Character Development

"Character is the real foundation of all worthwhile success." -John Hays Hammond
My dad and I were talking in the care a few weeks ago about writing. Dad said he's more of a plot writer- that's why he likes writing short stories. (I love my dad's writing, by the way. He's always been my #1 inspiration.) I said I'm more of a character writer and that's why I like writing novels.

Character development is a wonderful thing in stories; it lets you watch a character change. Sometimes they rise from the depths of mistrust and hatred and become everything we dreamed of. At other times, they plumment into a suspicious, regretful character. Either way, when characters change, it stays with us. That's what makes us, well, that's what makes me, reread books- for the shock of watching any character change once again from what they were at chapter one to what they become by chapter twenty. Character development is what makes things memorable, in my opinion.

Okay, think about the most horrible, terrible, the absolutely worst thing that's ever happened to you. After that, did you act the same for something? Did your opinion on something change? When someone says something or does something amazing/harmful, doesn't the way you treat them change?

If your characters are real to you, they will do the same. A good way to drastically change your characters/overall outcome of the story is to kill someone. Yes, it's horrible, it's bloody, but think about it. When it comes to writing, all of the best are murderers. (It counts as murder if you edit like I do.)

Hope this helped! Happy April 29!

Kirah

School

This is another poem I wrote. Hope you enjoy it!'

Oh school, I owe you so much

For destroying my imagination

For telling me I can excel

In the subjects you tell me to

I must not excel in laughter or jokes

And forget about friends!

Creativity?

Fun?

Well, does it help your math skills?

I must swallow the information

I’ve been given whole

Write stanzas, learn the classics

Write like Tolkien if you wish

But keep it three to five pages

And never

Write like yourself

Voice?

In writing?

All right, but get to the point

And don’t let too much of yourself

Shine through

Don’t express yourself

Don’t defend yourself

It makes us think, and who wants that?

You’ll leave this school

Bleached, neatly dressed

Dripping with information

Stamped with the school logo

Packaged and marked for college

And don’t ask why

Because the teacher is always right

Dead Mice and Odd Paranoias

I'm still under sock arrest. It isn't as fun as it sounds.

I forgot to mention it, but yesterday Pip walked in holding something in his mouth. Mom talked him into dropping it, and it was a dead mouse! I made some sort strangled gasp; you would've thought I'd been stabbed. The freakiness of the moment has not worn off, unfortunately. This morning I practically had a heart attack when I saw a hair clip that was in a position to look like a mouse's corpse.

I haven't had a chance to write/edit yet today, but I'm going to Brynn's soccer match soon and I might write there. This has been a very mellow day.

Kirah

Sock Arrest

Mom placed me under sock arrest after I split my heel really badly while running outside playing with cousins for four hours. I must have lotion on my feet and socks on at all times. I hate socks and shoes. I love being barefoot. And since my sock arrest two hours ago, I'm already going crazy.

My cousins were here today. It was amazing. They have eight kids, but their oldest was at college, so it was twelve of us between the ages of 17 and 2. We played Wall-Ball and Ultimate Frisbee. Seth turned on the treadmill and got locked out of the house, I got a foot injury and found my 12-year old cousin in my room, Brooke made all the decisions for us, and Ian was mad at someone the entire time. Near the end, we flash-mobbed the lemonade/popsicle stand down the street and bought almost everything there. The girls in charge of it were freaking out at all the business.

Revising chapter 2 has gone well. I've probably scribbled out more than half the chapter.

Kirah

Editing

I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again. ~ Oscar Wilde

It's a love-hate relationship with editing. I have to bribe myself to do it. For me, that means I go downstairs at fifteen minute intervals to sneak a snack, and I have to keep the radio on so that I'll stay in my room without sneaking downstairs to post something on my blog. But there is something supremely satisfying about making everything work just right.

On that note, whoever said a story is "cute" or "sweet" probably never saw the author viciously editing it.

Thanks to JK and Miranda for commenting on my dilemma. It actually started with Mrs. Blythe- I showed her my prologue and the first thing she said was, "And how is this relevant to the rest of the story?" when she saw 2063 years later. She also said that she hated the main character in the prologue, too because he was such a coward. I don't see how that's relevant- I kill him at the end anyway. But I still really appreciate feedback, and I need to see from every angle!

A double thanks to JK for enduring a fifteen-minute texting conversation about it. I broke the two laws of texting while doing so: 1- the texts have to be really short 2- the conversation has to be completely pointless. I hope all the phone-obsessed teenagers don't come after me!

I also owe Miranda a double thanks for emailing me about some advice on the first scene in Chapter 1. I need every piece of advice I can get!

Happy spring break,
Kirah