Listen To The Whispers

Sometimes I hear things. Sometimes my characters talk to me. They tell me all sorts of things.
Okay. That's. Probably a bad way to start this post. Well, screw it. Okay, pretend I don't have a giant creepy smile on my face right now.
Honestly, when you're writing a story or even just thinking about working on one, sometimes while you're sitting around, you might hear a whisper. It starts like a scratching at the door, almost too low to hear, but if you're willing to close your eyes, and let yourself listen... to empty your mind, and just let what's inside speak... you might be surprised at what you hear.
I mean, yes, I'm not. I'm not psychotic enough to say 'the Horses of Heaven are speaking to me through my writing!' or 'my characters are real!' but I do hear them. I even have conversations with them, or sometimes get a little into character and start muttering to myself in their voice. Not really their voice, I'm awful at changing my voice, but... I talk to myself using their dialogue, their word choices, let myself fall into their character. Then Luna makes fun of me or just sits behind me and listens to me until I notice her and it's... it's all really awkward.
Anyway. If you're willing to listen, and ignore that other little voice in your head that will call you a crazy idiot, you can hear some really interesting things. You might even learn a few things about your characters. Sure, some of it is useless trivia, like their favorite color... or is that useless? You can always put subtle little hints about that in your writing, like always having them wear a blue shirt or blue jacket or blue... you get it. Some of it really will be useless, sure, stuff that you can't exactly put in a story... but you can put that stuff into a character file, and it will help flesh out your character, give them a feeling of completeness. And it also serves as a building block. Say... I talk with this character in my head, uh... let's name him... Stallione. He likes martial arts. As I let him "talk" to me, his voice becomes more distinct in my mind. Maybe I hesitantly probe a few thoughts - never trying to direct, treating him the entire time as a separate entity (even while aware he isn't) - and ask him "well, why didn't you ever do it professionally?"
Maybe he doesn't have an answer. Or maybe he tells me a backstory for his character I never thought of consciously, but now that I've probed his character, in a burst of spontaneity, I hear "him" tell me: "Cause of when I got arrested, of course. No parent wants a felon teaching their kid martial arts."
Seriously, you might be surprised at what happens if you let your characters talk. And... I have a little saying that helps me summon up these characters, talk to them and hear them as if they're separate entities. And this saying is part of what has always let me write. Part of what's always kept me going, and kept me remembering... to treat other writers, too, with the respect they deserve. And why I get so mad at all the 'authors' out there who don't. I'm gonna end this post with it. And maybe it might not always make sense, but... it's always worked for me. And I like to think it's helped me a lot remember who I want to be in life, not someone like... my father, Bramblethorn, but... a better stallion than he ever was.

I am not the potter. I am the potter's clay.


~Scrivener Blooms

The Build Up

Sometimes I get an idea. It feels pretty good, it's all coming together in my head, and I start feeling like I should sit down and write it. So you know what I do?
I don't sit down and write it. I go waste my time on another project, or have a staring/headbutt contest with Luna, or I just waste my time flopping around. I let it build up a little in my head, roll it around for a little while, make myself wait. And I think that's why I'm actually able to finish more than half my ideas these days... because I make that pressure build up, and it means that when I start, I'm not just going "ho hum, this is a nice idea I had," when I go in, it relieves all that pressure I've let build up in my head, it's like scratching a wonderful itch.
Luna don't. Don't say things like that. Go be creepy and... don't touch my flank. No. Bad. Spray bottle, there, I have a spray bottle. Yeah. Go away now.
It works surprisingly well. Until she stabs me.
Where was I? Pressure, right. The other point to letting an idea build up a little is that it lets me gauge how serious I am about it. I mean, sometimes, I get this idea, it sounds like the coolest thing in the world: a day later, I look at it, and go... "What the hell was I ever thinking? That is the most retarded thing of ever." Letting it build for a while lets my mind process it in more ways than just the outside: it lets me consider it from other angles, and gives me time to go over it consciously a little as much as letting the idea soak in my head, so to speak.
Oh great, Luna, now we're both soaked.
Anyway, finishing this up, what I'm saying is that sometimes the best thing to do with a story or an idea is to take the time to build up with it. Do something else, draw things out a little, and see if the idea stays: if it does, when you get to working it, it'll be like a geyser.
Stop. Stop giggling. I didn't mean. I'm going now.


~Scrivener Blooms

Characterization IV: Defining Details

I could probably sell this like a salespony if I wanted to, but I don't really want to. Mostly because I would never, ever make a good salespony. I mean, imagine me trying to sell you something in a store. "Uh. Hi? Actually I think you need a size bigger. Why? Because your hoof is too fat. No, I'm not saying you're fat, that you have fat hooves. Well you do. Not really, you're actually pretty thin. You might want to go to a doctor about that. About what? About being built like a pyramid. Normal ponies don't have fat hooves, big legs, and tiny little bodies, sir. Oh, you're a mare? Well. You look like a sir. Sir."
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. So defining details or characteristics. Every character has them. Why? Because every person has them. Even those ponies who just seem to stand around in the background has something that helps make them them. And what that specific thing is varies from pony-to-pony... person-to-person, really, because almost everything literally has something about it that helps set it apart.
In writing, this is a useful tool, and you can be either very subtle with it, or very clear. You can say that "Mr Dump would always smoke a cigarette on the corner," or you can say "The pony took the object with his left hoof," and reiterate use of the left hoof. Implying, thus, that he's left-hooved, which could be an important detail later on, could be used as a red herring, or could be... well. Just there. Sometimes things are just there; it's something important not to forget when writing, especially about things like this.
So let's look at that as the... second, I guess it technically is, point. A defining characteristic can be defining without necessarily having to mean anything. Maybe a certain character, for example, has a big ugly scar on his side, and that's what first defines him when he walks into a room. Well, that doesn't mean that the scar is his entire character. Maybe it's just there, to help draw initial attention to him, and then is never really mentioned again. You don't have to discuss it or give it some giant backstory, and even if you do, then it doesn't have to be "he was attacked by demons and got the scar while killing twenty of them with his terrible sword Ickamakijetsu!" It could be... "His wife demanded waffles this morning, and while this loving and affectionate husband was making them on the griddle, said wife decided it would be great to tackle him into the freaking counter."
Yes I'm looking at you Luna. I'm not going to get killed by a dragon or a monster or some terrible force of evil. I'm going to get killed trying to make you something nice for breakfast and you decide to give me a very ill-timed tackle-hug right into the stove.
Also, notice what I did up there? While I discussed the defining characteristic, in both instances I used it as a bridge to get into other things that define him or can now be implied about him. In the one example you get, he has a sword named... I can't type that again... he's apparently good with it, and he fights demons. In the other you get, he's married, he's a wonderful husband, his wife is evil.
Affectionate, but evil.
Physical things that define characters are easier and often more striking than the intangible: I might say someone is generous, for example, but unless I give an example of his generosity, it could mean anything from he dropped a bit in a tip jar once to he gave away his yacht to a foal he'd never met to help him fulfill his dreams of sailing the world. But if I say "he's tall and broad shouldered," that's more specific, and those things are a little less debatable. You can argue about how tall, or how broad shouldered, but either way it's not nearly as up to your opinion as the other example.
It's not to say that an intangible thing can't be the most striking about someone, but a lot of it comes in the presentation and reiteration. "His cold gaze," for example. If that's the defining characteristic you settle on, let's say, then you have to make sure you repeat it when necessary, and match the character's other traits to this specific characteristic, because also helps set up a personality descriptor. Most happy cheery people don't have cold eyes, after all.
But I'll get into defining personality for characters next week. That's much trickier than just giving your character something that stands out, because... that something can be anything. Personalities, on the other hoof, they tend to require a few more specific details, and things to go in proper order. Otherwise, you end up with me and Luna. Or Twilight Sparkle.

~Scrivener Blooms

Things I Have Learned About Writing From Luna

This will be a short post, summarizing all the things I've learned recently from living with Luna. Yes, about writing, technically.

One: Sometimes people will stick things in your ears while you write. If you pull these things out, they'll just stick them in again. Or find something worse. Leave said objects in ear.
Two: When a pony wants attention from you, and you want to write, it actually is possible to compromise. Just pretend they're a giant cat and let them flop over your lap. Pet occasionally. This gives them attention and it is very therapeutic to do when stuck on a particular sentence.
Three: Ink will make you very sick if you drink it.
Four: Quills do not belong in any orifice of the body. Not in ANY ORIFICE.
Five: Sometimes watching the strange, strange, strange things other ponies do can bring about incredible inspiration.
Six: No matter how much you love someone, don't ever let them "collaborate" with you if they're Luna. Ever. Never ever ever ever ever.
Seven: Quiet and rational discussion is the proper way to explain to someone that you want a few hours for quiet time to write and concentrate. Not pummeling each other.
Eight: Just because you're sitting in a chair does not mean you can't be picked up and thrown out the window. But it does mean that if you manage to keep hold of your writing tools, you can continue to write surprisingly peacefully outside and don't have to sit in broken glass.
Nine: Do not have sex on the writing desk.
Ten: If you really want to sit down and write, nothing in the universe can stop you if you just sit down and write, no matter how much it hurts at first and how slow it's going. And when you're finished for the day, you get to feel like a kid showing off his first drawings all over again when you turn to that person you care about - who often brings aforementioned apocalypse - and get her to read the stuff for you. Especially since no matter what, she always makes you feel good about what you've done, and like maybe you're a little worthwhile.
Ten B: Unless she wants coffee, then she's a total bitch buttface constructive reviewer.


~Scrivener Blooms