#WordWeavers 10/4 Character dev, world-building, plot - how much attention for each?
I tend to give world-building short shrift in my writing, which is a shame, because my worlds are typically detailed and unique, in my head at least. I find it difficult to assess what details a reader would find interesting. I often try to imply or hint at things rather than pointing them out explicitly.
Plot - exists as a scaffolding for the characters. I do try to at least have logical, engaging plot lines.
#WordWeavers day 4.
Character development, world building, plot - how much attention do you pay to each?
Character, character, character! Formed by the world in which they live (which is based on both historical fact & a few expected genre tropes), the characters create the plot through their interactions.
When writing something like Regency Romance - especially as a fan of history & the genre - world building is mostly already there, soaked into the subconscious, rather than needing creation.
#WordWeavers 10.4 — Character development, world-building, plot - how much attention do you pay to each?
A lot. They're all important, however I typically start with a treatment that includes the beginning, the ending, the idea, and what motivates the character(s) to do what they are initiating. I'm a pantser. Unless the worldbuilding or characters come pre-defined from a presequel or a series, the rest is strictly build-as-I-go. I iterate back through story, backfilling all my discoveries.
#WordWeavers 4. Character development, world-building, plot – how much attention do you pay to each?
I do very little world-building. I assume most of my readers are at least casually familiar with yuri Japan (JP). When a cultural aspect is markedly different from the West and it's introduction would need some explanation to a Western reader I have to engineer the situation very carefully. I am writing in full first person POV and the character is not going to explain that cigarettes are ordered by number; most places you can't smoke on the street and have to use designated smoking areas; how you interact with an idol; what a hostess club is like, etc. Things need to unfold without explanation.
for example: I was trying to quit smoking, so I had put my Taspo card away. That meant I couldn’t use a vending machine. I would have to go to a convenience store. At least I was in luck there. There was an 8 PM near the local park. I could stop at the park, use the smoking area, and go on to the 8 PM.
As for me, I do most of my world-building by reading articles on Japan, using Google Maps, or referencing existing JP creepypasta.
As for the supernatural; aspect of the world I am aided by one of the fundamental rules of "Creepypasts" that the rules are inconsistent, often unexplained in cause or even in result, and if the reader doesn't understand that is normal. The usual rules are easy to pick up in the text: don't look malevolent beings in the eyes; ghosts have no feet; you can get sick after encountering a spirit; most yokai don't like sake and salt, etc. I have read so much JP creepypasta it is second nature to me. But if the general rule doesn't fit that is fine too, see rule one - nonconsistency.
I spend a ton of time on character-building. I am writing a romance about people, the rest is "dungeon dressing." For my WIP I have written a series of side stories ahead of time to figure them out and get their unique voice. I take the characters very seriously.
Right now, I'm looking for other writers to follow. Follow me, and I follow back. Even better,give me places to look and interact. #WritingCommunity#FindingMyWay
@skipscherer Hi! If you fancy joining in some memes with daily prompts to post about your stories & writing process/habits, a bunch of us hang out on the #WordWeavers#WritersCoffeeClub & #PennedPossibilities hashtags (you should be able to follow the hastags themselves though exactly how may depend on what app or browser you're using)
Writer friends! I can finally show y'all the cover for This Is How Immortals Die, the first book in the World Without Love series - which I talk a lot about in #WordWeavers :D Created by the great David Leahey (https://www.instagram.com/leaheyart/?hl=en)
I'm working on getting my author page on Goodreads, but the book is already on the database if anyone wants to read the blurb... maybe add it to your wishlist too? 😛 https://shorturl.at/wxV56
#Wordweavers Oct 02 - Who is your most intriguing character? Why?
For #churchmouse all characters have a sense of carried intrigue due to their nature so in that case, the real 'intrigue' is a character whose action seems to be predictable amongst them all. The one deemed to be a failure and worthless. That's Andy. Sometimes by his own actions as he self-sabotages against the life pressure but he's the one with the most emotional growth. And that's the most delicious type of intrigue, imo.
#Wordweavers Oct 03 - How do you convey your characters’ emotions?
A constant challenge because it's necessary to provide as much context as possible so the reader gets a sense of where they are on the destruct/heal part of their psychological trip. Something is motivating them.
Untangling the emotional blocks becomes part of the story. The characters actions could be deceiving, their own appearance could be deceiving, all dependent on prior built context.
#WordWeavers 10/3 How do you convey your characters' emotions?
Typically, and this is probably a bad habit, through dialogue tags and actions surrounding dialogue. I feel like so much of the way a person feels is reflected in the nonverbal stuff that goes along with speech.
For emotional content outside of an interaction, I usually try to convey it through the things a character notices or is reminded of. We see the world differently when we're emotional, I try to reflect that.
Hello Mastodon! I'm a part time author who writes sci-fi. I run a martial arts school in my normal life. I have a beautiful wife, a fantastic daughter and two trouble maker dogs. 😁😊😂
Looking forward to the interactions here. #introduction
@skipscherer Hello. Welcome. I am a songeriter who consider lyrics very important. I strongly suggest you follow hashtags like for example #WordWeavers. Click on that hashtag then click on the symbol in the upper right hand cornerand you will be following it Everything with that hashtag will appear in your feed!
I think that's the best way to curate your feed. Have fun!
#WordWeavers 10/01
Introduce your MC from the perspective of the antagonist.
To Fern, Marian is a stuck-up upstart who's having it easy. They share the same congenital condition that, in Homo vénusienne, is usually fatal—but can give rare survivors superpowers. Fern has paid for hers. Ugly, lacking foil like an Earther, she was severely abused before she learned to kill. While Marian has no deformities at all and was raised at the most peaceful airship on Venus.
#WordWeavers 10/4
Character development, world-building, plot—how much attention do you pay to each?
While plot is a sequence of external events, story is a sequence of internal changes in the characters. The former serves the latter, not the other way around.
My novels are complex, with multiple character arcs. So, I pay a lot of attention to structure, but only insofar as it serves the characters.
Worldbuilding is also important, as I aim to undermine so many tropes it's not even funny.
1 Oct: Introduce your MCs from the perspective of the antagonist.
Allegra: Who? Oh, yes. The Apprentices of Sisters Sjara and Steph, respectively. I have to say they've both been a disappointment. We so desperately needed a competent shapeshifter this generation, and young Tani's early… signs of promise… have yet to manifest either. A pity.
#WordWeavers 4 Oct: Character development, world-building, plot—how much attention do you give each?
Ooh, this was a journey for me. TOoF was heavily plot based, with a world I'd built up over years. I had the sense that characters needed ups & downs, but no knowledge of structure.
After writing Act 1 of TWotMW I discovered KM Weiland's blog which has a whole section on creating character arcs. I stopped writing to absorb it all, then refactored what I had. This book's so much stronger for it.
Going "Epsilon Project" again (for other WIP, see my profile). As it is a #WebSerial tale built on the fly, the antagonist is as yet unknown (if there even is one).
However, Part One had Angel wrap up a prior case. That antagonist saw her as a nutty animal lover (absolutely), an annoying busybody (not wrong), who was not very bright (hugely incorrect) and overly gun happy (depends on Angel's mood).
I suspect I'm not great at this, in part because I don't get very emotional myself (tend to be "on" or "off", no levels). If it's the POV character, obviously more flexibility there, and I tend to have two or three shifting POVs in a story.
Otherwise, I try to give characters a stress/concern tick, or indicate if they're smiling, puzzled, irritated or what have you. Work in progress.
I am incredibly plot driven. I know what I'm aiming for. (Even random fan service stories for me need a plot.)
I don't know what shape the characters will be in when we get there (which is why I can't write non-linearly), their growth and change comes from the writing. They DO affect the plot but rarely derail the core idea.
My worlds are often urban fantasy (or a pop culture mashup) in part because I don't want to have to think too much about them.
#WordWeavers Oct 1 Introduce MC from antagonist's POV.
I had heard about her, of course. Her recruiter gave me a report, and he mentioned the trophies on her wall, so clearly had been using her power to win—some do and some do not—but I did not understand until I saw her move. She is a natural. She can do anything physical, any sport, any fighting style. But she lacked intentionality. It was just movement for her, so I knew I needed to make her desire to hurt her opponent. This is necessary.
#WordWeavers Oct 3 How do you convey your characters' emotions?
My POV character, I can directly comment on her state of mind, but I Iike to show her actions from her point of view,like looking down at her own hands when she's done something she regrets.
With other characters, it's more about what my POV character sees and what she's able to piece together.
Do POV characters need to be either really observant or hilariously obtuse? Are those the options?
#WordWeavers Day Oct 4. Character development, world-building, plot — how much attention do you pay to each?
I'm plot-driven, most definitely, but I work out the world and the characters by running them through that plot, and I'm also finding the plot as I go, so its hugely affected by what I discover about characters and the world. I don't think of that as separate attention. I think if that as a method of trying to unify all three.
01/10. Introduce your MC from the perspective of the antagonist.
AI:"Commander Kira Joan Knox, age 35 Earth/Terran Standart Years, 178 cm, 95 KG in 1GAP, currently inactive, released from Duty on Uniondate 335.9-01/10-3202. This file is redacted and manipulated. I am sure she commands one of the Alliances Navy Special Test/Prototypes like N.64-3.V.4_Unit-O1. I know about her. Our path crossed several times before, she will join our mission soon enough again."
For some reason my mind goes [____] by this question.😅
I guess right now through description of physical & psychological things like:
"The fine hairs on her neck instantly stood up as the cold chill ran down her spine."
Still not sure because mind blanks.😅 #WordWeavers 03/10 03.10.2023
Character development, world building, plot -- how much attention do you pay to each?
Way to much, timeline-> 4 generations prior for SCs 8 for MCs. Building Storys around places where the characters met, which political power was in place, streams of views, fictional Media in universe and to a point that I stops me from writing actual story (that I still don't know about...).
#WordWeavers 1 (October): Introduce your MCs from the perspective of the antagonist
Avebury: Miss Cervanso has promise, despite her disadvantages - and, I suppose, I can hardly blame her for the unfortunate accident of her species. I could wish she had better taste in friends, but that's something I'm confident I can correct, given time.
(Viola's pretty much the only one of the crew Avebury really wants to talk about, and... well, you can see how he talks about her. Because he's awful)
#WordWeavers 4: Character development, word-building, plot - how much attention do you pay to each?
So that's legitimately difficult to quantify, but a lot of what I write comes down to listening to/watching the characters interact and then transcribing it, with the worldbuilding and plot falling naturally out of that (with the exception of worldbuilding/plot details which just pop up when I'm wandering around our world because I've encountered something that's inspired me)
💾 Since October's #WordWeaver starts tomorrow, I updated my site with the (🇪🇺 freely downloadable!) first half of #SimulacraNavigans, the scifi I will be tooting about!
Inspired by Stanisław Lem's #Solaris and Kim Stanley Robinson's #Aurora, it's a story of community, conscience and adaption to space and time.
#WordWeavers 01: Introduce your antagonist with as much sympathy as possible.
'Does Richard hate me because I shot him?' Cathy asked.
Eimear smiled. 'It goes back much further than your previous life. His parents were religious fanatics.'
'I thought he was an orphan?'
'I'm talking about the thirteenth century. They were Cathars.'
'We've known him all that time?'
'I'm afraid so. His parents were so preoccupied with the survival of their faith that they neglected him. He turned against us.'
#WordWeavers 4. Character development, world-building, plot — how much attention do you pay to each?
Yes. In that order. When I started the Cartwright series, I did endless character profiles. The world is this one, so no building is needed. One timeline is recent past, to allow Peter to grow up. The other is historical. I am forever down the rabbit hole. Plot? Meh. The characters tell me their story, I superimpose a story grid, choose a start and end, and kill off unnecessary subplots.
For #WordWeavers tomorrow, I think I'm going to be working on a new #cyberpunk story. The MC is an original character that I've been writing for a very long time and in so many different stories. I used to RP him with friends, and still avidly do in a number of fantastic stories, but I decided to finally start a long novel with him. He originated from #CyberpunkRED and #Cyberpunk2020, tabletop RPG's / #TTRPG's. I've written him over every imaginable medium.
#WordWeavers 10.3 — How do you convey your characters' emotions?
As I'm writing, I use a combination of dialogue, a character's inner thought, narration, and symbolism to convey how a character may or may not feel. Occasionally, I'll even use music. That's a favorite of mine. I'm sure my answer will be similar to many others on the site. I use all the available techniques to convey what needs to be known or understood for the reader, or for any of the other characters in said story.
#WordWeavers 10.4 — Character development, world-building, plot — how much attention do you pay to each?
I pay close attention to all of those important things. I do believe that character development, a character story and arc, everything that entails, is just as important as your world-building and plot. They tie in together and they're all integral to a story. All of those things need to be built upon, and if you're writing a story in a good format, it'll work out for you as the writer.