Sunday, July 28, 2013

You remind me of....

One of the questions I often see authors being asked is whether their main character (or another prominent character) is very much like the author themselves.

While one particular author would say that the character is very much like themselves or their best friend or mother, another author would say that the character has elements of themselves or is nothing like them.

When I started writing my WIP, I was basing part of the male lead (Noah) on my man. I imagined them to look very similar, and the personality to be quite alike, but as my WIP has grown, they're nothing alike. They don't think the same way, act the same way, the even look totally different (in my mind). Their motivations in life are completely different.

I find it quite amazing that Noah has grown to be very much his own person and now isn't actually based on anyone. By the time he walked onto my pages, there was no resemblance to my man at all. I was telling him how interesting I found this and asked him if he thought I was anything like Chlo (my MC).

It's a hard question really, as I haven't based Chlo on myself at all. I haven't written Chlo to be anything like me. She's from a different world, a different upbringing, a totally different life... but she's still a product of me so I guess it would make sense if by accident she really had turned out to be very similar to who I am.

We came to the agreement that while she's very different in her way of life, and the way she thinks about things and see's the world, and her reactions to situations presented to her are very similar to my own. Her emotions and the way she copes when life throws crap in her face are eight on par with my emotions and the way I would cope. Although, she's a lot stronger than I am and she's got way more balls (so to speak).

As my book progresses and the characters evolve, I'm sure I will see more of myself, my friends and family in the characters - most likely by accident.

What about y'all? Do you recognise yourself or your friends and family in your characters? Do you purposely write your characters to be based on someone or does it just kind of ....happen?

Sunday, July 21, 2013

If there were no limits

I fell down the Google Image rabbit hole today. I'm not quite sure how but I ended up pouring through graphic art, real images of beautiful places all over the world and simply incredible sketches (isn't the internet a marvelous place?!)

It was the strangest feeling looking through these images.... I felt like my mind was opening and there were no limits. I felt like I could go to all of these magical places, I could dream of being inside this graphic art, of stories I could write set amongst the scenes laid out in front of my eyes.

If there were no limits in life, if you could spend all your time doing whatever you wanted and going wherever you wanted, what would you do?

I've got a little bit of a dream. I'm trying to achieve it, even though there a hundreds of limits. I'd love to travel all over the world. To see the big cities and small villages, the lakes, oceans and mountains. I'd love to immerse myself in all different kinds of cultures, see different animals and experience new ways of life. I'd love to volunteer in a place that could really use my help. I'd love to move back to America (amazingly this is one of the hardest pursuits on my list! Dang American visas are hard to get!), I'd love to live in Cali, in a house in La Jolla (or near there) and raise my family and I'd love to write my stories and run a cake/high tea shop that overlooks La Jolla cove.... Just a little dream of mine.

What would you do if there were no limits?

Note: By limits I mean financial constraints, time constraints and other various barriers or constraints.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

A new resolution

I'm not yet confident in my skills as a writer. It's all still feeling quite new for me. Because I'm not so confident I've asked two people who know I'm working on this WIP to read what I've written. However I found that the comments they would come back with was really affecting my writing and my need to get the story out.

While one would simply say, I don't like this part, the other would ask the small questions that I hadn't even thought of and certainly weren't necessary to think of in the first draft. But I'd look at their questions and comments and panic. I'd say if these questions are coming up now and I can't answer them, or I'm giving the answer they don't want to hear, then my book isn't going to work. The story isn't going to be right.

Consequently I would stop writing. I'd stop for a few days or a week and then I'd usually delete huge sections. Then I'd feel deflated. I'd think I couldn't do it and that I'd never be good enough.

I know they didn't mean for their comments to have that affect on me, but I was so desperate for my story to be....right. I wanted their approval with what I was writing, I wanted them to like what was written on those pages. I'm not saying they didn't, but there were aspects that needed work, or questions that were raised that they wanted to bring up with me.

Eventually I sat back and said to myself, I'm writing this story for me. It's my story and these bits this person is telling me to include or exclude will totally change the vision I have for it. I need to do what's right for me to get this story told. I need to do whatever I can to get the first draft complete, then I can hear what they have to say.

To do this I had to basically cut them off from my story. I don't talk about the content with them much anymore, and I definitely don't send them chapters. They understand, which I'm grateful for, and for the moment that is definitely what is best for me and my WIP. Since I stopped worrying about the comments they'd make and the questions they'd raise, the ideas poured into my brain and helped the story form in my mind. Now i'm more on track than ever.

I've asked a lot of people for help getting past my roadblocks over the past month or so, and I thank you all for your advice. Every piece of advice I was given, I've kept, and I use when I need inspiration. It turned out for me though, the way to really open the dam and let the ideas flow was to get rid of the external forces and to write this story on my own.

It's scary, but I really think it's going to be worth it! 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Distractions

I'm TERRIBLE!

I was on such a great writing role, I had all these ideas kicking around in my head and then I got distracted. I got sucked into the world of The Game of Thrones.

Whoops.

I was going to watch it just when I had time (I was started from Season One), and for the first season I could see myself stretching it over a number of months. Then my co-workers started watching too so we'd have to watch a good number each night to discuss at work the next day. Then I simply got hooked.

I have three episodes left of season three, and after I've finished work and done the obligatory cake decorating for my cousin's third birthday party tonight I'm determined to finish.

The biggest problem however, is that I've TOTALLY abandoned my WIP. I'm so sorry. Terrible! I get distracted with things and those things become my whole world for a certain period of time until they come to an end (usually the end of a book or the end of the TV series so far, or until there is simply no more travel planning I could possibly do.)

Please tell me I'm not the only one?! Who else gets distracted, and what is it that usually distracts you?