Character Tag

Wow, I really need to get back on top of this whole blogging thing. I know that I promised ya'll a post last Thursday or Friday, but ... well ... you see ... 

I believe I've mentioned the fact that my internet has been giving me troubles. It had been, and on Thursday I got so frustrated with it, that I started uninstalling things from my computer to see if I could find what it was that was slowing me down.

And I ... uninstalled my wifi. Yeah ... I've got a computer programmer for a dad, and I made a mistake like that. 

Anyways, after realizing what I did, I wanted the wifi back ... but wifi is a tricky thing. After thirty minutes of being very frantic, I ended up completely resetting my computer to store-purchase state. So I spent the rest of Thursday downloading and reinstalling various programs that I can't live without, such as Dropbox, Chrome, and Open Office. I technically lost all my pictures, but since I happen to have all of them still on disks, that isn't a huge loss. What I miss is all the book cataloging I did last summer, and that really nice new word processor I got from Giveaway of the Day. I'll have to pay 35 bucks if I want it back. (Though I suppose that that's better than paying 100 a year to have Microsoft Word ...)

I'm also missing all of the free games I had amassed, but they're not the end of the world.

Anyways, today, I'm here with a tag from one of my writing friends, Anne-Girl, who's holding the second annual Writer's conference. So far, it's been a lot of fun to read all of her posts!

1. Do you think it's more important to listen to your characters or to follow the idea of the book as originally conceived?

I think it's important that you and your characters sit down and talk through the story carefully. It's not a good idea to let them completely rule the story, but if you don't listen to them, they won't cooperate. Most of my characters respect when I make an executive decision.

2. If you could pick a fictional man to become alive and marry you who would you pick? {note: this is not asking whom you consider the greatest hero but whom you would be the most comfortable spending the rest of your life with}

I've known since before I was two that I was destined for the Nutcracker. Why are we asking this question?

3.  What is your favorite protagonist and antagonist pair?

Are we talking about my own writing or books I've read. I'm going to answer with my own writing.

In that case, my favorite pair is would be Petra and Amber. I haven't talked about Petra much because she belongs to book 2 of the Rizkaland Legends. However, I have talked about Amber, who is also the villain in book 1.

Honestly, I don't think I have a villain and heroine better suited for each other. They're so much alike (they even look alike), but their paths have made them so different. In another life (literally) they would have grown up to be best friends. (Although, in that other life, it's possible that neither would have been born, as Laura points out, so it all comes out in the end). 

I actually feel kinda guilty pitching her as the villain of Water Princess, Fire Prince, for the mere reason that she isn't their enemy. They just get in the way of her way of passing the time while she waits for the day when she can take Rizkaland as her own. The story works, works beautifully, but because she doesn't see them as a threat to herself personally, she really doesn't have as strong a presence in the book as she will in book 2.

4. If you had to do without one of the following in your story which would it be?
 A. The Dark Moment when the hero is at rock bottom and can't do anything
 B. The Moment of Decision when the hero makes an actual goal and starts following it{leading thereby to the story itself}
C. The Resolution the reconciliation of the hero with his or her inner struggles and outer struggles

I'll go with A, as I don't actually have a Dark Moment in all of my books. I don't view it as always necessary. They're nice accessories, but it isn't necessary to plunge every character to rock bottom.

5. In modern fiction which genre do you think shows the most tendency toward good character development?

I don't think any one genre is better than any other when it comes to characters. It depends on the author.6. Have you ever "fallen for" the villain? {Note I do not mean thought he was a good guy but rather WISHED  he was the good guy and rooted for him}

I have, I know I have ... but I can't name names off the top of my head at the moment.7. Do you prefer writing about your protagonist or side characters? 

The protagonist is almost always my favorite character - otherwise he wouldn't be the protagonist, but my side characters often have a habit of taking over a story.8. What do you think is the most cliched and overdone character in fiction?

The Rebellious Princess, which is precisely the reason I pick on her so much. I love writing with cliches because they're actually quite challenging, if you want them new and fresh.

9. Which do you think is more important, making your reader feel or making him think?

I think they're both equally important, but my aim as an author leans more towards thinking. That and laughter.10.  And lastly what do you think are three most important elements to being a hero?

True bravery (not that he isn't scared of things, but that he doesn't let fear keep him from doing the right thing). loyalty, and a good sense of humor.

Guest Post ... Jill Anna!

Anne-girl has challenged us to get to know a side character by allowing them to guest post on your blog ... so, after sorting through my ENORMOUS list of side characters, I selected Jill Anna from Water Princess, Fire Prince. She's an important character, but I'm never in her head due to the fact that I only get into the head of said Prince and Princess. Oh, and in her world, c's are used only for the /ch/ sound, and then they are used alone. She got very annoyed at spell checker over that.

Via Pinterest ... but with brown eyes.

Greetings ... it seems as though I have a thing kalled an author ... who has invited me into her world to write about being a karakter. I'm not sure how much of an opinion I can express, however, due to the fact that I was not aware of my being a karakter until I reseived her invitation. Indeed, I was going to ignore the invitation, but Jasmine found it while she was snooping in my stuff, and just had to pester the Water Prinsess with it. The Water Prinsess seemed to know what it was, and seemed to think it was a very horrid thing. She said that there was nothing for it, however, and that I had to go.

I suppose my Author wants me to tell you who I am, and who Jasmine is - for I hear she has already posted quite a bit about the Water Prinsess, which is right, of kourse. The Water Prinsess is the Water Prinsess, after all. But I'm such a nobody - just a lowly servant - I kan't imagine why people want to know about me.

I am a seamstress in the Upper kastle. I wasn't always, but I don't like to dwell on my past, and my Author has agreed that I won't have to. She says that she wouldn't want me to tell about my past anyways, due to the fakt that my past has things whic she kalls plot spoilers. They sound like very horrid things, so I will refrain from telling about my past with gratitude. Suffise to say that I am a seamstress.

Jasmine is my younger sister, who kan't seem to remember her plase. She is the Water Prinsess' personal servant, however. I know not why Lady Roxanne trusted such an important position to Jasmine, but I've heard rumor that Jasmine almost lost the job and was to be sent bak to the the village, but the Water Prinsess interfered. I do not know this for sertain, but it is the rumor, and it seems to me something that both my sister and the Water Prinsess would do. Not that I pretend to know the mind of the Water Princess, but I have spent a good deal of time in her presense while I sewed the clothes she has asked me to sew.

I hesitate to give my opinion of the Water Prinsess, but my Author tells me that I should, and, whatever my opinion be, the Water Prinsess would not shame me for it. I suppose she wouldn't, for she seems to me to enkourage my sister's lack of plase. I hesitate to say this, but I fear that the Water Prinsess does my sister no good favor. The Water Prinsess seems to me a very unladylike person when we are alone in her cambers, even though she acts more ladylike when people might see her. Indeed, just the other day, she did what she kalled "gymnastiks" and revealed her pantaloons for all the world to see! And her only exkuse was that she "normally doesn't do it in a dress!" Ah, if Lady Roxanne or one of her daughters had been thus exposed, they would have been mightily ashamed - but not the Water Prinsess! She also konfesses freely that she has no skill with the needle, which is why she requires my servises. 

However, the klothing that she asks me to sew is my greatest proof of her unladylikeness. She klaims that, due to the fakt that the prophesee requires that the Water Prinsess fight (which it does, I will not argue that), she needs klothing that allows for freedom of movement. However, sinse she is the Water Prinsess, I kannot argue with her desires. I only sit in my korner and sew, and try to keep my sister out of trouble.

And I must express that this is a very strange thing that my Author is having me write on. She kalls it a komputer, and says that the Water Prinsess has one as well. It is a very strange thing, with a glowing skrean and you write on it by tapping "keys." 

I muc prefer a quill pen.

Beautiful World I still Need to Name.

Anne-girl is hosting a writer's conference of sorts over at her blog, and today's topic is World Building, or, at least, one of the topics is. Anyways, today's workshop is to personify your setting/world and do a Beautiful People with them. I haven't done Beautiful People yet ... but it's basically answering questions about your characters.

Via Pinterest. The trunks aren't quite right, but, anyways ...

I have many, many worlds in my head, all of them different and crazy. However, I've decided to do the Elven world of my WIP The New Division, which has been on my mind of late. It's seriously underdeveloped at the moment, so maybe this will help!

However, if this world were a person, it'd have to have a split personality! The elves are divided into two peoples, the Harshia and the Lilnia, who are ... very different to say the least.

What kind of music does he/she like? The Harshia prefer music more like the tribal stuff from Africa and the Americas, while the Lilnia prefer more dignified and complicated musical instruments that require great knowledge to play correctly.
Does he/she like to go outside? The Harshia spend all of their time outside, for they don't even have the basic technology of candles, having spent all of their brain-work on developing weaponry, so it's dark inside their huts. The Lilnia, on the other hand, spend much more time inside, out of the hot sun, to preserve their pale skin, and to study their books and develop their varied technologies.
Is he/she naturally curious? The Harshia aren't. The Lilnia ... well, they love learning new things, maybe.
Right, or left handed? I think that if this world were a person, it'd be ambidextrous.
Favorite color? Due to the fact that all plant life is a shade of pink or red, I'll go with those two colors as it's favorites.
Where is he/she from? This world exists in an alternate dimension.
Any enemies? It has a war within itself. The Lilnia and Harshia haven't gotten along since Harsh and Liln, (whose stories are a combination of Jacob and Esau and Cain and Able. Harsh was Cain/Esau and Liln was Jacob/Able)
What are his/her quirks? Let's see, all plant life is a shade of pink or red, trees grow with two trunks, and have ink-black bark. It is said that strange things happen should one walk between the trunks of a tree, so no one ever does it. Never. Ever. Um, there's two moons. The Lilnia use the blue moon, Lilnai, for their calender, while the Harshia are governed by the red moon, Harshai.
What kinds of things get on his/her nerves? Each of the peoples always gets on the nerves of the others.
Is he/she independent, or needs others to help out? The peoples are independent of each other, but are very interdependent among themselves.