A Melodious Sonnet

Do You Have Characters Acting Out of Character?

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Recently, I watched a ‘40s film of Pride and Prejudice. Near the middle of the movie, Elizabeth was visiting Mr. and Mrs. Collins. Earlier in the film, hints had been made as to what Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s personality was like, but it wasn’t until now that I actually got to meet her. Her personality was just as bad as it had been portrayed earlier—proud, arrogant, haughty—everything you wouldn’t want to find in a new acquaintance.

Lady Catherine and Elisabeth

by C.E. Brock [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Later in the film, she is shown as coming to see Elizabeth, trying to force her to promise never to marry Mr. Darcy. Of course, by this time Elizabeth loves Darcy, even though there will probably never be a way to have that love reciprocated. In the end Elizabeth refuses, and Lady Catherine leaves in an apparent huff.

The next scene made me raise my eyebrows. The movie portrayed her going out to see Mr. Darcy, who apparently put Lady Catherine up to it to find out if Elizabeth really loved him or not. Lady Catherine gives him the affirmation he wants and he goes in to propose to Elizabeth, while she drives off in apparent good humor, well satisfied with finally bringing the two together in the end.

On the surface, this may be the perfect ending to the story—but how the two got together in the end really bugged me.

The problem was that Lady Catherine was acting out of character. Majorly.

The problem originated in the fact that Lady Catherine is shown in previous scenes to have had strong family ties. She wanted Darcy to marry her daughter, not this Elizabeth who had very low social ties. She was shown as willing to go to all ends to achieve her means. So she wouldn’t have wanted to help Darcy in any way.

For the movie, it worked alright—the story was able to resolve much more quickly than in the book. But as far as portraying real characters, it fell short.

In real life, Lady Catherine de Bourgh does question Elizabeth—and tell Mr. Darcy of the results, in an attempt to keep him from courting her. Her words had the opposite effect of what she desired, though.

I want to be sure my characters don’t act out of character. I do find it difficult to spot it in my own writing, but in one place of a recent novel, my editor picked up on one instance—that I’m currently trying to correct.

Have you ever noticed similar deficiencies in characters? When was the last time you caught characters acting out of character?

Midweek Mix-Up: Mud Flats and a POW

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Welcome to this week’s midweek mix-up! I enjoy putting these together, although sometimes life does not allow that to happen. I hope you enjoy them, anyway, when I do get them up!

What I’ve been reading lately:

The Sound of Diamonds, by Rachelle Rea

The Sound of Diamonds, by Rachelle Rea
Progress: Finished.

I ended up mostly enjoying this book. While I didn’t appreciate the romance as much, I loved reading about the time period and seeing all the historical tidbits through the story. I’ll be writing a full review to post on my personal blog soon.

In the Presence of Mine Enemies, by Howard and Phyllis Rutledge

In the Presence of Mine Enemies, by Howard and Phyllis Rutledge
Progress: Finished.

I loved this book! Although it does have some adult content, it was spiritually very encouraging and I loved the historical value of the book—as well as getting a glimpse into what the daily life of a POW is like. I’ll be posting a full review of this book on the site sometime in September or October, Lord willing. (Please note that this book includes some adult content, all in relation to the way the Vietnamese treated their prisoners. It is not a suitable read for children.)

What I’ve been doing lately:

As a family, we just got back from a fun trip with our aunt who is currently visiting us! We went up to the north part of the island we live on, and had a wonderful week of exploration, walking, fascinating history, and family time.

That view!

Right: One of the gorgeous views we were treated to along the mudflats at Farewell Spit.
Left: One of my brothers trying to hide from the camera.

 

New books on the website this week:

See more of our most recent books here!

Resource of the week:

I’ve recently come across AppSumo, a site that highlights good deals or freebies of truly useful things. Not too long ago, they had Scrivener for less than half it’s normal price on there. Then soon after, they had a freebie offered of Joseph Michael’s Learn Scrivener Fast course. Just yesterday, I got an email offering Workflowy Pro for free for a year. I’d highly recommend you sign up for their email newsletters (which you can do either by creating an account through “login > not a member yet” or by “claiming” a freebie)—this is a resource worth keeping.

Creating Beautiful Descriptions Using Coffee Table Books

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I was recently flipping through a coffee table book about tigers, studying the different pictures. Interspersed throughout the book were pictures of native people, their ways of life, their religious beliefs, and their surroundings. Not many—the book was mainly about tigers, how they live, and how they’re endangered (I didn’t appreciate most of that last theme, but that’s beside the point). But there were a good number of “other” pictures.

Creating Beautiful Descriptions Using Coffee Table Books

Photo courtesy of Pixabay/Sponchia | License: CC0 1.0

Then it hit me: This would be a fantastic way to research the country a story is set in! This particular book had India, Thailand, and possibly other Southeast Asia countries as well.

Some of the pictures covered major crops, normal clothing styles, shamans (witch doctors), Buddhist temples, landscapes, the resident’s problems with native animals, and much more.

I have a hard time visualizing my characters, their setting, and the landscape around them. I know not all writers are like me, and I’m glad of that. But for those of us that struggle this way, perhaps this is a way to overcome it—visually.

Next time I’m attempting to describe a country, I’m going to find one of these picture books for adults and indulge in some beautiful descriptions.

Do you struggle with creating good descriptions? Have you ever used coffee table books this way before?

The Legacy We Leave

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Amy Carmichael was a remarkable woman. From the age of eighteen and on, after receiving a clear call to go work for the Lord, she devoted her life to bringing Christ to all those she met. She especially felt called to the poor, uncared for women in the countries she lived in throughout her lifetime.

From her mid twenties and on, she struggled with sickness—sometimes laying her so low she could not rise from her bed for weeks on end. Yet even in those “lowest of the low” times, she did all she could to enlighten the Western world to the great needs of those around her, and she still continued to do her best to love, care for, and help all the needy who called her “mother”. She always pressed on in her work, even when her body was failing her. She allowed nothing to get her down.

Amy left a legacy that has come down to us over the years: Perseverance. And yet, as I see the life I’m leading, I have to ask myself: When I’m on my deathbed, perhaps saying the last goodbye to my grandchildren, what will they remember me for?

Will they remember me as a happy, interested friend, or as a sober, aloof figure called “family”? Will I be remembered as pushy? Greedy? Unthoughtful? Wasteful?

Amy is remembered for giving her all—can I ever hope to attain to any level of that ideal?

Not that we want to glorify her in anyway—no. I believe that without Jesus she never would have done half the amount she did do. But she did leave us a beautiful illustration of what happens when Jesus fills all, does all, and we allow ourselves to be simply His servants.

May we ever remember that we are leaving our fingerprints on the lives of others—and ask the Lord to help us leave the best legacy we can for those who will come after.

Why We Need to Read Poetry — and a Lot of It!

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Last evening, we were discussing poetry as a family. Dad admitted he loves poetry—which is rare for him, since he hardly has time to read anything other than the Bible. We were discussing different poems—some of the more famous ones like The Song of Hiawatha, Paul Revere’s Ride, and Barbara Freitchie. That last one was one we couldn’t quite put a name to, so in the end Mom got one of our poetry books and read it to us while we ate supper!

Why We Need to Read Poetry — and a Lot of It! (picture)

Photo courtesy of Pixabay/Oldifan | License: CC0 1.0

Poems are a needful addition to everyone’s lives. The rhythm, speech, and emotions are sometimes even more beautiful than a fiction novel.

Poems tell stories—stories that gracefully flow in harmonious melody, sometimes sad and sometimes joyfully.

Poems bring out emotions in us that we rarely acknowledge any other way.

Poetry is powerful.

Here are some reasons why you need to read poetry to your children:

  1. Poems develop great language skills. I’m continually in awe at those who can weave such beautiful pictures with a few words—and Lynley Dodd is a great example of introducing youngsters to big(ish) words.
  2. Poetry lightens moods—there’s just something happy about the rhythm of poems.
  3. Poetry teaches great reading aloud skills. Poems are naturally compelling in that they make you want to add greater or lesser emphasis to different parts. By having your child read them aloud, they can learn to read other writings more expressively as well.

Poems are beautiful—pictures of gold made out of twenty-six letters. Your home is missing a lot if you don’t have poetry once in a while.

What are some of your family’s favorite poems?

Some of our favorites include:

  • Sick, by Shel Silverstein (I could hardly get through reading this out loud the first time, because Mom was laughing too hard!)
  • Homework! Oh, Homework!, by Jack Prelutsky
  • Daddy Fell Into The Pond, by Alfred Noyes
  • The Parsnip, by Ogden Nash
  • Experiment Degustatory, by Ogden Nash