The Formation of Character

[fountnofthought]

So chapters one and two are up, as you may have noticed.  I like what I'm up to so far, and the first few paragraphs of chapter three are pretty pleasing.  Trouble is, I can't decide precisely where I'm going next.  Hopefully I'll find some time later on to sit with it and figure out what's next.  Lead and Follow is going to be pretty character

Comments

[chhhachie]

"I know them in broad strokes, and they're preexisting as people, but I don't actually know them."

I remember reading someone on another site make a comment that was talking about how weird they thought fanfictions were, and how nobody could possibly know their lives and how they thought it was creepy that people tried to write about them personally.

Which of course...I don't agree with.
I think that's what makes it interesting and entertaining. Of course we don't see into their personal lives, but the idea that we can create whatever story we want with pre-existing characters is kind of liberating. It lessens the work load on us, and lets us focus on the STORY.

Anyway, this turned into a really long comment and i could have just said "i agree with you."

:)

[fountnofthought]

I had to get over the creep factor to be able to write about them at all. And that's why I'm not ever going to write 'intimate' things about them - I just couldn't do it! I've also written a series of partly fictional vignettes of my own life, using people I do know in a blurred landscape of reality and imagination, so that makes it easier. If I can play with the lives of my own friends and relatives, then I guess I can write about people I admire and enjoy watching who I don't know personally. Or at least that's how I make sense of it to myself.

Fiction is NOT REAL. That's kind of the point. :)

Oh, and your explanation of why it's interesting and entertaining - spot on!

[samzgurl]

Character development is my favorite part. For years, I carried note cards with me everywhere I went. When I saw something interesting, I wrote it down.
- teenage girl with blue hair and penny loafers
- 30-something in business suit wrestling a toddler into a shopping cart
- elderly couple walking away from Dairy Queen hand-in-hand eating ice cream cones

My favorite game was shuffle and write. Pick cards of every color (blue was physical attributes, pink was personality quirks, green was "gifts" like speed-reader, drummer, could moon-walk, etc.) and go. Oh the things I came up with.