Quid pro quo, Clarice.

[sarashina]

So I just came off a hellacious couple of weeks (which I will explain properly sometime soon) and I am feeling FREE AS THE WIND BLOWS. Best part? So many of my mental processes have been freed up, and I've been thinking about writing a lot more than I have been lately. Which feels so, so good.

I was thinking of a simple exercise I used to do with writing partners - I was actually telling moonsheen about it the other day - and I thought I'd put it up here so that we all could play.

Here's how it goes: you ask me a question about a writing project, I answer, and ask a question about yours. Simple as that! It could be about a specific project, or something in general (like, say, "Who is your most ____ character?" or something like that.) And the questions can keep going back and forth for as long as you like.

I've always found that it's easier to get enthusiastic about a project and dive right into it when you can share your enthusiasm with someone else. And there are my ulterior motives, of course - I get to find out about everyone else's writing, too.

Just to remind you all, my big projects are:

Completed:
In Descending Order
Grandmaster Draw

In progress:
Catalyst
The Imperial Guard
The Hungry Ground
Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law

And there are also short stories like "The Mountain Sleeps" (and the not-yet-written universe based around that story), and cowriting and such.

Let's play?

Comments

[ruffwriter.livejournal.com]

Right now, definitely The Hungry Ground's protagonist, Kalinda. At first I didn't really know how I would do with her. I sort of decided to try to write her as the POV character on a whim because I haven't done a female POV character for a long time.

But she's not the usual type of character I write from the perspective of. She's not really outwardly snarky, and is a lot more thoughtful and serious in general. But when I actually started writing her, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. She's got a much more dry sense of humor that's a lot of fun to write, and when it comes down to it, she's probably ten times more of an alpha, protective type than the frat boy-ish male protagonist. She was unexpectedly my type of character after all, and I probably wouldn't have figured that out if I hadn't decided to try her as the protagonist.

All right, and for you, I would like to know about this rumored YA novel of yours. What's the setting?

[lacunarity.livejournal.com]

Set in a normal, boring American town that's unique only in that it has a somewhat thinner border between Earth and a particular section of hell, and that it's infested with little invisible demon blobs wandering around making that border even thinner. They're easily dispatched with a baseball bat or a combat boot, but the damned things just keep multiplying.

Also, the town has a surprisingly high population of angels and former angels, not that any of them actually realize that. :D


For you: how do you decide how to clothe your characters, and how to get their image across to the reader?

[ruffwriter.livejournal.com]

HEE. I am totally all over this story when you write it. It sounds like fun! ♥


I think I am probably the least specific when it comes to clothes! I usually only mention a few details when it comes to clothes - whether they're wearing a leather jacket, or a uniform, or what have you. Most of the time I don't make a conscious decision about how they should be dressed, but there are some cases where what the character's wearing is significant to the scene.


Okay, back to you: who's the protagonist of the aforementioned story? What's s/he like?

[lacunarity.livejournal.com]

Ah, I thought Mary had such an interesting visual, you must have had some process for that. Either way, nicely done on it!


Oh God she's like the one character whose name I still haven't figured out. Everyone else was so easy, but whenever I want to call her "Anna," she's like, "No, Sarah," and so on. ANYWAY. She starts out an unremarkable teenage girl (she's not, btw) who is sadly very attractive to the little demon blobs. Unfortunately, at first she can't see the blobs, so all she knows is these two crazy people keep running up to her, do bizarre things, then run off, and let me tell you, after the first couple of times SHE DOES NOT PUT UP WITH THIS SHIT.

But eventually she makes friends with the two angels because she's a pretty good person, they're actually pretty fun to be with, and she doesn't mind helping them with their quest, and also, sometimes they let her touch their wings, which is very ♥. She is a simple girl with simple needs, and cooing over angel wings is one of them. But she makes them promise not to thwack the one little demon she's adopted because he's just too cute.


Your turn: do you have any stock characters you've developed a little or otherwise think would be fun to write, but are still waiting for a story to put them in? (And if so, please share) Or if you don't do that, then how do you develop the minor characters in your stories?

[ruffwriter.livejournal.com]

I like her already! I mostly enjoy the visual of her blissfully stroking the angel wings while they look at her a little askance. Sort of like Taki with Nyanko-sensei. ♥


Ooooh yes, absolutely. They usually come about when I'm sitting around watching/reading something, and I dig the basic concept and tropes, but I would have gone a completely different way with it.

For example, I came up with two characters recently after I flipped through a book about a girl who can see other people's dreams, and her condescending magical boyfriend. So I decided that dreamwalking girl needed to be less angsty and more deadpan, and condescending boyfriend needed to be way more ridiculous. (He still acts like a typical urban fantasy boyfriend at first, but heroine cannot take him seriously because of his recurring dreams about piloting giant robots.) So once I flesh them out more and make them mine, they may show up in a story some day! Quite a few characters I've made have been like that.


H'okay, back to you: tell me a little about the angels! What's the mythology there?

[lacunarity.livejournal.com]

Hee, I would like to subscribe to your character modifications. I'm always in favor of serious characters being secret dorks.

Alright, while the angels are here on Earth, they are DELIBERATELY VAGUE about all theological things and any time one of the idiot angel duo says anything about heaven, God, or any other higher up things, the other is quick to point out that everything said is just a metaphor and is 90% inaccurate, but there's no way to explain it all in human language (or rather, they could, but it would take more than Sarah's lifetime to actually explain it).

The general idea is that God is like the President and Big Boss of the universe, and the angels are the workers in terms of figuring out the little details of how things work. And, of course, in that process, you have the Research & Development departments, and in particular, the beta testers, which is where the main angel cast comes from. They're the ones who really got into whatever assignment they were given, trying out and testing the loopholes and nuances of things like Family and Happiness and Sarcasm. This means they're actually the best equipped for life on Earth, because they have such a wide variety of emotional experiences.

The other big part of the mythology is how, while God is All Knowing, that doesn't mean he's thinking about everything at every single moment. Which means that if you do your best to stay below the radar and not draw attention, you can potentially get away with stuff long enough to fix your own problems before He notices. It's sort of like remembering who your second grade teacher was--you probably know their name, but how long has it been since you actually thought about them?


Alrighty, next question. Have you ever developed a crush on one of your characters, or designed them to be particularly sexy, adorable, moe, whatever to your own tastes?

[ruffwriter.livejournal.com]

I like that iteration! The idea of the "beta testers" especially.


Hmmm... strangely enough, despite the fact that I'm a heterosexual woman, I have way more sexy women than men! I've never crushed on any of my characters, but I definitely write a lot of characters that fit my idea of cute. Possibly because I am a whore for cute things. Notable examples are Isha from The Hungry Ground (weakness for precocious and socially inept geeks), Cat from The Imperial Guard (weakness for snarky but utterly failastic protagonists), and Liam from Grandmaster Draw (weakness for... everything in a YA protagonist, really.)


And for you! What are your favorite relationship tropes to write?

[lacunarity.livejournal.com]

Aha, that's so cute!

I...hate writing romantic relationships. They just generally don't interest me. However, I love love love the "platonic lifemates" kind of characters. You know, the type that have been together forever, know each other inside out, would do anything for the other, and giggle incessantly (or roll their eyes) whenever anyone suggests they get together because it's Just Not Like That. Kind of like siblings, only by choice. I always tend to write at least one of these in any original story I come up with.

Your turn (unless you're tired of these): What's your current favorite fanfic idea/concept/plot you've got running around in your head (even if you're never going to write it)

[ruffwriter.livejournal.com]

Hee, I love that kind of relationship - I always write it, too.


HMMM. Well I have a lot of fanfic ideas that I like but never seem to get written. I have this idea for a fic in which Taki and Tanuma team up to protect Natsume from a particularly violent spirit, and madness ensues (in which they meet Natori and become Very Suspicious.) It would be fabulous and adorable... except I can never make myself write fanfic. D:


Do you have any ideas that keep reinventing themselves?