jules_thorpe

snippet, verse: brick wall

I committed words! Written for this Tumblr prompt. Be warned: the sap, it burns.

No, really, I mean it, this is sappy as hell.

( finished product )

A little while ago, I posted a character questionnaire for my main character, Joel. Ever since then, I've been giving sideways looks at the original questions, because there is a lot that they don't ask, and there are some things that they seem to assume. And it eventually occurred to me that I should expand it.

So I've spent the last week or so rewriting and expanding the questionnaire. My main sources of questions are the questionnaires here and here, though I have made up some questions myself. It's a work in progress, but I'm probably going to start working on answering these questions for the four main characters from my novel over the next few days.

(I also need to finish the damn novel draft, though that's on the schedule for November, finishing is my NaNo project. Then I can rewrite it to give Shri and Tess bigger roles.)

And so without further ado, here are the questions! There are many. I've separated them into sections because that seems slightly easier; at some point I'll probably edit them for better flow.

A question for readers: any questions that you like to ask your characters? Anything important that's not on the list?

( Vital statistics )

( Personality )

( Emotions )

( Appearance )

( Health )

( Habits )

( Education and work )

( Money )

( Personal space and possessions )

( Sex and romance )

( Family )

( Friendships and relationships )

( Morals )

( Religion and politics )

( The past )

( The future )

( Childhood )

( Adolescence )

( Favourites )

( Miscellaneous )

A couple of final notes.

First, I'm really interested in making this questionnaire as inclusive as possible, so I've tried to ask about identity things as opposed to assuming all characters are white, Christian, straight, cis and able-bodied. If you notice any place I'm making assumptions about identities with these questions, rather than asking about something that might vary, I'm keen to hear about it, so please don't be shy! (An example: I'm considering how to frame a question about poly identity/relationships, which isn't relevant to the current crop of characters, but might be relevant to others!) There might be many other things which I haven't noticed.

Second: this questionnaire is pretty focused on real-world concerns - you'll notice there's nothing on super-powers, supernatural phenomena, monsters, space-time anomalies, etc. I'm not sure whether to include that kind of thing, but I ended up deciding that my own universe-specific stuff shouldn't go into a questionnaire that I'd like to apply to characters from other universes.

So I am (more patchily than I'd like, but still) generally someone who really likes to read books. I mean, if I weren't, I wouldn't be much of a writer. There's only a limited amount of skill you can gain as a writer if you don't also read, and read voraciously.

The thing is this - I've been writing the current novel since... February. It's now October. And I've been mostly staying away from reading long-form fiction while I've been in the writing process. My sense is that I'd turn into a style sponge: I'd read a Jasper Fforde and find myself writing like my book is a Thursday Next book, or I'd read a Stephen King and writer a chapter that mimicked the Dark Tower.

This would be... odd and bad.

I've been reading short-form stuff, mostly fan fiction, but nothing longer than a few thousand words. I'm not even sure if it's a sensible distinction to make, because I've been getting into bunches of new televised canons, and I find those worlds as absorbing as the world of a book. So I'm not sure if abstaining from novel-reading even makes sense.

And I am missing being a reader. I have a lot of stuff on my to-read pile and I'd like to read it someday. And in any case, I'm really struggling with the novel - I'm probably writing only a couple of thousand words a week, if that, because the bit I'm writing right now is full of difficult emotional stuff. (Damn you, plot.)

So what do people think? Is reading novels while you're writing a heinous crime against your own book? Is it essential? I have no idea.

I would love to hear everyone's thoughts.

Well, this is a first entry. I'm not sure exactly what to put in this entry, but I know what I'm going to put in this journal: original writing. Of which I am planning to create quite a lot.

I don't make huge promises as to volume or frequency, but I want to be writing original things. I'm currently working on a novel, and I may make some updates about that now and then, though I won't be posting stuff from the novel itself until it's way more polished. I am going to post stuff about characters from the same universe, 'cause some of them are eating my head, and I would like them to stop.

Anyway.

Hi!