Whiskey Lullaby
To hit today's word count, I had a little bit of liquid courage. I think this is one of the hardest parts of writing, fearing that you have to be out of your normal state of mind in order to write something you feel comfortable with.
I felt I was really understanding my characters today, and to stay in her mindset, I took drink tit for tat with her as she explored who was sent to kill her. While I probably wouldn't suggest this practice for anyone else, I was happy with the decisions she made because they made sense (whether that's the whiskey talking or the actual writing, I won't find out until the "Now What" portion of NaNoWriMo when I read back through it).
What this exercise did remind me though, is that sometimes we have our characters take actions that don't complement the situation. We should always be able to back up why our characters reacted however they did, even if it is as simple as "they were drunk."
A friend of mine is writing a piece of fan-fiction and she recently got a review questioning the reactions of some of her characters to a touchy scene. I helped her feel confident again in her decisions because sometimes, like a few of her characters, we suck as humans and don't think of everything that is going on due to being overwhelmed and react in a negative way. (For further reference, please enjoy her piece entitled "I Get Carried Away"). She detailed all the different reactions one can have to a scene depending on who in your life it affected and how much time you've had to consider it and she handled it beautifully.
Now, I am not saying you need to get drunk with your character to make decisions, but I am saying you should make sure your characters' actions make sense. If they don't, you are selling your audience and then they won't want to read further.
Cheers, and good luck with your writing!
I felt I was really understanding my characters today, and to stay in her mindset, I took drink tit for tat with her as she explored who was sent to kill her. While I probably wouldn't suggest this practice for anyone else, I was happy with the decisions she made because they made sense (whether that's the whiskey talking or the actual writing, I won't find out until the "Now What" portion of NaNoWriMo when I read back through it).
What this exercise did remind me though, is that sometimes we have our characters take actions that don't complement the situation. We should always be able to back up why our characters reacted however they did, even if it is as simple as "they were drunk."
A friend of mine is writing a piece of fan-fiction and she recently got a review questioning the reactions of some of her characters to a touchy scene. I helped her feel confident again in her decisions because sometimes, like a few of her characters, we suck as humans and don't think of everything that is going on due to being overwhelmed and react in a negative way. (For further reference, please enjoy her piece entitled "I Get Carried Away"). She detailed all the different reactions one can have to a scene depending on who in your life it affected and how much time you've had to consider it and she handled it beautifully.
Now, I am not saying you need to get drunk with your character to make decisions, but I am saying you should make sure your characters' actions make sense. If they don't, you are selling your audience and then they won't want to read further.
Cheers, and good luck with your writing!
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