Characters
As some of you might now, I recently enrolled in a class in creative writing, reasoning that one can always get better. I did not count on the class having a poetry portion, which has been a source of amusement to people around me lately... Anyway, the class yesterday was about creating characters, and how the character is pivotal to the story. Even though I agree, my storytelling usually starts at the other end. I sometimes do get an idea for a character from something around me, but more often, I get an idea for a storyline, and then the characters start to grow from there. Once I start to write about them, their personalities and quirks form. Maria Callaway is one exception; she grew into a person of her own before the stories about her came to life, but that is because she has existed in other forums for years. I don’t know if I’m going about it backwards, it would be interesting to know how other writers do it. I’ve never thought about this before.
Someone also suggested using people you know for characters. I try not to do that; there’s a pretty big risk of upsetting friends and family. Though, sometimes it just happens. Mark in “Undercover” has a strong resemblance to a friend of mine in real life. I can’t help it; when I started to visualize the environment, it was just the way Mark had to be. My friend is truly hilarious; he’s funny in a way I would never be able to make up, and I don’t think he’ll mind all that much. That also set the scene for how other people in the book would react to him.
I’m terrible with thinking of names, and thus I tend to borrow them from people around me. That’s probably a really bad habit that will come back and bite me some day. Hahaha.
Ok, enough with looking in the rear view mirror; what’s next? I should be writing on “Wrath of the Goddess,” but I’m not. I’m working on a completely different little thing, and for some reason, I started to write in first person. I usually never do that; third person is much easier. I find it difficult to get all the nuances and emotions needed to make the narrator believable. The book is almost ready, and I’m still debating whether to change it or not. I just don’t know… What it’s about? I’ll tell you that in my next blog. This one has gotten long enough as it is. =)
//Maria
Someone also suggested using people you know for characters. I try not to do that; there’s a pretty big risk of upsetting friends and family. Though, sometimes it just happens. Mark in “Undercover” has a strong resemblance to a friend of mine in real life. I can’t help it; when I started to visualize the environment, it was just the way Mark had to be. My friend is truly hilarious; he’s funny in a way I would never be able to make up, and I don’t think he’ll mind all that much. That also set the scene for how other people in the book would react to him.
I’m terrible with thinking of names, and thus I tend to borrow them from people around me. That’s probably a really bad habit that will come back and bite me some day. Hahaha.
Ok, enough with looking in the rear view mirror; what’s next? I should be writing on “Wrath of the Goddess,” but I’m not. I’m working on a completely different little thing, and for some reason, I started to write in first person. I usually never do that; third person is much easier. I find it difficult to get all the nuances and emotions needed to make the narrator believable. The book is almost ready, and I’m still debating whether to change it or not. I just don’t know… What it’s about? I’ll tell you that in my next blog. This one has gotten long enough as it is. =)
//Maria
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