Young Writers Society

I totally forgot the follow-up question! My bad, I´m still moving...

@IcyFlame What is one trait you don't like about Emily?

@Moonglade How do you try to create your characters? What do you think they lack the most to make them seem realistic?

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@WeepingWisteria

Stanley is not easily annoyed because he has never really learned to show his anger. He had to put up with everything because he was brought up that way, so he has built up a tolerance level, but I would say that as the plot progresses he is definitely quicker to anger and expresses it. Nevertheless, there's still this feeling that he doesn't have to get upset because he can't change anything. It's a little conflict that plays in his head, and sometimes, he also wonders if he should be upset about something small now. This definitely plays a bigger part in the story because it's how Stanley gets from one point to the next. But when it comes to his brother or the family, he is quickly annoyed. Firstly because he doesn't like his brother and really hates him because of his character, and secondly because he wants to protect his family though (especially his sister).

My question: Is there a place in the story that you particularly like because of the location? Can you describe it or include a photo (of the inspiration)?

@MailicedeNamedy I make my characters starting with a name that I meticulously think through. (Maybe a few hours or a day. Max two days.) I have about two descriptions for both genders rooted in my head and I tend to stick to those. (For girls I tend to stick with blonde hair with blue or grey eyes and for boys, I tend to stick to brown hair with brown or green/olive green eyes.) From there it really is based on the plot but I tend to get a feel for my characters very well by the end of the first draft and I try to make my characters feel more alive in the subsequent drafts. I really don't know if I do a good job or not but I obviously hope the former is true.

Now a question for you, Namedy: I've always admired the internal commentary in your writing, how do you do this without making it seem repetitive or too much?

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Finally, I really can't resist this question because I love my setting so much.

For Camp, my setting is a plot on the outskirts of a smaller town called Swallow's Hill. It is rather rural and the next village and/or town are almost 50 kilometres away. (The nearest hospital being in Hartley.) But to Swallow's Hill north and east (I don't much cover what lies past the south and west but I would say some meadows and maybe a forest.) are dominated by cornfields. Beyond this lies some hills which descend into a deep valley and then steeply ascend into mountains called Dragon's Back (The name is a twist on the Drakensberg.). My favourite place is the fields before the cornfields... it is the start of Autumn and the grass is tipped brown and the oaks' leaves are starting to fall. The trees are well spread apart, it is just a serene place (a similar setting to that of my poems.).

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My question: Who is your favourite character and why? Do you think they still need improvement?

I am a little late to this game, but I am all ready to catch up!

@Moonglade My favorite character in this novel is James. Its strange because he is not the protagonist or even a hero by any definition of the word. He is angry and sullen most of the time, he likes to drive people away by belittling them and he is manipulative and selfish, always twisting situations to get whatever he wants out of them. However, despite his many flaws, he is also just another vulnerable person who does not know how to deal with everything that life has dished out for him. His childhood and the people he grew up with played a huge role in shaping him into the person he is today. He is angry at his circumstances and he never learned how to process his emotions in a productive way so that he can move on with his life.

There is definitely room for improvement for his character. In fact, the main reason I like his character the most is because of how he is always developing. Trapped on an island with literal strangers and cut off from his world, his past and everything that he knew in life, we see him grow. We see him evolve and change and we see him want to be a better person. He does not always go about it the right way, but we see him try with the people he grows to care about. Its a fascinating journey for me to explore because of how clueless and obvious he is at the same time. We don't exactly see him become a new and reformed person, but we get to watch him on this journey of self-discovery as he tries to understand himself and the people around him in a way he never did before.

My question: What's your favorite scene in your story so far and why?

Oops, sorry I def forgot my follow-up question as well! @WeepingWisteria What is the relationship between London, the Mist and the Underground? Could somebody move between the areas by road (let's say) or do they exist in different dimensions or something like that?

My question: What's your favorite scene in your story so far and why?

@RandomTalks From the more recent parts I've been writing for Camp NaNo, I quite like the introduction of a young cook named Alice. She's a very minor character whose main role is in the dinner subplot I mentioned before, but I quite like how her voice turned out. It's a lot more distinctive than what I have for most of my characters:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Oh, forgive me, Mrs Paula, Mr Darius. It's just -- I can't stand the sight of mice!"

Okay, and now for the next question for anyone passing by: Are there any recurring images or descriptions in your story? Like, do you notice that you like to describe the sky a lot in a scene, or something like that?

@MailicedeNamedy, what will finally make Stanely able to express his anger in situations unrelated to his family?

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@Liminality The Mist and The Underground are both districts of London that have grown to have their own cultural identities. As it currently stands, The Mist is everything London stands against. The people there are strange, revolutionary, and criminal. On the other hand, the Underground is slowly losing its identity as it continues to be controlled by London. An overgrown dirt road attaches the Mist and London, and The Underground's entrance is a couple of miles north of the main town square but mainly within the city itself.

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And @Liminality again. XD One recurring image I use in my story is Malvis's, one of my main characters, hair colour. Malvis is an Illusionist, a person who can control their appearance by controlling their DNA. Malvis has been an Illusionist for so long that most of her appearance changes are subconscious. Changes in her hair colour are one of them.

@Weeping Wisteria Oh that's neat! Is there a favourite scene of yours where Malvis changes her hair colour?

@WeepingWisteria

A very good question! I thought about that for a while until I came up with the answer.

I think, or at least it is planned, that a point in the second half of the story will lead to Stanley realising that he has to work on himself. During this point, he has left his fiancée and, apart from the few phone calls with his sister, has relied entirely on other people he has only recently met.

In the process, he is confronted with ignorance that he holds in for a long time before he gets upset. But when he gets upset, he gets from another person who explains that he continues to see himself in the role of a child who assumes to be noticed and when something doesn't suit him, the problem is detected by the parents.

That's why he never seems to get upset and only after this person explains to him that he is an adult and has to communicate himself what he likes and what he doesn't like, he develops this point where he says (or shouts) when he doesn't like something or wants to change something.

It's at that point that he starts to process that and work on that, which leads to him starting to show his feelings and communicate his needs.

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In the meantime, another question has occurred to me:

Is there a scene in the story that you would like to change, but think it would change the whole story so much that you would rather keep it as it is, even if you don't like it that much?

@MailicedeNamedy I think definitely the first scene. I need more of an introduction scene, something happening - not a whole chapter of nothing. But I feel like if I don’t do the build up the plot moves too quickly.

Question: What is the thing you like and hate most about your character (Two separate things)?

@Liminality. My favourite scene of Malvis changing her hair colour is when another one of my characters, Estella Fay, finally discovers that each colour has a meaning. It went a little like this:

"Your hair's ginger again."
Malvis frowned, inspecting her hair under the streetlamp. "So it is. So what?"
I sighed. "You always get so course when your hair's ginger. It's like you float away from us." I gently approached her. "Does the ginger mean something?"
She snorted. "The ginger doesn't mean anything. None of the colours do."
Something didn't sit quite right with me, but I relented. "Alright. If you say."
We both knew I didn't believe her.

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@MailicedeNamedy. I'm glad my question offered you some insight on Stanely! Are there any problems after he discovers how to express his anger? Will those used to him not reacting not like the new change?

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@Moonglade. I hate how my character Malvis can justify sacrificing her friends so often. It's a part of her main character arc as she struggles between a good balance between sacrificing and protecting, but in the process, she makes terrible decisions that get people hurt. But I love her passion and how much she tries to do the right thing to build a better world. She just needs to learn how much she's willing to give to make it.

@WeepingWisteria:
Mentally, I am divided on this question on the one hand and also self-confident about how things will go on for Stanley. The plan was that by the time he goes through the development, he has long since stopped interacting with the characters he was within the previous months, so his new character formation has changed a bit at most for the two people where he is. But at the moment I also think it would be interesting if the first signs appeared before that, whereby he himself also realises that his (for him) positive changes can harm others. In any case, the plan is for Stanley to get into trouble a few times and learn more from it.

@Moonglade:

I really like that Stanley still has this childlike, naive, and curious streak where he looks at everything a little bit with a questioning eye. (Of course, this has its limits and can definitely lead to him seeming too childish).
What I don't like about him is his passive attitude and the attempt to avoid conflict. Especially with his fiancée, he is so restricted that he always agrees but doesn't share his own opinion, which she doesn't like either.

New Question:

If you had to associate your character with some traits, which three would you use? Why these?

Figured it was about time I joined in!

@MailicedeNamedy Three traits I'd use to describe my main character Perry are oblivious, overconfident, and resourceful. She's resourceful because she's great at quick thinking, and has to be always on her guard as a pirate captain. She's overconfident because she's under a curse that is slowly leaching away her life, but the catch is that only the curse can kill her, so until then, she's immortal. As such, she's gotten a bit careless with her own life. Even before the curse, she was always a bit narcissistic and thought too highly of herself. Finally, she's oblivious because she tends to get caught up in her one main goal and just kinda... unconsciously ignores everything else around her. Including the affections of one of her crewmates... 👀

Next question: are there any fun facts about your characters that, despite having no relevance to the actual story and plot, you just kinda know? Essentially: do you have any headcanons about your own characters?

@Plume That sounds very interesting and a very exciting figure to meet! Is there anything you like less about Perry?

are there any fun facts about your characters that, despite having no relevance to the actual story and plot, you just kinda know? Essentially: do you have any headcanons about your own characters?

Since all my stories are set in a world of my own invention, there is definitely a lot of information and fun facts that never appear in the story, some because they are simply not relevant, or also because they may not always be intended for young people. Actually, every character that appears in my stories has a developed CV that is only relevant for me to know a little bit about where exactly the person is going or coming from.

Some Fun Facts about Stanley include:

He wears glasses because of short-sightedness, but it was cured when he was 17 / 18. He still wears glasses to look "smart" (and because his fiancée finds him so attractive).

As a child, he once found a bird's egg that he took home and wanted to hatch, which his (mean) brother then smashed.

He once fell into Wyvern Lake as a toddler on a boat trip and nearly drowned. He is still an excellent swimmer these days.

I could go on, and on, with this...

NEXT QUESTION:

Is there any plot twist/shocking twist/revelation in your story and is it indirectly referred to by several earlier chapters? In other words, could the reader read this moment through some passages when rereading?

@MailicedeNamedy I love hearing these details about Stanley! The bit about him wearing glasses because his fiancée finds him attractive is so sweet! Does his fiancée know he doesn't need the glasses? If they do, how'd they find out? Or if not, how would they find out?

Is there any plot twist/shocking twist/revelation in your story and is it indirectly referred to by several earlier chapters? In other words, could the reader read this moment through some passages when rereading?

Yes. I'm still working on making the plot twist more believable and realistic (i.e. - research & worldbuilding is taking forever) and part of that process has been figuring out how to allude to it in previous chapters without making it obvious. I tend to make imagery a bit too obviously associated with certain characters, and it's a learning process to try and keep it (somewhat) subtle and balanced.

My question:
Which of your story's characters do you think would be a fan favorite, and why? Alternatively, which character do you want to be a fan favorite, and why?

@MailicedeNamedy That's great! Are there any other final details you need to iron out for your plan to work?

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@Corvid Logistically speaking, two of my characters are the most likely to become the fan-favorites. Either Estella Fay, who's very soft, kind, and the very definition of gentle, or Cyra, who is very strong, cocky, and refuses to believe he can die. Based on my experience with fandom, those are the two characters usually seen as the favorites.

As for I want to be a fan favorite, then that would be either Heliodor Everett or Ki. Heliodor Everett is introduced in the second book and starts as this monotone, completely neutral, and stuck working for the villain. Ki works as an assassin Prime Minister and is responsible for some of the most significant plot points.

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New question for any else responding: Which one of your characters goes through the most character development?