Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Too Much Time
I love these lyrics from the song Too Much Time On My Hands, by Styx:
"I've got nothing to do, and all day to do it."
It's been a while since I've been in that position, but it made me imagine how characters act--or react--when they are in this kind of scenario.
I recently did a blog post on how characters respond when they argue, or fight, or disagree. A lot of revealing info can be unearthed when you watch their response in that emotionally-charged situation. It lets you know what the characters value, as well as what they're willing to do when pushed to the limit.
I think the same is true when a character has too much time on their hands.
If your character is forced to wait somewhere—maybe it's a doctor's office, or they're stuck in a traffic jam, or a flight has been delayed--how would they react? Would they drum their fingers? Grind their teeth? Yell at the unfairness of it? Or would they pick up a magazine and start reading?
They're in the midst of a situation they can't control, but do they try to find a way to control it anyway? Would they try to figure out the cause of the waiting, to see if they can resolve the issue?
Obviously there is no right or wrong answer because each character will respond differently. That's what makes them intriguing to us as readers.
The most important question, however, is this: what does their behavior tell you about their personality?
I'm not a fan of character worksheets, because it seems to concentrate on likes/dislikes that feel arbitrary to me, and not particularly illuminating. However, I do love Cosmo-type quizzes, and I like to think this is similar. Just thinking how a character would respond to different scenarios gives a lot of insight into them, and possibly gives you plot options for your story.
So it's your turn. Tell us how your characters respond when they've got too much time on their hands. Give us specifics. Let's find out more about these characters!
"I've got nothing to do, and all day to do it."
It's been a while since I've been in that position, but it made me imagine how characters act--or react--when they are in this kind of scenario.
I recently did a blog post on how characters respond when they argue, or fight, or disagree. A lot of revealing info can be unearthed when you watch their response in that emotionally-charged situation. It lets you know what the characters value, as well as what they're willing to do when pushed to the limit.
I think the same is true when a character has too much time on their hands.
If your character is forced to wait somewhere—maybe it's a doctor's office, or they're stuck in a traffic jam, or a flight has been delayed--how would they react? Would they drum their fingers? Grind their teeth? Yell at the unfairness of it? Or would they pick up a magazine and start reading?They're in the midst of a situation they can't control, but do they try to find a way to control it anyway? Would they try to figure out the cause of the waiting, to see if they can resolve the issue?
Obviously there is no right or wrong answer because each character will respond differently. That's what makes them intriguing to us as readers.
The most important question, however, is this: what does their behavior tell you about their personality?
I'm not a fan of character worksheets, because it seems to concentrate on likes/dislikes that feel arbitrary to me, and not particularly illuminating. However, I do love Cosmo-type quizzes, and I like to think this is similar. Just thinking how a character would respond to different scenarios gives a lot of insight into them, and possibly gives you plot options for your story.
So it's your turn. Tell us how your characters respond when they've got too much time on their hands. Give us specifics. Let's find out more about these characters!
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71 comments:
Donna, you always bring a touch of class to your blogs!
There is something almost scientific about this one.
Start with empty cauldron. Pour in some of the blue liquid (potential character) then add some of the green powder to see what happens. If it effervesces test for hydrogen with match ..... BANG!
Leaving my characters alone like this is fatal. The one who likes solving problems, even when everything is under control, will likely create a problem so that he can solve it. That one is definitely masculine.
I remember once getting to Rome airport in a taxi, on time and everything running smoothly, when my colleague decided the taxi driver was ripping us off with the fare. After 40 mins. of argument (his Italian is hopeless!) we ended up on standby and were lucky to board the plane.
Then there is the workaholic, the globe trotting academic author. She carries her laptop everywhere and while waiting for flight connections she will start revising her WIP. She has been known to get so engrossed that she missed the flight call .... but ended up with a best seller!
Then there is the dreamer. He just sits, gazing at passing passengers with dreamy bedroomy eyes. As that familiar lascivious smile broadens on his lips I know that he has just undressed yet another potential heroine!
Boy, its hard work trying to be an author! LOL
Q, you make me laugh! And thanks for the compliments about my "classy blogs". LOL I think my mind just wanders off in different directions and this is the result. :)
What great character descriptions you have with your fellow travelers there. (Although the colleague sounds like a PITA. LOL) It does demonstrate how different people will respond to the situations at hand -- some view it as an opportunity, others view it as a nuisance.
And of course the man, er, I mean *character*, who has to create a problem to solve -- that can be fun for a book, but a little less so in real life!
I'm loving this, Donna. I think you're so right that how they react to various scenarios tells us a lot about who they are as people.
My heroine, Naomi, is a very patient woman. Very cool and collected. She doesn't mind a wait. She would calmly sit, look around, and never get frazzled.
I have another character, though, Josephine, who hates waiting. She wants the world on her terms, right now. She's the kind of person who, when a flight is delayed, would march up the ticket counter and go direct the planes herself it would get her out of the airport faster. She's a spitfire :)
Hal, it's easier for me to visualize how they would act in a scenario, even if it's not one that I'll use in a story. And then sometimes it sparks an idea for a scene. So it's a good way for me to utilize my daydreaming and/or commuting time. :)
And your examples, of Naomi and Josephine, are great. Imagine if they were forced to work together. LOL Instant conflict there!
haha! They are forced to work together, which does not end well. Josephine is also sleeping with Naomi's husband, so it *really* gets sticky (In Jo's defense, she had no idea he was married, and stopped sleeping with him when she found out. Or at least, pretty soon after she found out)
I've used character sheets before, but I find myself making up things like their likes/dislikes, most memorable childhood experience, family history, yada yada.
I like this idea of instead envisioning how they would respond. Maybe we should create a new Pirate character sheet with all sorts of random scenarios, to see how they would respond. Like, you're in bed with someone and your mother calls - quick, what do you do?
D'oh! So Josephine and Naomi have a lot of sparks flying then. LOL
And I'm with you on the character sheets. I prefer to find out those kinds of details as I'm pantsing through the scene. The characters give me a lot more interesting details that way.
Sometimes when I'm stuck in a scene, or it feels "off", I realize it's because the character isn't acting the way they're supposed to. Maybe I've made them "patient" and then discover that's not their style at all. LOL
And I love your Pirate Character Sheet idea! Great question too. :) Can't wait to see the answers!
(Where are the rest of the pirates? Did their connecting ship from Tortuga get delayed?)
Maybe we should create a new Pirate character sheet with all sorts of random scenarios, to see how they would respond. Like, you’re in bed with someone and your mother calls – quick, what do you do?
I *soooo* want to see this character sheet.
I don't answer the phone when I'm in bed with someone--that's too easily ignored, but a knock at the door and a "Yooohooo! I know you're home! I see your car...." would set up a round of panic and I'd end up hiding the guy in the closet or bathtub. Or crossdress him as my ugly roommate Denise.
The eye color, hair color, where'd they go to high school type questionnaire bores me stupid. I mean, I'll attempt it if I'm stuck writing, hoping this will jog me back into writing, but all in all, I believe they are a waste of time. I like your idea of the Cosmo Quiz approach. You can learn a lot from that sort of quiz. *LOL* Maybe I should just start photocopying those quizzes from the magazine and having each character fill them out in the beginning. *LOL*
Hellion, you're right about ignoring the phone, although I think it takes time to develop that "ignoring ability". LOL Because I can think of some times when I did answer. . .
*ahem*
And I'm cackling about your ugly roommate Denise, and hearing THAT explanation. "We didn't know you had a roommate, honey." LOL
Yeah, that is a good idea about having the characters fill out the Cosmo Quiz. Mmm. Wonder if I can find any. And adapt them for the Regency timeframe for those characters.
I guess I'll be the lone defender of the character sheets. I love them and I believe they give you a ton of information about your characters. In fact, the answers on those sheets will tell you exactly how your characters would react to all sorts of situations.
For instance - Your heroine went to a small town high school and was the star of the debate team. How do you think she'll react when the hero disses small towns? Think she'll argue?
Another - Your hero lost his mom when he was 10. Think he might have issues about loving a woman and being afraid she'll be taken away? Imagine if he's falling for a woman who is determined to move away in a month. Think he's going to fight his feelings?
To me, those sheets are invaluable and are how my characters show me who they are, which provides their motivations for every page of the story.
Terri, that's a great defense of the character sheets! And it does seem like it provides a lot of valuable information.
It doesn't work as well for me since I feel like I spend more time trying to answer hypothetical questions about situations my character wouldn't be in. And then I get frustrated, and stop filling in the sheets. LOL
Maybe the character sheets work better for plotters than pantsers? I'm just guessing on that one.
Use what works. That's the writer's mantra, right? :)
We might be thinking of different sheets then. And I admit, I don't fill in every blank religiously. I don't answer any hypotheticals, but more facts. History. If I don't, then the character is a stranger and I couldn't begin to guess how they'd react to anything.
Stuff like where they're from, the circumstances of their upbringing, their past relationships, siblings, parents. The way I figure, the formative years make us who we are. Once I know my characters formative years, or a good bit of them, then I know who they are.
But this blog is helping me see why the scene I'm currently trying to write isn't working. Because I don't have my heroine acting remotely the way she would based on who she is. I'm going to have to percolate on this scene a lot more to figure it out.
Think she’ll argue?
Guess who was on her school's debate team.
Ha! Nope. Never joined the debate team. That required research. Hello? Extra homework? I don't think so.
I've never found character sheets useful either. But I do like the idea of random scenario sheets. That sounds like it would work for me.
My heroine, if given free time, would spend it with her son. She'd have to travel to him, because she lives in London and he lives an hour or so away.
My hero would be in a boat. He loves the sea and the wide open, unconstrained feel of the ocean.
I agree it's important to know your character's history, but I understand the frustration of answering those questions. You feel like you can't skip (because you feel stupid if you don't know the answer to a person you made up!) and you feel you can't go off the path.
Instead of questions, some writers prefer to write in a "bible" just little tidbits about their characters. Impressions that come to mind that may have nothing to do with the story, but everything to do with the character. It's not an answer on a questionnaire, but it does shed light on what the character is like.
I'm not sure what my characters would be doing. Adam says "Golfing!" Which seems obvious. The man is pathetic. Eve seems at a loss, like she doesn't understand the concept of free time or doing anything SHE wants rather than what she should be or needs to do. I imagine if Eve was waiting somewhere, she'd start cleaning something. And she wouldn't mean to start doing it, but she'd notice dust or something and just start swiping at it.
Terri, I agree about the formative years influencing the character, and their behavior. I go about it a little differently, a less-organized version of the bible that Hellie mentions. I'm digging and discovering as I'm drafting. (Oooh, look at all those D's!) And as I figure out why the character is doing something, I jot it down so I can use it next time I'm drafting.
And I had to redo a scene because the character was being all polite and refined when that wasn't her style at all. I definitely had to percolate that before I figured out the answer!
Yeah, Donna, I wouldn't say mine is real organized. I usually end up finding loose sheets of paper with bits of information on it. Sometimes it's stuff that has changed; but sometimes it's stuff that would work and I'll be like, "Huh, this would have been useful to remember!"
I finding writing things down by hand to imprint better. I think another reason I'm not a fan of the questionnaire is because I end up typing them up on the computer and it doesn't last. There is something about making yourself writing things out by hand that makes it work better for me.
Marn, I think the random scenario sheets can be helpful. I guess it's kind of what we do when we try to figure out how the characters will handle adversity, or the black moment, or anything else that is part of the trek towards the HEA. :) We're just testing our hypotheses (another scientific thing for Q. LOL)
Hellie, that tidbit about Eve is telling. She's not comfortable sitting still, so waiting is torturous for her. That seems like info you can use in a lot of places. :) And, to be evil, you can force her to wait (which it sounds like she is anyway -- waiting for her divorce?)
And I scribble in notebooks all the time, and then set them down, can't find them when I need them, so I pick up another one. . .
The other day I had this BRILLIANT idea for a blog post. So brilliant I couldn't stand it. A couple days later I was looking thru one of my older notebooks, and there was that same freakin' brilliant idea -- I'd written it down a MONTH ago. LOL
Well, pirates, I've got to get ready for work. I'll try to stop back in during my lunch break (just to see if the places is in a shambles. LOL)
Happy writing!
Et tu, Marnee?
Et tu, Marnee?
Sorry, love. I'm a plotter, but I've never found much success with character sheets. In their defense, maybe I haven't found the right one.
I'm being quiet, girls. Sorry about that. I'm LESS THAN TWO PAGES FROM FINISHING THIS DRAFT!!!!
*off to bury my nose. back really soon I hope!*
I'll send you some! LOL!
GO GO GO GO GO!!!
*Throws confetti*
I'm DONE!!
I will bask in happiness in a minute. Must pick up DS from Pre-K.
Hooray!!
Whoohoo!!!! We'll bask for you, until you get back.
(Someone needs to sweep this stuff up.)
Where are the hotties when we need them?
:) Thanks!
I came in just over 79K. It's short, but the end is rough and sparse.
I don't care! It's done!
Way to go Marnee!!!! I didn't even realize you were that close to the end - that's AWESOME! I cannot wait to read it!
Stuff like where they’re from, the circumstances of their upbringing, their past relationships, siblings, parents. The way I figure, the formative years make us who we are. Once I know my characters formative years, or a good bit of them, then I know who they are.
This is interesting, Terri. I approach my characters the opposite way, I think. I can picture them in a present-day setting, but I don't think I could tell you much about their formative years. Little relevant snippits, of course, like my heroine's father dying when she was 15 and her going a little wild afterwards.
But take my hero for example, I'm sort of thinking he was raised by a single dad, likely a reprobate of some form. Not an alcoholic, likely, but something close to that (not a lot of attention, no positive reinforcement or encouragement, etc). But I couldn't tell you what happened to his mom or if he had any siblings or if his dad is still alive.
If I wanted to discover those things, I'd could by free-writing from his POV. After a couple pages or so (usually hand-written), the details just start bubbling up from my subconscious.
But if I were looking at a document that asks me his mother's name or date of death, I would just stare at it wide-eyed, and then feel all insecure and inferior for not having an answer, and then feel like I needed to make one up, as surely he *had* a mother at one point, then feel like a fraud for making up an answer I'm unsure about . . . .
All this rambling to say that I think it's fascinating that we all end up with well-rounded and flushed out characters in the end, we just get there in totally different ways.
Okay - what I was *really* trying to say is this:
If presented with a scenario, I can imagine my character, imagine how they would act/react, and learn relevant things about his formative years from that.
But I can't consider his formative years, the type of person he is, and then predict how he would react in a situation based on that.
Does that make sense?
Probably not. I'm having a generally lousy day. lol.
I think that makes perfect sense, Hal. I know exactly what you mean. I can't think about what he wanted to be when he grew up twenty years in the past... unless it has something to do with the story. Just random facts don't help me.
But if I can think about their reactions to scenarios, that does help me.
Thanks, by the way! I just pushed through the end, writing junk. I needed to just get something down. It's bad and rough and includes such sparkling stuff as "Insert Witty Dialogue Here." (No, seriously, it does). But it's done now. Now I can make it into something someone wants to read. (I hope).
And yay! I can't wait for you to read it too!
PS, are you the one who recommended Sophie Jordan to me?
It makes sense if it works for you. My biggest weakness is motivation. If I say my hero is cranky and too proud for his own good, I need to know WHY. Because I can't tell you how often people freaking ask me "WHY??" on every dang thing. LOL! I used to say, "Just because!" but people don't seem to like that answer.
But I'm also not the type to be given some off the wall situation and be able to instantly come up with what my characters would do. So maybe I just need the backup.
Whoohoo! Marn!
I...ahem...had a dream the other morning and took off writing a another story for the Kraken's Caribbean... I didn't mean to bail on my current wip, it just sorta happened...
Now! What would my characters do if faced with too much time? Well, most of my leads would find something to do, probably something troublesome. Or drink. Rum tasting is very popular with my people!
Okay...what would Sam do...pull out his futuristic version of a cell phone and research. Ria would use her futuristic version of an iPod and immerse herself in music. Interesting...neither of these things involve physical activity.
I think I just busted myself.
A pirate character questionnaire? I might use that!
You simply think in a more long term fashion. And you are logical, so you want a logical, albetit emotionally logical, reason for your characters to act as they act.
I sorta know all the stuff a questionnair would ask, but not on a specific level. But as a pantster, a lot of that detail isn't something I know until I need to know it!
It's logical that a plotter would want and need to know it before the need to know it is apparent.
Dang. Made myself dizzy again...
BTW, I'm sorta taking over the blog for the entire weekend...release party weekend... Kraken rides!
Thanks Chance! I'm feeling good.
I think we should start to all contribute to the pirate character questionnaire. I think it's a worthwhile endeavor.
As to character motivation, I totally feel your pain, Ter. I try to focus on the big things that affect motivation though, instead of small. Abusive family life, negligence, betrayals. Usually we're affected by very bad or very good things. Even if that very good thing is a lifetime of growing up in a stable and loving family.
Anyone read PERFECT by Judith McNaught? It's one of my favorite contemporaries of all time. In it, the heroine was a foster kid. She was about to turn to a life of crime when she's "rescued" by a social worker and adopted by a very special family. When she's adopted, she's determined to be perfect in order to be worthy of these lovely people who chose to love her.
So, her life motivation is shaped both by her sad and lonely life before her adoption and the very amazing luck that found her a family. Though I'd imagine that all the years after living in that great family helped to seal up her motivation to be good and perfect at all cost.
Did I make any sense?
You did, Marn. And congrats again. I can't believe you cranked out that many words in such a short time. Wow.
McNaught got me through high school with some semblence of sanity. Sadly, I remember few details of the books. (That was more than 20yrs ago!!!) But that sounds familiar. LOL!
I agree, there's no need to know her favorite color when she was four, but knowing the foster situation informs the character so much, I can't imagine not exploring that going in. (Notice I say *I* can't imagine. LOL!)
Chance - I know I've been talking to you too long. That comment actually made sense to me.
Usually we’re affected by very bad or very good things.
Oooh! I can argue with this! I mean, after speaking to a therapist several times in my life...yeah, yeah, we all know I'm...well...touched... Anyway! In therapy one discovers that it is often the smallest of things that twist us. The tiniest of comments that are actually nothing very bad or very good...we just hear them when vulnerable and they lodge, become a focal point of growth or lack of growth. They are seldom spoken or done with deliberation...and the instigator often wanders away not knowing the damage/repair/polish they just did.
Sure, the big things are there in most of us. But it's the little things that nuance into life altering affects.
Terri - I often do make sense. Not always, but...often! ;-)
I write extensive character bios very early in my process. They are not character sheets, but they answer the same sort of questions. I have family trees for three or four generations and maps of their towns. I can see finding the situation questions useful, but I'm with Ter. I can tell you three of my characters are creative types who would spend waiting time thinking about their projects, two are introspective types who like time in their own heads and would not be bothered by waiting, and my lone alpha would be impatience personified and demading answers. But I can tell you this only because I know what their mothers' maiden names are, who their third grade teachers were, and who their dates were for the senior prom. If I didn't have the bios, I'd spend endless time speculating on the situation questions. I think the only right strategies are those that work for us individually. But it's fun to see the differences, and we learn from one another regardless of the differences.
*^5s Janga*
Even if she puts my little plotter process to shame. This stuff INFORMS the characters for me. They'd be strangers roaming around in my head otherwise.
But if I were looking at a document that asks me his mother’s name or date of death, I would just stare at it wide-eyed, and then feel all insecure and inferior for not having an answer, and then feel like I needed to make one up, as surely he *had* a mother at one point, then feel like a fraud for making up an answer I’m unsure about . . .
EXACTLY my problem!
You people have some real issues. How can you possibly make YOURSELF feel like a fraud??? You get the info the characters give you. You don't have an answer, go to the next question. This isn't life or death. It's a tool to assist in making the story happen. No one is judging your completion of the sheet!
I think that makes perfect sense, Hal. I know exactly what you mean. I can’t think about what he wanted to be when he grew up twenty years in the past… unless it has something to do with the story. Just random facts don’t help me.
If you think about it, I think this is how therapists figure out what's wrong with you. Or show you what's wrong with you. I mean, I couldn't list a number of things in my childhood that said, "Your parents fucked you up." I mean, I could probably list a couple obvious, but mostly I wouldn't want to think about them. I figure characters are the same; they don't want to think about things that hurt them--and they don't think about how something insignificant in their past is now significant to how they behave in the future.
Therapists--or MINE anyway--would listen to various things I was going through presently. Then she'd ask why I thought I didn't deserve something (since most of my problems seem to stem from a feeling of inadequacy than a feeling of entitlement--so that's where the questioning went)--and I'd say, "I don't know." And then she'd ask a question about my mom or dad, and I'd hedge around that; in fact, I'd defend them most of the time and try to come up with a funny story in which Dad pulled through for me, but then the therapist would point out, "He wouldn't have needed to do that if you hadn't been trying to take care of everything yourself because your needs weren't being met."
If I am trying to be this cagey when explaining my past, why would my characters be more forthcoming? I'm not on a first-name basis with forthcoming characters; I'm not interested in them. I prefer the kind of character who I have to pull teeth on.
Which is a long way of saying, "I prefer to not answer questionnaires. I prefer to do free writing and figure out some things about my character through 'therapy' sessions."
Re: "… unless it has something to do with the story."
If you're writing a character driven story, it ALL has something to do with the story. That's my hypothesis anyway. (Me. The non-English/Lit/Creative Writing degree one.)
I love the aspect of drawing the towns and settings where characters live. It's SO FUN!
No one is judging your completion of the sheet!
I am, and in the end, it's my judgment that matters.
That is not your judgment, that's your awful inner critic who is the LAST person you should be listening to!
If Devin had too much time on his hands, he'd simply find something to fill the time with. As a former member of the military he's used to 'hurry up and wait'.
Caitlyn would say she's fine waiting, then pull out a notebook to update her to do list.
I don't usually fill out character sheets, but I do sometimes read through them if I get stuck. One of my favorite questions is does he/she have any scars? How did he/she get them?
Congratulations, Marnie!!
I'd love the Pirate's Guide to Character Development.
Di R
I’d love the Pirate’s Guide to Character Development.
That would include two steps.
1.) Drink lots of rum.
2.) If you get stuck, refer to rule #1.
And I love the scar question too. And do they have any tattoos. That led me to the heroine of my last MS having a tat on her ass of a martini glass, which the hero eventually found. LOL!
I find with modern therapy, at least my last few sessions (I really should quit explaining my vast experience with this subject...)
But! My last therapist was direct...it didn't really matter the nuances that tilted me the way I was. Unless I wanted to take the time to unearth them, her goal was to move me forward. I like to think I take that same tack with my characters.
If it's important and necessary to move forward, it will come up. Otherwise, let sleeping dogs lie. For me, that works. Others can't move forward without understanding every why that dictates their life.
I think characters/writers are the same way. None are a wrong way, just wrong for that particular character/writer.
As adults, the only one who can make you feel inadequate or incomplete...in the end...is yourself. But that is a huge responsibility to take on. Can be empowering, can be draining. And some will judge themselves and some will let it go. No right or wrong... ;-)
Again, no right or wrong...just right or wrong for that writer/character.
What questions shall we put on this sheet?
1) What would your character do if the rum is gone?
2) If the ship leaves port without you, what would you do to pass the time? (take note that all the rum is gone)
3) Your pistol sputters and misfires as you take aim at the undead monkey, what is next?
4) Hellion and the Bo'sun are debating near the wheel...where do you take shelter?
5) The kraken is hungry and you're out of inner critics, you can toss three that belong to your current character...what are they?
Janga, I love how you always show up at the right moment, and say what all of us have been stumbling around trying to say for hours. Maybe we should set down the rum.
Uh . . . nah.
But I can tell you this only because I know what their mothers’ maiden names are, who their third grade teachers were, and who their dates were for the senior prom. If I didn’t have the bios, I’d spend endless time speculating on the situation questions
I (and Hellie too, I'm guessing!) am the *exact* opposite. I can envision exactly what they would do in just about any scenario, but would spend endless time speculating on whether or not they even went to prom, let alone who their date was!
This stuff INFORMS the characters for me. They’d be strangers roaming around in my head otherwise.
This makes total sense to me - those are the details you need in order to make that character come to life as a human being (inside your head, of course).
I'm not saying anyone should do it differently. If your process brings your character to life, then keep with it! Who do we always quote? Bill Durham? Never fuck with a working writing process
You people have some real issues.
Yeah, we know.
If it’s important and necessary to move forward, it will come up. Otherwise, let sleeping dogs lie. For me, that works. Others can’t move forward without understanding every why that dictates their life.
In other words, don't create problems. Find resolutions for the problems that are holding you back? *LOL*
I love that Bull Durham has turned into Bill Durham. LOL!
Hal - It's not that I'm saying everyone should use it. It's the "Those sheets are stupid" stuff that got me going. (This is obviously a loose interpretation but how my brain read the comments. Possibly not an actual reflection on said comments.)
1) What would your character do if the rum is gone?
2) If the ship leaves port without you, what would you do to pass the time? (take note that all the rum is gone)
3) Your pistol sputters and misfires as you take aim at the undead monkey, what is next?
4) Hellion and the Bo’sun are debating near the wheel…where do you take shelter?
5) The kraken is hungry and you’re out of inner critics, you can toss three that belong to your current character…what are they?
1.) Find more rum.
2.) Start screaming.
3.) Beat the monkey into next week using the butt of the pistol.
4.) Under the ocean, so I don't have to listen to anymore of the arguing.
5.) Eve's Martha Stewart critic, Anti-Divorce critic, and You're-Nothing-Without-Him critic
Hellion: I love the aspect of drawing the towns and settings where characters live. It’s SO FUN!
I haven't completed a full length novel yet but the 3/4 or so that I have drew on real locations that I know well. The coastal towns of Devon, parts of London, historic villages in the Cotswolds and Derwentwater in the English lake district. Only someone familiar with the detailed locations would recognise anything I think. The UK is so small and diverse that its not necessary to invent something entirely fictitious. I can easily visit all of the locations of my novel if I need more detail.
My characters are also loosely based on people that I know or know about. So again, unlike Janga, I don't have to prepare extensive bios before writing. I simply add to or distort existing life histories, disguising them so that no-one living is recognisable.
Reading the comments I guess I may be cheating. But pirates do that don't they? LOL
Yeah, I cracked up at the Bill Durham too! *LOL*
That's even better really.
And I have no bloody idea the name of the 3rd grade teachers for any of my characters. I couldn't even name my 3rd grade teacher. I'd have to go research it in a year book. Yeesh.
In other words, don’t create problems. Find resolutions for the problems that are holding you back? *LOL*
As long as you acknowledge they are there...just not important enough to feel a drive to unearth them!
And your answers to what character critics would be tossed to the kraken illustrate you do know your characters! Details or not!
I don't think they're stupid. I think they don't work for me. I'm a perfectionist. If I stopped before I wrote to think about this stuff too much I'd never get going on the story. I'd be all, "Well, does it make sense if they liked Bugles as a child?" Then I'd angst about it and ultimately convince myself that it's ME that makes no sense and fall into a fit of despair.
I focus on plot first and then let their characters fold out. It gets the words out. But of course, right now, I've got this story but now I have to go back--now that I know the characters--and make sure that it all makes sense.
I say whatever works for you though! We're all different.
I think the pirate's guide to character development should include questions with a choice of recommended answers.
That's the only format that I'm going to touch! LOL
Recommended answers? Quantum! There are no wrong answers...no grades being assigned...no explosions for the wrong...errr...different answer!
Bull! Yeesh.
In my defense, I've never seen the movie. I had to google the quote, and one of Ter's blog came up at the top of the list. How hilarious is that?!?
There are no wrong answers…no grades being assigned…no explosions for the wrong…errr…different answer!
Phew that's a relief!
The skipper gave no choices in her list:
3.) Beat the monkey into next week using the butt of the pistol
I couldn't possibly allow my characters to commit violence! LOL
Begs the question...if the undead monkey can't be killed, is it violence?Or simply venting?
Chance, are you saying that the undead don't have feelings to hurt, or that spirits and ghosts can't feel insulted or hurt?
From the poltergeist literature there seems to be no problem with the spirit world bashing us. *grin*
I have enough enemies (ie competitors) in this world without extending that sphere of influence. LOL
You think the monkey can be insulted? Or hurt?
Food for thought, Q. Food for thought!
For one, I thought I was the metaphysical pirate on this ship...perhaps it's simply that I dislike Mattiecakes... But he keeps peeing in my hammock...perhaps I should vent my ire on Sin instead... But then I'd have to shoot and hide since she is tougher than me...
Or I could poison her rum...
Wow, you guys have been busy! I don't have enough time left on my lunch break to answer everyone, but great discussion. I think we need to make "Bill Durham" the official ship mascot. :)
Bill Durham definitely needs to be our new mascot. I wonder what Bill Durham looks like. *LOL*
Hal, you should rent Bull Durham some time. Granted it's a baseball movie, but Kevin Costner does great baseball movies. (His FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME was awesome too.) Best sex scene ever. That movie was inspiring to me in the forms of poems...and hunting down music with naughty lyrics...and solidifying that baseball is the best sport ever.
YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BULL DURHAM?!?!
*dies*
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