![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseA bit of a catch up here, so it's all under the cut
End of Section Exercise: Write one sentence that includes detail. Is it a compelling sentence? Is it long? Short? What kind of details did you include? Record your thoughts at the end of the exercise.
The air was languid, heavy with the last of the sultry summer sun, and its weight brought a calm and serenity to my afternoon walk, a deceptive centeredness given that autumn was just around the corner; undoubtedly a time of change.
It's long, all about sensation and perception. Also centeredness here I'm using in the spiritual sense of balance, in harmony with the world around me. Is it compelling? You tell me.
15 - How do you try to bring a character to life, or "get them in" as James Conrad says? Where do you start? Is how you begin different with fanfiction and original fiction? With original characters within fanfiction?
With fanfic the characters are mostly there, and I write mostly about the ones I most like and/or identity with. I will create original characters as needed, and much of who they are is determined by the plot and how it relates to the canon characters. Names are less important to me for this, unless I might want to develop the characters further.
For original fiction I tend to start with a female and give her at least two male friends/enemies/frenemies, and add to the circle as necessary with various females and males to meet plot requirements. Names are vital here; I might be able to use X and Y for a while, but I can't give a character the wrong name and hope to write about them; it's hard to explain but I think other writers will largely understand.
I try to think about what makes the character 'them' – nationality, accent, catchphrases, background. Were they ever in the military, do they improvise weapons? Do they give their friends nicknames? Are they outgoing? Do they put much thought into their wardrobe? Do they have tattoos? Some things might come up often or early on when establishing the character – hair colour, height, speaks fluent French – while others might come up rarely or be a revelation for later – tattoos, secret parentage.
16 - James Wood writes that the inexperienced writer clings to the static - they describe a photograph, a person standing still, a snapshot of a moment rather than a dynamic moment itself. It is getting a character in action, in motion, that is the difficult part, he says. Do you find this to be true in your own writing? Do you agree with his assessment?
I'm not even sure what this means. Let's see; there was a tie-in novel I read [SG1] that seemed to have been written by a fan – you can often tell the difference between someone who loves the show/movie and someone who's just going through the motions. The characters were spot on. The plot was dull as dishwater. Perhaps that's what this means; it's all well and good having great characters, but they need to be doing things.
Of course if you're writing a character study, lots of thoughts and feelings, there isn't a lot of movement. It's reflective in nature, although it could be argued that the character is looking both backwards to what was and comparing it to the now, and possibly even looking forwards, and that reflecting is a different kind of movement.
I also think the stuff I talked about earlier – people move around while thinking and talking – applies here.
End of Section Exercise: Write one sentence that includes detail. Is it a compelling sentence? Is it long? Short? What kind of details did you include? Record your thoughts at the end of the exercise.
The air was languid, heavy with the last of the sultry summer sun, and its weight brought a calm and serenity to my afternoon walk, a deceptive centeredness given that autumn was just around the corner; undoubtedly a time of change.
It's long, all about sensation and perception. Also centeredness here I'm using in the spiritual sense of balance, in harmony with the world around me. Is it compelling? You tell me.
15 - How do you try to bring a character to life, or "get them in" as James Conrad says? Where do you start? Is how you begin different with fanfiction and original fiction? With original characters within fanfiction?
With fanfic the characters are mostly there, and I write mostly about the ones I most like and/or identity with. I will create original characters as needed, and much of who they are is determined by the plot and how it relates to the canon characters. Names are less important to me for this, unless I might want to develop the characters further.
For original fiction I tend to start with a female and give her at least two male friends/enemies/frenemies, and add to the circle as necessary with various females and males to meet plot requirements. Names are vital here; I might be able to use X and Y for a while, but I can't give a character the wrong name and hope to write about them; it's hard to explain but I think other writers will largely understand.
I try to think about what makes the character 'them' – nationality, accent, catchphrases, background. Were they ever in the military, do they improvise weapons? Do they give their friends nicknames? Are they outgoing? Do they put much thought into their wardrobe? Do they have tattoos? Some things might come up often or early on when establishing the character – hair colour, height, speaks fluent French – while others might come up rarely or be a revelation for later – tattoos, secret parentage.
16 - James Wood writes that the inexperienced writer clings to the static - they describe a photograph, a person standing still, a snapshot of a moment rather than a dynamic moment itself. It is getting a character in action, in motion, that is the difficult part, he says. Do you find this to be true in your own writing? Do you agree with his assessment?
I'm not even sure what this means. Let's see; there was a tie-in novel I read [SG1] that seemed to have been written by a fan – you can often tell the difference between someone who loves the show/movie and someone who's just going through the motions. The characters were spot on. The plot was dull as dishwater. Perhaps that's what this means; it's all well and good having great characters, but they need to be doing things.
Of course if you're writing a character study, lots of thoughts and feelings, there isn't a lot of movement. It's reflective in nature, although it could be argued that the character is looking both backwards to what was and comparing it to the now, and possibly even looking forwards, and that reflecting is a different kind of movement.
I also think the stuff I talked about earlier – people move around while thinking and talking – applies here.
