WIP Special Part 5 || basically a party where I Do What I Want

So I'm late.

What's new?

But I have a good reason this time! (don't I always?)

See, it's the start of a new month, which means a couple of things:

• It's now Camp NaNo (whooo! go everyone!) 
• This is the last of the 5-Part Special posts (and I was late, because obviously that's the thing to do?)
• My family now has our new month's fast internet after running out of last month's. 
• When we use all our fast internet, we get slow internet
• s l o w
• Blogger wouldn't even let me try putting pictures into posts
• (and Spotify wouldn't even acknowledge there was internet)
• (I think Spotify might be an internet guzzler?)
• And as you'll know by now, this week's post was about aesthetics and all the gorgeousness! 
• so having no pictures doesn't exactly work
• Also I have one week to finish two TAFE units' assessments! (*harried screams*) (I had more than two months to do this. Why, Jem. :| )

Anyway, I'm here now! :D

(Lila made the awesome graphics - thanks, Lila! <3)

The March 5-Part Special

Part 5: ...fun stuff

Aesthetics! Artwork! Music! all the fun stuff which I haven't collected yet, basically.

–{{tea and scones || tired and grumpy || don't hurt his books || grumbling || "why did I do this to myself" || Count Laszlo / the Beast

–{{ doesn't trust anyone but herself || bickering || regret ||  angry-sad || protective || has to be in control of her situation || Billie

–{{ aching || music || ghosts from the past || can't hide forever || homemaker || Elsie

Josie || engages with anyone || reckless || doesn't want protecting || archery || hunting the Beast }}–

–{{lost || charming smile || sadness behind his eyes || banter || leader of bandits || Rowan

Zephyr || grieving || careful with his words || loyal to the death || all heart }}–

[Remember how I've always said I can't write while listening to music? Yeahhh. But sometimes I feel like music helps me add a little more emotion, so... these are songs I'll play in the background while I write. (You'll notice there are. no. lyrics.) It needs to be reordered, but I just skip/repeat as necessary, so...]

.... That's the end of Part 5 - and the whole event. ....

*sniffles*

Now go check out these blogs for their amazing posts they got theirs up on Friday, I'm sure xD because their stories are so. cool. and I've been waiting impatiently to see their party-posts! Part-5-y posts?? I am ashamed of me.

.....

Do you make playlists? Are you on Spotify? (drop your link in the comments!) Do you sometimes run out of internet?? (is it Spotify, do you know?) How do you make aesthetic collages? Which character do you most like the sound of? Which character of mine is most like one of yours? (would they get along or not?)

WIP Special Part 4 || you get to meet a lot more characters

[Write an intro, etc etc, does anyone read these things, never mind, let's just get on to the exciting bit! more about the Beast and cinnamon-roll boys and sisters and a villain that isn't there yet! yay!]

WELCOME TO PART FOUR.

(Thanks to Lila for making the awesome graphic! which even happens to fit with my blog colours, so that's extra-cool. xD)

The March 5-Part Special

Part 4: Supporting Characters (And Villain!)

–{{Introduce your side characters, explain what makes them unique, and perhaps include their relationship to the MC.

H'm. How many side characters should I do?

Eh. Why not keep going until you all yell at me to stop already. 

WIP Special Part 3 || I talk about Billie (yay!)

hahahaaa

Well. I'm sure it's still Friday somewhere?

Look. I have a cold. I have study. I have work. I have been reading 100k+ fanfics. I am sorry I didn't get to this earlier, because Julian has organised a great thing here and I'm pleased to be part of it and ramble about my dear WIP. 

And I love ya all because you understand the craziness of life. <3

(Thanks to Lila for making the awesome graphic! <3)

The March 5-Part Special

Part 3: The Main Character(s)

Part 1: Introduction || Part 2: Setting

–{{Introduce your Main Character(s):

Oooh! Today I get to talk about Billie! (Elsie and Josie will be POV characters, I'm pretty sure, but Billie's definitely the main character of Three Sisters.)

Here's the first paragraph of my blurb again, because with the way I write, introducing my story basically equals introducing my MC:

Billie's the oldest of three. That makes her the one responsible for Elsie and Josie. She works hard to keep their life together - their new life, their life in a little cottage in the forest, the life they've built for themselves. But Josie is caught poaching: not by kingsmen, which would mean death, but by a legendary Beast of the forest, which... also means death. Billie's the oldest. Billie's the one who keeps her sisters safe. What option does she have? She invokes the old traditions to pay for her sister's debt herself.

Aww. I love her so much. Also she refuses to connect with anyone because she was betrayed in an unspecified previous relationship, so she just snarks people. Aggressively. All the time. Because she doesn't want to get hurt.

And at one point that led to a saucepan battle with a bandit in the Beast's kitchen. Good fun.

Possibly when you read this question you were expecting a physical description of Billie?? If so you obviously haven't been around me very long. She's, y'know, fairly regular, I guess? Brown hair [I think. Let me check.] Eyes. [Just... like... eyes. She has them. *awkwardness intensifies*] Oh, no, wait. She has blonde hair. [W o w, Jem.]

I think she's an ESTJ; I took the test for her a few times, and that's what I got.

She's the opposite of touchy-feely and doesn't do words of affection; she's not terribly sensitive and can miss emotions in others. (Also in herself. Except for anger. Because she's good at that one [and uses it to be productive.])

The WIP Special is Back! || MORE ABOUT THREE SISTERS

JULIAN'S 4-PART SPECIAL IS BACK.

...But this time, with new, bonus content! Now, for the same low price, you can order four, get one free! 

*coughs*

Basically, this time, we've fit five weeks into the month. So it's actually the-



(Thanks to Lila for making the awesome graphic! <3)

The March 5-Part Special

Part 1: Introducing the WIPs

–{{Give a 1-3 paragraph blurb of your WIP

[INSERT SUPER-COOL BLURB/HOOK HERE HAHA]

[whoops I meant to take that out ahaha]

Billie's the oldest of three. That makes her the one responsible for Elsie and Josie. She works hard to keep their life together - their new life, their life in a little cottage in the forest, the life they've built for themselves. But Josie is caught poaching: not by kingsmen, which would mean death, but by a legendary Beast of the forest, which... also means death. Billie's the oldest. Billie's the one who keeps her sisters safe. What option does she have? She invokes the old traditions to pay for her sister's debt herself.

The Beast must accept her offer, but he knows the traditions more deeply: whatever is offered in free payment of another's debt cannot be harmed. Billie wakes up a manor deep in the forest; her sisters think she's dead, but although he's not happy about it, the Beast refuses to harm her - even after she has several aggressive outbursts involving his tea and his scones and his ferns. She was willing to die for Josie. But she's not sure if she can handle watching her sisters think she's dead while she lives in unwilling comfort. And then her sisters start making bad choices - and she can't do a thing about it.

Josie's on a mission now; she wants vengeance on the monster that killed her sister, and has teamed up with bandits to get it. Elsie is distraught and leaves the forest, meeting a ghost from the past and unintentionally making the sisters' presence in the forest known. As everyone works at cross-purposes, old and new enemies and acquaintances are gathering in the forest. Eventually, for the three sisters, their hiding will be over.

(I made that up on the spot, if you can't tell...)


[BONUS FEATURE: Draft blurb!]

Everyone is working on an incorrect information and is confused and meets all the people they don't want to. Snark is considered a valid fighting style.

[That works too.]

Tag In Which I Invite Several Characters I Shouldn't To Dinner

*creeps back into blogosphere*

*points accusingly at Life*

Let's just move on.

(Unless, of course, you didn't even notice I was gone for an extra week two weeks nearly a month. In which case, we need to Talk.)

Today we have a tag about books. And food. (I have been told food is popular. I'm not sure why.) (I mean, who wants to eat, right?? apart from me 65.31% of the time?)

But, to mix things up a bit, I'm going to focus on one book series. One I think deserves more attention. I mean, I can't seem to find the fandom?? which is ridiculous. Not even on Pinterest, apart from a few boards with amateur fanart.

(I shouldn't say that, or it'll turn out to be someone here's art, and then I will die of embarassment... The fanart is better than any I've done, okay?)

The Literary Dinner Party Tag

Featuring: Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfer)

Beautiful Books part 2: NaNo update

There's another Beautiful Books linkup going this month! Normally Cait and Sky do 'Beautiful People' - questions about your characters - but around NaNoWriMo they change it to questions about your NaNo story. Last month's linkup, Part 1, was to introduce your NaNo story to the blogging world. I skipped it, though, because I had Julian's whole WIP Special to introduce my story with.

But Part 2 of the Beautiful Books linkup is a sort of NaNo update.

So, since I am all about ignoring my responsibilities and NaNo in particular accountability and boring you to death with abundant but insignificant details of my writing life keeping you up to date with my progress, I thought I'd take the questions this time.

Why are you even here you should be writing.

1. Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

HAHAHAHAAA

I'm a much slower writer than everyone else seems to be. On the bright side, I spent a few days thinking, and ended up with a few pages of plot! Like, two whole pages! Or one and a half. But it's definitely helped me write more... decisively. Because I now have an idea of what I'm aiming for.

(Did you think that because I don't plot, my brain isn't screaming, "PLOT, YOU FOOL"?)

(Because it is. It is screaming.)

The Four-Part Writing Special // Part Two: Characters

Apparently it's Wednesday again.

Anyone would think Wednesdays were a regular occurrence.

TIME FOR JULIAN'S T H I N G. (I mean, the Special. The not-tag. The... the thing.)

Still talking about Three Sisters here! (Read Part 1)

1. Who is the main character? (Bonus points for a description or picture)

There are three POV characters - Billie, Elsie and Josie. But Billie is the main character. Because she's the most like me. Obviously.

She's... the oldest. So she's bossy a leader. She makes her younger sisters work fairly hard, but takes the worst jobs herself. And while she doesn't show many of the softer emotions, she would literally give her life to protect Elsie and Josie.

...Physical description? Really??

Blonde hair and... um...

...

CONFESSION TIME: I am so scared of info-dumping that I tend to ignore any character description. I mean, how do you work the character's eye colour into a natural sentence?? So I actually haven't focused on developing a full physical description. 

This picture does make me think of her... but it's not accurate to the story.

I can't find out who this is, so I can't find other images
of her and see if Billie looks like that... x(

And I'll probably change my mind later and say it reminds me of her in no way at all. Maybe if I were a plotter I could give you more solid facts, but... I'm not.

2. What is goal of the protagonist? The antagonist? (no spoilers!)

The goal of the protagonist is to keep herself and her sisters alive in their new little rustic life.

The goal of the antagonist isn't to kill the protagonist. Not exactly. She already thinks the protagonist is dead. Instead, it's just your standard sort of take-over-all-the-countries power-grabby goal. Um. Yeah. That's definitely on my list of "Things to change before you let anyone read it, you cliche pengwing".

I could provide spoilers, except I don't know what the ending is... if someone would provide spoilers for me, that would be great. Then I might actually know where I'm heading. 

3. Is there a possession or memory the MC keeps close?

Billie keeps memories of her father close - all the better to brood over.

Nothin' keeps ya bitter like holding your memories close and regularly visiting them to brood. Alone. With your bitterness.

4. What is the MC's greatest fear?

Billie's biggest fear is that she won't be strong enough to protect and look after her younger sisters.

So, obviously, I've used external forces to take even the opportunity of being strong away from her. But I'll come back to her fear before the book's finished.

(And she'll fail. Obviously.)

5. Who is your favorite character?

WHO WROTE THESE QUESTIONS

DON'T YOU KNOW YOU NEVER ASK THAT

 ...

• I like Billie, because she feels responsible and she's a lot like me in her big-sistery-ness. 

• I like Elsie, because she's had to abandon someone she loved without saying goodbye. 

• I like Josie, because... um I think I might need some more character development or a super subplot here. Because Josie's the one who rides around the forest with a bow and arrow, which sounds cool, but I actually feel a fair bit of apathy towards her. Fine, I don't actually like Josie sooo much. (Not enough for her to be an option for my favourite character.)

• I like the Beast (Count Laszlo), because he's a grumpy old thing who just wants to be left in peace with his scones and cups of tea and books and ferns. Without having to deal with people misbehaving. 

• I like Rowan [has his roots in Robin Hood], because even though he's so quick with banter, he has sadness behind his eyes. [Woo that sounds so poetic! now you just have to cOME UP WITH THAT TRAGIC BACKSTORY, YOU DINGBAT AUTHOR.]

• I like Kik, because he somehow developed character better than Rowan, who was meant to be the main character out of the bandits.

• I like Zephyr, because he's so sweet. Basically he's in the range of Char (Ella Enchanted) for sweetness (at least that's what I'm aiming for). And he's hurt.

• I like Jemma, because she's a Camp NaNo panic-fueled creation based roughly on myself because I didn't want to have to make up another full character.

... Billie'd be my favourite female. Male characters... probably Zephyr and the Beast, for different categories. But then, Rowan has come up with some amazing banter... [a significant amount breaking the fourth wall to question if I happened to have such a thing as a plot about me??]

6. List some of the more prominent characters, and then provide a line that describes them (from your WIP).

[Everything is liable to change. But this is how they stand at the moment - or at least how they stood at the start of the draft. Some things have changed already.]

[Also I've taken a not-terribly-literal interpretation of "a line that describes them". Describing their character is much more important than their eye colour! *cough* I don't know their eye colour *cough*]

Billie:

Grabbing two handfuls of tablecloth, she pulled. The porcelain cup, plates and cream pot smashed to the floor, and the cutlery tinkled among the pieces.
The Beast roared and leapt forward. "How dare you!"
Billie kicked her chair in his bath* and grabbed the edge of the table.
"Don't you-"
With muscles toned and knotty from seven months of digging potatoes and cutting trees, she lifted the table and hurled it among the ferns.

(She's having a fit because she thought she'd offered to die in her sister's place... and instead she's being [grumpily] offered scones and tea, while her sisters think she's dead and now have to look after themselves. Which they would have had to do anyway if she'd died, but Billie's not feeling logical at the moment. Besides, watching and being useless COMPLETELY grates against her character.)

* It's five months later and I've only just seen that typo. PATH. not bath. *dies*

Elsie:

Before moving to the forest, she'd been very social, making friends with everyone. The forest, on the other hand, was so lonely and empty. She hadn't seen anyone except her sisters for seven months. If that wasn't enough to drive a person mad, she didn't know what was.

(Billie's "dead" and Josie's run off into the forest. Elsie never took to the rough life like the two of them, and copes so badly on her own that practically the first thing she does is leave their hidden cottage and go talk to people.)

Josie:

If she hunted again, would the Beast come back? Would it take her? Josie thought of the crossbow, hanging on the rack inside the door. Let the Beast come. She would train. She would fight. Let the Beast come; she would welcome it. For Billie, she would kill it. She had been too weak and Billie had died because of that. Josie would not wait until the Beast came after her to avenge her sister. She would hunt the Beast down.

(This is Josie's internal monologue. IMPULSIVE DECISION-MAKING RIGHT HERE. No. Seriously, Josie. Maybe tHINK THIS THROUGH.)

Count Laszlo/the Beast:

"Mrs Potts! I will be needing tea. Excessive quantities of tea every day for the foreseeable future. And a large portion right now."

(I'm not sure how he went from trying to kill them to being a grumpy old teddy bear?? but that's a problem for the second draft.)

Rowan: 

Tall but not overly broad, he had the air of a little boy who'd never grown up, and the tousled brown hair to match. His skin was freckled and his eyes dark; he wore a simple shirt and pants in patched brown and green, with soft leather boots like her own. Her eyes went to the bow and quiver on his back, and she wished again that she had her own bow still.

(But that's Josie's impression when she met him [she's actually pretty immature at this point and I was trying to bring that through in how she saw people; for example, she's misinterpreted "the air of a little boy who'd never grown up" - that's him bluffing that he's okay]. Billie notices different things about Rowan. Mostly because he's tying her to the table leg while he + his men try to raid the Beast's house.)

Kik:

[Rowan:] "These are my men, all of whom I trust with my life."
Kik snorted. "We have a common goal, but adding the compliment - thank you, by the way - doesn't mean you can call us your men, Rowan. We discussed this. We're willing to follow you, but we aren't your men."
"Aren't they all such lovably humorous rogues?" Rowan's smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
...
[Later; Rowan to Josie.]
"Welcome to the Hood's Men."
Kik mumbled something from back at the clearing. 

Rowan ignored it.

Zephyr: 

The only [foreigner] not dancing. The only [foreigner] wearing black. The [foreigner] who should never, never have seen her again.
"Elsabeth," he said again, hoarsely, and stepped forward heedless of the dancers. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.
Which he had.

(PLEASE REPLACE "foreigner" WITH SOME ACTUAL WORLDBUILDING THANK YOU)

Jemma:

"Do you sell paper?"
"I do." The woman looked up, brushing a strand of hair off her face and leaving a swipe of ink in its place. She was only a bit older than Elsie.

(She wasn't supposed to be in more than one scene?? but she stuck around and made herself useful.)



I understand that these aren't all main characters! But I thought I'd introduce a bit more of the cast haha this practically is all of the named cast.

7. Who is the funniest character? Smartest character? Creepiest character? Most reckless character? Quirkiest character?

After careful consideration I have decided that my characters don't seem to be funny on their own, but in pairs. I'm not actually terribly far into my plot, but where I currently am, Billie and Rowan are... well, I think they're funny, but I suppose they're really just bickering.

The Beast is probably the smartest... in book learning. Not so sure about real world application, since he doesn't seem to understand - for example - how human emotions work.

I guess the creepiest character is the girls' father?

And Josie is definitely the most reckless character.

For quirky... maybe Mrs Potts?? I mean, she's a glowing orb that floats around glowering at Billie. That... is not terribly quirky. I do not actually have one of those quirky and lightheartedly and funny characters.

8. How do you come up with names?

It's not my division if I can't see it.








*also external screaming* *that's very important* *can't forget that*

9. What is the Myers-Briggs type of your MC? (Bonus points for side characters!)

I actually hadn't gotten around to doing this yet! So... now I know.

Billie: ESTJ. This fits perfectly with how I pictured her, which is cool! She's leader who values dedication, honesty, and hard work - and clashes with anyone who goes against those values. Not touchy-feely or big on words of affection (I actually did her Love Language too - Acts of Service); can miss emotions in others; stubborn and not very sensitive.

Elsie: The first time, the result was ENFJ - "natural-born leaders, full of passion and charisma... with a natural confidence that begets influence." That doesn't sound like Elsie to me; she enjoys being around people, but not being the centre of attention, and she's not as much of a leader as her sisters.

So I did it again, and the result was INFJ (which is funny because that's mine). This seems a bit more like her: "soft-spoken, but with strong opinions", private, could be seen as a quiet Extrovert but still needs time alone to recharge.

Josie: My first try gave ENTP. This seemed partly accurate, but she's not overly selfless or sensitive (she's a bit self-centred, at least at the start). Next time, the result was ESTP, (intuitive/sensing was hovering around 50%). "Little regard for sensitivity"... "leap before they look"... "likeliest personality type to make a lifestyle of risky behaviour"??? JOOOSIE RIGHT HERE.


(Anyone have experience with the MBTI system? How would you say these would interact? Anything in particular I should know??)

10. Are any characters influenced by someone in your life?

Billie: myself - even though our personality types are apparently practically opposite, we share a silent but fierce protectiveness.
Josie: annoying little sisters who don't behave logically??
Zephyr: I wish he was based on someone I know xP

So that's Part Two of the Four-Part Writing Special! I hope you enjoyed hearing a bit about the characters in Three Sisters. (Sorry about the length....)

Which character do you like best? Which one would you like to hear more about? Who's your quirkiest character? Do you like the sweet guys in books? (Char! Kai! Faramir!) Are your characters influenced by (we won't say "based off") someone in your life? Do you know your characters' Myers-Briggs types? What's your Myers-Briggs personality type?


...
Update:
I forgot to link to the other bloggers.  Oops.

Julian's post || Sarah's post || Ivie's post || Lisa's post || Mrs Baldwin's post || Faith's post || Lila's post || Evangeline's post

Have you read the posts by these amazing blogger-writers too? (If not, go do it!)

Beware: I'm a Writer || or: meet my family!

Everyone knows writers are dangerous people to be around, right? We have the whole "if you annoy me I'll put you in my book and kill you" thing.

Which I have never done. Yet.

But people-watching is a great way to get new characters. Or figure out how your characters would realistically act. Or get hilarious dialogue. Which is what I'm here for today.

Sometimes I overhear things I reeeally want to use in my writing. And, since I don't leave the house that often, most of these things are overheard from my family.

If you're reading this, my dear family... I'm sorry. But you're living with a writer.

things my family have said (that I want to put in a book one day)

Sister 2: Are you asleep?

Me: ...yes.

Brother 2: "Canada's crashing the holiday bus!"
[I refuse to give you any context.]

Sister: Why is there water in my spot? *stabs it with her fork*

Me: ...why are you wearing sunglasses?
Brother 1: these are not sunglasses
Brother 1: these are night vision glasses
Brother 1: they make it look like it's night

Brother 2: I see two stars in a line!

Brother 2: (singing) You make me wanna shout
                  Kick my heels up and shout
                  Throw my arms up and shout
                  *trails off* ...and catch them?
Me: ...How?
Brother 2: ...with my hands. I kept those.

Sister 1: Do I have conversation in my eyes??

Mum: New rule. No Batman at the dinner table.
Sister 1: *hands still spread over her face in a 'mask'* *raspy voice* But... I'm Batman.
Mum: No.
Sister 1: ...
Sister 1: *dives under table*
Sister 1: *comes back out, rather disheveled* Batman had to go.
[We'd just seen the trailer for The Lego Batman Movie. Just. the. trailer.]

Mum: What are you doing on the roof?

General sibling group: ...what?

Mum: What are you doing on the roof?

Sister 1: You get too attached to things that are too easily broken.
Brother 2: *clutches his Lego creations protectively*
Brother 2: You used to cry too when it was pack-up time.

Brother 1: Can I borrow your camera? I'll try not to fill it up.

Me: With photos of bugs?

Brother 1: *walking away* *completely seriously* No, dragons. 

Brother 2: *into disconnected radio* Got a coffee, mate, got a coffee?
Me: ...
[I don't know how universal it may or may not be, but Aussie truckies open UHF conversations with "Got a copy, mate?"]

Sister 1: My genius is ruined on you.

Me: I think you mean wasted?

Any sibling: There's a bug in my dinner!!
Dad: It's fine. He won't eat much.
[On the other hand, if it's a caterpillar, the answer is "He only tastes like the cabbage, that's all he's ever eaten..."]

Sister 1: She thinks she's the bee's bonnets.

Sister 1: *drinking*
Me: *comes into kitchen*
Sister 1: *drops cup of water* *slaps her hands across her face in her 'mask'*
               *raspy voice* ...What do you want?
Me: ...
Me: Don't forget to clean that up.
Sister 1: ...but I'm Batman.

_____

Sister 1 is the drama queen of the family (and the possibility of her reading this post is... higher than I'd like.) Do you have siblings, and do they sometimes say downright hilarious things? Or are you the hilarious one in your family? What's the funniest dialogue you've overheard? (doesn't have to be from your family!) Is this standard Dad behaviour, and do you have any message for Sister 1?? (I suggest stop being such a drama queen, kid, but I suppose I'm biased?)

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Beautiful People #27 || I finally talk about Three Sisters

Annnd August's Beautiful People has been open since - well - the start of August?? - but I'm just getting around to it now. (Because if I procrastinate too much longer, it'll be September.)

Beautiful People is a link-up hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In, so thank'ee kindly, ladies, for that.

I'm going to go with one of my three major characters from Three Sisters for this. (You would never have guessed there were three major characters in a story with the working title Three Sisters, would you??)

I should probably give a little context? since I haven't talked much about my writing at all?)
There are three sisters in Three Sisters (cue more astonished surprise); Billie, Elsie and Josie (or Ells and Josh... but never Bill). They live in a forest, in a cottage they [Billie, mostly] built themselves, and in varying degrees of uncomfortable-ness. Josie likes the freedom and spends her time riding their bony old horse around and waving a bow; despite having lived in the forest for seven months, she still views their life as a great adventure. Elsie... well, she had a life before they came to live here; she dislikes the forest, pours her heart into her writing, and feels her sisters don't appreciate how hard she works making their life tolerable (she does the cooking etc). Billie does appreciate Elsie, but she won't say it; they've all had to make sacrifices for this new life, and Billie keeps it going by sheer stubbornness and very hard physical labour.

The story opens with Josie coming home unusually rattled; she was caught poaching in the forest by its legendary resident beast, who demanded her life in forfeit. Billie makes light of it, but when the Beast turns up at their cottage, furious that Josie didn't honour her bargain (to say goodbye to her sisters and then return), Billie is ready with the crossbow. Which... is a commendable effort, but doesn't do much. Out of options, she offers herself to pay for her sister's crime; although she isn't aware, this, according to traditions held from ancient times, is binding: the Beast can neither refuse, nor in any way harm her.

So now Elsie and Josie, believing Billie dead, argue and leave the safety of their cottage. Meanwhile the Beast - who, as I'm writing him, is turning out more and more like a grumpy/legalistic but very bewildered great-uncle who just wants to be left in his library while everyone follows the RULES (no romance involving him, by the way) - has an angry young woman prowling around his house and smashing his china because she can't leave but she can see (via a handy book that's basically a magic mirror in book form) her sisters making dangerous choices without her there to stop them.

Annnd... that's basically as far as two 10k Camp Nanos have taken me.

I have more in mind, including a Cinderella thread, a Robin Hood thread + bandits, an angry empress, sisterly loyalty + sisterly fury, and nods to various fairy tales.

Please note: all of this is regarding a nowhere-near-finished first draft. Characters and plot are still developing. Answers are not set in stone. In fact, I will probably tend to waffle for a while and then admit I don't know the answers.

Oh, and I'm answering these questions for Billie. ;) Time-wise, this is probably... soon after she's taken?

_______

What are they addicted to/can’t live without? 

Billie can't live without her own strength. She has to be in control of the world/situation around her. So... does that make her... addicted to power??

That... was not my intention.

But the transition to her new life in the forest has meant she's had to live without a lot of things, and (so far as I know) she's not addicted to anything physical. Like, say, coffee. (That's a strange foreign drink which [it's strongly implied that] one of the other characters introduces them to.) So I think anything she can't live without is definitely non-physical.

Like power  control of the world around her her own strength, so she can protect herself and her sisters. (Because that has gone amazingly so far... I suppose she did manage to keep things going for seven months, though.)

It's actually also likely that she can't live (or wouldn't have been able to create this new life) without her anger (see the 'what are they holding on to' and the 'someone they resent' questions, below).

Name 3 positive and 3 negative qualities about your character.

Positive: Protective, strong-willed, strong
Negative: Over-protective/controlling, stubborn, relies on her own strength instead of trusting others

Oh look, they're basically the same. I love it when that happens. I think it's a good thing for characters' strengths to potentially be their weaknesses.

Are they holding onto something they should get rid of? 

I can't think of anything. As far as physical objects go, anything with an emotional attachment got dumped when their forest life started. Instead she keeps a simmering lump of completely justified anger and resentment.

...I suppose she should get rid of that??

...Or I could kill the other person.

...After all, that lump of bad feelings is probably 49% of what drives her to make their new life succeed, no matter how hard it is. (Basically, out of spite. "Haha you dumped us, but look at us now. We're doing F I N E." *attacks problem with sharp-bladed shovel* "JUST F I N E.")

(The other 51% is protectiveness. Because I too am a big sister.)

(I think we're far enough off topic now and I should move on.)

If 10 is completely organized and 1 is completely messy, where do they fall on the scale? 

Um. She used to be probably an 8? but her new life involves a lot of nature and nature isn't really something you can keep organised. I think she likes inside the cottage to be tidy (at least, she put up hooks and stuff), but otherwise she's silently rebelling against her old life and has embraced the mud and sweat and deliberately does things which she would never have done in her old life because #ew. Not that that's relevant to how organised she is. I'd say probably more like a 4 or 5 now.

What most frustrates them about the world they live in? 

Billie gets frustrated when she can't control the world around her. She did it in her old life, and with enough stubbornness and sweat, she can usually do it in this new one. Except when she can't. Mostly that's because of the Beast, but sometimes it's Elsie or Josie being rebellious.

e.g. [Billie yelling at the book:] "I told you not to leave the house where do you think you're going get back here this instant or else" (Beast: "I'll just... there was something I urgently had to do... on the other side of the house." *leaves awkwardly*)

How would they dress for a night out? How would they dress for a night in? 

I may have mentioned "rebelling against her old life" and "spite" in my previous answers??

Billie would wear her most worn-out dress - clean, but still worn-out, and completely not the kind of dress that's worn on a 'night out'. And her boots. Not just because she only has a few dresses (and scrubbing the mud out of them kind of wears them out) (and they're a bit darned around the hem and knees) but because she refuses to be the girl she once was. Because that life let her down and now she refuses to go with anything but the new life she built for herself + her sisters.

How many shoes do they own, and what kind? 

This is obviously a very important question, and I'm ashamed of myself for not having thought of it before.

Uhhhh...

One pair of scuffed leather boots; good-quality, but well-worn.

Do they have any pets? What pet do they WISH they had? 

Billie has a bony old horse. His name is Old Bill. Her sisters thought that was hilarious, but they're smart enough not to call her Bill. (She doesn't like it. Or she wouldn't like it... no one's actually dared do it, yet.) Unfortunately - although Billie could really use Old Bill for plowing the vegetable patch or for dragging logs - Josie has claimed him.

Is there something or someone that they resent? Why and what happened? 

She resents her father. Because he chose the path that benefited himself and threw his daughters to the wolves.

I know... another terrible parent, when YA's full of them already. I'm sorry. I'll try to write some nice ones too.

What’s usually in their fridge or pantry? 

They have a cellar that Billie dug, and it usually has whatever game Josie's caught recently + vegetables from the garden. There would be leftovers from the last meal, in a bowl wrapped in a damp cloth, except they don't usually leave leftovers.

_______

I hope you enjoyed that journey into my WIP! It's late, I know - August is almost over - but I've been enjoying other people's BP posts so much that I felt I had to do one. Plus I've been half-promising to give you a few more details about Three Sisters since, I don't know, April?

So. That's Billie! Do you think she sounds addicted to power?? Do you sympathise with the over-protective big sister or the younger ones who just want to have their own lives? What do you think of the Beast?

ideas from Pinterest || theme: EXPLOSIONS

My "ideas from Pinterest" posts have been pretty fun to write. So far there's been:

for couples || for superheroes || tragic dialogue

"Snarky dialogue" is the obvious next step. I'll think about it.

But today - as promised - it's explosions. Coupled with a fair bit of snark.

And in the vein of this theme, let us start with Tony Snark + explosions.

I'm sorry, did I typo and write Tony Snark??
That was obviously an accident

"Technically, it wasn't on fire."
"Of COURSE it wasn't on fire! You completely blew it up!"

"It's only on fire a little bit. You can still use it."

"I said finesse. Do you happen to know the definition of finesse?"

"I'm looking for a place to crash. Mine blew up."

"Do you even know how to drive this thing?"
"Normally I'd lie and say yes, but considering the fact that I almost flew us into that building, I'm going to assume you know the answer."

"Some gifts are better left unopened. I'm particularly referring to the ones that explode."

"The phrase 'Ignore it and it will go away' does not apply to being chased by a dozen cop cars. Trust me on this one."

"I don't go looking for trouble. I just enjoy befriending it."



"...and then I set the fire."
"No."
"But-"
"No fires."
"But my plan is awesome."
[Third character:]"Since when have we accepted pyromaniacs onto this team?"

"Give me one good reason why I should buy you a cart full of fireworks."

"We can't have a crisis! My schedule is already full."

"In my defense, I was left unsupervised."

"So what're you up to?"
"Nothin' dangerous, if that's what you're asking."
"...Our definitions of dangerous must be sliiightly different."

"The results of an explosion are often very curious."

"Small fire! I said to set a small fire! This is not small!"

"Burning a bridge takes too long. I prefer explosives."

For some reason I can NOT find a gif which includes the explosion??
Which is super annoying because I need it for my life.

*****

Okay, so not all of these were specifically about explosions? but you can make them about explosions. And that's all that matters, really.

Do you write about explosions? Do you have suggestions for themes for my next Pinterest ideas posts? Do you write posts at eleven at night? because I don't recommend it 

Talk to me about anything! including the fact that apparently Iron Man's arc reactor is triangular in this suit?? I did not know that.

Of Cookies and Books

And today we have... *drum roll*... a tag!

Actually, no. Today we have BOOKS. So stop groaning.

okay it's a book tag

Thanks to Julian at Saver of Memories for giving me this opportunity to rave about books! :)

Of Cookies and Books

...Hang on.

A quick word before we get to the books:

I have never eaten a cookie in my life.

OY - there's no need for rotten fruit!!

I'm an Aussie. We call them biscuits. (I believe in the USA 'biscuits' are what you call scones??) And for the same cultural reason I may be changing some of the biscuits. Because what even is a Dutch Snowball??

Yes. I could Google it. But I'm making a point here.

Chocolate Chip || a book that never gets old

Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine) and Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen).

I love the writing style, so - even though I've read them often enough that I know the endings (which are unlikely to have changed since last time) - I still enjoy rereading them. I always come across snippets of humour of dialogue that are worth it, too.

Dutch Snowballs Cornflake and Sultana Biscuits || a book that gave you an unexpected surprise

I don't know what Dutch Snowballs are, so I'm changing this one to Cornflake/Sultana Biscuits. Because you think they're choc-chip and then they're not and you get a mouthful of deceit and betrayal. And biscuits with cornflakes are always stale. I suppose this would be, specifically, an unpleasant surprise. Never mind.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Agatha Christie) certainly surprised me. That twist. I didn't actually realise that was even possible.

Also the ending of All Fall Down (Ally Carter). I didn't see that coming either. (Not the very end, which seemed a little ordinary considering what she'd been through, but the bit just before the end. That bit. If you've read it you know what I'm on about.)

It's really hard to talk about books with surprises without spoiling the surprises. Or else sounding really weird.Or both, which is my usual preference.

[I feel I must add here that, by definition, all surprises are unexpected??]

Molasses Jamdrops || a book with a character that gets in a sticky situation

(Jamdrops were the only biscuits I can think of that could be sticky. Not perfect, but here in Australia, we feed molasses to the cows, not put it in biscuits. [Syrup is used in cooking.])

The False Prince (Jennifer Neilsen) and the rest of the Ascendance Trilogy. Sage gets into more sticky situations than you'd think possible, as you'll know if you've read the books. If you haven't, wHY ARE YOU HERE. DEPART THIS INSTANT FOR YOUR LIBRARY.

(After leaving a comment, obviously.)

Oreo || a book dealing with the light and the darkness

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis) deals thematically with light and darkness, and with great success, I feel.

Jill Williamson's book By Darkness Hid also has to be mentioned... it definitely deals with light and darkness. ;P

Sugar Hundreds and Thousands Biscuits || a book with a sugary sweet villain

This is an Arnotts Hundreds and Thousands biscuit.
Image from Google.

Apparently I read all the wrong books, because no villains fitting that description come instantly to mind. Probably the closest would be Opal Koboi from the Artemis Fowl series (Eoin Colfer). She's not exactly "sugary sweet"... she's a psychotic pixie... but she has great one-liners/insults/comebacks.

Monster Shortbread || a book that confused your emotions

Shortbread confuses me because I'm supposed to like it (everyone else does, apparently) and I don't??

And when I first read "monster cookie", this was the only thing coming to mind -

(I have since checked Google. Your Monster biscuits. I like them. ANOTHER.)
(But why would they confuse your emotions??)

As for books: I recently read Go Set a Watchman and that confused my emotions, let me tell you. It twisted my feelings up and then sat on them. Without having the decency to untangle them afterwards. I have no idea what the ending was. (Confession: I'm waiting for my mother to read it so she can explain.)

Snickerdoodle || a book that made you laugh

Originally I thought 'snickerdoodle' would be one of the first biscuits to go. I mean, I'd never even heard of the thing! Buuut, I can't think of any other biscuits that make me laugh, and snickerdoodles do. Just by their name. So, snickerdoodle, you get to stay.

How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell; any of Odo Hirsch's books for kids (try Hazel Green or the Will Buster trilogy); the HIVE series by Mark Walden (warning: comes with character deaths).

Also The Red Book (Beck and Matt Stanton).

Probably best if you don't read this picture-book to young children, though.

Peanut Butter || a book with a nutty character

(I have had biscuits with peanuts [didn't like them much], but never a biscuit with peanut butter.)

The Artemis Fowl series (Eoin Colfer) - Opal Koboi is nutty, as is Mulch. Foaly's not entirely stable either (he's a centaur wearing a tin-foil hat, so...)

The Fixer (Jennifer Lynn Barnes) - Asher's a pretty odd character.

Anzac || a book set in Australia

Can you believe, I actually had to make this one up myself??

Operation Foxtrot Five. Independently published by Christian author from Western Australia, D.J. Stutley. Go read the series now. NOW. While it's unlikely you'll find them in your local library, you can buy ebooks directly for ONE. AUSTRALIAN. DOLLAR. Seriously, that's like 80c in America??

(I am not being paid to say this, by the way ;)

Another Australian author is Jackie French; she writes historical and Australian fiction. Her historical books for kids can be great. I recommend Tom Appleby Convict Boy, Soldier on the Hill, Diary of a Wombat (picture book, very funny) and The Shaggy Gully Times (picture book/'newspaper', full of editor's notes in ink, very funny).


And I tried - but couldn't manage - to fit in Tim Tams, because they're awesome. "Two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate." Do you have Tim Tams in the USA? (just checking)


Now you've read my ravings, here are the [original] questions: 

Chocolate chip - a book that never grows old

Dutch snowballs - a book that gave you an unexpected surprise

Molasses - a book with a character that gets into a sticky situation

Oreo - a book that deals with light and darkness

Sugar - a book with a sugary sweet villain

Monster - a book that confused your emotions

Snickerdoodle - a book that made you laugh

Peanut butter - a book with a nutty character

And I tag anyone who wants to do this. Normally I don't take the easy way out - I try to make it personal and tag even just one or two people - but honestly I've been working on this tag longer than it deserves?? and I don't know who's already done it. So. I would love to see anyone take this tag!

And. Since we're talking about books, I am also on Goodreads, and I ALWAYS want book recommendations. I also love knowing when other people I know adore my favourite books. (That sentence didn't make as much sense as it could have. Just go with it.) So feel free to connect with me on Goodreads! I'm very friendly! Truly! What, have you been talking to my sisters??

Have you read any of these books? Want to fangirl with me? Are you confused as to why Artemis Fowl doesn't have a bigger fandom?? (I tried to google images for the quotes? and there were none??) Have you ever read D.J. Stutley's books?? (we will be friends forever and I may suffocate you with my excitement) Am I missing out on great "cookies"? What biscuits would you recommend? Tell me all in the comments!

ideas from Pinterest - for superhero stories!

I didn't mention in my Writer Stag post, but I've recently started writing superhero stories as well as fairy tales and contemporary runaways. ('Superhero' is totally a genre, 'kay??)

So here is the superhero/villain-themed next installment (first post here) of 'ideas from Pinterest'. I have scoured that soul-sucking site for months, gathering the required information/ideas for this semi-series of posts... do not waste my labours.

(does anyone here actually write superhero stories?)

Edit: As Lisa points out in the comments, mixed-gender roommates would be very non-standard. If you want the dating twist - which is not required, it might be nice to have a story without romance - you could have a mixed-gender student share house.

--{well I'm not going to walk there}--
"You can ALL fly and I'm the only one who can't. Can you not argue about who's going to carry me while I'm standing right here??"

--{...insurance rates}--
"You superhero types are constantly driving my insurance rates up with your destruction. I wouldn't complain [much] if you were at least fighting supervillains, but you're usually just fighting each other!"
(definitely the [disguised] superhero's new landlady!)

--{is it possible you had a pre-existing condition?}--
"I volunteered for a super-soldier program and I'm the only one that's shown any abilities in response to the drugs. Now you're trying to tell me I was in the placebo group??"

--{should have picked someone else}--
"You took me hostage for your bank robbery but you should probably have picked aaanyone else. *telekinetically trolls them until they turn themselves in to the police*"

--{terrible at this secret identity thing}--
"Once we caught you climbing in the window of our mutual office?? No, sure, that's a compleeetely plausible reason. If anyone asks, we'll tell them you were here and working hard. With your dorky glasses and crazy broad shoulders and mysterious scrapes and bruises, of course you're just a regular office worker! *coughs*"

--{behind-the-scenes crew, couldn't have done it without you}--
"You're a superhero, which is awesome, but as your best friend that leaves me with a lot of responsibilities. Doing your homework. Forging sick notes from your parents. Fetching bundles of clothes from behind bins in alleys. Carrying a spare costume everywhere. Oh, and the washing. Being your best friend is actually a lot of work?? and I hope you appreciate that."

--{best friends?}--
"No, I don't want a chocolate, I just watched you take them from that girl scout - no, I'm not mad you didn't come to my birthday party, I'm perfectly aware you were in jail, I put you there - yes, I received your gift, and returned it to the museum - that's someone else's coffee, I don't want it and just stOP ACTING LIKE WE'RE BEST BUDDIES OKAY"

--{when your power is public knowledge}--
"I was born with the facial birthmark signifying superpowers and I have to put up with supervillains harrassing me, I shouldn't have to- no, no autographs - you don't approve of superheroes? too bad, lady - I will not demonstrate anything in the shopping centre - all I wanted was eggs would you people leave me alone."

--{maybe would have preferred not to know?}--
"Recently I've gained the ability to tell when someone is lying. You've been my best friend from childhood, but everything you're saying to me - even your name - is a lie. What's up with that??"

--{not the intended outcome}--
"You told me there would be no side effects."

>--{danger levels}--
"I can measure how dangerous people are just by looking at them - regular kid is 1, trained man with an assault rifle would be about 7. You're the new kid at school and you don't look like much but you're a 10??"

--{first time getting shot}--
"Exactly how and when did you find out you're bulletproof?"

--{family dinners}--
"Family dinner night again, and Mum's posted bail (our latest showdown got you arrested, but to be fair, you'd just melted a museum) so we can have - and I quote - 'a civil, sisterly conversation, at the table instead of flying around dressed in spandex'."

Plus a random slightly relevant?? driblet from my recent life:
I was playing chess (circular chess, actually, with three people) and my brother said he should have archers?? So I replaced my bishops with Hawkeye tokens?? Sadly I'm the only one in my family who knows that kind of stuff... so no one said I see what you did there. :( (because there are two Hawkeyes? and the second is Kate Bishop?)



Which of these was your favourite? Do you write superhero stories? Do you want to talk about a completely random thing?? (or maybe circular chess?) (and SOMEONE please tell me you see what I did there ;)

#RebelliousWriting: *scrubs YA MC's mouth out with soap*

Gray over at Writing is Life has started a thing, guys. And if you haven't heard about it yet, I'm proud to present to you: The #RebelliousWriting movement

YA is full of rubbish we really don't want to read about.

Media presents immoral behaviour to teens as normal; teens think it must be normal; media says "see? that's realistic! it's how they are! they need more!!". It's a vicious cycle.  

As YA readers, we need better. As teen writers, we can do better. Let's push back.


Today I'm writing about swearing in novels - why it's unnecessary, or if not, how to get around it. (Side note: does anyone know how YA compares to adult fiction for rates/intensity of swearing?? because YA is. so. bad.)

To start with, a dictionary definition:

Swear (v): use obscene or blasphemous language; use a profane or indecent word in anger etc.

I've grown up surrounded by people who don't swear, but as far as I can tell, these are the reasons for swearing (feel free to correct me):
1. To blaspheme God, address some obscenity to Him, or similar.
2. To abuse someone by calling them obscene words.
3. To shock listeners by the vulgarity.
4. To be 'cool'.
5. As an intensifier.
6. Because they simply don't realise they're saying it anymore [and mean next-to-nothing by it].

Now let's look at novels - specifically the characters, the readers, and the author.


Good guys first. Are any of those six actual good reasons for your good-guy characters to swear? (In my opinion, no.)

Why does your (supposedly good!) character need to say that word?

A reason we're often given is that they're in great pain/danger/stress, and it's realistic for them to swear.

I don't agree.


Let me tell you about my dad. He's a hardworking and loving Christian. At various times, he has: cut the tip off a finger (more than once), been kicked by a bad-tempered cow, blasted air into a cut with a compressor (his whole arm swelled up and it felt/sounded like bubble wrap when we poked it), burnt himself in various ways, watched a nurse dig around in his wrist with tweezers for a shard of metal ("Here it i- nope, that's a tendon"), and set his jeans on fire while welding (no joke).

At no time have I ever heard him swear.

So when people say people tell me their characters need to swear to be realistic? I just wonder why they can't write good characters. Sure, people struggle. That's how we are, and your characters should struggle too (with different things, depending on their strengths and weaknesses). But have them trying to do the right thing, please?? Maybe have them biting their lip to keep bad words coming out?

If a character swears because he's broken his leg, isn't he actually abusing God for letting that happen?? Or else he's simply using that word as an intensifier, which seems to me unnecessarily profane, and quite dangerous morally.

Children and teens will (sadly) encounter bad language. They may be tempted to copy it. This is realistic to portray in fiction, especially if your character is a young person whose 'friends' are leading her astray into rebellion. As long as you show this is wrong, I think it could be appropriate to do something like this:

Filled with heat, Jess spat out a phrase she'd heard Mack use - often, and to great effect.
Her mother's face cracked.
"No- I didn't mean-" Jess sucked in a breath, the cold shame and horror which flowed off her mother filling her gut.

This isn't swearing "to make the character realistic"; this is part of a larger theme, rebellion against parents. (Which is also ungodly and we see far too much of it, okay? Dunno about you, but I couldn't bear to break my loving parents hearts. We can be teenagers without being rebellious; our characters can too. Possible future #RebelliousWriting post.) You'll also notice I did not actually swear in my example; I'll talk about that after going over your other characters:


Bad guys. Yes. Realistically, the villains - or the bad kids at school - will swear. We don't swear because we're Christians, children of God, but obviously people without those beliefs won't be inhibited by the moral code that comes with them.

I understand if you feel your bad guys would swear. But.

Consider your readers.  Are they 'bad guys'? Possibly. Probably not. Probably they're just struggling with the world's lies, like all of us. Help them out here.  Don't reinforce the world's lies of what's acceptable and normal! Your readers don't need you to feed them bad language.

Where your villains insist it's necessary/in character for them to swear, try saying exactly that: "[X] swore." That's simple, helps us to know that's a bad guy, and doesn't extend the wrong vocabulary. Plus, it's a nice short sentence that will add variation to your sentence structure! ;)

You can use other phrases. "Said a bad word". "Said something my mother'd take a bar of soap to my mouth for". "Abused his gods" (for fantasy). "Cursed him and his family line and the day he was born". Anything like that.

"Mr Villain swore hard enough to strip paint, and Charrie flinched."

Also, consider your own soul. Your writing affects you as much as it affects any reader -- maybe more, because you study it, labour over it, spend your life on it. (Audrey Caylin wrote a post which discussed that a bit: {STORIES ARE POWERFUL}.) If you put bad language in your novel, you're hurting yourself as well as your readers.


And if an author is relying on swear words to make their characters/story "interesting"? That's completely lazy writing.

Just letting you know: as a reader, I have no problem with 'regular' characters not swearing, and writers leaving the villains' swear words out. Say "He swore", and I won't complain it's unrealistic, and I will be able to tell that's a bad guy, and that will be one tick for you on my checklist for whether I'll recommend your book!


Did this post make sense? What do you think about swearing and all that stuff in YA? Readers + writers - I'd love to hear your opinion! And are you getting involved with the #RebelliousWriting movement? (hint: you should!)

About character journaling (as promised)

A few people asked for a post on character journaling when I mentioned it a while back. Since it's just something I do - I think I got the idea from a GoTeenWriters post?? - I decided to do some research so I'd have a little more knowledge [before I pretended to talk about it like I actually knew].

Turns out I don't do character journaling?

Google won't define any of these terms for me (I'm ashamed of you, Google), and keeps giving me results about journaling's health benefits for your personal character, but as far as I can tell these seem to be the meanings of various terms:

Character journaling: Keeping a diary as your character.
Character interview: Pretending you're sitting opposite your character and asking them questions.
Character questionnaire: Hair/eye colour, family members, age, all that important and yet really boring stuff.
Voice journaling: Ask a question every so often, and your character answers it and just continues in a stream-of-consciousness sort of thing?

I find the questions in questionnaires (and possibly interviews, depending) good to know the answers to, but not useful for finding a character's personality. Is there a reason blue is his favourite colour? It's possible - but personally, I don't have a favourite colour or a reason behind that. And character journaling might be a good way to find out about your character, but I don't have the motivation or patience to write a whole book just to find out that my main character actually doesn't like all the travelling they've been doing, because of their insecurity and that one thing that happened (involving their family) when they were small. Or some such detail.

For investigating a character's personality, I use what one source called 'voice journaling'. [Seems like a cross between interviewing and journaling??]

I get a piece of paper and write a question at the top. "What's your relationship with your mother?" is a handy one, despite my cringing every time I use it ("So tell me about your mother!"). I have dug up so much family/political dirt with this one. (In my excuse, I was interviewing various members of a scheming royal family, so it was relevant.) Once 'the character' starts answering, I try not to overthink, but to keep writing and go with the flow - wherever feels right. Sometimes what comes out will clash with a previously-thought-out background detail, but I usually find I like the new version better. Other times, I simply get more ideas for rounding out the character.

Here's my standard list: 
*spends half an hour trying to find list in mountains of paper*
*possibly a sign I've been procrastinating writing for too long??*

• What's your relationship with your mother/father like?
• Who was your first love? 
• What do you think about [Character B]? [good for getting an insight into your main character from a fresh pair of eyes, or exploring a supporting character further.]
• What is your greatest fear? 
• What is the trait you most deplore [in yourself/others]?
• Which living person do you most admire?[interesting in a fantasy world... requires thought into worldbuilding! Is it an author? A scientist/inventor?? An athlete???] 
• What do you dislike most about your appearance?
• What quality do you admire most in a man? In a woman? 
• What is your greatest achievement? 
• What is your greatest regret? 
• How would you like to die? [this actually sounds a bit ominous?? especially coming from the author??]
• What is your motto? 
• What is the most evil thing you've ever done? 
• Who or what would you die for? [I use this one a lot.]
• Do you like yourself? 
• What is your responsibility to the world? 
• Is it acceptable for you to cry? 

These are my favourites I copied off a bigger list somewhere. I have the memory of someone living in a house full of nesting Silence and have no idea where. 

I use them like so:

Who or what would you die for?

In a professional sense, my job is literally to die for Torr [country] or Queen Melanie, if dying is called for. As Double Sir Benjamin Doyle, personal guard to Her Majesty Queen Melanie, and a knight of Torr, I defend them both with my life; and if ever there is a situation where either the queen or I must die, Torr or I must fall, by my honour I will gladly die. And if they are ever in danger, it is my duty to place myself between them and the sword. In a personal sense, on the other hand, I am very fond of Ma and my  adopted sister. For them I would do a lot; but I'm not sure if I could die for them. If they were in mortal danger I certainly would rather die in their place, but the problem is, I can only die once. As long as I'm fighting I can protect everyone, but when I come to die, I can only do it once and then I'm gone. And I have a responsibility to Torr and Queen Melanie, and I don't fully trust anyone else to replace me. Especially not as Melanie's guard. No one understands her like I do. May I never be in a situation where I have to choose. I know I must place my loyalty with queen and country. However, if some blackhearts had a knife to Ma's throat and had refused all negotiations and offers of duels, demanding that I surrender and be killed in exchange for her life, I can't imagine saying, "Sorry, Ma," and walking off. Or with Lyndie [adopted sister] either. I suspect that - unlike in theory - I would die for whichever of the four might need me first. And another problem is that once I've been killed, I can't defend them any longer, or make sure the killers don't just slit their throats as soon as I'm out of the way. I suppose the cause of that problem is that I have an extremely limited number of people I trust - and they're the ones I'd die to protect.

[I'm sure that was an annoying large chunk of we-don't-really-care text. Sorry. This WIP is my baby - first serious novel (and still not finished O.O) - and Benny is one of my favourite characters. I like him better than the MC, actually...]

In this instance, I discovered something I could use in my plot: conflicting loyalties for a man whose life was to protect others, but didn't trust anyone else to do his job.



My characters often take the questions different ways. They lie, redirect, gloss over the truth, avoid the question, deliberately misinterpret the question, typically start by asking what business it is of mine anyway... and talk for a whole page. I discover new things about their personalities and backstories, who they love and who they hate. Villains typically do the evil gloat thing and then threaten me. One of my favourite characters (not the villain) threatened me too, actually, but it was on someone else's behalf, which shed a bit more light on his relationship/history with her. Another started his answer to "Who was your first love?" with "My first love is [his country] (I willfully misunderstand your question)"; he emphasized his loyalty/duty, but moved from that to his upcoming arranged marriage, showing that his mind was, in fact, on his first love [hint hint he's starting to suspect it's someone he's not supposed to be in love with. surprise.]

There are a few similar questions here at Gotham Writers - some the same as mine, some a little more questionnaire-y in feel. (Completely irrelevantly, I have no idea why you would call yourself Gotham Writers, but it sounds... brooding.) And the article I read about voice journaling is here - the extract from The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell is good.

Do you question your characters? Do they always cooperate and answer your questions properly, or do they lie and/or talk about something else? Have you ever been threatened by your characters?? I hope this was helpful!

p.s. is it journaling or journalling?? spell-check doesn't like either? not that I'm relying on the spell-check, of course...