Ah, the smell of rain in the air!
The feel of Jack Frost poking a toe into East Texas!*
The sight of...nonexistent subplots... >.>
You get the point. There is a lot involved in writing, and in the prep for writing especially. I've been working hard on all of it. (That or avoiding. What, you thought this blog post was just cause I love y'all? ...Well, I do. But don't be fooled! This is totally me in full procrastination mode.)
But the one thing I haven't worked on (or avoided, really) is my characters––their personalities and relationships with each other, at least. Because I really feel like I know them, even though all I've done is decide what they're going to be like, and make some of them music playlists. Barely any work. Maybe I'm totally wrong, and I'm actually really awful at characters. But at least I enjoy them. Characters really make a story for me. That and dialogue, but for the most part you can't pre-prep dialogue.
What's you're favorite part of writing? What do you think you do best? Are they one and the same?
I'm off to procrastinate with a new activity!
*Objects in photo are less existent than they appear.
Twin Moment of the Day: We both took lovely walks today.
On my Mind: Should he be blonde/black/brown???? Character descriptions.
Listening to: "Masquerade" by the Backstreet Boys (It's actually one of the theme songs for Defiance, so it's been on repeat.)
Grateful for: RAIN! Temps below 60 F!
Wanting to: Nom on some chocolate
Writing: Prepping Defiance for NaNo
I'm Constance. The Texan Twin. I love three things: my Twin, writing, and chocola––no, wait. I love more than three. I love...
Hi! I'm Maggie. I love and enjoy so many things, I won't be able to fit them all in one about-me. I'll start with I'm a dancer...
9 epic comments:
Helllllo. LOL we're feeling the cold front here in NE Texas,too. I wore a parka to school since my school has outdoor hallways. ._. Yeah.
I don't really "work" on my characters, either. If anything, all I do is either daydream while walking down the hallways or during boring lectures and piece together their identities bit by bit. It's a slow process but I think I'm done with establishing all the significant characters and their quirks.
...I haven't done much sub-plotting, either. I mean, I know how it's gonna begin and how it's gonna end, but that's preeetty much it. (I do know that there's gonna be a lot of action and intrigue. ...and angst, of course.)
My favorite thing about writing is just putting on those headphones, pulling up Microsoft Word and the iTunes playlist for my WIP, and just GO-GO-GOing. No interruptions, no doubts and restrictions...just letting loose and letting words appear on the page. I call it fast-drafting...and I THINK I'm good at it? lol.
I like writing. :)
@Lyla - I love the cold! All I want is it to get colder... But I don't have my hopes up.
Exactly! I took a nice long walk yesterday, and I was listening to the playlist I made for my MC, and I just thought about her. I think it really helped. :)
Yeah, I know all that. But I really think working out some of my subplots is important... So I don't get all distracted-ified. O_o
I know what you're talking about; that's definitely fun. :)
WHOA. No way. You like... writing?! Whoda thunkit? xD
Well, you know, Twin, not everyone works the same way. Maybe you don't NEED to plan your characters? Maybe you're one of those lucky people that have characters waltz into their heads on their own, fully formed and ready for action?
Personally, I enjoy writing all about my characters and what they look like, because I'm visual, and writing those words helps make my idea of them stronger. All of my very best characters are the ones I planned all the details for (She loves strawberry jelly better than raspberry. Her favorite color is orange.) But maybe that's not how you work! So don't sweat it. Just WRITE it. :)
And I've been told I do worldbuilding well. *shrug* I can't see it in my own writing, but as long as other people are happy, I'm good. I agree with you as far as LOVING characters, and I LOVE making them and getting to know them... but I don't know if it's necessarily my talent area.
@Twin I can hope that's the case, right? And I do have to write some stuff down. Like, their physical description. I have very detailed ideas of their personalities and the reason behind their personalities, etc, but I don't ever know what my characters look like until I think about it specifically. The most I get is something about their looks that is caused by their personality(for an obvious example, a nerd wearing glasses type thing).
But I'm not terribly worried, cause I know it'll all come to me. It's more that NaNo is such a short timeframe, I don't want to have to waste my time staring like I usually do. :P
I wouldn't know, all I've read of yours was a short story. *pointed look* ;) But I wouldn't be surprised.
Yeah, at this point all I know is what I enjoy the most. No one has read my work to tell me if I'm actually GOOD at something. Well, André did, but that doesn't count.
*trumpet blare* NOVELLA COMMENT!
Anchorage is 36˚F currently... =/ *liked it when it was above 40˚* Anyway.
Umm...I first conceived The Night as a plot--I just knew that my world had two kinds of abilities, it would be allegorical, and it was going to be a trilogy. So the characters were basically just pawns to play out what I needed them to do(and at the time, there were only three POV characters. Taeon didn't appear until Ch 18 of 21, and his personality was ANGRY FACE...apathetic face...ANGRY FACE. And Ghale DID NOT EXIST. O_O).
But then I had a really epic dream that created a character whose story I needed to tell, and I added him in a later book, making it a four-ish book series. Then two more characters came to me with their story, adding more books. And then their story made a third character appear. So it all came together at seven books, and I was happy. Seven being my favorite number, and all, right above three.
But my original three POV characters were still pawns. They were very volatile with their personalities--they each had maybe one or two things that I knew about them, and that was it. This led to MUCH angst and frustration, for quite a while. But in this rewriting process, I've gotten to know them much, much better. I've got their personalities down to the smallest detail, and I can tell you how they react to anger, to sadness, to fear, ect. (Really, I can, I had this long conversation with Renée about it, and that convo really helped me fully nail down who they were.)
So! Yes. For a long while, I thought I was terrible at characters, but really, I just needed to go into creating my stories with a character focus, more so than a plot focus. Because my plots always come together anyway. Speaking of plots, I've never actually planned any subplots. Like...ever. I just write and dream about the story and add the worst complications I can think of. XD
As for what I'm good at, umm...you tell me? *heh* I'd like to think I'm solid at dialogue, and I think my worldbuilding is okay most of the time, but...yeah, I'm not sure. I know I've had lots of trouble with conveying emotions in the past, and I don't know how well I've fixed that problem, haha.
Good luck with NaNo! *says this for selfish reasons* =P
Holy crap, that was even longer than I thought it would be. The header may be more accurate as '*trumpet blare* OPUS COMMENT!'
@Teo - O_O No...no Ghale? And...Taeon... *decides I'm glad that didn't stay as was*
Man, I wish I had a Renée to talk stuff through with... *looks around* Oh, look, a Twin! *pulls Maggie over* xD
I've been doing prep stuff all day, and I've come to the conclusion that I shan't do any subplots. I mean, I might lay out some just to have it straight in my head, but I'm not elaborating on them or anything.
Man! You're really good at adding terrible complications. :P
*thinks about what you're good at* *thinks harder* *thiiiiiinks* Kidding. ;P I do like your dialogue and your worldbuilding. :) *makes note to look out for emotion portrayal in reading of pt 2*
Thanks! You're a truly supportive friend. xD
...Yup, that was a pretty long comment, Teo. *cringes at also-long response*
My favorite part of writing…my favorite part of writing…hmm. Probably characters—mainly putting them through trials, because I'm evil like that and like to make them squirm. XD As for what I feel I'm best at…editing? I really haven't written enough to know.
Also, I never realized this before—I started out better at characters, and Amanda started out better at plot. Now she's better at both. XP But sort of.
@Constance – Oh, and I take all the credit for Ghale. I told Amanda that Taeon needed a Sam to his Frodo, and so, Ghale was born. You're welcome. XD (I didn't write him, or come up with his personality, name, or description, so I suppose Amanda should get some credit….)
@Renée - Making characters squirm IS terribly fun. =D I wouldn't doubt that you're awesome at editing. ^_^
But from what I hear, you helped her get there!
*showers you with gifts* I'm glad. I LOFF Ghale. <3 ...Maybe she should get a lil' bit, at least for the name. xD
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