That’s today’s Artist’s Way…devotional, I guess.
Yesterday was the first time I ever wrote something for someone. Taranuo (I think I got the spelling right – aka Eeep’s player) asked me to write something for him. He said he had the ideas, but he couldn’t coalesce them. He sat down and told me details of the character, and we did a really quick RP so I could get the sense of the character. Then I wrote up something really short – about 200 words.
He liked it. It was at that point that I realized that maybe, just maybe, I can write on command.
As he was telling me his character’s story and I took notes, a scene resolved itself in my head. That’s usually how most of my stories start. A scene plays itself in my head.
The first thing that I need to feel is the perspective. Whose point of view am I telling this? I usually default to third-person omniscient: I switch between characters’ thoughts and feelings, especially if I created those characters. If I didn’t – if it’s my character and someone else’s player character – then I use third-person subjective (see “The Morning After”).
The funny thing is, people like when I use their characters in my stories. I worry every time I use someone else’s character, hoping I’m portraying them correctly, and not using my character to overshadow theirs. If I’m using their character extensively (like I did with Esau yesterday), I ask the player to look over the story before posting it publicly, say, on the Iron Horsemen website. Not everything on this blog is canon; however everything on this blog is always first draft. This is where my bad spelling and grammar shows through. This blog is where my frogs are.
Here’s where the duo thing comes in. Cold Soldier and I did an Emerald Flight script together, though I believe he did most of the heavy lifting. I brought Rusty, the drunk and wise-cracking chief engineer, to the table. We both inspired each other, brainstormed and bounced ideas off each other. We were each other’s muse.
NyteRavynn has often been an inspiration when it comes to stories. Some things he’d drop, or he would allude to, I’d see a scene and have to write a story around it. Personally, I think Melpomene has a crush on him because I always end up writing dramatic or sad stories with him.
I have found that although I can write in a vacuum, it’s sometimes more fun to write with another, if not as a pure collaborator, than maybe as someone who can push me to do things I normally didn’t think I could do.
Oh, yesterday’s grand total of words: 3500.