This thread inspired by, yes, a conversation with thethinker42.
Without going into too much detail, the robot ninja from the future with pens for fingers (tt42 to you and me) told me she didn't know her two MCs' jobs until she came to write the scene where they discussed what they both did for a living.
Now to other folks that might seem a bit weird - and we are talking about tt42 here so it probably is - but it struck me that's happened a few times with me, too. (And I'm also weird so, meh).
I didn't know until writing the relevant chapter that my male MC from my previous WIP had been married before, or that he knew how to do certain illegal things...
And with WIP#2 - designed to occupy me for the next month so I don't start editing until I've left WIP#1 for a sufficient length of time - I was quite a few pages into it before one of the male MCs decided he was bisexual, a fact which influences the rest of the story and the group dynamic very strongly, and for the better I think. It certainly goes a long way to explaining why he does what he does...and why he does who he does.
Now I know we often talk about characters coming to life and it can seem a bit wanky. Our characters aren't real, no, but...they should seem as if they could be in my opinion and when they appear to tell us things we didn't previously know, clearly, these 'facts' are coming from our own minds; we'll call it the subconscious...or collective unconscious.
So have your characters ever whispered in your ear things like, "Oh, I forgot to tell you something..." or "Did you know I once...?"
And it's amazing how this drip-fed information works its way into the story to such an extent you reach the end, thinking, "Wow. It wouldn't have worked so well any other way. That all ties in." It's as if certain characters arrive at the story's jumping-off point complete in themselves, but they neglect to make certain confessions until the relevant part of the story.
tt42 often refers to her characters having 'magic feathers' - qualities that make them fly - and that would be a similar subject I think. The tiniest of details that make everything else fall into place and explain their actions and motivations, or add that extra spark to make characters come to life.
So...over to you. Discuss.
Without going into too much detail, the robot ninja from the future with pens for fingers (tt42 to you and me) told me she didn't know her two MCs' jobs until she came to write the scene where they discussed what they both did for a living.
Now to other folks that might seem a bit weird - and we are talking about tt42 here so it probably is - but it struck me that's happened a few times with me, too. (And I'm also weird so, meh).
I didn't know until writing the relevant chapter that my male MC from my previous WIP had been married before, or that he knew how to do certain illegal things...
And with WIP#2 - designed to occupy me for the next month so I don't start editing until I've left WIP#1 for a sufficient length of time - I was quite a few pages into it before one of the male MCs decided he was bisexual, a fact which influences the rest of the story and the group dynamic very strongly, and for the better I think. It certainly goes a long way to explaining why he does what he does...and why he does who he does.
Now I know we often talk about characters coming to life and it can seem a bit wanky. Our characters aren't real, no, but...they should seem as if they could be in my opinion and when they appear to tell us things we didn't previously know, clearly, these 'facts' are coming from our own minds; we'll call it the subconscious...or collective unconscious.
So have your characters ever whispered in your ear things like, "Oh, I forgot to tell you something..." or "Did you know I once...?"
And it's amazing how this drip-fed information works its way into the story to such an extent you reach the end, thinking, "Wow. It wouldn't have worked so well any other way. That all ties in." It's as if certain characters arrive at the story's jumping-off point complete in themselves, but they neglect to make certain confessions until the relevant part of the story.
tt42 often refers to her characters having 'magic feathers' - qualities that make them fly - and that would be a similar subject I think. The tiniest of details that make everything else fall into place and explain their actions and motivations, or add that extra spark to make characters come to life.
So...over to you. Discuss.
