30 Day Writing Meme - Days Sixteen and Seventeen
Ugh. What the hell happened to the weekend?
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
I do write romantic relationships, although I'm not sure if I'm any good at them. I'm sort of a horrible cynic in real life, and that gets translated into what I write, I think. Like in my fantasy trilogy I don't really do romance at all. There are a few married couples who are already well-established in their relationship, and none of them are major characters, so I don't really get to show romance between them. My main character never settles down with anyone, even though he's pursued by at least one other character. My other main character marries and has kids, but his marriage is a political one and though he likes his wife they're not really romantic together. I have other relationships that are varying degrees of disastrous and/or skeevy, and there's nothing romantic about them.
In TES I have a romance between two characters that's very immature in nature and doesn't end well. I guess in Panacea there's a romance that's actually strong and healthy (as healthy as it can be between two kind of messed up people, that is), but it's subtle and mostly in the background.
Yeah, I don't really do romance. Or rather, I don't do romance as some all-encompassing thing that pushes it way to the forefront of every character interaction. Nothing strikes me as more dull than that (which is also why I don't read romance). I like to have it more in the background, and I like to throw a light on how many ways intimate relationships can be messed up. Sure, I like happy endings even in the romance department, but those are endings.
How far I'll go? I prefer the "fade to black" option. I had some scenes in my NaNo last year that strayed into NC-17 territory, but I felt ridiculous writing them. I don't think I have what it takes to make a scene like that hot, so it mostly comes across as silly. I'd rather not write them at all.
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
Favorite protagonist from my books? Um, I don't know. I tend to like all of my protagonists, even when I go on about hating them. Maybe Merrus, because he's such an angst-ridden drama queen and the side of me that's still fifteen years old likes writing him.
I liked Vincent Prader from Panacea (really should get back to that) for the same reason: he's kind of a larger than life personality and it's fun to see him react to the crap that I throw at him. And then there's Eryn from a novel I wrote for NaNo one year, because she's generally quiet and competent and won't take shit from people. She's also really neurotic. She's basically me if I, you know, was competent and didn't take shit from people.
And even though she's not technically the main protagonist, Tabitha from DC. I despaired of her once upon a time because she was just so boring, and then I went back and read the very beginning of the story and realized I had planted the seeds of an actual personality that had somehow gotten lost along the way. So that helped me fix my major problem with her, and now she's my favorite viewpoint character to write for in that story.
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
I do write romantic relationships, although I'm not sure if I'm any good at them. I'm sort of a horrible cynic in real life, and that gets translated into what I write, I think. Like in my fantasy trilogy I don't really do romance at all. There are a few married couples who are already well-established in their relationship, and none of them are major characters, so I don't really get to show romance between them. My main character never settles down with anyone, even though he's pursued by at least one other character. My other main character marries and has kids, but his marriage is a political one and though he likes his wife they're not really romantic together. I have other relationships that are varying degrees of disastrous and/or skeevy, and there's nothing romantic about them.
In TES I have a romance between two characters that's very immature in nature and doesn't end well. I guess in Panacea there's a romance that's actually strong and healthy (as healthy as it can be between two kind of messed up people, that is), but it's subtle and mostly in the background.
Yeah, I don't really do romance. Or rather, I don't do romance as some all-encompassing thing that pushes it way to the forefront of every character interaction. Nothing strikes me as more dull than that (which is also why I don't read romance). I like to have it more in the background, and I like to throw a light on how many ways intimate relationships can be messed up. Sure, I like happy endings even in the romance department, but those are endings.
How far I'll go? I prefer the "fade to black" option. I had some scenes in my NaNo last year that strayed into NC-17 territory, but I felt ridiculous writing them. I don't think I have what it takes to make a scene like that hot, so it mostly comes across as silly. I'd rather not write them at all.
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
Favorite protagonist from my books? Um, I don't know. I tend to like all of my protagonists, even when I go on about hating them. Maybe Merrus, because he's such an angst-ridden drama queen and the side of me that's still fifteen years old likes writing him.
I liked Vincent Prader from Panacea (really should get back to that) for the same reason: he's kind of a larger than life personality and it's fun to see him react to the crap that I throw at him. And then there's Eryn from a novel I wrote for NaNo one year, because she's generally quiet and competent and won't take shit from people. She's also really neurotic. She's basically me if I, you know, was competent and didn't take shit from people.
And even though she's not technically the main protagonist, Tabitha from DC. I despaired of her once upon a time because she was just so boring, and then I went back and read the very beginning of the story and realized I had planted the seeds of an actual personality that had somehow gotten lost along the way. So that helped me fix my major problem with her, and now she's my favorite viewpoint character to write for in that story.