More Tumblr cross-posting - Writer's Ask Game, Q21

[narya_flame]

 Happy to answer these on here as well, just ask me in the comments - original question list included below the cut.  (I've already answered 11 and 12, and will cross post my answers to 30 and 32 in due course.)

The original meme...

The Basics

1.     Do you listen to music when you write?

2.     Are you a pantser or plotter?

3.     Computer or pen and paper?

4.     Have you ever been published, or do you want to be published?

5.     How much writing do you get done on an average day?

6.     Single or multiple POV?

7.     Standalone or series?

8.     Oldest WIP

9.     Current WIP

10.  Do you set yourself deadlines?

 

 

The Specifics

11.  Books and/or authors who influenced you the most

12.  Describe your perfect writing space

13.  Describe your writing process from idea to polished

14.  How do you deal with self-doubts?

15.  How do you deal with writer’s block?

16.  How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied with a project?

17.  What writing habits or rituals do you have?

18.  If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and what would you write about?

19.  How do you keep yourself motivated?

20.  How many WIPs and story ideas do you have?

 

 

The Favourites

21.  Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write?

22.  Who is/are your favourite pairing(s) to write?

23.  Favourite author

24.  Favourite genre to write and read

25.  Favourite part of writing

26.  Favourite writing program

27.  Favourite line/scene

28.  Favourite side character

29.  Favourite villain

30.  Favourite idea you haven’t started on yet

 

 

The Dark

31.  Least favourite part of writing

32.  Most difficult character to write

33.  Have you ever killed a main character?

34.  What was the hardest scene you ever had to write?

35.  What scene/story are you least looking forward to writing?

 

 

The Fun

36.  Last sentence you wrote

37.  First sentence or your current WIP

38.  Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had

39.  Weirdest character concept you’ve ever had

40.  Share some backstory for one of your characters

 

 

The Rest of It

41.  Any advice for new/beginning/young writers?

42.  How do you feel about love triangles?

43.  What do you do if/when characters don’t follow the outline?

44.  How much research do you do?

45.  How much world building do you do?

46.  Do you reread your own stories?

47.  Best way to procrastinate

48.  What’s the most self-insert character/scene you’ve ever written?

49.  Which character would you most want to be friends with, if they were real?

50.  [Other question—ask me anything]

Answer:

21.Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write?

 

It won’t shock anyone who follows me to learn that I adore writing Maglor.  He’s been my favourite Silm character since the first time I read it, although it took a long time for me to feel confident writing him (more on that later).  I also find Celegorm fascinating – he’s such a disaster – and I have a very soft spot for Finrod, and for his loyal captain, Edrahil.

 

In terms of original characters, I love Claire, the narrator of my current WIP, The Ways of Paradox (which also stars Maglor).  I don’t usually use a first person narrator, but she just writes herself – as does Garrett, a character who showed up completely unannounced in the middle of my long term project set in Rohan.  The characters I have the deepest emotional attachment to, though, are from ‘The Eye of the Dragon’, an original fantasy novel I started drafting when I was thirteen.  (OK, “original” might be stretching it, but bear with me here.)  

 

I will freely admit that the writing was awful, and I can see now that my dragon-filled planet was hideously underdeveloped, suffering from its creator’s naïveté in matters such as politics, social structures and sexuality.  Even so I adored my four central characters.  Robben was the heir to the throne, a drinking, womanizing reprobate modelled after Shakespeare’s Prince Hal.  His sensitive younger brother, Art, was in love with Katrynn, a lowly merchant’s daughter, but she was more concerned with protecting her friend Ilzmir, a secret mage in a world where magic was forbidden and the supernatural was deeply feared.

 

I both dreamed and daydreamed about them, and plenty of times during the writing process one of them would turn round to me and say, “actually, no, I’m not doing that.”  It was thrilling – it was the first time I’d created characters with enough depth to take on a life of their own. I remember sharing the first few chapters with a friend at school, who correctly identified thoughtful, intelligent Art as Katrynn’s love interest, and then also said that she thought he’d end up being the story’s sacrificial lamb.

 

“Don’t be daft,” I laughed.  “I love that guy.  I’m not going to kill him.”

 

But every time I got near the end – every single time – no matter which way I worked it, Art had to die.  I tried so hard to avoid it, but not once could I get the whole thing to make sense if he was still alive at the conclusion of the novel.  In the end I gave in.  It was like there had always been this force at work building and conspiring to kill Art, even before I knew the characters very well and didn’t have much clue where the plot was going.  Heck, my readers knew it long before I did; my sister called it too.  It was an eerie sensation.  

 

I’d gone to university by the time I completely abandoned the story – my last notes on the project date from a few weeks into my first semester – but I’d written enough to know the full story arc.  Maybe one day when I’m stuck on something else, I’ll brush the dust off it, and reacquaint myself with the characters I spent so many years with.  No doubt Katrynn would still be a shade too perfect to be believable – I’d have to fix that.  Ilzmir would still be tortured and conflicted. Robben, I’m certain, would still throw his weight around until the final showdown, when he’d shoulder his responsibilities and become the leader he was born to be.   Art would probably still have to die. I’ll deepen the world building, rename it (there’s a Stephen King novel with a very similar title, although I didn’t know that at the time), and finally give them the ending they deserve.  

Comments

[spiced_wine]

I like the idea of your orig story.

[narya_flame]

Thank you! It would need some serious work if I ever picked it up again, but I was very fond of the characters.

[spiced_wine]

well, that’s what counts. As long as you like working with the characters everything else comes. Of course world-building, etc becomes more in-depth as you get older, but every story just begins with an idea, after all.