Meme: 30 Days of Writing - Days Two & Three

[lifeonqueen]

Day Two: How Many Characters Do You Have? Do You Prefer Males or Females?

Interesting segue from "your favourite writing project" to how many characters do you have, from a discussion of a finished product to a discussion of process - at least in part.

The honest answer is I have no idea how many characters I have. In terms of projects that I'm actively working on or thinking about:

· Werewolf thing: (to date) Janey (protagonist), 10 supporting characters (Pru, Kathie, Sam, Nicholas, Rita, Rosemary, Emma, Martin, Andy, Pere Seigneur), three named background characters, more to come
· Epic High Fantasy/Alternate Medieval History thing Part One: Katharyne (protagonist); four supporting characters (Robert, Will, Richard); background cast of thousands including two royal courts, two parliaments, at least one monastery and a rebel army.
· Epic High Fantasy/AMHT Part Two: Rosalyn (protagonist); five supporting characters (Harry, John, Aart, Deirdre, the Bishop + Part One); background cast of thousands including three armies, a company of foresters, a medieval shire, a cathedral chapter, a poacher, a shire-court and one very dead dear (at least).
· First World War novel: protagonist, three supporting characters (many more, including the Canadian Expeditionary Force, to come)
· Short Story 1: Flora and Eugene
· Short Story 2: Protagonist, priest, TA

So... 33? Not including ideas for characters I've discarded over time and the other people I've shared my head with over the years: Sam Carter, Aeryn Sun, John Crichton, Sarah Connor, John Connor, Derek Reese, Ellen Ripley, Kara Thrace, Sarah Corvus, nuJim Kirk, Helen Magnus and lately... Winona Kirk (which, considering I'm not a huge fan of nuTrek as seen on screen...).

Boys versus girls? I'd say my literary interest these days is women and power - subject to it, reacting to it, taking it up, exercising it. In a very broad sense, it's the connecting tissue between werewolves, the High Middle Ages, the trenches of Flanders and contemporary Toronto.

When I was a kid in the late 70s, girls didn't get to play with light sabres. I was too young to appreciate what Feminism meant or the cultural significance of the existence of a show like the Bionic Woman. What I did see was that men and boys had power in our society, which in pop culture was expressed (and continues to be) through violence - Han Solo shoots first.

However intelligent Uhura or savy Princess Leia, they clearly did not have power - they were neither actors in the narrative nor (despite Princess Leia's title) powerful within the diegesis. Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor were lighting strikes to my imagination - authors of their own destiny (yeah, even Sarah), the most knowing, the hardiest, the most badass people in any room. Created by a guy.

Go figure.

Oh, and there's also that short story about the mountie, the political aide and the wendigo... 36 characters (and counting).

Day Three: How do you come up with names for characters (and places if you're writing about fictional places)

If you ask my friends, they'll tell you I'm the best at naming characters. And renaming them. And renaming them again. And again. Then once more. Which is maybe not quite right... the names of my protagonists often change as I get a better sense of them in my mind. Janey started out as Eleanor. That really just didn't work. Flora, on the other hand, was Flora from the start - I wanted a name that would fit the period, so it needed to be a little old fashioned, and was vaguely Scots/English. It just clicked.

I have a book of names that I've used in the past, Google is the ultimate writer's tool (along with the Oxford English Dictionary and Fowler's English Usage), and sometimes names are picked deliberately to remind me of a trait or person (or other character) I'm drawing on to create them. Toponyms, on the other hand, are a stone bitch. Seriously, the best reason in the world not to write fantasy is to avoid having to come up with place names. Bleah.

No one did it better than Tolkien and that's a strong argument not to even try. Still, dictionaries are your friend. Figure out the linguistic background of the people you're writing about and let your fingers do some walking.


30 Days of Writing: The Questions

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why.

2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?

3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)?

4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!

5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?

6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper?

7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?

8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?

9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.

10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!

11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?

12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you'd like to share?

13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?

14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?

15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!

16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing? ;)

17. Favorite protagonist and why!

18. Favorite antagonist and why!

19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!

20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?

21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?

22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.

23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?

24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone?

25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.

26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!

27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.

28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.

29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?

30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!