Hey Laini! I've been wondering; how do you develop your characters? Which comes first, the characters or the world? Also, how do you come up with such unique names for your characters? Lastly, what type of notebooks do you recommend for a writer to use when developing/outlining their stories? Thanks so much!

Laini Taylor Hi Tiffany! The characters are definitely primary--the characters and their situation. I love world building, but the world has to fit the characters and grow out of the narrative, and along with it. I don't do all the world building up front, but just what I need to get started. I discover so much along the way that shapes the rest.
As for naming, I love coming up with names. One of the first things I do for a project is start a notebook of it and start a list of names in the back--not with anything specific in mind, but just a big list of cool-sounding names from a bunch of different sources, that I can add to and draw from throughout the writing. I'll look at lots of things: plant names in other languages, cool "dead" languages, maps of exotic countries for village names no one will ever have heard of, astronomy, lesser known mythology, names from other linguistic traditions, fantasy name generators, a million different places. I'll circle the best ones, try to nail down names that I need to get started, and come back to them throughout the writing.
Notebooks!!! I only use hardcover Clairefontaine journals. They're from France and are good quality without being fancy, if you know what I mean. Perfect paper weight and lines (which I need), but it's not like handmade paper you'd be afraid to write on, etc. This is them:
https://www.amazon.com/Clairefontaine...
Cheers!

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