Monthly Madness: Original Fic

[haldoor.livejournal.com]

Hey there to all our original fic writers! *waves* How are you doing these days? Still working on something that comes under the Original Fic banner?

Maybe it's short stories; maybe it's a full-length novel or novels; or maybe you're just writing a few slices of life for your own characters. Whatever you're doing, share with us something about writing your favourite (or not-so-favourite!) characters.

Here's a few questions you could answer (if you want) about one (or more) of them:

1. Where did the character come from? (Based on someone you know or have read about? Entirely from your own imagination? Somewhere else entirely?)
2. What drives them in your story? (are they looking for something/someone; on a quest; need to prove themselves to someone? Something else?)
3. What makes you like/dislike them?
4. How do you try to make them real?
5. Who do they interact best/worst with in your story/stories?

I must admit, I've been very slack with keeping up on my original fic this year, so I'm going to skip over my characters right now, but I'm all ears about yours! ;-)

Comments

[agdhani.livejournal.com]

I'll be working on the collection of original fics until it devours me, I'm sure...even though I think its 1 more book to finish the series and 1 prequel...the prequel could grow beyond one book...and my MC may find a way to get another book or two in there as well...I wouldn't put it past him.

1) the MC of my series is largely my creation...although he weirdly shares some details with a friend of mine (a friend I didn't meet until AFTER I'd created him)...birthday...harp playing...a little bit of his singing voice...
2) because he spans several books (and several decades) he's driven by a lot of things...but primarily the desire to be seen as a 'normal' man...to understand why he's different...and to fill his overwhelming search for 'truth/knowledge'
3) He's my baby...I have SUCH a soft spot for his poor tortured soul...but there are times he needs to stop accepting the guilt for everything and everyone around him (He's got quite a martyr complex...)
4) I think I make him real by...not making him do anything. He dictates the story to me...what he does, how he reacts etc. I usually have an inkling of how that will be...but he still surprises me with his growth and the things he perceives that I never considered.
5) Worst...people who call him Saint, lol.
best...people who treat him normal, who aren't afraid of him for his differences, and who don't make high demands of him (he's too demanding of himself as it is...always feeling he has to live up to the expectations of others when they're really his own expectations of himself)
I hope that makes sense lol

[morethanmending.livejournal.com]

LOL, maybe you created your character so well that he manifested himself into the real world! :D

I like the sound of your main character. He seems like someone who puts on a brave face and a tough front, but who's, at the end of the day, much like the rest of us. Tired, maybe a little lonely, and seeking out what many of us are also searching for. He sounds like someone a lot of people could relate to.

I hope one month we do an original fiction challenge! I'd love to see everyone's characters come out to play. :D

[agdhani.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's very much him. He's lonely a lot...even when surrounded by people (he's a bard, so he's surrounded by people a lot! but he doesn't let very many people really get close to him...and because of his differences and that keeping people at a distance, having a love life is nearly impossible...lol)
He'd be happy to come out and play...well, maybe 'happy' is not the word for it, lol, but he rarely turns down new experiences.
And yeah...I often feel like he is 'real'...that some of the wait between new material for me is because he hasn't lived it yet to tell me about it...that the stories are much more him expressing them and me just taking down the details. He's out there in some reality, I'm sure of it ;)