Character Study

Hello. I'm starting this blog over. I don't really know how I'm going to theme it, or really what to write in it at all. I am, however, going to start writing in it. Today, I did a lot of people watching. People are interesting, especially women. That's probably because I'm a guy and I like women. But it helps when writing female characters to start picking up female ticks and remembering them to add detail. What they say, how they walk, what they talk about. I've been experimenting with things like complimenting them on stuff guys don't usually notice, like their shoes or their hair or their outfits. It's interesting the responses I get. I've noticed something- women either ignore me, give me one dirty look and ignore me, or always make eye contact, smile, and say hello. Some even regularly try to engage me in conversation afterward. There is one, though, who does all three, and I have got to ask her why, because it's weird and I'm dying to know what's up with that. I think I'm going to use whatever she says in a YA I'm going to go back to when I get done with (or get tired of) working on Electrify Me. But so far, so good, I'm writing some killer stuff. I think I might actually be making "The Leap" from writing crap to writing something decent somebody might want to publish. There really is an art to it. I find myself making "artsy" decisions all the time. Like, "If I do this here, it has this effect." Or "I should hint here and--show, don't tell!--let the story do a slow reveal, yeah, create tension." It's odd, but it's like I understand something I always missed before. I'm getting better at non dialogue/action scenes, which I've always struggled with. I realize now that setting a scene is important, or your character's basically operating in a vacuum. Boring. Anyway, when I finish the chapter I'll post it here. Who knows? Maybe someone will read this thing and comment so I can fix it. I'll pick a topic or something and discuss next time. But I've got pizza to eat and writing to do, so happy writing y'all. -CK