Meme

30 Days of Writing: Day 17

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

Favorite protagonist and why!

I hate picking favorites. I really do, particularly when it comes to characters. But I think I’ll go with McGoohan.

I created him as a whim, as the story I was working on (a communal story) needed another character (and I was getting a little antsy having only one character in the throng). He ended up being an incredibly strong, layered character. I thoroughly enjoy writing him. He starts the novel as this built up, near mythological figure. By the end, we see him as a flawed, human character.

Of all of my characters, he’s the most realized. He has an excellent backstory, consistent characterization–even his evolution from mythological figure to real person are logical. He’s a hero, but really doesn’t want to be. His greatest dream is to be with his family. Simplicity is what he wants from life, but life has a habit of making things more complex.

I just really like writing him.

30 Days of Writing: Day 16

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

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

Despite my dislike of reading romantic stories, I do write romantic relationships. Why? Because my characters have them. They’re dedicated spouses, nefarious playboys, naive youths. They may not all be romantically involved, but that’s life.

My romantic relationships are rarely intrinsic to the plot. My characters have relationships, their significant others may play a part in the plot, but rarely (if ever) does a story revolve solely around the romance. That would just bore me to write.

And I’m a definite ‘fade to black’ sort of person.

30 Days of Writing: Day Fifteen

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

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

Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Really. I’m probably one of the only kids who read The Scarlet Letter in high school and liked it. After that book, I decided to write my term paper on his works, delving through some of his short stories, The House of the Seven Gables and The Marble Faun.

He’s a fascinating individual. His early life, his numerous illnesses, and his real understanding of how people work, their discomforts, fears, prejudices. He captures characters so well. Sure his prose is not as streamlined as I like, but his characters intrigue me.

I really need to reread The House of the Seven Gables. Not this semester (that would be madness) but soon.

30 Days of Writing: Day Fourteen

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

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

Map? What is this word, map?

Okay, I do kinda-sorta map out my locations. I have vague ideas where things are taking place, but have I actually made a map detailing the layout of a country, world, etc? No.

I do plan to. One of the WIPs takes place in a futuristic, significantly smaller North America. I’m going to grab a map of NA and start hacking away. Photoshop makes things like this so much easier.

I do love maps. I have several hanging in my space–walking maps of Boston, a vintage-y map of the Tube, at home I have books of battlefield maps of Napoleonic campaigns, not to mention maps of the different cities I’ve lived in/visited.

I’ll pull up maps on the internet if I don’t have one readily available–Edinburgh being one, particularly a map of the city circa 1890. In the case of Boston and Florence, I’ll set stories where I’ve spent the most time, where I’ve lived, so I can reference things by sight rather than by street name.

I build the streets in my head, and walk around from there.

30 Days of Writing: Day Thirteen

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?

Uh…oh dear. This is a tough one. I don’t particularly have a favorite.

I guess my answer is: whichever I’m writing at the time. I tend to through myself into the cultures that I’m researching. Spitfire pilots, Resistance fighters, just everyday folk. I like learning about different social groups and trying to replicate them in my writings.

I had a blast while writing the Regency era.

Kind of related. But really funny.

30 Days of Writing: Day Twelve

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

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

Worldbuilding…not one of my strengths. I enjoy worldbuilding, but can often be consumed by it, pouring all of my creativity into figuring out the how and why something occurred, even if that instance has only a minor mention. I’m of the belief that even the smallest occurrences have importance and larger ramifications down the road, so I over-analyze and over-plan everything.

I’ve poured the most energy into worldbuilding for The Continent and my current WIP. For the current WIP, I may not have come up with the world, but I’ve definitely contributed largely to the social systems, how the government runs, etc. For The Continent, I planned largely how the new government works versus the old one, and the old way of life versus the new.

I still have many logical kinks to work out in both. The way things work intrigues me, the causes and effects…I get too caught up in those, at times, that I neglect actually working on the narrative.

In the future, I’m going to better organize my world building. Everything is spread out over several journals. I need to make a document and just make notes on the various aspects of life–government, social, religious, etc.