Just for fun, a little post about writing.

 Characters characters and more characters.

In a way, writing is how I get all the characters that are stuck in my head out of there before they die and start stinking up the place.

Hearing that - because I'm sure you read everything I write out loud... why wouldn't you - it probably doesn't surprise you that my writing process consists of coming up with character(s), making them "real" in my head, then winding them up, letting them go, and watching the fun.  Then, of course, writing about it.  

Some of the characters love me, some of them hate me, some of them find me mindlessly boring and run off to have fun elsewhere (those are probably the best).

The other day I was having a conversation with a young wanna-be writer who was all excited about the story she is writing (Note, I use wanna-be writer for any writer who hasn't published, and might or might not, ever get around to publishing.  I don't mean it as a derogatory, and indeed often use it to describe myself.)  So naturally, I start asking about characters, because to me story = characters doing interesting things.  Nope!  She wanted to talk about the world that she was building.  She obviously loved what she was doing, and loved talking about all the details of the setting, much the same way I love talking about my characters.  

Then she dropped the bombshell.  Apparently, she has friends who are doing the character design because she doesn't like that part.

???  EEeeeerrrrrtttttttt-CRASH!!

What is this thing?  World building before characters?  OUTSOURCING CHARACTER DESIGN? 

Yep, sometimes the universe just slaps you in the face with how different some people think.  For me, the characters are the fun part.  Sure, I get around to world building... sorta... no really I do...  Oh, Okay, world building for me is done on the fly and mostly amounts to "the place where the characters do the things."  I do make an attempt to keep it consistent and reasonable, and I try to add some world background in there, but let's face it, most of that comes from the characters and tends to be exposition on why a character might do something, or why something might happen to a character.

On the other hand, it might surprise you to know that the Kinderling story is set in an already established (in my own writings at least) world.  There is already one story written in that world (or at least 3/4 of one) that deals with a fairy glade stuck deep in the middle of a swamp a few hundred miles south of the Kinderling village.  You, of course, would be forgiven for not knowing that, since the story is hand-written in a notebook in the other room, never having been digitalized.  Unfortunately, that one will probably never be finished, because a lot of it deals with class-struggle (yea... among Fairys... go figure) and apparently it read as too realistic for some readers who assumed things about me based upon what they read into the story.  So, now I'm self-conscious about letting anyone read it.  (funny aside for Kinderling readers... that one features Gorfs also, but they are all mostly less than a foot tall.  Apparently Gorphom enjoys ridiculous variation.)