Comments on: Deathmatch With Camy Tang http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/ America's Mad Professor of Fiction Writing Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:41:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 By: Daan Van der Merwe http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2435 Daan Van der Merwe Wed, 26 Sep 2007 08:09:17 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2435 Thank you very much for everything told and explained above. You have just addressed at least three of my major problems with creating a character. Thank you very much for everything told and explained above. You have just addressed at least three of my major problems with creating a character.

]]> By: Deathmatch With Camy Tang — Books Discussion and Rating http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2438 Deathmatch With Camy Tang — Books Discussion and Rating Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:23:56 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2438 [...] the characters inherited traits. (I am here summarizing the high points of the book HOW source: Deathmatch With Camy Tang, Advanced Fiction Writing [...] […] the characters inherited traits. (I am here summarizing the high points of the book HOW source: Deathmatch With Camy Tang, Advanced Fiction Writing […]

]]> By: Karla http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2440 Karla Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:53:22 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2440 I love creating characters. It's my favorite part of writing. Thanks for this great post. I am teaching a writing class to 11th graders at my cottage school and I am going to have them read this. They are writing their first novels this year! So far they have developed their characters, plots, settings, etc. on worksheets and are putting them together now for their first chapters. I am so impressed with how well this works for them! Every writer is so different. I have one kid who whips out great chapters in one sitting (but his grammar is horrible!). I have another kid who is allergic to paper and the computer keyboard. He just freezes up. I have tried everything I can think of to boost his confidence in his ability, but nothing seems to work. The fact is, I think, that those of us compelled to write do it because it's a gift. And there are others who couldn't imagine trying to do it at all. I feel so blessed to get to be one of the ones that loves it! Randy, are you going to start tapping into the homeschool market your with your writing workshops? I think you should! I love creating characters. It’s my favorite part of writing. Thanks for this great post. I am teaching a writing class to 11th graders at my cottage school and I am going to have them read this. They are writing their first novels this year! So far they have developed their characters, plots, settings, etc. on worksheets and are putting them together now for their first chapters. I am so impressed with how well this works for them!

Every writer is so different. I have one kid who whips out great chapters in one sitting (but his grammar is horrible!). I have another kid who is allergic to paper and the computer keyboard. He just freezes up. I have tried everything I can think of to boost his confidence in his ability, but nothing seems to work.

The fact is, I think, that those of us compelled to write do it because it’s a gift. And there are others who couldn’t imagine trying to do it at all.

I feel so blessed to get to be one of the ones that loves it!

Randy, are you going to start tapping into the homeschool market your with your writing workshops? I think you should!

]]> By: Pam Halter http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2441 Pam Halter Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:55:32 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2441 I'll take a couple of those Ninja Snowflakes that make julienne fries. They'll make great Christmas gifts! I’ll take a couple of those Ninja Snowflakes that make julienne fries. They’ll make great Christmas gifts!

]]> By: Valerie http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2442 Valerie Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:18:03 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2442 I totally feel Holly's angst, and great moves in the deathmatch, Randy...hilarious! I feel character outlines, bore me sometimes. They have the ability to sap away the enthusiasm I have for a story idea, but it is a good test of how solid your idea can be. If you get bored of your characters before you start introducing the plot, then the story will struggle and bore the readers. But one thing to remember is stories evolve. Sometimes what you originally intended to write is not what comes to a head in the final wording. So it's important for characters to be willing to grow into deep realistic representations of what you're trying to write. Which makes a character outline helpful so you know where your characters can gain depth. I think Darwin might agree with me that evolution has to start with a basic structure already in existence, and we're writers so it's helpful to have those basic outlines. Besides it's important for a character to have the same eye color throughout a story, and if a character's eye color can evolve then we might have a scientific battle on our hands. Happy Writing I totally feel Holly’s angst, and great moves in the deathmatch, Randy…hilarious!

I feel character outlines, bore me sometimes. They have the ability to sap away the enthusiasm I have for a story idea, but it is a good test of how solid your idea can be.

If you get bored of your characters before you start introducing the plot, then the story will struggle and bore the readers. But one thing to remember is stories evolve. Sometimes what you originally intended to write is not what comes to a head in the final wording. So it’s important for characters to be willing to grow into deep realistic representations of what you’re trying to write.

Which makes a character outline helpful so you know where your characters can gain depth. I think Darwin might agree with me that evolution has to start with a basic structure already in existence, and we’re writers so it’s helpful to have those basic outlines. Besides it’s important for a character to have the same eye color throughout a story, and if a character’s eye color can evolve then we might have a scientific battle on our hands.

Happy Writing

]]> By: Charlotte http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2443 Charlotte Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:46:07 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2443 Thanks for the advice on character development. I have always 'seen' my main characters as if they are acting out movie scenes in my head (their physiology is very clear). But these little glimpses aren't always sufficient to propel them together into the plot I'm trying to create. It's like trying to figure out how individuals, viewed separately at various times on a bus, would interact if suddenly thrown together, to combine these scenes realistically. Their sociology is what I was missing. Good of you to point that out, Randy. Great imagery in the deathmatch! I really enjoyed that. Thanks for the advice on character development. I have always ’seen’ my main characters as if they are acting out movie scenes in my head (their physiology is very clear). But these little glimpses aren’t always sufficient to propel them together into the plot I’m trying to create. It’s like trying to figure out how individuals, viewed separately at various times on a bus, would interact if suddenly thrown together, to combine these scenes realistically. Their sociology is what I was missing. Good of you to point that out, Randy.

Great imagery in the deathmatch! I really enjoyed that.

]]> By: Peg hifer http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2445 Peg hifer Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:17:55 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2445 The Deathmatch was wickedly hilarious! And skillfully done. Hard to know who to cheer for, but, being a woman, of course I was in Camy's corner. :grin: On the character worksheet, I'm with Holly and Valerie. I cannot do one ahead of time. But, as I write, and the charater(s) develop and they start to talk to me, I pull out a worksheet and jot down things as they reveal themselves to me. It just works better for me that way. Glad to know I'm not the only one. Oh, I'm a SOTP writer, too, or wasn't that obvious? The Deathmatch was wickedly hilarious! And skillfully done. Hard to know who to cheer for, but, being a woman, of course I was in Camy’s corner. :grin:

On the character worksheet, I’m with Holly and Valerie. I cannot do one ahead of time. But, as I write, and the charater(s) develop and they start to talk to me, I pull out a worksheet and jot down things as they reveal themselves to me. It just works better for me that way. Glad to know I’m not the only one. Oh, I’m a SOTP writer, too, or wasn’t that obvious?

]]> By: D. E. Hale http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2446 D. E. Hale Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:27:45 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2446 See, now I LOVE to do the character charts. I love it when I start a new story, and I have to sit down and think up all these neat things for my MC. It's so much fun - kind of like solving a puzzle. However, that doesn't mean that once I start writing that things can't change. Of course, they change. As I write I get to know the character even better, and if they need to have brown eyes instead of blue, I simply go back to my "character sheet" and change it. See, now I LOVE to do the character charts. I love it when I start a new story, and I have to sit down and think up all these neat things for my MC. It’s so much fun - kind of like solving a puzzle. However, that doesn’t mean that once I start writing that things can’t change. Of course, they change. As I write I get to know the character even better, and if they need to have brown eyes instead of blue, I simply go back to my “character sheet” and change it.

]]> By: Holly http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2448 Holly Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:58:11 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2448 Thank you, Randy! I'm the opposite of Charlotte above - my characters come to me with full sociology and a developing understanding of their nature, but I struggle with the details of the physiology. Amazing how different and quirky we all are yet somehow we all write books. I have been trying to solve my dilema with how to discover my characters' details (after the 1st draft!) without charting, and have been playing with having my characters tell me detailed descriptions of eachother. This is still story to me, and I don't mind description, so this is good! Thank you, Randy!

I’m the opposite of Charlotte above - my characters come to me with full sociology and a developing understanding of their nature, but I struggle with the details of the physiology. Amazing how different and quirky we all are yet somehow we all write books.

I have been trying to solve my dilema with how to discover my characters’ details (after the 1st draft!) without charting, and have been playing with having my characters tell me detailed descriptions of eachother. This is still story to me, and I don’t mind description, so this is good!

]]> By: Karla http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2455 Karla Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:23:43 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2455 The charts help me remember physiology because that is where I'm the weakest I think. I have no problem with figuring out their temperaments, accents, attitudes, etc. But I do fail sometimes to describe their physical traits to my readers. The charts help me remember physiology because that is where I’m the weakest I think. I have no problem with figuring out their temperaments, accents, attitudes, etc. But I do fail sometimes to describe their physical traits to my readers.

]]> By: Camy Tang http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2460 Camy Tang Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:43:00 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2460 I think if I'd had a few more minutes, I'd have taken you down! Camy I think if I’d had a few more minutes, I’d have taken you down!
Camy

]]> By: Mike Sharpe http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2464 Mike Sharpe Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:55:15 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2007/09/25/deathmatch-with-camy-tang/#comment-2464 I read the title in my RSS reader and I Said "Killing Spree!" I doesn't help that I was doing Computer Game Design until reacently. Me? In my stories, if the person has a Name, they will not only have another scene, I've planned out some of their inner workings. The only one who didn't get done like that was Miss Kieya, I named her then got her job and inner workings after it. I read the title in my RSS reader and I Said “Killing Spree!” I doesn’t help that I was doing Computer Game Design until reacently.

Me? In my stories, if the person has a Name, they will not only have another scene, I’ve planned out some of their inner workings.

The only one who didn’t get done like that was Miss Kieya, I named her then got her job and inner workings after it.

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