was inspired by Maria Teresa Agnesi, I tapped into the longing I felt as a young girl wanting to learn how to play the piano. I imagined that Emilia had a similar longing to play the harpsichord. And when Emilia suffers a terrible loss, she turns to composing music for consolation in the same way I sometimes do with writing. Emilia is a singer, too. I could relate to that since I sang in our church choir during my teen and young adult years. I used to make up my own songs, too, though I never wrote them down. In a way, writing Emilia’s story allowed me to indulge my fantasy of being a keyboard musician and composer.

(The following YouTube clip is a performance of Maria Teresa Agnesi's Overture II, Ulisse in Campania performed by La Donna Musicale. You can find it online here.)

Now for today's writing exercise:

Wednesday Writing Workout: 
Connecting with your Characters

Part 1: Make a list of your main character's personality traits.
Is she or he shy? Or outgoing?
Sensitive? Or thick-skinned?
(If you need help with this, check out this Big Long List of Personality Traits.)

Now, review the list and see if you can find any traits you share with your character.

Part 2: Make a list of your main character's interests, especially any that set her or him apart from what's typical. Does she like math? Does he like to design clothing?

Now, see if you have any interests in common. If not, can you give your character one of your traits or interests?

(If you come up empty with both parts, check out this article about "2 Simple Ways to Connect with Your Characters.")

When you're done, take a scene from your work-in-progress that's been giving you trouble and rewrite it with your new connections in mind. Then come back here and share your experience in the comments.

By the way: don't forget to do this exercise for your villains, too. If there isn't something about "the bad guy" that you can relate to on some level, your villain will likely come across as flat.

Some of you may have your own tips or tricks for connecting with your characters. If so, please share them in the comments.

And don't forget to enter to win a copy of Playing by Heart if you haven't already done so. Details in this post.

Remember, always Write with Joy!

Carmela

Playing by Heart Book Birthday Giveaway

Hello, all!

Tomorrow, Sept. 30, is the release date for my new young-adult historical romance, Playing by Heart (Vinspire Publishing)! We're celebrating here by giving away an autographed copy to one lucky reader! (You'll find the giveaway details at the end of this post.) This post is also the first in a three-part series related to the novel. And since today is Poetry Friday, I'm including below a poem with a connection to the book, too.

If you've been following our blog for some time, you may recall my post over two years ago about a novel I'd put in the proverbial "drawer" because I'd been told it wasn't marketable enough. Well, that novel was Playing by Heart. Fortunately, as I announced in January, I found a small publisher who liked the novel enough to take a chance on it. On Monday, I'll introduce you to Dawn Carrington, the editor who acquired Playing by Heart. She'll share a bit of Vinspire Publishing's history, as well as advice for aspiring authors on how to get published.

The editors and agents who rejected Playing by Heart told me it was because "young-adult historical is a tough sell." After studying the market, I realized that the YA historicals that sell well seem to incorporate fantasy, witches, secret societies, or a murder mystery. Playing by Heart has none of that. I'd thought my sales "hook" was that the novel is inspired by two amazing 18th-century sisters who were far ahead of their time, one a mathematician, the other a composer. (I've talked about those sisters, composer Maria Teresa Agnesi, and her older sister, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, here before.) I'm still hoping that fact will help draw readers to the novel and that once they start reading they won't want to stop. 😊

Here's a brief plot summary:

Emilia Salvini dreams of marrying a man who loves music as she does. But in 18th-century Milan, being the 'second sister' means she'll likely be sent to a convent instead. Emilia's only hope is to prove her musical talents crucial to her father's quest for nobility. First, though, she must win over her music tutor, who disdains her simply for being a girl. Too late, Emilia realizes that her success could threaten not only her dreams for her future but her sister's very life.

At its core, Playing by Heart is the story of two sisters struggling to follow their true callings at a time when women had little autonomy. And even though the novel is set over 200 years ago, the Salvini sisters face issues modern readers can relate to, such as coping with the pressure of parental expectations, living in the shadow of an older sibling, and finding true love.

Any of you who have your own novels or picture books sitting in a drawer can imagine how thrilled I am to see Playing by Heart finally published. (I was so excited when my copies arrived that I had my husband take a picture!) Someone recently asked me how long it took to write the novel. That's hard to answer because I didn't work on it consistently. I started the project in 2008 but I kept getting bogged down by research. Then, in January 2009, I banned together with a group of fellow SCBWI members to create our own version of NaNoWriMo, what we called our New Year/New Novel project, or NYNN, which rhymes with "win." (I blogged about that experience here.) Thanks to the support of the NYNNies, I managed to complete (a pretty horrible) first draft. But I don't think I had a polished manuscript until September 2011. That's when I started submitting it. As the rejections came in, I kept revising and submitting, sending the novel to editors and agents, and entering it writing contests (which I've also blogged about). But I eventually gave up and put Playing by Heart in a drawer sometime in 2014.

As excited as I was to finally sign a contract with Vinspire Publishing last year, I also had some misgivings about going with a small press. In particular, I was worried the trade journals wouldn't review the novel, which meant libraries would be reluctant to purchase it. I'm happy to report that the novel has been reviewed by Kirkus and Booklist. I'm especially pleased with what Booklist had to say. Copyright rules prohibit me from sharing the whole review here, but I can tell you that the reviewer called it a "sweet and pleasurable read," saying also:

"Martino's romantic read features lovable characters

and is vibrant in setting and detail."

                                                                   —Booklist

My publisher liked the Booklist review so much, they featured it in the book trailer they created:

(If you receive this post via email, you can find the video on YouTube here.)

I've got lots of other lovely review excerpts on my website, if you're interested.

Now, it's time for the book-related poem I promised. I've blogged here before about how Playing by Heart grew out of my research for a nonfiction biography of linguist and mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi. At one point I considered telling Agnesi's story as a series of poems. Today, I'll share one of those poems, written in the form of a tetractys. A tetractys is a five-line poem in which the syllables per line form the series 1, 2, 3, 4, 10. Agnesi was known for being fluent in seven languages, some said by age eleven. I haven't been able to verify that, but I wrote the following tribute anyway.

Finally, before I share the Giveaway Instructions, I want to invite you to two upcoming events celebrating the release of Playing by Heart:

• On Tuesday, October 17, the birthday of the amazing female composer who inspired the novel, I'll be hosting a Facebook Launch Party from 7-9 p.m. Central Time. I'll be giving away books and other prizes every 15 minutes, so you needn't attend the entire time to win something. Plus, since it's a virtual party, you can participate from wherever you have Internet access!
• On Saturday, October 28, at 2 p.m. I'll be signing at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville. I hope those of you in the Chicago area will stop by. But if you can't, do check out the other local "Upcoming Events" listed on my website. 

Now for the Giveaway Instructions:
To enter our drawing for a chance to win an autographed copy of Playing by Heart (Vinspire Publishing), use the Rafflecopter widget below. If the widget doesn't appear for some reason, click on the link you'll see in its place.

If you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of the message to access the entry form.

You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.
Please note: our options are slightly different this time. To enter via option 1, you need to use the link provided to subscribe to my creativity newsletter, which I typically send out once a month. The newsletter contains info about my publishing news, class offerings, and creativity tips/inspiration. After subscribing, be sure to watch for an email to confirm your subscription. If you already subscribe to my creativity newsletter, simply enter your subscription email address. You can see a sample of a recent newsletter here.

If you choose option 3, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY'S blog post below or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today! In your comment, tell us why you'd like to win Playing by Heart--is there a particular aspect of the story that interests you?

(If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Note: if you submit your comments via email or Facebook, YOU MUST STILL ENTER THE DRAWING VIA THE WIDGET BELOW.

The giveaway runs through Oct. 16 and is open to U.S. residents only.

P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.

Don't forget Poetry Friday. This week's roundup is hosted by former TeachingAuthor Laura Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids.

Remember, always Write with Joy!

Carmela

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Crafting Characters, Cover Reveal Giveaway, and a Tetractys Poem

Today, I wrap up our series on characterization and share an announcement about my book cover reveal giveaway. At the end of this post, I also include a poem in honor of one of the first female mathematicians of modern times.

While reading the previous TeachingAuthor posts on crafting character, I couldn't help thinking about how the advice applied to my process in writing my forthcoming young-adult novel, Playing by Heart, which is inspired by two amazing sisters who lived in 18th-century Milan. The novel grew out of my research for a nonfiction biography of linguist and mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi. Even though I have an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, I never heard of Agnesi until I came across her name in an article about little-known women of note. I think her story's a fascinating one, but I haven't found a publisher for it yet. However, one of the editors who rejected the biography suggested I write a novel about Maria Gaetana and her younger sister, Maria Teresa, who was one of the first women to compose a serious opera. That suggestion is what led me to write Playing by Heart. (If you'd like to read more about Maria Gaetana Agnesi, see this website I created.)

My first challenge in writing the novel was to decide on the point-of-view character. The obvious choice would have been Maria Gaetana--I identified with her love of math, and with being the firstborn and apple of her father's eye. But Maria's story felt almost too good to be true. Besides being a brilliant linguist and mathematician, she had a heart for social justice. After her father died, she rejected her celebrity status to devote her life to caring for the sick and homeless. When I read the Anne Lamott quote April shared about how characters shouldn't be too perfect because that makes them "fatally uninteresting," I thought immediately of Maria Gaetana. She struck me as "too good" to be my main character. I chose the "second sister" to be the narrator of my novel instead.

Because the true story of the Agnesi sisters' lives doesn't fit into a neat story arc, I decided the novel would be heavily fictionalized. One of my earliest tasks, then, was to choose character names. I asked myself the same questions JoAnn shared in her questionnaire: "What is your character’s name? Does she like it? What would she prefer? What does the name mean, and why was it given to the character?" Since Playing by Heart is set in 18th-century Italy, I had to research the naming conventions of that time and place to find the answers. I won't go into that process here, but I will say that I had very specific reasons for naming my main character Emilia Teresa Salvini and her older sister Maria Gaetana Salvini.

I also relied on research to help me identify the details that would not only bring the story to life but also reveal the inner character of these people, as Carla described in her post. And, like Bobbi, I had to unearth "the emotional truth" beneath all the facts in my research. Ultimately, that's what allowed me to do what Esther recommended in her post: put elements of my story into the story of the Salvini sisters.

There's one other character-building technique I use that wasn't really discussed in any of the other TeachingAuthor posts. I'm a visual learner, so to tell my characters' stories, I need to be able to see them in my mind. Early on in the process, I look for images in books, magazines, and online to represent my characters. (I mentioned this before in this blog post.)

Coincidentally, we just finalized the cover art for Playing by Heart. I'm grateful that the publisher asked for my input regarding how I'd like to see my main character portrayed. Even so, it was a bit of a shock when I saw the initial cover mockup. The Emilia Salvini on the cover bore little resemblance to the young woman in the image I'd used for myself--that of an Italian actress dressed in costume for a musical set in 17th-century Milan.

After the shock wore off, though, I decided the cover representation was an appropriate one. I'm now looking forward to finding out how potential readers respond. In fact, I'll be celebrating a special
Cover Reveal Giveaway next week to elicit reader feedback. Unfortunately, I don't have copies of the book to give away yet--it releases from Vinspire Publishing on September 30. Instead, the prize will be a custom book bag bearing the Playing by Heart cover image on one side and containing Playing by Heart bookmarks and a special heart keychain. I'll email the contest details to my Creativity Newsletter subscribers in a few days. This will be a special edition of the newsletter, which normally goes out about once a month and contains creativity tips and quotes along with news about my books and classes. If you're interested, I invite you to sign up for the newsletter on my website (in the right sidebar).

Since I can't show the prizes without giving away the cover, I've created a cover reveal "teaser" that includes a snippet from the Playing by Heart cover:

If you want to see the full cover, be sure to sign up for my Creativity Newsletter on my website!

Before I share my poem for today, I want to announce that I'll be giving two presentations at the Catholic Writers Guild (CWG) Live Conference being held just outside Chicago in Schaumburg, IL July 18-21. In the first session, I'll be discussing "Turning Life into Fiction." The second will be a team presentation with two fellow authors on "Writing Fiction that Engages Teens and Tweens." You can find conference details and a link to the schedule here.

Now for today's poem. While working on the biography of mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi, I wrote a tetractys in her honor. A tetractys is a five-line poem in which the syllables per line form the series 1, 2, 3, 4, 10. My tetractys in honor of Agnesi salutes her three callings as a linguist, mathematician, and humanitarian over her 81-year lifespan, and is in the shape of a right triangle.

Be sure to check out the complete Poetry Friday roundup at A Year of Reading.

Remember to Write with JOY!
Carmela