Tag: characters

Characters & Introspection

I’ve written a lot over the years. Mostly short stories in the erotica genre. I mentioned in previous blogs that I have no trouble writing a down and dirty sex scene. Sometimes even way outside the box of what might be considered a “norm”. Norm meaning no fetish involved.

I digress, but also setting a stage so to speak.

One of the reasons I think my characters have been successful, sex or no sex involved- is because I “feel” what the character feels. Maybe it’s because I’m an empath (not digressing into that topic, promise) but if I close my eyes and just put out the feelers, I knew what should come next, be it movement, feeling, emotion.

BUT, is it empath, or is it just me putting a piece of me into my characters? Is it me putting my wants and desires into how the peripheral characters interact with the main character?

How do you define your characters? Do you think that you put a bit of you, your alter ego, the person you want yourself to be onto the pages?

If you sit back and think about it, I think there’s a small part of every author in one or more of the characters. It can apply to any genre… is the character organized? Bold, introvert/extrovert… the list goes on.

Have you ever had an aha moment where a character does something and it’s a WTF moment and when you ponder the scenario you realize that it’s a part of you?

A Bit of a Ponder

So I’m at a small crossroads. I have to decide how this investigation of the explosion is going to move forward.

There are two issues at hand, one is the being that escaped during the explosion- could be catastrophic for Earth and who cast the spell that resulted in the explosion in the first place.

It was bad juju there, that much has been decided. I also decided to halt on the Dani potential romantic interest. Someone is interested, but he decided it wasn’t the time or place with everything going on. However, he also decided that he was going to keep himself up front and center just to annoy her.

Sounds like the second grade.

In some ways it is. Dani is a badass. Her mother is too, but way more of the law and order type. Dani is more renegade, but she’s damned lethal in all worlds.

She’ll have her tests, but for now I think she’s just going to roll her eyes and any potential romance. That will come out more in book two.

Book one, is almost more of a prequel. Bert told me she’s tired and once the end of this book happens she is going to take a back seat and focus on other priorities.

Of course she and I know the priorities, but no-one else does yet.

Book two, not sure of any others yet, will hop into the first person, whereas I’m in the third person right now, but I think it works for this cast of characters and how it’s setting itself up for prequel.

The person, the tone, the language, the sex (or lack thereof) will become more prominent.

What can I say, I like writing about sex. (insert smirk here)

Movin’ On

Got two more pages done today! Yipee! What a long process some days. Most days actually. The brain is constantly whirling and turning trying to plan and plot what comes next.

The ghosts were last chapter, so now I’m moving on to the next stage in the mystery, and all the main players are back in the same room. Well the main players up until this point.

It occurs to me as I’m writing this and mentally lining up my main characters that I have NOT even identified the bad beings yet. Yikes. I need to ponder this and see if I have introduced a faux paus. There is one character that I wouldn’t even say has a supporting role yet, but I’ve already created a disdain for him and his “house”. I need to explore that.

I think tonight I might sit with the old fashioned pen and paper and create some notes. I might need to have a semblance of a path to follow for the second half.

I do feel like I’m right smack in the middle of this chapter of the saga (each book being a chapter).

It feels good to have moved past that partial block. The ghosts will be back Tobias already said so. Tobias has been around since the beginning of “man”. I tend to listen to what he has to say.

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Pieces to the Puzzle

Yesterday I briefly mentioned how writing and coming up with a plot is a puzzle. Much like that tangled mess you see in the picture. I had the plethora of necklaces laying flat, in the direct vicinity of an open window, and a red flag day. For anyone not familiar with the Southwest, red flag days are when the winds are uber fast.

Officially this is what weather.gov says:

Primary Red Flag Criteria: 1) Relative humidity of 15% or less combined with sustained surface winds, or frequent gusts, of 25 mph or greater. Both conditions must occur simultaneously for at least 3 hours in a 12 hour period.

and this:

Any combination of weather and fuels conditions that would create a critical fire control situation or extensive wildfire outbreak. These may include: long term drought, much higher than normal maximum temperatures coupled with very low humidity, low fuel moisture, poor nighttime RH recovery, high Energy Release Component (ERC) or Burning Index (BI), a Haines Index of 5 or 6, etc.

Now there’s a bunch of definitions and clarifications in between, but for today’s purposes these two work.

Southwest = severe drought

Anyway, moving on. So not only did my carelessness send the necklaces careening off the counter, but then they were tumbled about en masse and I was left with what you see above.

So in the week since this happened, I’ve slowly removed three necklaces intact. Now if I had to cut the chain and remove the pendant it would not be the end of the world, but what’s the fun in that?

Just as with my book story, I pull one chain and another tightens. I loop and unloop only to discover that I probably should have left the original loop alone. And that one chain I was certain would bind everything up actually allowed another to pull free.

It’s all a puzzle and I don’t have the solution at the ready. I poke and prod. Write a sentence or two. Stop. Pull a thread. Oops that didn’t work. Backspace. Start again. Wait, what if….

BINGO! Another path revealed!!!

I literally had this happen last night after I posted. A new character popped his head (and body) into the storyline. I had no idea he would be there, but it turns out he’s a major part of what’s next.

I LOVE it when my characters knock some sense into me.

Tomorrow… hmmmm Not sure yet.

Monday Musings. that much I know.