Alisha: Welcome back to my Halloween Bash! Day two is upon us and I'm really excited because I love to hear about other writers' methods. Every writer goes through what I call The Writer's Evolution. This is a necessary process to find our own unique voice or writing style. Today Sky is talking about characterization! Excellent topic! What would stories be without out characters? I'm a funny writer. My stories are all built around the setting. I choose a location first and build my story from there. How odd is that? What is your writing method? How have you evolved as a writer? Have you noticed how your favorite authors have evolved over the years? Now let's hear from Sky.
Sky: I’m back! Having so much fun already. Love this blog! Yesterday, I gave you a brief run-down about myself. Today, I’ll be sharing a bit more about my writing method.
Honestly? It’s changed a bit over the years as I imagine any writers would. In this post I’ll skip the research and plotting phase and skip right to what I needed to work on… characterization. I used to be a lot more rigid when it came to conveying my characters. For a long time, though I wrote about them, I was on the outside looking in. What do I mean by that? Well, imagine that you’re watching a movie. Ever find yourself expecting what an actor would do next and sure as heck, he did just that. Pretty predictable, huh? That’s sort of how I used to treat my characters. I made sure they did everything the reader expected of them. Only made sense.
Ugh. Boring. No more!
While I still embrace believability in my characters and reasonable reactions when faced with certain circumstances, I’m now firmly entrenched in their heads. Guess what? Characters like people are unique and different. Often times, how one person responds is not necessarily how another would. I’m not sure how I made it through those early years of ‘boxing’ in my poor characters. But I take everything as a learning experience and always look at my writing as something in which I can improve. Arrogance is for the birds (and some of my male characters *winks*).
The wild world of writing is a humbling field. One in which I’m thankful every day that I’m part of. I’ve rambled on enough. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
Cheers,
Sky
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~Happy Halloween
8 comments:
I went through a similar evolution. Mainly because people constantly asked me why my characters acted a certain. While I had explanations for all their actions in my head, I began to realize that sometimes the reader needed to understand where a certain emotion/action came from. So I started building little things into the story to allow my readers to fully connect with the characters. Now, even when an action is unexpected, the readers get that it's so completely something my characters would do.
Loved the post. Can't wait to see more! *Heart Hugs*
Thanks for the tips. I started writing like a 'reader', but thanks to Alisha's tips, my stories evolved into something someone might want to read...if I ever finish one that is, lol! Right now, I am focusing on editing for a couple authors...and loving it!
Exactly, Ranee! It really is easy to get lost in our stories and assume that the reader is keeping up. I remember a certain scene in my first novel (the copy I wrote years ago and just rewrote) when the head shaman (wizard) Adlin acted a certain way with a group of people. When my friend read it she had no clue why he'd acted that way. Of course I shot out, "Well, didn't you read the book?!" Long story short, while it made sense to me, it didn't to everyone else. Had to add some 'building'prior to make it work. ;-)
So glad you enjoyed the post!!!
Oh, I'm sure your story is something people would like to read, Cathy! Keep plugging away at it. I know it takes alot of time but SO worth it. I'd love to read it when you get it published. So you do free lance editing for authors? Nice! :-)
Good morning, Alisha! Lovin' visiting your blog this week m'dear! Thank you soooooo much for adding in all these extra delicious pics. And VERY cool that your 100th follower one a door prize. You rock woman!
Thrilled to death you are here all week, Sky!!! Can't wait for the delicious excerpts! Woot!
Thank you for the enlightenment. During coursework, some of my instructors set rigid guidelines on how we could and could not write (only one point of view, no sentimentality, limited characters, etc.). It really made for some pretty limited writing ideas and a creatively stifling experience.
I am finally trying my writing again as a sort of therapy and am enjoying finding my own characters coming to life. One day I hope to share them.
Loraine H
Our characters can be SO therapeutic, Loraine. I think in a strange sort of way, they're a little piece of ourselves being set free. So glad you found the post helpful. Look forward to 'meeting' your characters someday!
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