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[ostarella]

From http://www.fictionfactor.com

Planning A Heart-Stopping Story
By Holly Lisle

Part VII of the 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series

http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/planning.html

JFM will be reading this, nodding her head at every sentence ;-)  but it wasn't one of my favorites. Even talking about an actual plan makes me lose interest  :D  But I'm sure there will be some points to make use of, if I ever get through it...


Another article more to my liking is

Short Story Writing - Don't Waste Your Words On Wasted Words!
By Steve Dempster

http://short.fictionfactor.com/articles/wastedwords.html

Obviously won't fit in with NaNo, but it's definitely a good article for other writing, even when you don't have to "cut" for word count issues.


And finally, one for everyone, even (and maybe especially) fanfic writers...

Create Vivid, Memorable Characters - Breathe Life into Your Fictional People
By Lucia Zimmitti

http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/characters.html

ENJOY! :D

Comments

[beckyblack]

Good articles! The planning one is one I've read before on Holly Lisle's site and it's one that made me go "I'm on the same wavelength as her!"

I'm lucky with this NaNo in that these people have been in my head for years, so I know loads about them, vast amounts of which won't go into the story, but helps to round them out.

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

I liked the ideas in that characterization article - picturing the characters in different settings, situations that have nothing to do with the story itself. I really think if fanfic writers would do that, we wouldn't have so many ooc moments...

[beckyblack]

That's definitely a good idea. I tend to do that naturally with a character who's really come alive for me. I'll wander around thinking about their first day at school, or what their ordinary day is like, what they have for breakfast.

Madari was like that of course. He showed up in the story and suddenly he had all this baggage. I felt like he arrived with his backstory all there. Not just his recent history with the torture and all, but his family background and everything. And then after that story was over I started daydreaming about what that man, with that background and with the changes the A-Team had brought, would do next. The rest, as they say, is history. :D

With Jahni I filled his background in much more consciously, though once he was in my head of course he started to surprise me! "Hey! Who told you to fall in love with your C.O.? Knock it... oh, wait, that's kind of working. Carry on." ;-)

Remember an exercise on the ATSB, that was about something like do a scene with the character doing something mundane and routine. (I had BA changing the van's oil.) That can definitely be useful. Even just doing it in your mind, though writing it down is probably even better. I suppose that story about BA's haircut was a bit like that too. It's not a setting we're used to seeing him in. How would he act there? What would be feel there?

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

A lot of people kinda dismiss "character pieces", but I like them (well, if the author keeps them in-character :p). And it's definitely a good exercise, even if there isn't any real plot or action - it makes one think about the [fictitious] *person*, rather than the character.

[beckyblack]

I think they work well for fanfic too, since the reader doesn't need introduced to the character. They don't need to be made to be interested in them by putting them in conflict or danger. We already know and are interested in them, even if they are just doing their grocery shopping.