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ladyofleithianStyle, techniques and point of view
In terms of techniques, I have a very...well, I tend to get heavy on the emotional description because I think that emotion is very important in a story. I think if you're not feeling something in a story...well, it's one of many dealbreakers. It can be laughing with a character (which...well, I admit I always get a little intimidated by writing comedy. It's almost as if "depressing/harrowing" is my muse's default position. Though I did write some funny scenes/dialogue in my Astrid Grayson novels, mostly witty character interactions and such), crying with a character (somehow much easier to write. I wonder how many disturbing things this says about me), etc.
In terms of techniques I use...well, there's the head-hopping, which I'll get to shortly. But I've been studying a lot of Russell T. Davies' techniques (former showrunner on DOCTOR WHO) to see how I can improve stuff like my dialogue (this is a wonderful post on the subject: http://ibishtar.livejournal.com/18925.html. Especially useful considering that I usually hate how my dialogue comes out -- okay, sometimes. Mostly. Usually. But anyway, I usually hate how my dialogue comes out because it comes out as so clunky and on the nose. I actually admire writers who can write dialogue well. * There's also times I sort of take time out to add some quieter moments to reveal character, such as the Resistance leader being a bit nervous about command/losing the lives of his soldiers in my Astrid Grayson series, my villain wanting to sort of resurrect the people he's killed, etc. I kind of like giving my characters (not just my villains, but my characters) a sort of idealistic streak just because it opens up more story possibilities, and character possibilities -- that and I suppose I can relate a bit too well to having hope that gets dashed or vindicated. Also, channeling things that make me angry into my writing...well, it's definitely helped in producing a lot of my favorite parts of the story. (Although, note to self: don't go to the story angry all the time. Seriously. It's bad for the health) I've also taken some advice from my mom to write opening lines for my chapters like one would write the opening lines of a story, just to keep people hooked. A pretty useful tool.
I use a lot of head-hopping in my point of view, to be perfectly honest, mostly because it lets me see what other characters are thinking and how they're feeling. I know that it's especially helpful in terms of my bad guys -- I want to know what they're up to, I want to know why they do what they do, I want to know everything I can about them. And I like sort of making them sympathetic one weird way or another because...well, it gives me more possibilities. And it gives me a rather shameless excuse to vent my dark side (which can get honestly terrifying. I think my only worry -- okay, fine, one of many worries. One of many worries I have about my writing is that somehow I'll scare people *too* much. Sort of the difference between "holy crap that's a great villain" and "holy crap that's wrong even for you" **. I know Lord Rage -- like I said, I'll amend his name in revision, as I suck at names -- has been evoking this response from me at times), which all things considering...yeah, things have not been terribly good. There's been good things there, but it sometimes feels like everything's just been piling up and it really honestly sucks. *Sighs* I need to see more movies. Good for inspiration, and good for the soul. But yeah, head-hopping is a pretty useful tool. If I need to get into a villain's head, and when the contents of a villain's head sufficiently squick me out.
So yeah...I'm pretty characterization-heavy and emotion-heavy, probably need to work on my plot a bit more. I think if I can balance every element...yeah, I'm set.
Rest of questions:
Introduce us to a main character
Introduce us to the environment this story takes place in
Introduce us to another main character
Introduce us to the rest of your main characters
Introduce us to your minor characters
Favorite character to write about?
Least favourite character to write about?
Introduce us to your writing process
Outlines
Research
Scenes
How often do you write? In what environment?
What stage of writing are you at?
Music you write to
Cast real people as characters
Ten best things about this story
Ten hardest scenes to write
What are you going to do with it when it's done?
Who has read this story? Or heard about it? Does anyone know you're writing?
* I also remember my mom saying that when dialogue sticks out in some way as being clunky or inauthentic somehow (mostly recounting from memory), it really takes out of the story. I believe she pointed to ATTACK OF THE CLONES (it was long after we finished watching it) as one example. I'd give that one a pass considering that (a) I'm biased and (b) Anakin's not really Casanova. But yeah, making sure your dialogue flows naturally -- very important, I think.
** Although maybe that's a compliment in writing circles? IDK.
In terms of techniques, I have a very...well, I tend to get heavy on the emotional description because I think that emotion is very important in a story. I think if you're not feeling something in a story...well, it's one of many dealbreakers. It can be laughing with a character (which...well, I admit I always get a little intimidated by writing comedy. It's almost as if "depressing/harrowing" is my muse's default position. Though I did write some funny scenes/dialogue in my Astrid Grayson novels, mostly witty character interactions and such), crying with a character (somehow much easier to write. I wonder how many disturbing things this says about me), etc.
In terms of techniques I use...well, there's the head-hopping, which I'll get to shortly. But I've been studying a lot of Russell T. Davies' techniques (former showrunner on DOCTOR WHO) to see how I can improve stuff like my dialogue (this is a wonderful post on the subject: http://ibishtar.livejournal.com/18925.html. Especially useful considering that I usually hate how my dialogue comes out -- okay, sometimes. Mostly. Usually. But anyway, I usually hate how my dialogue comes out because it comes out as so clunky and on the nose. I actually admire writers who can write dialogue well. * There's also times I sort of take time out to add some quieter moments to reveal character, such as the Resistance leader being a bit nervous about command/losing the lives of his soldiers in my Astrid Grayson series, my villain wanting to sort of resurrect the people he's killed, etc. I kind of like giving my characters (not just my villains, but my characters) a sort of idealistic streak just because it opens up more story possibilities, and character possibilities -- that and I suppose I can relate a bit too well to having hope that gets dashed or vindicated. Also, channeling things that make me angry into my writing...well, it's definitely helped in producing a lot of my favorite parts of the story. (Although, note to self: don't go to the story angry all the time. Seriously. It's bad for the health) I've also taken some advice from my mom to write opening lines for my chapters like one would write the opening lines of a story, just to keep people hooked. A pretty useful tool.
I use a lot of head-hopping in my point of view, to be perfectly honest, mostly because it lets me see what other characters are thinking and how they're feeling. I know that it's especially helpful in terms of my bad guys -- I want to know what they're up to, I want to know why they do what they do, I want to know everything I can about them. And I like sort of making them sympathetic one weird way or another because...well, it gives me more possibilities. And it gives me a rather shameless excuse to vent my dark side (which can get honestly terrifying. I think my only worry -- okay, fine, one of many worries. One of many worries I have about my writing is that somehow I'll scare people *too* much. Sort of the difference between "holy crap that's a great villain" and "holy crap that's wrong even for you" **. I know Lord Rage -- like I said, I'll amend his name in revision, as I suck at names -- has been evoking this response from me at times), which all things considering...yeah, things have not been terribly good. There's been good things there, but it sometimes feels like everything's just been piling up and it really honestly sucks. *Sighs* I need to see more movies. Good for inspiration, and good for the soul. But yeah, head-hopping is a pretty useful tool. If I need to get into a villain's head, and when the contents of a villain's head sufficiently squick me out.
So yeah...I'm pretty characterization-heavy and emotion-heavy, probably need to work on my plot a bit more. I think if I can balance every element...yeah, I'm set.
Rest of questions:
Introduce us to a main character
Introduce us to the environment this story takes place in
Introduce us to another main character
Introduce us to the rest of your main characters
Introduce us to your minor characters
Favorite character to write about?
Least favourite character to write about?
Introduce us to your writing process
Outlines
Research
Scenes
How often do you write? In what environment?
What stage of writing are you at?
Music you write to
Cast real people as characters
Ten best things about this story
Ten hardest scenes to write
What are you going to do with it when it's done?
Who has read this story? Or heard about it? Does anyone know you're writing?
* I also remember my mom saying that when dialogue sticks out in some way as being clunky or inauthentic somehow (mostly recounting from memory), it really takes out of the story. I believe she pointed to ATTACK OF THE CLONES (it was long after we finished watching it) as one example. I'd give that one a pass considering that (a) I'm biased and (b) Anakin's not really Casanova. But yeah, making sure your dialogue flows naturally -- very important, I think.
** Although maybe that's a compliment in writing circles? IDK.
