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San Francisco, 2:05 AM
Mon Dec 7
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/20/09
I have a very large imagination. Even more so when I've been smoking weed. Its legal in CA and I take it for medical reasons but the Deep Deep thinking I also get from it is a nice bonus.
I've come up with maybe five really good idea's that could be made into pretty good books if a skilled writer had the same idea's.
But I'm no writer.
The main question I have is how do writers divide their minds up into different personalities for each character so that every character doesn't just sound like the writer him/herself?
I read reviews of bad books on amazon and the main complaint besides spelling and bad sentence structure's that make no sense is that the author was just writing about what he would do in the situation he was writing about. Its usually the self published books with 1 - 1 and a half stars.
How do skilled writers avoid this? When I think of it I wonder if the writers just think of people they know/knew really well and try to put them into the characters in someways. I don't know. That was my theory on it.
I'm just trying to learn from other peoples mistakes before I do anything and this seemed like a good place to ask.
Thanks.
11/21/09
Your question is both good and hard to answer since everyone has their own style of writing. I don't have a problem infusing a bit of personality into my character from people that I have known but it stops there, and it helps solve a very specific purpose.
11/19/09
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11/19/09
I haven't read any of these authors (for shame!) and I'm interested to see how their comments (and my subjective 'liking' of the authors, based on their comments) actually translates in to liking their work (and their characters), when I do.
BTW Was the question phrased with a gender orientation? The first thing I thought when I saw the strapline "She's dull, or He doesn't play well with others.", was James Cameron's (from Walter Hill) "You write dialogue for a guy and then change the name" about writing strong, interesting (on the screen?) female characters versus 'Hollywood handbags' [at [www.newyorker.com] (half way down starting "Hollywood..."), from [io9.com] ].
Pretty much all of his successful, resonant ("dollars is votes") characters (Terminator, Sarah Connor) are quintessentially 'dull' and definitely 'don't play well with others'.
Is this just a movie thing or do authors like to 'switcheroo' too, when the going gets tough?
11/19/09
Of course, Orson Scott Card described Cameron as "cruel, selfish and unkind to all" [en.wikipedia.org] , how does this translate to authors?
Just asking :)
11/19/09
11/19/09
Another good reason to read these authors :)
[Still like to know if they'd ever used a gender switch 'as', or 'as the start of' the solution to this 'problem'.
Not just to switchback the reader's preconceptions and expectations of the character, but their own as well, as a means of breaking good.]
11/19/09
An eighth of cubensis, a gourd rattle, and an old Smith-Corona?
11/19/09
A little "inspiration"... in whatever form it may take... is just what the doctor ordered for most. Looking at things from a different angle always helps.
If a character is just horrible... an utter drag on the narrative... (which can and does happen... not all plans work out) sometimes the best thing is to consolidate them into another character.
For example, you can have a character who's major role is to question the captain at a critical moment disappear if you plague him with self doubt. A character who's role is to be a mindless thug working against the hero? Nuke him and suddenly a trusted aid is a double agent.
This can usually be done with a little thoughtful editing, but it has to be handled with care. The last thing you want is a character who is written one way 90% and suddenly changes in the final chapter.
11/19/09
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11/19/09
Had to do that with a character I liked but didn't fit.
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11/19/09
Dear Makidian:
One day, I was writing my Guiding Light fanfiction, and it just wasn't working out. Then I saw some kids on the bus reading comic books, I think it was about this guy named Adam-X the X-treme. Anyway, that gave me a great idea. One revision later, I knew I was on to something. I pitched it to ABC and the rest is history.
Sincerely,
The Guy Who Came Up With Heroes
11/19/09
NOTE:
C.A.Smith story is perfect example as that one was from an early Wonder Stories (I OWN) and it is an oversize pulp from 1930 or 31.
05/23/09
Minor correction: Leslie What's short story collection, Crazy Love, published by Wordcraft of Oregon in a small first edition, was named one of the ten best sf books of 2008 by Booklist. Sorry, I goofed.
05/24/09
05/23/09
On another WisCon tack: Cheese & Macaroni Pizza, is it as totally awesome as I suspect?
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05/24/09
It's worth mentioning that he's a really nice, down-to-Earth guy. We once had an interesting email correspondence regarding Abraham Lincoln and the morality of the Civil War.