Comments on: Emotion – The Heart of the Character https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/ Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:20:55 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Monique DeVere https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5309 Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:20:55 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5309 Hiya, Jax,

Hope you hear soon. Waiting can be a drag.

Great post! I like your idea about the checklist. I never do them. I tend to spend weeks thinking and getting to know the characters in my next story while I’m writing whatever is current.

Once I get to know the H/h before I write their story, they seem to unfold naturally.

That said, sometimes they do surprise me. 🙂

I’m looking forward to seeing your checklist, though.

Hugs x

]]> By: Jackie Ashenden https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5307 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:35:39 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5307 Nina – I love the colour code and the table! Hey, if it works for you, that’s the way you gotta do it. My method is so ad hoc in comparison. I just sit around and think about them. And then I scribble notes.
Thanks re the wait. And good luck with yours! I figure the main thing about the character arc is they have to change the way they have been dealing with their emotions due to their conflict. At least that’s how I think of it. 🙂

Victoria – lol on the writing therapist! Actually, you sound like me on wanting to start the story! I do tend to do that and not think through the details, hoping they’ll come to me. I know that now, when I’m writing and I’m puzzling about how a character would react, I need to stop. Because if I don’t know how a character would react in a certain situation, then I don’t know the character well enough. It’s irritating but at least it prevenet endless rewriting!

]]> By: Victoria James https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5306 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:38:46 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5306 What a great post-you’re like my writing therapist, lol. I so agree-and sometimes when things aren’t moving properly in the wip I notice that it’s b/c I haven’t addressed enough of the person’s past for my own benefit, and they aren’t reacting in a genuine way. Sometimes I’m so anxious to just start the story that I leave some details for me to figure out along the way. Thanks for sharing 🙂

]]> By: Nina https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5304 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:53:23 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5304 Jackie
That sums up exactly where I am. I have written draft 2 of a WIP and read it through and it doesn’t work because they just aren’t reacting right. I love my characters, I love my conflict, but…its not working on the page. So I have gone back to basics and gone deeper with character sheets so that I truly know them and I am doing an arc table to work out how they get from the people they are at the start to the people they are at the end. Sadly my table may even be colour coded!

Hang in there for the wait – fingers crossed its good news..

Nina x

]]> By: Jackie Ashenden https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5303 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:08:13 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5303 Rach – oh, thank you! I wasn’t sure if this was helpful to anyone else but me. It seemed to make sense to me but glad it also sounds at least kind of lucid to others! 🙂

]]> By: Rachael Johns https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5302 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:26:24 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5302 This is AWESOME stuff Jackie – I have been worrying just today about the emotion in my wip, but you’ve explained this perfectly (as usual). Thanks muchly 🙂

]]> By: Jackie Ashenden https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5301 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:46:17 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5301 Amalie – yay for checklists! I think it’s different depending on the writer. I think the main thing for me to think about BEFORE I start writing is character. Once I have a general idea about the characters, then I can write and find out more about them. But yeah, I think I’ll post my checklist next time. It’s still a work in progress naturally…

Madeline – I’m with you. A bit of both is great. Sometimes no matter how hard I try and think beforehand, it doesn’t come. But usually by 3 chapters in, I have a better idea. I DO like the surprises though!

]]> By: Madeline Ash https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5300 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:28:49 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5300 I plan and I discover along the way. I try to have an idea of conflict and how that affects their emotions/reactions. But no matter how well I think I know my characters prior to writing, they always surprise me. And that’s what makes rewriting my best friend. So definitely a bit of both! x

]]> By: Amalie https://www.jackieashenden.com/emotion-the-heart-of-the-character/#comment-5299 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:13:22 +0000 http://jackieashenden.com/?p=260#comment-5299 I have a checklist of my own for starting new WIPs. It’s no where near complete, alas.

I want to be able to gather and pre-measure the ingredients needed to bake a good story-cake. Unfortunately, I kind of only know I need flour and sugar and eggs. And the rest? I don’t know. I stumble along, trying to pick up random stuff as I go.

I have this fantasy that one day when I have figured out all the pieces for my checklist, writing will be easy. Or EASIER… or at the very least CONSISTENT. I dunno.

When you get your checklist squared, you post that sucker! 😀

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