30 questions fic meme, day 4: no disrespect to the spirits of the arts
4 - Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
This is the question that actually made me want to do this meme, because it irritated me so much that I couldn't stop thinking about it. *g*
Short answer, with apologies to everyone I adore who uses this metaphor (or who actually has a supernatural consort who inspires their work, in which case, dude, that is kind of awesome and yet scary): No. The word "muse" makes my eye twitch.
If you substitute "muse" with another word, like favorite, then the answer is still mostly no.
I mean, I have favorite characters who I feel driven to write about, for sure. Daniel was my guy to a probably unhealthy degree for a long time. Before him, as I've said elsewhere, I adored Spike so much that I was literally doodling his name in my notebooks, and the first fic I ever posted on the internet was written in a fit of righteous indignation over his treatment in canon. Ray Kowalski. Don Eppes. Bob Bryar. Ianto Jones. Brad Colbert. Aral Vorkosigan.
I have favorites, but--to me, the muse metaphor, and the structure of this question (a character who speaks to you, who pushes into a story) are about having a sense that the character comes to you. That there is some external thing that reaches out and touches you and pushes you toward writing. My experience is the inverse; I get obsessed with a character and I want to go and crawl inside him and figure him out, and if I am doing that in fiction then it generally involves coming up with something sufficiently terrible to do to him and watching how he reacts. And when the obsession is in full swing then it feels like I am living there all the time, but--it's me who moved, not him, you know? It's me doing the tormenting and the watching. This is the part where I am really curious to know how other people perceive it, though--I have a friend who has a diametrically opposite writing process to mine, and it's always fascinating to me to hear how differently everything works for her, so I'd like to know about this part, too, if anyone wants to share.
For the second part of the question--who are my favorites, and why? Aral Vorkosigan is probably literally my ur-favorite, the character I fell for when I was twelve who shaped all my preferences thereafter* (except that he is not blond, and I have a weakness for blonds). He is, in his canon, Our Heroine's partner (or Our Hero's dad). The story is never quite about him; he's just to one side, being quietly incredibly competent at what he does (one of the fittest men in his command... over forty), while intensely in love with Our Heroine (or an excellently loving father to Our Hero). Also he has ALL THE MANPAIN. And, I am pretty sure, smile lines. Also, canonically bisexual. Also he has an accent and moral ambiguity. WHAT MORE COULD A GIRL WANT, I ASK YOU.
Those are pretty much the standard traits of my favorites, in varying combinations: Spike was blond, accented, morally ambiguous, (totally canonically bisexual even if canon didn't admit it until quite late), full of manpain, intensely in love with Our Heroine (and/or Our Hero, depending which show we're on and which season), and never got the respect he deserved (dammit). Xander, my second favorite, was even more overshadowed and even more a decent, competent guy (ALSO in love with Our Heroine!).
Patrick Jane, on the other hand, nailed the blondness, manpain, smile lines, dazzling competence, and moral ambiguity so hard that I didn't mind that he wasn't overshadowed by anybody. Brad Colbert is blond, so broken he doesn't even KNOW he has manpain, and as an NCO being overshadowed is basically his job. Oh, and his competence is hotter than the Iraqi desert at noon in a MOPP suit.
And so on. I have a type, is what I am saying, and I fall hard for each and every one of my guys, and show my love by hurting them. A lot. Until the next one comes along.
* Incidentally, Lois McMaster Bujold has stated that her favorite way to plot is to think of the worst thing she can do to a character, and go from there. So. I probably also imprinted on that particular method of character-exploration at an impressionable age.
This entry was originally posted at http://dira.dreamwidth.org/579627.html. There are currently
comments there.
This is the question that actually made me want to do this meme, because it irritated me so much that I couldn't stop thinking about it. *g*
Short answer, with apologies to everyone I adore who uses this metaphor (or who actually has a supernatural consort who inspires their work, in which case, dude, that is kind of awesome and yet scary): No. The word "muse" makes my eye twitch.
If you substitute "muse" with another word, like favorite, then the answer is still mostly no.
I mean, I have favorite characters who I feel driven to write about, for sure. Daniel was my guy to a probably unhealthy degree for a long time. Before him, as I've said elsewhere, I adored Spike so much that I was literally doodling his name in my notebooks, and the first fic I ever posted on the internet was written in a fit of righteous indignation over his treatment in canon. Ray Kowalski. Don Eppes. Bob Bryar. Ianto Jones. Brad Colbert. Aral Vorkosigan.
I have favorites, but--to me, the muse metaphor, and the structure of this question (a character who speaks to you, who pushes into a story) are about having a sense that the character comes to you. That there is some external thing that reaches out and touches you and pushes you toward writing. My experience is the inverse; I get obsessed with a character and I want to go and crawl inside him and figure him out, and if I am doing that in fiction then it generally involves coming up with something sufficiently terrible to do to him and watching how he reacts. And when the obsession is in full swing then it feels like I am living there all the time, but--it's me who moved, not him, you know? It's me doing the tormenting and the watching. This is the part where I am really curious to know how other people perceive it, though--I have a friend who has a diametrically opposite writing process to mine, and it's always fascinating to me to hear how differently everything works for her, so I'd like to know about this part, too, if anyone wants to share.
For the second part of the question--who are my favorites, and why? Aral Vorkosigan is probably literally my ur-favorite, the character I fell for when I was twelve who shaped all my preferences thereafter* (except that he is not blond, and I have a weakness for blonds). He is, in his canon, Our Heroine's partner (or Our Hero's dad). The story is never quite about him; he's just to one side, being quietly incredibly competent at what he does (one of the fittest men in his command... over forty), while intensely in love with Our Heroine (or an excellently loving father to Our Hero). Also he has ALL THE MANPAIN. And, I am pretty sure, smile lines. Also, canonically bisexual. Also he has an accent and moral ambiguity. WHAT MORE COULD A GIRL WANT, I ASK YOU.
Those are pretty much the standard traits of my favorites, in varying combinations: Spike was blond, accented, morally ambiguous, (totally canonically bisexual even if canon didn't admit it until quite late), full of manpain, intensely in love with Our Heroine (and/or Our Hero, depending which show we're on and which season), and never got the respect he deserved (dammit). Xander, my second favorite, was even more overshadowed and even more a decent, competent guy (ALSO in love with Our Heroine!).
Patrick Jane, on the other hand, nailed the blondness, manpain, smile lines, dazzling competence, and moral ambiguity so hard that I didn't mind that he wasn't overshadowed by anybody. Brad Colbert is blond, so broken he doesn't even KNOW he has manpain, and as an NCO being overshadowed is basically his job. Oh, and his competence is hotter than the Iraqi desert at noon in a MOPP suit.
And so on. I have a type, is what I am saying, and I fall hard for each and every one of my guys, and show my love by hurting them. A lot. Until the next one comes along.
* Incidentally, Lois McMaster Bujold has stated that her favorite way to plot is to think of the worst thing she can do to a character, and go from there. So. I probably also imprinted on that particular method of character-exploration at an impressionable age.
This entry was originally posted at http://dira.dreamwidth.org/579627.html. There are currently
comments there.