7 Tips to Writing Characters with Anxiety

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

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A few disclaimers here because we’re heading into delicate territory again. Eh, I’m just copying and pasting here.  I am not an expert on mental health by any means.  I read up on it and have my own experiences to work off, which is what fuels these posts.  Also, I always try to add some humor into my posts, especially the 7 Tip Lists.  I find that humor can relieve tension and allow for serious stuff to be listened to and swallowed more easily.  So, let’s get to this one . . . Okay . . . Yup . . . Staring it now . . . I’m really twitchy about this one because I’m not striking close to home. I’m hitting the roof dead center.

  1. Like depression and sadness, be careful using anxiety as a synonym for nervous or mixing the two up.  This can be done and I do it a lot too.  A person can be momentarily anxious and that’s fine.  When it comes to the mental illness, it’s much heavier and long-lasting.  A character with anxiety will see a small problem and have a reaction that one could say is ‘too big’ for it.  For example, maybe they are texting back and forth with a friend, but there is a sudden stop.  An anxious person will fixate on it for hours and imagine that they offended the friend, something bad happened, or any number of horrible ideas.  The possibility of the friend being busy, showering, bathroom, phone losing power, or anything innocent doesn’t click very often.
  2. Anxiety can make for awkward social situations, which may be tempting to play up for laughs.  It’s easier to do it for this than depression because people may focus on the physical side to the anxiety issue.  They may flail while babbling or comically rush out of the room in some fashion.  If this is the tone of the story then it can work since the character isn’t the only one being the source of humor.  If they’re the only ones that it happens to then you may want to rethink things.
  3. Panic attacks are a thing and they aren’t pretty.  Stereotypically, it’s shown as hyperventilating and nearly passing out.  There can be more to it and the severity isn’t always the same.  Chest pains, rabid heartbeat, chills hot flashes, and trembling show how some are visible and some are internal.  If the attack reaches the point where the character has limb spasms because of the shaking or even locking up entirely then it shows the severity.  Another symptom is itching, which I’ve noticed getting used in a few recent shows and animes.  The more anxious the character gets, the more vicious the scratching.
  4. Unlike depression, a character with anxiety can voice a source even if it’s something that isn’t a big problem.  The point is that they are worrying about whatever it is that has set them off.  It could be a clear issue like fighting with a loved one or needing to pay bills.  Yet, it can just as easily be that they have a small pain in their arm and start thinking they’re about to have a heart attack.  Could also be the wrong arm for that or it’s clear to everyone else that it stemmed from earlier physical exertion.  Again, a person with anxiety has a high chance of overreacting.
  5. Anxiety hampers the decision-making process.  Once you go past the level of thinking clearly, you can’t immediately reel it in.  So, these characters may have trouble acting under pressure.  They can lock up or focus on a small part of the problem instead of the overall issue.  Yes, the red button to save the world is in the locked safe and it’s good that you know this, but there’s also a fire-breathing dragon, lasers, and a very angry leprechaun that we have to handle first.  Anyway, these characters may be snapped back to attention in some fashion, but it isn’t easy and you need to have them work up to this.
  6. These characters don’t always have to be hyper and constantly talking when they’re really anxious.  In fact, there’s a higher chance of them turning inward because their thoughts are racing.  They are stuck in the avalanche of paranoid thoughts that they no longer realize what is going on around them.  This is not something that should be played up constantly, but it is a possibility.  Don’t use the anxiety to routinely sideline the character for the majority of scenes.
  7. You will probably be tempted to have other characters attempt to calm the anxiety one down.  Go for it, but decide on which tactics will work.  Slapping and being aggressive probably won’t help.  If anything, it will make the panic attack worse because now they’re upset that they made their friends mad.  Positivity without any meat such as inspirational sayings or mindless cheerleading will fall on deaf ears or irritate.  At least, I think they would, so feel free to ignore that one.  Personally, I think having a character softly and gently coax the anxious one out of the attack is the best thing to do if you want interaction.  Physical contact isn’t necessary, but an acknowledgement of emotions and slowly talking them out of the spiral can help even if it takes a lot of time.
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Going from Inspiration to Inception

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Very cool post.

Staci Troilo's avatarStory Empire

Ciao, SEers. Last time it was my turn, I wrote about the first step in writing your masterpiece—idea generation. Some would argue that’s the most important part. Without that initial spark of creativity, wherever it comes from, there’s no story. But is it the most crucial part? That’s hard to say. If the spark can’t be developed past its initial interesting premise, it’s no more than a compelling tidbit. It may eventually inspire something larger or become a scene in a fully fleshed-out work, but on its own, it’s useless. By all means, save it in your inspiration file, but don’t waste your time trying to turn it into something it can never be.

Easier said than done, I know. If you liked it enough to write it down, you won’t want to give up on it. So, how can you tell if it’s worth working on?

Let me…

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The Big 4-0

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

We interrupt Immortal Wars: The Summoning to bring me a break because it’s my birthday.  I’m 40, which means:

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7 Tips to Writing Characters with Depression

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

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A few disclaimers here because we’re heading into delicate territory.  I am not an expert on mental health by any means.  I read up on it and have my own experiences to work off, which is what fuels these posts.  Also, I always try to add some humor into my posts, especially the 7 Tip Lists.  I find that humor can relieve tension and allow for serious stuff to be listened to and swallowed more easily.  Finally, this is about actual depression and not a character simply feeling sad or upset.  That brings us right to #1!

  1. Depression does not always, in fact it rarely, has a direct source.  Your character can simply go into a depressed state or be there the entire time.  Of course, it can be triggered by something, but it doesn’t always have such a direction.  Good chance that they can’t even explain it.  After all, if you can clearly explain what is causing the problem then it’s much easier to fix.  Wouldn’t that be a nice addition to the depression diagnosis.  Make my life easier.
  2. You really need to make sure that you don’t equate depression with simply being sad.  A character can use the term since people do, but you need to remain aware of what this condition is.  It is INTENSE sadness with a sense of worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness.  You feel like the world is crushing you or that it would be better off without you.  This is debilitating and it lasts for days or weeks or months or years to the point where life is difficult.
  3. Remember the symptoms for your character, but they don’t have to be imbued with everything off the list.  Trouble sleeping and low energy can be there, but maybe they mask their depression with a false sense of optimism.  Having a hard time focusing, being irritable, eating disorders, and an inability to gain pleasure or happiness from stuff are possibilities too.  If you slap everything on your character and them handling their depression isn’t the main part of the story then you’re going to run into a lot of obstacles.  So, consider what the story is before you decide on the degree.
  4. For the love of everything, don’t have the character snap out of their depression because a person gave them a pep talk.  That really doesn’t work.  Maybe it gets them to acknowledge the problem and get help, which is a good thing.  On the other hand, it can just as likely make a person feel like they’re not being understood or even mocked, so they curl even further inside themselves.
  5. If you aren’t sure if something falls under depression or not then either do some research or skip it.  This is like any other delicate situation that you’re including in your story.  Sure, instinct and common sense can work if you’re able to imagine what it would be like for yourself.  I do that with some of my things after reading up on the basics and factoring in my personality.  Still, you want to be careful since people will look at this character very closely.
  6. Depression does not mean the character is useless, but good luck getting them to believe that.  They will have moments where they cannot function and may fail because of their depression, which will make things worse.  They can also have times when they save the day and remain depressed.  This is the nature of the illness.  A step forward can have absolutely no effect on their mental state while even a perceived stumble is the equivalent of stepping on somebody’s newborn baby.  Not that thought specifically, but depressed people focus more on what they do wrong than what they do right.
  7. It’s very tempting for some people to use characters like this for humor or to play the ‘negative’ role.  Yes, a person with depression can be a pessimist because they have trouble seeing the positive side of things.  This isn’t always the case.  A depressed character can also be shy and only speak when they muster up a lot of courage to voice their opinion.  There’s a fear of rejection here that can be played out and create sympathy here.  Again, it also depends on personality because some may be more chatty and open because they’re hiding their pain.
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Teaser Tuesday: This Ends Now #fantasy #adventure

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

One of my favorite scenes from Legends of Windemere: The Compass Key!

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

“And so we come to the end!” the Lich declares from his low balcony. He grins at his enemies as they step out of the stairwell and into the brightly lit basement. Leaning on the marble railing, the necrocaster calmly eyes the unknown face among the heroes. “Are you going to introduce yourself, new champion?”

“I’m Delvin Cunningham,” the warrior says to the Lich’s surprise.

Nyx swats her friend in the arm and glares at him. “Why did you answer him? Never tell the undead monster what he wants to know.”

“Well he asked and it isn’t like my name is a secret,” Delvin responds with a shrug. He turns back to the Lich and smiles warmly. “Would it be possible for you to hand over our friend and let us leave? We’ve caused you so much trouble that it seems smarter to give us Sari and call it a day.”

“You’re an interesting one,” the rotting creature laughs. He wipes away nonexistent tears before regaining his composure. “That would be easier, but I don’t have her.”

“Tell me where she is!” Luke roars.

The forest tracker steps toward his enemy and stops when several winged forms dart out from behind the necrocaster. Their emaciated bodies are held aloft by molting wings that lazily flap in the stale air. The creatures’ narrow eyes blindly scan the room as they groan in mild agony. Each one carries an ebony longbow and a quiver of arrows, but none of them are prepared to shoot. When Luke takes another step, one of the archer’s eyes burst open into orbs of pure white aura. In a fluid motion, it nocks an arrow and fires at Luke who jumps out of the way. The Lich swiftly holds up his hand to stop the creature from firing again.

“As I was saying, I don’t have your friend,” the necrocaster continues, gesturing to an ice-covered door in the corner of the balcony. “My . . . ally has her and he is the only one who can give her back. I’m sure he will get bored and return what’s left of her soon enough.”

“You’ve been demoted to a minion? How pathetic,” Nyx says with a sneer. She throws a small fireball at the frozen door, but it is dispelled in a puff of smoke.

“That is not normal ice,” Timoran whispers, eyeing the flying archers. “You should focus on those bowmen.”

The caster looks around the room, her eyes searching for anything suspicious. “I agree, but there’s something wrong. The Lich isn’t attacking. He should be sending the archers after us while he hurls spells.”

“I should be, but I want to savor this encounter,” their enemy answers from across the room. His boney fingers screech across the smooth railing, the noise painful to anyone with ears. “After all, it could be our final meeting. I’d hate to kill all of you without getting a chance to enjoy your banter and say good-bye.”

Delvin bows to the undead creature and draws his longsword. “Then we thank you for being a friendly host. It’s unfortunate that I met you so close to my demise. I’m sure we could have had some glorious battles.”

“Oh, I’m really interested in you,” the Lich hisses, his rotting tongue snaking out to lick his teeth. “Zeclobi! Appear and defend!”

Timoran and Delvin charge as Nyx tries to envelope the flying archers with a rolling wave of flames. All but one of the quick creatures dart under the spell and fire away at the caster, who covers herself in a glistening shield. She is about to hurl a lightning bolt when she sees a glimmer appear in front of Timoran. Changing the attack spell into a speed and strength enhancement, Nyx sprints forward to knock the barbarian to the side. He turns in confusion until he sees a scythe-like arm slash down at his friend. The caster’s magic bracelet jerks her arm up to block the attack, sending a numbing pain through her body. The towering, red-skinned creature growls at its frozen limb and raises its other bladed arm to strike.

“Thank you,” Timoran whispers. He returns the favor and blocks the razor sharp scythe with his great axe.

The Zeclobi steps back on hooved feet and tries to slam its solid, domed skull onto the barbarian. Timoran jumps back, taking Nyx with him and blocking several arrows as he leaps again. The monster dents the ground with its head and immediately rises to its full height without a sign of injury. More arrows fly at the barbarian, who leaps to the side with the caster tucked under his arm. He smiles as Delvin yells and waves his arms at the archers, getting their attention with a few crude insults.

“We need magic!” the brown-haired warrior yells while dodging and blocking arrows.

“I need a few more seconds to recover!” Nyx shouts back, cursing the bracelet’s magic-cancelling side-effect. She keeps flexing her fingers and focusing on making a spark. “At least we’re holding them back!”

“Where is Luke?” Timoran asks, noticing that the forest tracker is not flipping around the battle as usual. He glances at the stairwell to see that Luke is standing still, the half-elf’s rage-filled eyes locked on the Lich. The young warrior’s breathing is pronounced and his body is quivering. “What in all of Windemere is he doing?”

“What? Damn it, Luke!” Nyx screams as she feels her magic return. Slipping out of Timoran’s arms, she fills the air with lightning and has her spell chase the speedy archers around the ceiling. “Help us, Callindor!”

“This ends now,” Luke growls.

“Agreed,” the Lich responds from across the room.

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My Review of Grinders by C.S. Boyack

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Unknown's avatarDon Massenzio

I recently finished reading Grinders, by C.S. Boyack. I always look forward to reading new books by Mr. Boyack and I was not disappointed with this one.

The thing that struck me immediately was the mixture of imagination and possible natural evolution of the developments in both the environment and technology in the future. The book takes place in a future iteration of San Francisco which sees it’s citizens dealing with rising waters that cause them to live beneath the surface in some cases and deal with the effects of rising tides within the city.

The use of the ‘grid’ for the mobility of vehicles is ingenious even describing a sync with handheld devices to warn those absorbed in their cell phones (yes this is predicted to still be a thing in the future) that they are approaching traffic by sending a warning to their screens.

It’s these little touches…

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Do You Avoid or Tackle Mental Health Issues in Fiction?

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

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I bring up mental health a lot here.  Usually, it’s in regards to the topic itself and not connecting it to writing.  Well, I’m going to switch that up here.  Wednesday and Friday are going to be some 7 Tip lists for depression and anxiety in fiction while today is going to be more of an open forum.  The question:

Do you think mental health issues should be avoided or tackled in fiction, especially genres like fantasy?

Personally, I think it depends on the author.  You can’t force someone to include a subject or trait that they aren’t comfortable with.  They might know enough about the mental issue to use it, which means research is needed.  It could also be that they are afraid of offending a sufferer with an incorrect depiction or to trigger something.  Since we are talking about a sensitive situation, it’s totally understandable that one would feel this way.  Honestly, I don’t think it’s fair to attack an author who tries and fails to depict a mental health issue even if they were being a jerk about it.  Respond with a rational criticism and try to educate if possible.

That also brings me to the other side of the spectrum that I’ve seen.  Some authors will take the more sensational version of a mental health issue for dramatic effect.  Anxiety-riddled heroes who can barely get out of the house.  Depressives who cry every time they speak and are covered in self-inflicted scars.  OCD is a term that is flung around so casually that it loses all meaning to some people.  Don’t even get me started on dissociative identity disorder, which used to be split personality disorder . . . Mostly because I’m still not 100% sure on how to work this one.  Anyway, these extremes can exist in reality, but they aren’t always the case.  To make it look like this is the only way it can go can be upsetting to those who suffer in a different way.  Especially when your depiction causes readers to expect those extremes in sufferers, so they doubt the words of anyone suffering in any other way.

This really is a delicate topic to add into your stories.  With fantasy, I think there are magical ways to cushion the blow or explain why it isn’t widespread.  Kind of a big cop out there, but it’s something.  At least with the more severe mental illnesses because you have psychics, casters, and healers out there.  One thing that is a dangerous tactic here is to use mental health issues as ‘curses’.  It’s pretty easy to do and comes off like a good idea when it’s in an outline stage.  The brave hero is sudden afflicted by anxiety or depression or a phobia or OCD or any number of things.  Yet, this can backfire and come off as insulting because it makes the conditions appear evil.  They’re not.

As I continue writing, I’m considering adding some mental health issues into my stories, but I’m still twitchy on trying.  There is going to be an addiction subplot in one book series, which stems from severe grief and depression.  I don’t know if this counts since it’s a deep sadness with a source and not a depression with no clear catalyst.  Anxiety is one that I might consider more because I have a better idea of that one.  I guess another reason for me personally is that I really want to maintain the escapism and heavy topics like this can shatter that illusion if you’re not careful.  They won’t be the main focus of a story, so they’ll be there as subplots or character traits.  This kind of prevents me from tackling the really heavy ones because those need a lot of attention and focus.

Anyway, what do you think about this topic?  Also, if anyone ever wants to write up a guest post on a specific mental health issue then feel free to ask for a spot.  Awkward request, but I feel like I’m limited in experience and knowledge here.

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Today is the day

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories

I warned you about it on Friday, and the day is finally here. You can grab your copy of The Yak Guy Project for free today. To quote pop culture, “Free, free, free, free.”

This is my attempt to ease your isolation by offering something fun to read. I suppose you could grab a copy to read this Fall, too, if you want. Anyway, here is a cover and blurb, plus a purchase link.

Imagine waking up in the desert with no idea what happened to you. You have clear memories of situations and places, but a complete loss in personal matters… like your own name. This situation is bad, and you have no idea how to get home.

When you’re rescued by a talking yak, the situation gets exponentially worse. You’ve obviously lost your mind. The immediate needs of a ride off the salt pan and searing heat, along…

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Returning to Teaser Tuesday without a New Release

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

The above picture is what I got when I did a Yahoo Image Search for ‘Tough Call Meme’.  I laughed, so it stuck.  It doesn’t help me at all though.

I took some time this week to schedule enough Teaser Tuesday posts to get me to the end of May.  I had begun doing them for Legends of Windemere and stopped when War of Nytefall: Eradication came out to focus on that.  Well, I sold all of 5 copies of the latter, so I might as well jump back to the original plan.  Anyway, I’m posted all the way through Volume 12 and the final 3 with spin-off will carry me near the end of June.  It covers a lot of ground, but I have a problem.

All I’m doing is taking teasers from years ago and reposting them with some polishing on the introduction.  I have a lot of trouble figuring out what will and will not work in terms of teasers.  This means I’m going to have to junk the concept entirely if I can’t figure out new ones.  Yet, it’s really the only consistent promotional post that I have, so I would need to replace it with something equally useful.  No idea what that could be.

Character interviews?  Those never go well because most people don’t get involved.

Character profiles?  Done those several times and nothing new there.

Questions about my series or characters?  Maybe, but I find that I don’t get a lot of bites with this.  Same issue with the interviews.

Hate to say it, but I’m running out of faith and steam here.  Due to my schedule of work, parenting, and trying to be a human being, I get very little time to wander blogs.  I end up stumbling onto a lot of reblogs too, which causes trouble.  Through my phone, I’m not able to comment because it seems to believe that I’ve unfollowed most people.  Unless I can find it in the WordPress app, I can’t do anything and it’s been that way for nearly two years.  I don’t get to my laptop until the evening and we’re talking LATE.  I can’t spend the 1-2 hours I get going over blogs every night.  So, I’m not able to interact and that’s definitely hurting me.  The situation keeps getting worse, huh?

This is more of a rant post than anything else.  I can’t think of anything special to do with Tuesdays over the summer.  Even if I tack on Ichabod Brooks, Nytefall, and Bedlam, that only gets me into August and prolongs the inevitable.  Are there any scenes that people who have read my books want to see on here?  Any characters that they want to see get more attention?  I really can’t tell what works and what doesn’t anymore.  People seem much more interested in my Saturday rants and goals than anything relating to my actual books and the art of writing.  Be nice to get some feedback.  Thanks.

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Whisker Smile Wins Prestigious IBBY Award

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

Whisker Smile - Το Χαμόγελο της Γάτας | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's booksI had some great news a few days ago: my illustrator, Dimitris Fousekis, called me late at night, sounding really excited: our children’s book, Whisker Smile (available only in Greek for now) had won the prestigious IBBY award!

Whisker Smile is our second children’s book published in Greece by Patakis Publications.

What is the IBBY award?

IBBY is a non-profit organization that was founded in Zurich, Switzerland in 1953. Today, it is composed of 75 National Sections all over the world.

The Greek IBBY National Section is the Circle of the Greek Children’s Book, a non-profit, non-governmental cultural association, officially founded in 1969.

Today it has 347 individual members (writers, illustrators, translators, publishers, librarians, university professors, researchers, teachers, philologists, and psychologists). A seven-member Board elected biennially by the NS General Assembly administers it.

Congratulations to Dimitris Fousekis for his outstanding work. I’m thrilled that my story provided…

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