Western Romance in Full Color

by Lyn Horner

A couple years ago a good friend of mine, Sharla Rae, was preparing a blog post on the use of colors to draw readers into a book and help them "see" the characters and scenes clearly. She asked me to contribute a few short excerpts from my Texas Devlins books to help illustrate the point of her post. Today, I'd like to share those bits with y'all. See if you agree that colorful description makes a story more vivid.

From White Witch – on the night of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871:

Bright sheets of fire flapped in the air, frighteningly beautiful in hues of orange, gold and angry red. Flung out by the murderous blaze, burning debris scattered hither and yon, a threat Jessie constantly fought, using a blanket to smother cinders that fell on the wagon.

From Darlin’ Irish – in the Omaha Union Pacific depot

Finding a gap in the crowd, David caught sight of a red-faced young corporal. The trooper bobbed and weaved, arms raised to fend off blows being rained upon him by a woman in a brown poke bonnet. Her weapon was a heavy looking black reticule.

  

From Dashing Irish – At a Saturday night social, Lil’s view of a man she doesn’t like:

 

He was big, with strong, even features and shoulder-length blond hair. In his dark blue shirt with its fancy yellow piping, he was easy on the eyes. He was also vainer than a turkey cock. 

 

 

Also from Dashing Irish – Tye Devlin’s impression as the cattle drive nears Fort Worth:

 

Fort Worth rose against the warm, crystal-blue morning on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River.

 

From Dearest Irish – Jack is a blacksmith and cowboy on the Double C ranch

 

. . . [Rose] recognized Choctaw Jack by his long, midnight black hair, tied back with a leather thong at his nape, and by the healed red scar across his left shoulder blade. . . . Coated with sweat in the heat from the forge, his muscular arms and torso gleamed like molten copper.

 

Okay, readers, what do you think? Can you picture characters and settings better if an author describes them in color? Does it bother you when there isn’t enough color description? I'd love for you to share your thoughts.



Building a Hero

by Anna Kathryn Lanier

NOTE:  I'm detouring from the blog's normal 'western' theme the authors use here on Sweethearts of the West.  My life is still in chaos, but I do think I see light at the end of the tunnel (Hopefully by September!).  So anyway, I searched my files and found this blog post I've done on Roses of Houston before....it's how to build a hero.....mythical qualities your hero should have.  Read them and then please share how you've incorporated some of them into your hero (or heroine) - AKL

James Frey in THE KEY:  How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth tells how to build a hero.  He lists the time-tested qualities a hero should have and suggests that leaving out a few of these qualities is a kin to leaving out a few spark plugs when you do a tune-up on your car.  On the other hand, there is more to a hero than mythological motifs and heroic qualities.

A hero must also be “three-dimensional, interesting, passionate and dramatically driven.”

Frey’s list of myth-based heroic qualities are listed on pages 46-47 of his book, followed by a brief explanation.  I’m going to make the explanations even briefer, but based on what Frey wrote.

A hero must be or possess:

1)       Courage – readers are repelled by a hero who lacks courage.

2)      Cleaver and Resourceful – he does not need special knowledge. “In fact, it often helps the story if your clever and resourceful hero is lacking in the specific skills required by the situation.” A fish-out-of-water sort of thing.

3)      Special Talent – it does not necessarily have to be used in the course of her mission. Examples, according to Frey: photographic memory, psychic powers, tossing horseshoe ringers, picking winners at the track, growing prize winning flowers, shooting an arrow with amazing accuracy, talents of deduction to solve a crime.

4)      Is an “outlaw” – he plays by his own rules, not society’s.  Examples: Colombo, Scrooge, Michael Corleone, McMurphy (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).  If you don’t want an extreme ‘outlaw,’ he only needs to be rebellious.

5)       Good at what she does for a living – Scarlett O’Hara’s job at the beginning of Gone With The Wind is to attract beaus and she uses her charm to achieve her goal.

6)      The hero is the Protagonist – he takes the lead in the story.

7)      Has been wounded – the wound can be physical, psychological, spiritual, or social.  She is maimed, disgraced, or lost a loved one, for example.  Anything to cause suffering…the hero needs to suffer.

8)      Motivated by Idealism – He “is not motivated by selfish reasons, but sacrifices himself for the good of others.”

9)      Sexually Potent – Yeah, need I say more?

The above are qualities every hero should possess.  Below is a list of qualities he may possess, but doesn’t necessarily have to possess:

1)       Having Hubris – a big head (conceited)

2)      Stoical

3)      Loyal

4)      Sexually appealing

5)      Physically superior

6)      A special birth

7)      Have a special destiny

8)      Special brand—tattoo, birthmark, scar

9)      Sometimes cynical

10)   Mouthy or sharp-tongued

11)    A Flaw – though if he has a wound, a flaw isn’t really needed.

This is the inventory to get you started on creating your hero.  How will you use it to attract readers?

Resource: THE KEY: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth

By James N. Frey ISBN 0-312-30052-2

Anna Kathryn Lanier

www.aklanier.com  

http://annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com