Writing process and goal setting

I got talking with Himself this weekend over characterization in my books. He was startled at the fact that I don't detail out how my character is going to act, who they are, and where they're going before I write. I have a vague idea of who they are and where they're going, but I feel like it's up to them to tell me how they get there. I may have a few key points of the story that I want them to deal with but I don't know how they'll react to them. I may actually have to remove those points because the characters don't like them and refuse to do it. But then they give me different ideas and I can progress from there.

I also don't flesh out my minor characters, my placeholder characters (a shopkeeper, a blacksmith, a healer, characters that don't play an important role), and my secondary characters that interact intensely with the main character. I know their names, I have a vague idea of their personalities, but I don't develop them like you'd develop a D&D character (that's what Himself was comparing things to). I just don't work that way.

Himself brought up a good point that by the end of the story I have to go back and do some major revisions as I probably need to rework some points as I get to know the characters better. It does get frustrating at times to have to do this. But I find I like the kernel of the story more if that's how I do things.

I know there are a lot of writers out there who dig deep into their characters before they even write a word. They create character backgrounds, personalities, and motivations in detail before introducing their characters to the world they've built specifically for them. I completely admire them for this. I think it's fascinating that they can do this. This just isn't a skill I have.

I've tried it several times, along with outlining. But the characters were wooden, they didn't speak to me, and I couldn't get into their heads by doing that. Same with outlining. No matter how general the outline, I couldn't get into the story with it. I need to let it grow organically from my mind. The first draft is just that – a first draft. It's me vomiting the story onto the page.

Now, I do have a problem with going back and editing as I go. Himself was right about that. I need to let it go and write the damn thing without going back every five minutes to fix things. I need to make myself notes and just move on, which is what I'm attempting to do with Marked. He also brought up another good point. When I'm not futzing around, I can finish a first draft in two months.

So I've set myself a goal. Last month doesn't count (since I had a hell of a time writing last month due to various issues), but as of this month, I'm going to get the first draft of Marked finished by October 1^st. Based on my current word count and how long I think this is going to be, that's a word count goal of 10-15k a week. Then, when it's done, I'll give it a week and start editing it as well as plan what story to do for NaNoWriMo because I will be participating again this year. Maybe I'll try Cracked World again. Or Burning Dreams. Or maybe I'll switch gears and work on one of my sci fi stories in November. It might not hurt to take a break from the fantasy for a month or two.

Whatever it is, I'll set my goal and see what it takes to accomplish it. Then I'll do it. So, keep me on my toes. Chase me down on Facebook or Twitter (if we're friends...you can find me as Alison Guynes-Annikka Woods on FB (not to be confused with Alison Guynes which is also me but is the one where I post for my family and isn't that interesting for anyone not family) and @annikkawoods on Twitter). Harass me. Leave me comments on blog posts asking me how I'm doing and demand updates. I will be setting more goals as I go for other things, and I think I'll use Monday as a “goal update” post. So be looking out for that, as well as my usual maundering.

G is for garrulous characters

I'll bet you didn't think I'd figure a way to do my Writing Wednesday post and keep it in with the A to Z challenge, did you?  *giggles*  Well, you're right for this week.  Next week I PROMISE I'll get my WW post in properly.  I suppose we can count my "E" post as my Writing Wednesday post, right?  *sighs and moves on*

Garrulous characters.  I think we've all run into those.  Those are the characters that want to talk about anything and everything.  They're the ones who deliver the backstory in rambling dialogues between them and another character - who is most likely your MC.  They speak in huge chunks of text and can often take up entire pages and even chapters with their rambling dialogue.

How do we cope with these characters?  When I'm reading a book and I come across those types of characters, I tend to skim it and move on.  If the information is vital to a later part of the book, I go back and reread it.  If I have one of those in my own writing - and believe me, I end up with them a lot - I go back and either edit out the conversations or shorten them considerably.  Or I deliver the information in a different way.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't have chatty characters in our stories.  Dialogue is one of the better ways of moving stories forward.  It can't all be exposition and description.  You need to have conversations in there somewhere.  We just have to be careful how much information we're spewing onto a page from any one given character.

Garrulous characters can be important to the story, but we have to remember to rein them in so they don't get out of control.  Do you ever find yourself with characters delivering massive speeches or long, rambling monologues just to get a point across?  How do you deal with them?