Original fiction meme - Day 28
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.
Kheril nei Kilan from Eien is blind-total blindness, not just 'very bad sight'. Writing from his point of view is always a challenge, because I have to keep in mind I can give no visual description at all, but this is also what makes the whole thing interesting: I don't have any other choice but to pay attention to different senses, to try and imagine how it must be. I have to wonder about what else he can rely on: sounds, smells, the feeling of specific materials under his hands, the way the air is disturbed when someone walks by a litttle too closely, the sudden rise in heat when a ray of sun falls on his skin...
He can't always use his powers to compensate for his blindness, so of course he had to learn the hard way. When he walks into a room for the first time, he counts steps to know how large it is, and not bump into every piece of furniture; he does the same in stairs, and in every place he's supposed to dwell for more than a few minutes only. When he meets someone, he is immediately seized by the sound of that person's voice, by every tiny change in its vibrations, by his/her particular smell... Conversely, the challenge also lies in making my descriptions interesting for the reader, since readers, after all, rely on their eyes a lot. This is also why I don't write my stories from Kheril's point of view only, and use the 2-3 other POV characters' to convey visual cues (colours of clothes, hair, eyes, items...), for instance when introducing a new protagonist/antagonist. But I must say, his POV is much more a nice change of pace than a drag. I never felt it annoyed or bored when I had to write from Kheril's perspective.
Incidentally, writing about Kheril also helped me a lot when I later on created Ezekiel Lannister for Shadow Nexus. Ezekiel is blind too, so whenever I have to play his role, I try to 'cut myself' from my own vision (not looking at the other players in the eyes, not turning my head when they call his name, etc.). In a way, it's actually quite frightening...
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? Every thing 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 world building? 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. Mid way 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 spot light 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 any one 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.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across some thing IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag some one! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
Kheril nei Kilan from Eien is blind-total blindness, not just 'very bad sight'. Writing from his point of view is always a challenge, because I have to keep in mind I can give no visual description at all, but this is also what makes the whole thing interesting: I don't have any other choice but to pay attention to different senses, to try and imagine how it must be. I have to wonder about what else he can rely on: sounds, smells, the feeling of specific materials under his hands, the way the air is disturbed when someone walks by a litttle too closely, the sudden rise in heat when a ray of sun falls on his skin...
He can't always use his powers to compensate for his blindness, so of course he had to learn the hard way. When he walks into a room for the first time, he counts steps to know how large it is, and not bump into every piece of furniture; he does the same in stairs, and in every place he's supposed to dwell for more than a few minutes only. When he meets someone, he is immediately seized by the sound of that person's voice, by every tiny change in its vibrations, by his/her particular smell... Conversely, the challenge also lies in making my descriptions interesting for the reader, since readers, after all, rely on their eyes a lot. This is also why I don't write my stories from Kheril's point of view only, and use the 2-3 other POV characters' to convey visual cues (colours of clothes, hair, eyes, items...), for instance when introducing a new protagonist/antagonist. But I must say, his POV is much more a nice change of pace than a drag. I never felt it annoyed or bored when I had to write from Kheril's perspective.
Incidentally, writing about Kheril also helped me a lot when I later on created Ezekiel Lannister for Shadow Nexus. Ezekiel is blind too, so whenever I have to play his role, I try to 'cut myself' from my own vision (not looking at the other players in the eyes, not turning my head when they call his name, etc.). In a way, it's actually quite frightening...
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? Every thing 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 world building? 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. Mid way 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 spot light 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 any one 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.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across some thing IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag some one! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!