tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607988938023368182.post7242997586684824593..comments2023-11-09T00:49:08.166-08:00Comments on Swagger: Know Your CharactersThe Swagger Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03005267631603104021noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607988938023368182.post-1929426632403179892011-12-03T04:45:58.767-08:002011-12-03T04:45:58.767-08:00Great post and good questions. I don't do exte...Great post and good questions. I don't do extensive prep work beforehand (pantser over here) but I applaud those who do. My work comes in the middle, that's just how I work. I know a basic outline of character traits when i start but it isn't until the characters speak to me that I know. *Really* know.Christina Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01799776834213400246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607988938023368182.post-21716793080460776082011-12-02T11:55:14.852-08:002011-12-02T11:55:14.852-08:00To varying degrees for major and minor, I find mys...To varying degrees for major and minor, I find myself discovering my characters as I start to write them. For the main and major characters, I know many facts and back story about them before I start, but I don't discover the voices and how they move until they speak and start "doing things." For more minor characters, I've frequently found myself inventing them on the fly.<br /><br />As for revising, I like Kathy's image of threads in a tapestry. I've removed or combined major characters and had to go through the rest of the manuscript patching the holes left by their removal.Eric Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09283567940889742918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607988938023368182.post-50277596131234350382011-11-30T18:44:18.774-08:002011-11-30T18:44:18.774-08:00I really love this quote. For me I start with voic...I really love this quote. For me I start with voice and little things that usually involve food. I always want to know what my character would and wouldn't eat.<br />I do like the interview process too.Reginahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11515987871219469042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607988938023368182.post-88599961895364648382011-11-29T10:40:35.997-08:002011-11-29T10:40:35.997-08:00I have a list of questions that I've honed ove...I have a list of questions that I've honed over the years that I answer for all my major characters, & answer at least in part for sceondary ones. I list dialogue (to hear the voice), & give the character's history. Not all the history goes into the novel, but I need to know it to know how my character got to be where they are on Page 1. I also ask minor questions like "What is in his/her pocket right now?"<br /> Revising can be tough. I did a revision a couple years ago, where I eliminated a character from a novel. Every time I cut her from a scene it was like snippping a thread in a tapestry. Other things unraveled that the cut character was holding together. It took me a long time to re-weave it.Kathy Cannon Wiechmanhttp://swaggerwriters.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com