30 Days of Writing – Days 24-28

How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?

Is this a trick question?  Why yes, I’m more than willing to off characters.  🙂 Since many of my pieces venture down a quiet horror trail, one would expect someone (if not a lot of someones) aren’t going to make it to the end.  And how they don’t make it could be disturbing.  As for the most interesting way, I had a minor character strangled with his own tie while finishing up a carnal act with his temp secretary and a main character drown herself under ice in a pond (two separate stories). 

Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.

Thinking about this, most of my characters do not.  This might be an area to consider adding in the future where it makes sense.  The type of pet they have and how they take care of it could be an interesting character trait.  I do have one character named Barney who has a cat, Manny, that takes him over…literally.   

Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!

I don’t draw my characters and haven’t had any illustrated by others.

Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.

Appearance plays a role only to give readers a baseline of what the characters look like.  Who my characters are is driven more from their  internal motivations versus external traits.

Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.

I have a character sentenced to a mental hospital due to suffering a breakdown and killing her brother.  She was driven to it from growing up in a physically abusive family unit…father to mother and brother to her.  I don’t specifically state her diagnosis, but she has become easily triggered to violence as a survival mechanism.

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4 Responses to 30 Days of Writing – Days 24-28

  1. jenniferneri says:

    interesting post. Where did you get these questions? Seems you are following some guide given the title of the post. Honestly, I have a hard time when someone dies, and have tried to fight it in the past. My wip has a central character who is mildly bipolar and severely depressed. It’s a challenge, but very worth it. I too do not state her illness given it;s in set in the mid 1800s. I was scared to embark on it, but grateful I did.

    • Barbara says:

      Thanks for stopping by Jennifer and for your response! Here’s the original post where the full 30 day list is located. I lucked up on it from a few other bloggers. Some of the questions have been great for making me think about why I don’t do certain things in my writing (like the majority of my characters don’t have kids).

  2. Laura Best says:

    Hi Barbara, I notice we have at least two things in common with our writing,–“Who my characters are is driven more from their internal motivations versus external traits.” Physical characteristics seem second place to me as I seem to connect with my characters more so on an emotional level. Also, I have written several stories about a woman with mental disabilities. I find this an intersting topic.

    Enjoyed the post!

    • Barbara says:

      Thanks for stopping by Laura and glad to meet a like-minded writer! The connection you mentioned is so true. I feel like I know who the characters are as people and that is what is described in my writing.

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