Characters

So, how do these strange people come into existence?

Some people say that they burst into their minds, demanding that their story be told. Others have carefully crafted their characters to fit into the plot. But this, of course doesn't speak for everyone. There are undoubtedly endless ways for characters to be created. Maybe he or she started as a mere notion of a person, just knowing that they really liked dogs or something. Or maybe you saw some random person and liked the way they looked or acted and wanted a character that mirrored that, and so started to work on this character, possibly without even a story in mind.

To me, I believe that characters are wonderful, sometimes strange things. They are moldable, but not overly so. They are undoubtably their own person and cannot be overly changed into you're ideal character because you simply can't. Just like you can't just change the way your next door neighbor is like.

And as for how I create them, well, I think that's putting it too strongly, cause it doesn't often feel like I created them. Sometimes, it's the character that comes to me first, I get a feeling of what they're like, what their background and circumstances are and a vague notion of what their story (plot) might be. Like they are a person I am just getting to know. But for some reason, the characters that come to me this way are the ones that are jotted down in a journal and then forgotten about.

But then there are the other characters. These ones are birthed from the idea of a plot or world I have been thinking about. It almost feels like the character is coming to me, saying that he is the character in that story I've been thinking about. These are the characters whose stories get written, unlike the others.

But even then, sometimes it's wrong. Sometimes, it seems like I'm forcing my character to be someone they're not. This makes them very hard to write. And as I stop and start writing these stories it's like they reveal themselves more and more before they finally become who they were supposed to be all along, not the image I had in the beginning, but something totally different and unexpected. For some reason I fight this sometimes, believing that if I change the characters attitude or opinion to something else they just won't be who they were supposed to be. In these instances, I'm usually always wrong.

But these characters, even though they were born from the story and world, these stories are hugely character driven. The story simply wouldn't work if that character was replaced with someone else or if any one thing about them were changed. In these stories the character is equally as important (sometimes more so) as the plot.

So, how are your characters created? Do the characters influence you're stories or the other way around? Are they closer to people or tools in your eyes?

Author Names

It's probably way to early to be thinking about anything like this, but for a year or so now I've had an idea for my published author name. It's pretty much a shortened version of my real name but I like it. The only thing that keeps making me doubt it is that maybe it sounds a bit girly and that would make some people hesitate from picking up a book under such a name or buy it.

The name I have in mind is Tay Lyee Rose.

Is that too girly or something? Would you pick up a book by that author?

See, I didn't have much of a problem using that name before but then I read some stuff about how the author name may stop people from buying a book. And then I got to thinking, 'Oh great, my name sounds really girly doesn't it. Maybe I should change it.' But I don't really want to change it.

And are author names really that important? Because I haven't ever not bought a book just because the name of the author who wrote it. In my view, the name of the author has nothing to do with the content of the book, even if it's not their real name. In fact, I think it's kinda cool to write under a pseudonym as opposed to your real name.

So what do you guys think? Would a certain author name stop you from buying a book? How important do you think the authors name really is when it comes to selling?

Planning Progress

I have made much progress since deciding to get down and actually try to plan The Chronicles. I have finally - finally - figured out why the villain guy is after the MC specifically and not just finding someone else, that's been one of the largest holes in my plot that I've found so far and I had absolutely no idea how to fix it.

What's funny though is that I did not figure it out while actively trying to figure out that particular plot hole. I had been trying to figure out the process the villain used to become the villain that he is. Doing this has resulted in a new kind of magic for the book (one which I am excited about) and a whole system of stuff that has filled another small plot hole that I know of. While I was writing about this new kind of magic it suddenly hit me that this new kind of magic is what makes the MC so special and why the villain is after him and not someone else.

I really wish that I could tell you guys everything about this book because I'm so excited about it but I'm afraid to because I wish for this stuff to be published some day. And I'm a little bit wary about sharing my ideas on the vast interwebs where anyone in the world can see them. I hope you guys understand :]

Anyways, so far planning has been going good, still have tons of other things to plan though, like where in the fantasy world the events of this story take place but. . . I'm a little less daunted now! Though due to a certain fanfic that someone pointed out, the planning may go a bit slower because that story is just so addicting and hilarious! If anyone likes Harry Potter fanfic, try reading that, it's one of the best I've read in a long while.

And thank you guys for the advice last post! It helped me out and kept me from mentally drowning in the innumerable things about this story that are just overwhelming my mind :)

I am DROWNING

Well, I have to say I thought I would've been ready to start writing by the beginning of this month but I'm not. And while I would like to say this sorta sucks, well. . . it kinda doesn't. Because were I to start writing now the resulting story wouldn't nearly be what I wanted it to be.

I mean, I did plan. Really, I did. Maybe not as much as I was supposed to but I had a beginning to end plan on paper. At first I was happy. But then I looked at it, really looked at it and thought, "This is not the story I was supposed to tell." And that was a bad realization because what I had written down wasn't better than the way I see it in my mind, in fact I think it was way worse.

I wonder how that might have happened and I think it was because the planning was done too quick and was too forced. Yet on the other hand I didn't spend nearly enough time planning which I believe was largely the reason for this result. So, I am giving myself this rest of this month to do some serious planning.

I think the hardest part of all this is not knowing where to start. I know I need to create the back stories of all my major characters at least, and that I need to plan out the plot and the character arc of this book, and figure out exactly who my characters are down to their bare instincts, and the world itself needs to be figured out still. Does this story take place in a hot place? A cold place? What is the society and culture like there? What sort of things might be ingrained in my character from growing up in such place? And then there's the magic system, or lack thereof. And it's just a bit overwhelming. How do I plan this out? Do I start small and then go big? Do I start with what I know and then ponder the things I don't or do I figure out what I don't know first? And just which part of this whole mess do I start with first?

It's all just burying me alive and I feel very small and useless.

But I know I'll get through this mess. Somehow. I think I might start with some back stories and some magic structure. I've been working on the cultures some, but still not enough. For this whole month I've got to focus on nothing other than planning this thing so I can write it. Even if I don't have much of a clue where to start.

How many of you feel this way sometimes?

Using Writing as an Excuse to do Anything

Seriously. I do this all the time. You probably do it too. You see some book in a store about some kind of questionable content that you're curious about but wouldn't want people to know you're curious about it because they'd give you funny/worried/disgusted looks and question you're sanity/morality. But you get it anyway, firmly telling yourself it's research for your book.

Or maybe you decide to take karate lessons, not because you're just interested but because that side character in your book that shows up for one scene does some pretty awesome kicks and stuff and you need to know how to describe such things! So you have to take lessons!

Or you know that place in New Zealand where you're book takes place? How are you ever going to describe such scenery without having been there first!?

And that stuff you read on the internet in the name of research for your book. . .  Goodness help you and the poor soul who decides to look at you browsing history. They'd be sure to send you to a mental hospital despite your pleas of, "It was for my book!"

And it is for your book, really. A little. But not wholly. Lots of times it's purely excuse, others it's only part that. Like my reading up on witchcraft and alchemy. I had found myself wanting to glance around at those two subject in the bookstore but never did. Until I found the perfect excuse. You see, having trouble coming up with a magic system I saw that section of books in the book store and it hit me: witchcraft. Alchemy. Those might help me with my magic system problems!

See? The perfect excuse. I really am reading them for that purpose, but not wholly, some of me is just genuinely curious about it, and I'm using writing as the excuse to not get those funny looks.

But hey, it works.

So what have you used writing as an excuse for? Vacations? Musical instruments? Some really really old and expensive book so you know what paper and book binding was like back in the day because of that scene where you have to explain that?

:D

Foreshadowing in Real Life

Something very disheartening happened today. The water heater broke. But by the end of the whole situation I realized something. Something that, amazingly, has to do with writing. But in order to explain, let me tell you what happened.

First off, it has been unexpectedly cold, extremely cold, which is the reason why all of this happened in the first place. Now then, last night, when I turned on the faucet on the separate side of the house a little trickle of water came out, then stopped. I knew the water had probably frozen and told my dad but he didn't seem to be concerned so I didn't worry. This morning the news said that the electrical companies wanted everyone to turn off things they may not be using to minimize the number of black outs that might happen, so the heater in the other part of the house, where the water had froze, was turned off. Later this afternoon I went to the pantry to make a sandwich for lunch and I heard some strange water-like noise from where the water heater is and immediately thought of flameable gas and the house exploding and stuff. Thankfully I was wrong, but the water heater had instead busted and was spewing water like a river. I hadn't even seen or felt the water I had walked over when I heard this (I was wearing slippers).

So, what does any of this have to do with writing? Well, this whole entire problem was perfectly foreshadowed! First, this cold front came in, foreshadow #1. Then the water had frozen, foreshadow #2. We turned off the heater in the back (which therefore made the water heater work harder at keeping the water hot, causing it to build up too much pressure), foreshadow #3. And then, boom! It busted!

It was so cool to realize that that it was almost worth it! I mean, come on. That, I think, is just like the foreshadowing leading up to Plot Point One. The water heater didn't just bust, there were all the signs leading up to it, and I can't call an event to mind where something like this was foreshadowed so perfectly.

I'm glad because this has shown me, to my face, how to foreshadow an event.

But on the other hand the other part of the house now has no water, so maybe I shouldn't be so glad.

Good day (or night), everyone!

Character Arc

Yesterday, Claudie A. posted about something she read in a book about writing. The book is Plot and Structure, and what Claudie posted about it is something that I've needed to know for awhile. It's a little tidbit about character arc. Now, you may not know this but The Chronicles, the whole trilogy, follows one big character arc, and a plot of course, but the character arc is just as important, if not more so, than the plot itself. I've been struggling with this because I'm not entirely sure how to drastically change a person throughout the course of the trilogy, or any length of time really. But this thing that was posted about character arc has helped clear some of the fog for me.

It's the four layers of protection that surround the core self-image everyone has of themselves. The four layers starting from the outermost to the innermost is: opinions, attitudes, values and beliefs. Change a couple opinions and an attitude changes, change a few attitudes and a value may change, change a couple values and a belief changes, change a few beliefs and, ultimately, the core self-image changes too.

That little bit of information has helped me immeasurably. I think I'll be getting that book too and see what else it has to say, and maybe look for a book or two specifically about the character arc. The funny thing is that I didn't entirely realize how badly I needed to know about the character arc until I read that post.

The way for planning this book is now a little bit clearer and I am so happy for this! Thank you Claudie.