Amanda Meuwissen's Blog - Posts Tagged "inspiration"
Two Important New Characters in Changeling – The Incubus Saga: Book 2
I actually showed off Leven Taylor a little in a previous blog, when the season 7 finale of Incubus was airing on BigWorldNetwork.com.
Leven is important because he was actually the first character ever created for Incubus. I was inspired by a web comic about a teenage boy with blue hair and a demon imaginary friend, which eventually became Leven and Sasha. Of course the story took a very different turn as it realized itself, but I had to keep Leven even if his character became someone very different, just like Sasha’s did.
Leven is a 17-year-old theater kid, openly gay, with teal hair and boundless energy. He is also brother to already known Incubus character Wade Taylor.
Then there is Iain Wilde. Introduced toward the end of Book 2, and an important player in Book 3, Iain is a humble librarian in training, also openly gay though not quite as boisterously as Leven, and has a penchant for swearing. I like Logan Lerman for him, I think, if you know that talented young actor.
Iain was created in likeness of his real life namesake, who was a reader of mine. Iain also has a secret, but you’ll have to read to discover that.
Now, I didn’t consciously sit down and say, I’m going to create two new gay characters for Book 2. Leven, as I said, existed years ago, and Iain is based off of a real person. What I love about them both being introduced in the same book, however, is their duality. Two gay men, one younger and just starting to deal with persecution and discovering who he really is, and one who is beyond that, who accepts himself without question, even though both characters still have trouble with self-confidence. I think it’s important for readers to see how these characters are unique, and yet they both reflect Nathan at certain stages in the story. They are definitely people he is meant to encounter.
I hope everyone loves Leven and Iain as much as I do, and appreciates their similarities and vast differences. You’ll be seeing more of both of them in book 3.
Leven is important because he was actually the first character ever created for Incubus. I was inspired by a web comic about a teenage boy with blue hair and a demon imaginary friend, which eventually became Leven and Sasha. Of course the story took a very different turn as it realized itself, but I had to keep Leven even if his character became someone very different, just like Sasha’s did.
Leven is a 17-year-old theater kid, openly gay, with teal hair and boundless energy. He is also brother to already known Incubus character Wade Taylor.
Then there is Iain Wilde. Introduced toward the end of Book 2, and an important player in Book 3, Iain is a humble librarian in training, also openly gay though not quite as boisterously as Leven, and has a penchant for swearing. I like Logan Lerman for him, I think, if you know that talented young actor.
Iain was created in likeness of his real life namesake, who was a reader of mine. Iain also has a secret, but you’ll have to read to discover that.
Now, I didn’t consciously sit down and say, I’m going to create two new gay characters for Book 2. Leven, as I said, existed years ago, and Iain is based off of a real person. What I love about them both being introduced in the same book, however, is their duality. Two gay men, one younger and just starting to deal with persecution and discovering who he really is, and one who is beyond that, who accepts himself without question, even though both characters still have trouble with self-confidence. I think it’s important for readers to see how these characters are unique, and yet they both reflect Nathan at certain stages in the story. They are definitely people he is meant to encounter.
I hope everyone loves Leven and Iain as much as I do, and appreciates their similarities and vast differences. You’ll be seeing more of both of them in book 3.
How Fanfiction Made Me a Writer
Not many people know this, but back in high school I had three potential career choices I debated between.
One was vocal music performance, and while I love to sing, I knew I didn’t want to pursue that.
The second was acting. I had done theater since 7th grade, and had been a lead all throughout high school, and honestly…it was my top choice for a long time. For some reason the anxiety I got from singing in front of people never reared its head when acting.
The last choice, of course, was writing. And I probably wouldn’t have published novels today if not for events in high school that pushed me toward that path over acting…all because of fanfiction.
I’m a video game geek, so my first fanfiction was written around that, particularly Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII. In this case, FFVIII was the culprit. I had been enjoying another author’s epically long fanfic centered around the character Zell, but when it finally reached its end, I was disappointed.
I reviewed the story telling the author I honestly felt it could have and should have ended differently. She agreed, and we began conversing back and forth on how I might write an alternate ending, sanctioned by the original author herself. It was an amazing collaborative experience for me.
Not to go into too much detail, the story revolved around topics of teenage depression and suicide. I wrote an ending with more hope than the original, and had a great response from readers. One review in particular caught my attention and has stuck with me to this day.
It was an anonymous review, so there was no way for me to contact this person or know who they were, but in it they confessed that they had felt similarly depressed as the character and had been considering suicide, but felt a renewed sense to continue fighting after reading my alternate ending to the fic.
I don’t know what became of this person afterward, but the thought that my writing could do something so profound for someone made my decision for me then and there.
I never doubted my decision to pursue writing after that, and every time I reach a fan even in the smallest way, it reminds me of the time I reached someone significantly, and that is more than enough motivation to keep on.
You’ll find me touting the importance and good of fanfiction all the time, and this was one of the reasons why. Reading can change people’s perspectives, change their lives, and fanfiction is no different from the most praised novel. Never downplay the importance of any form of writing. Every time we can communicate and reach others with new and important ideas, that’s something truly special.
What about all you other writers out there? What was the final catalyst that made you a writer?
One was vocal music performance, and while I love to sing, I knew I didn’t want to pursue that.
The second was acting. I had done theater since 7th grade, and had been a lead all throughout high school, and honestly…it was my top choice for a long time. For some reason the anxiety I got from singing in front of people never reared its head when acting.
The last choice, of course, was writing. And I probably wouldn’t have published novels today if not for events in high school that pushed me toward that path over acting…all because of fanfiction.
I’m a video game geek, so my first fanfiction was written around that, particularly Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII. In this case, FFVIII was the culprit. I had been enjoying another author’s epically long fanfic centered around the character Zell, but when it finally reached its end, I was disappointed.
I reviewed the story telling the author I honestly felt it could have and should have ended differently. She agreed, and we began conversing back and forth on how I might write an alternate ending, sanctioned by the original author herself. It was an amazing collaborative experience for me.
Not to go into too much detail, the story revolved around topics of teenage depression and suicide. I wrote an ending with more hope than the original, and had a great response from readers. One review in particular caught my attention and has stuck with me to this day.
It was an anonymous review, so there was no way for me to contact this person or know who they were, but in it they confessed that they had felt similarly depressed as the character and had been considering suicide, but felt a renewed sense to continue fighting after reading my alternate ending to the fic.
I don’t know what became of this person afterward, but the thought that my writing could do something so profound for someone made my decision for me then and there.
I never doubted my decision to pursue writing after that, and every time I reach a fan even in the smallest way, it reminds me of the time I reached someone significantly, and that is more than enough motivation to keep on.
You’ll find me touting the importance and good of fanfiction all the time, and this was one of the reasons why. Reading can change people’s perspectives, change their lives, and fanfiction is no different from the most praised novel. Never downplay the importance of any form of writing. Every time we can communicate and reach others with new and important ideas, that’s something truly special.
What about all you other writers out there? What was the final catalyst that made you a writer?
Every writer should play with head canons
What is a head canon? Well, it’s one of those terms that I’m sure people would argue over, but it tends to come up in fanfiction to refer to things we don’t actually know to be true in the canon of a story, like Harry Potter for example, but because of what we do know, in our minds we believe this (whatever it may be) to also be true.
Still using Harry Potter, as most people are familiar with it, since I always wished there was more Marauders in the books, a head canon could be a whole plot line idea for a story about them going out in their animal forms causing a ruckus or doing some prank, that we can easily believe might have happened or could happen in actuality because everything about it is still in line with real canon.
Head canons can also work if you want to imagine an alternate universe for something. Given what we know of the universe of Harry Potter, if Neville had been The Boy Who Lived instead, how would the story have been different?
Coming up with or writing out head canons doesn’t require you to write a full story, just jotting down notes, in a way, with maybe some paragraphs here or there, or even snippets of dialogue, but you’re really just trying to get the idea out of you as quickly and succinctly as possible. Maybe you’ll come back to it someday to write the story out fully, maybe getting the idea out of you is all you needed to feel that moment of catharsis and that’s as far as it will go. Maybe working out a head canon is what inspires you to consider your next original story. Whatever the answer may be with any given head canon exercise…it’s a lot of fun.
For me, I find that once I start allowing for head canons to come to me, and take the time to write them out, it happens more frequently, which then in turn gets the muse going to come up with ideas for my original works.
Try it out! Suddenly realized that two of your favorite TV shows have a lot in common and one could totally be an alternate universe of the other? Describe to yourself how that would work and what the story would be. Want to consider a what if, such as the hero being the villain and the villain the hero? How would that go? Write it! Give creating a head canon like this a try once and I guarantee it will be your new favorite way to waste time, BUT! Might also help inspire you with your regular writing.
Still using Harry Potter, as most people are familiar with it, since I always wished there was more Marauders in the books, a head canon could be a whole plot line idea for a story about them going out in their animal forms causing a ruckus or doing some prank, that we can easily believe might have happened or could happen in actuality because everything about it is still in line with real canon.
Head canons can also work if you want to imagine an alternate universe for something. Given what we know of the universe of Harry Potter, if Neville had been The Boy Who Lived instead, how would the story have been different?
Coming up with or writing out head canons doesn’t require you to write a full story, just jotting down notes, in a way, with maybe some paragraphs here or there, or even snippets of dialogue, but you’re really just trying to get the idea out of you as quickly and succinctly as possible. Maybe you’ll come back to it someday to write the story out fully, maybe getting the idea out of you is all you needed to feel that moment of catharsis and that’s as far as it will go. Maybe working out a head canon is what inspires you to consider your next original story. Whatever the answer may be with any given head canon exercise…it’s a lot of fun.
For me, I find that once I start allowing for head canons to come to me, and take the time to write them out, it happens more frequently, which then in turn gets the muse going to come up with ideas for my original works.
Try it out! Suddenly realized that two of your favorite TV shows have a lot in common and one could totally be an alternate universe of the other? Describe to yourself how that would work and what the story would be. Want to consider a what if, such as the hero being the villain and the villain the hero? How would that go? Write it! Give creating a head canon like this a try once and I guarantee it will be your new favorite way to waste time, BUT! Might also help inspire you with your regular writing.
