Realistic Fiction

Okay so I have this story and I need to find ways to keep it moving. Its realistic fiction about a girl who's dad commits suicide. Its from her brother's PoV and he is telling the story so if she is still grieving about her dad's death maybe some one else can help her in ways she couldn't. Jace, her brother, is worried about his sister, Jezabel because she believes her dad was murdered and he's afraid she is going to do something rash to make the police believe her. Jezabel starts to have nightmares about her dad's death and is trying to think of ways he died.

I'm not sure if I will continue this but for now I need tips on how to make both Jezabel and Jace realistic. And on how to keep it going, if that makes sense.
~peanut~

Hey there!

It seems you have a few questions piled into one here, so I'll try to answer them all.

To make characters realistic, you need to know everything about them. What they eat, wear, even how they talk. Be a people stalker! Next time you're on the train, bus or the doctor's, take a notebook. Write down a rough outline of the people you see, like:

"There's a young guy sitting next to me munching cheese and onion crisps loudly. He wears white trainers, a sickly green T-shirt, deep red shorts and a baseball cap. He's reading the Wall Street Journal."

Observing ordinary people and writing what we call character sketches will help you to pick up on interesting habits and idiosyncrasies you can insert into your writing. Alternatively, try this exercise, from Cathy Birch's book Awaken the Writer Within. When you're observing a person:

1. Note three things you know about them (straight observations).
2. Note three things you feel about them (gut reactions).
3. Note three things you imagine about them.

Birch says in her book: "These notes represent your reactions to the person on three different levels, from here and now 'reality' to pure fantasy, which all originate in your subconscious. Even in 'straight observation,' your choice of things was influenced in this way... You now have nine observations on which to base a fictional character." Cool, eh?

To keep the story going:

TRUST THE STORY.

I find a good story will write itself. It's like a pet: you might want to keep it in check, but really just let it do its own thing. You might want to keep an ideas box stashed away in case you really have a creative drought. An ideas box is basically just an ordinary shoebox filled with random stuff: newspaper cuttings, thoughts, jokes, anything that you might think is useful, but not right now. That way, if you get stuck, you can rummage through the box and see if anything sets you off. Who knows, you might surprise yourself.

Hope this helps. Good luck!



Gahks