Young writers should read books past bedtime and write things down in notebooks when they are supposed to be doing something else.
— Lemony Snicket (via isolatedwolves)
(Source: lemonysnicketblog)
I love finding anything that helps make my characters feel alive.
This will not help everyone and some of you may plan in a completely different way. However, a lot of people struggle with where to begin so here we go.
Where do I start?
I would make a mindmap of everything you already know about your novel. This can be…
The day a person finds out he’s a writer is usually not the day he finishes his first story or poem or the day he is first published.
— On Writer’s Block, Victoria Nelson
How does your character deal with change? Explain why they respond in that way.
The opportunities for the inexperienced to get on a professional set are rare, but there is always a demand for extras. Most background artists do not even need to act, just walk up and down (the cross) and have a certain look/age/wardrobe that signals to a viewer that you belong at that particular location e.g. police house, hospital. After working background for a while you will truly understand the meaning of typecasting.
So how can background acting help you as a writer?
We should always write what we know. But oftentimes, we have to branch out into unfamiliar waters. We have to research. Pick one area you’ve had to research for your antagonist and describe what you had to do.
- What is that area?
- Did you interview any professionals? (For example, I had to interview a couple astrophysicists)
- Did you have to purchase dictionaries for jargon/slang? (Had to do this in order to describe constructing a building)
- Did you go out and experience the area yourself? Say your antagonist is an archer. Did you go out and practise archery to get a feel for it so you could write from experience?
- What were your references?
- Did you have to adjust anything to apply it to your antagonist’s world/culture? For example, take modern medicine and coin primitive terms for ointments, antibiotics. Or go the other way and take modern medicine and advance it a thousand years into the future? I use Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials as a good example. ‘Amber’ became ‘anbar.’ ‘Science’ became ‘experimental theology.’
Music is a really, really broad topic. So I’ll narrow this one down. Your antagonist’s favourite music comes on the radio. Or they hear someone playing it.
- What is that favourite music? What genre?
- Is it cultural? Passed down through heritage?
- Why do they like it so much?
- Are they passionate about it or is it kind of surprising? (or both?)
- What does it sound like? Use links if you can.
- What does your protagonist think of your antagonist’s favourite music?
Nothing can save you except writing. It keeps the walls from failing.
— Charles Bukowski
