How my characters came to be
Today and tomorrow, I'm going to give you a little insight into where my characters came from, what they started out as, and how they evolved into who they are today. Fortunately I put the dates on a lot of my notes, so some of my characters have actual birthdays.
I went through my storage boxes of old notes (really old notes). I don't remember how I came up with some of this stuff -- and in one case, I'm not sure if I really want to know. What are now my goblins originally started out as a seafaring race with webbed feet and fingers. No, I am not kidding. And no, I have no idea what I was eating or drinking when I came up with that one.
I started the book that would become Magic Lost, Trouble Found early in 2001. On April 24, 2001, the Saghred (who I think is essentially a character) went from four shards, to two shards, to a single stone with an amulet. Having characters running around collecting shards just seemed like too much trouble (and work). Not to mention confusing.
In a note to myself on that same day, April 24 (I do a lot of stream-of-consciousness writing/talking to myself to work through plot snags) I wrote: "You've got the first two chapters worked out and a nebulous idea as to what happens next -- well, let's crank this puppy and see if it runs."
Apparently it didn't run. Because on May 15, 2001 I wrote: "Okay, let's crank this puppy again since it stalled out the first time. Take two. . ." Quentin and Nigel soon came into the picture and the plot became clearer.
Mychael was "born" as commander of the Guardians on May 10, 2001.
Sathrik Mal'Salin was born as the goblin king on Sept. 1, 2001 as were the Khrynsani. Which at that time I called "GSS" as a placeholder in my manuscript (meaning "Goblin Secret Society") because I hadn't come up with the name "Khrynsani" yet.
Tarsilia had a sex change operation on Sept. 1. Before this the character's name was "Tarsilian" and he was a man. Still a mage, but definitely a man.
Chigaru emerged in his present form as the exhiled goblin prince on Oct. 8, 2001. And the conflict between he and Sathrik came into being on Oct. 11.
I'll continue with the other characters tomorrow. (Sorry to leave you hanging, but my lunch break is over and I've got to get back to my day job.)
Lisa
I went through my storage boxes of old notes (really old notes). I don't remember how I came up with some of this stuff -- and in one case, I'm not sure if I really want to know. What are now my goblins originally started out as a seafaring race with webbed feet and fingers. No, I am not kidding. And no, I have no idea what I was eating or drinking when I came up with that one.
I started the book that would become Magic Lost, Trouble Found early in 2001. On April 24, 2001, the Saghred (who I think is essentially a character) went from four shards, to two shards, to a single stone with an amulet. Having characters running around collecting shards just seemed like too much trouble (and work). Not to mention confusing.
In a note to myself on that same day, April 24 (I do a lot of stream-of-consciousness writing/talking to myself to work through plot snags) I wrote: "You've got the first two chapters worked out and a nebulous idea as to what happens next -- well, let's crank this puppy and see if it runs."
Apparently it didn't run. Because on May 15, 2001 I wrote: "Okay, let's crank this puppy again since it stalled out the first time. Take two. . ." Quentin and Nigel soon came into the picture and the plot became clearer.
Mychael was "born" as commander of the Guardians on May 10, 2001.
Sathrik Mal'Salin was born as the goblin king on Sept. 1, 2001 as were the Khrynsani. Which at that time I called "GSS" as a placeholder in my manuscript (meaning "Goblin Secret Society") because I hadn't come up with the name "Khrynsani" yet.
Tarsilia had a sex change operation on Sept. 1. Before this the character's name was "Tarsilian" and he was a man. Still a mage, but definitely a man.
Chigaru emerged in his present form as the exhiled goblin prince on Oct. 8, 2001. And the conflict between he and Sathrik came into being on Oct. 11.
I'll continue with the other characters tomorrow. (Sorry to leave you hanging, but my lunch break is over and I've got to get back to my day job.)
Lisa
posted by Lisa Shearin at
12:17 PM
4 Comments:
Characters Came to Be ....
I love it - it's always neat to see how the subconscious ("muse") works. Creativity can be so unclassifiable.
It always good to date every scrap of paper, e-memo, etc that you do. It can save your bacon at times. (Think law suits etc. Ref - read the history of Pixar.) It's easy to date everything as you go. And it can save all kinds of time in the future. (Think scholars going over your ancient manuscripts, etc when they're writing your definitive artistic biography in the year 3044.)
Isn't this fun?
Maybe you should record your stream of consciousness-talking to yourself. Number one, it's very healthy! Number 2, it's always fun to play back later ("what planet was I on?"). If nothing else, they can serve as background listening for when you're trying to come up with something totally new. -Or- drive you nuts when you've had too large a dose of sanity.
Enjoy!!!
I'm a pack rat when it comes to notes and notebooks. I still have the first notebook that I started my first novel in. I bought plastic storage bins to put each book's notes in because I'd read in one of my author magazines that even though you don't think your stuff is worth saving, someone else might in the future. So just in case someone actually does want to write my "definitive artistic biography" in some far-flung future date -- the stuff will still be around. Maybe. I'm not sure of the life expectancy of paper in a plastic storage bin. ; )
I bought a digital voice recorder to do just that (record musings). But I quickly found out that my muse runs and hides the moment I open my mouth. If I try to verbalize an idea into a recorder, the idea instantly vanishes. Most counterproductive. So I'm strictly a pen and paper girl. ; )
You inspired me! I did the same on my writing blog.
I love how you evolved the Saghred from shards to a single stone. And I agree with you--shards would not have worked because then it would have been too much like a scavenger hunt novel.
I just popped over to your blog -- it's always fun to hear how writers come up with their characters. Or should I say, how characters reveal themselves to their writers.
Yeah, I figured pieces and parts of the Saghred scattered all over the place would be like a scavenger hunt with doublets and elf ears. I just couldn't bring myself to do that. ; )
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