What you did today

[ManifestedISO]

Sorry to hear that. May Day is no good all around, in my mind. There was quite a memorial in Imola today, twenty years on since Senna and Ratzenberger were killed. 

[BruceVC]

I had a good May Day holiday yesterday, nothing hectic. Just chilled and did some gaming. I'm leaving for a wedding in the mountains in about 2 hours. Its about 4 hours drive from where I live and I love the drive. I get to travel through 3 different provinces and all have got there distinctive characteristics. So it will be very scenic

[Walsingham]

Not fully recovered after the lurgi. Keep losing my voice by about 1500 each day. So I've taken the day off and I'm going to see the doctor, find out if there's anythin1g to be done.

[Tale]

In today's installment of "Tale is learning some probably pretty basic stuff about writing" I spent time revising my outline. I noticed a big problem in trying to write around chapter 2, I don't know my characters very well. It's like the theatrical cliche of "what's my motivation." Can't inject any emotion and don't really understand why my own characters are doing anything.

 

Expanding my outline with details should help with the problem.

[Amentep]

Have you considered doing a character treatment? A brief bio of the character(s) that can help you develop a feel for them?

[Tale]

That's part of what my expanded outlining is doing. I've been told to write it up like a miniature wiki page for each character/faction and that's doing wonders for me.

 

My old outline on this project basically consisted of "they don't like ___, but they like ___. I want them to ___." This was not very helpful.

 

This is a lesson I probably should have learned from three of the past four projects where I did have better histories. I guess I'm just not very good at discovery writing.

[Woldan]

Got no less than 8 x-rays, 2 x rays with weights pulling on my leg, tendons and bones are where they're supposed to be and intact, though I tore a nerve cord in my leg, thats why it hurt so bad. My leg is going to recover to 100% in 6 weeks or so, thats super important for me, I can't go mountain climbing or cycling the way I like with a 90% or 80% functional leg. 

[Amentep]

Glad it wasn't a break, glad that you'll recover to 100%.

[Woldan]

Thanks! I've been lifting weights for a decade now, I'm pretty sure the added bone density, tendon thickness and overall stability of my leg prevented worse injuries like a fracture. 

[mkreku]

 

Third "package" finally arrived. My project is under way.

[Blarghagh]

Does it involve putting a bra on your head?

[Malcador]

Terrorism I say.

[Orogun01]

In today's installment of "Tale is learning some probably pretty basic stuff about writing" I spent time revising my outline. I noticed a big problem in trying to write around chapter 2, I don't know my characters very well. It's like the theatrical cliche of "what's my motivation." Can't inject any emotion and don't really understand why my own characters are doing anything.

 

Expanding my outline with details should help with the problem.

Why do you need to understand your characters? Give up a bit of control see how they do by themselves and just write what they do.

[Tale]

Why do you need to understand your characters? Give up a bit of control see how they do by themselves and just write what they do.

Because if I don't understand them, they don't have a themself to do anything by. They're just a blank item reacting predictably to things around them.

 

They're actually far easier to control in that situation. But they are far more boring. Kind of like me at a party. Just standing in the corner waiting for it to be over because none of it interests me. Only finally interacting when someone else approaches me or I decide to leave.

 

Understanding the character is how I know whether they're to be brave or frightened in a situation. Where I know if they'll be curious, what they might be focused on, when they'll be defiant. Without that they're just simple reactions. They can only answer questions and occasionally tilt their heads.

[Guard Dog]

Terrorism I say.

  HA! He always was sort of an angry dude!

[Amentep]

 

Why do you need to understand your characters? Give up a bit of control see how they do by themselves and just write what they do.

Because if I don't understand them, they don't have a themself to do anything by. They're just a blank item reacting predictably to things around them.

 

They're actually far easier to control in that situation. But they are far more boring. Kind of like me at a party. Just standing in the corner waiting for it to be over because none of it interests me. Only finally interacting when someone else approaches me or I decide to leave.

 

Understanding the character is how I know whether they're to be brave or frightened in a situation. Where I know if they'll be curious, what they might be focused on, when they'll be defiant. Without that they're just simple reactions. They can only answer questions and occasionally tilt their heads.

 

In some ways I see it as being akin to fleshing out the back-story of a character you've made in P&P RPGs; its a lot easier to make in-character decisions if you understand the factors that developed the individual.

 

I think the same holds through to writing; to write a character well (as opposed to just using authorial will) you have to understand what makes the character tick.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Amentep

[Guard Dog]

Thanks! I've been lifting weights for a decade now, I'm pretty sure the added bone density, tendon thickness and overall stability of my leg prevented worse injuries like a fracture. 

That is no joke. One of the best benefits of being in good physical condition the mitigation of and quicker recovery from injuries.

[Orogun01]

 

Why do you need to understand your characters? Give up a bit of control see how they do by themselves and just write what they do.

Because if I don't understand them, they don't have a themself to do anything by. They're just a blank item reacting predictably to things around them.

 

They're actually far easier to control in that situation. But they are far more boring. Kind of like me at a party. Just standing in the corner waiting for it to be over because none of it interests me. Only finally interacting when someone else approaches me or I decide to leave.

 

Understanding the character is how I know whether they're to be brave or frightened in a situation. Where I know if they'll be curious, what they might be focused on, when they'll be defiant. Without that they're just simple reactions. They can only answer questions and occasionally tilt their heads.

 

So how about when a character doesn't understand their own motivations? Or when you have to write a character with a condition that you know nothing about? You should stop judging your writing and just write, stop trying to define your characters and let them define themselves. Step back and observe; if you have written enough they should have by then taken a life of their own.

Also no excuses, try it. If it doesn't work don't do it again.

[Tale]

So how about when a character doesn't understand their own motivations?

That was the main character of my last project. He didn't really have an understanding of anything he did. I, on the other hand, had an understanding of it.

 

Or when you have to write a character with a condition that you know nothing about?

Generally a bad idea. You want to do your researcher on that kind of thing or avoid it.

 

You should stop judging your writing and just write, stop trying to define your characters and let them define themselves. Step back and observe; if you have written enough they should have by then taken a life of their own.

Also no excuses, try it. If it doesn't work don't do it again.

Did you miss the part where I was two chapters in and then I realized this was precise thing was causing me a problem? The characters were boring and shallow. They lacked any ability to contextualize and were struggling with consistency. They were mostly things that events happened to.

 

So Max sees people he works with start killing each other. And he's scared. So he... does nothing. Because he's scared and there's no context for this interaction. And that was a scene I actually wrote. It was dull. Max had a chance to define himself there and the only thing he defined himself as was "scared." I can't expect someone else care about a guy whose only characteristic is that he's scared of scary things.

[Orogun01]

I tried

[Tale]

You should have tried harder! Quitter.

[Serrano]

 

Understanding the character is how I know whether they're to be brave or frightened in a situation. Where I know if they'll be curious, what they might be focused on, when they'll be defiant. Without that they're just simple reactions. They can only answer questions and occasionally tilt their heads.

 

 

Have you tried taking the character, coming up with a few ordinary, mundane scenarios that don't make for a good story but make up important pillars of this guy's life and writing a scene a few pages long for each of those as an exercise? Then write a couple of scenes where something less ordinary happens, the guy is robbed or he won the lottery and he's now having his first amazing holiday and try to imagine the guy being stressed and excited and in every scene where applicable work out a past, and the guy's plans for the future, his pattern of thinking and who the people in his life are ect.  

 

Another way to go may be to imagine a character from a show/movie/book and writing him into the role and letting him evolve into your own creation as the story progresses. Or to imagine an actor/friend/acquaintance and write the role as if for them as a kind of guideline to get you started (not that the character has to be like them, but you can imagine them playing the character in your head).  

[Guard Dog]

Tale I've told you this before, switch to writing non-fiction. That will solve all your character problems!

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Today I crammed for exams and removed some malware from my PC. Last time I ever let my roommate use the machine.

[Walsingham]

Tale I've told you this before, switch to writing non-fiction. That will solve all your character problems!

 

No it won't.