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Sliding this in here--
Sep. 23rd, 2012 07:31 pmThis has been sitting in my e-mail forever and I never got around to finishing it but I'm going to put it up on DW ANYWAY so I can actually clear my inbox. SO THERE.
I was on plurk talking about original stories and my failings and decided to use my LJ for it instead. It's long-winded and I've said the same thing multiple times, but writing it out in long format might help me work things out instead of complaining about the same things over and over and never coming up with a solution.
The problem I have is that I'm decent at creating complete character relationships and interworking all the characters together so that one fallen domino of EMOTION causes the whole thing to explode. It's been a bit difficult to decide how a large group of friends from college interact with one another. Not everyone is as closely tied to all the people in the group, especially when it's large and not all personalities mesh well, but they form a group of people that get along relatively well. The group breaks up into smaller groups at will of people who get along the best and there's mingling between the smaller groups but not everyone does well without a person in the middle to drawl them together. I actually need to create a large chart of all the main characters and how they interact with one another and form cliques out of them. BUT ANYWAY.
The problem I have is that this is a story that is starting in the middle. The characters have known one another for years, and I had started writing it when the characters were in college. They were 18-22 for the duration of that story that I never finished and now it's ten years later and you see where they've gone. It's not hard to add flashbacks to explain some things, and you can always insert how characters feel for one another by how they interact. The real issue is figuring out WHAT happened during those years and how it effected the characters and their relationships with one another. They've floated in and out of each others lives since graduation, which was 10 years ago from where I plan on starting the story, so why are they all suddenly together again? What brought them all together again? Some have stayed together for various reasons -specifically a job with SPAWA and Renee's request for them to stay- but the others came back into the picture why? And more importantly, why did all of these college friends stay together again? There has to be a major plot that keeps them together so they don't drift off again. They're successful enough that it isn't the money that's a major factor that keeps them there.
So my important questions are: What important events happened in the past that shaped them? What event keeps all the characters together?
Putting my thoughts into one long blurb that will make due for a timeline [Lots of names that will make no sense to anyone but me] : Renee runs SPAWA and was groomed for it, so she's always been in the city. Manda and Tracy are Renee's friends and work normal jobs, though they will give her information if it pops up. She uses them to wind down and remind herself she's still 'human'. David was a recruiter at Caster College before he started working for SPAWA full time, and he was recruited by Itsuki, who still works at Caster doing the same thing. All of Renee's classmates stuck around for a while to do random jobs with and for her, but most floated away for varying amounts of time. Blake and Blaine came back first. Blaine went off for a year or more of globe hopping with Russell for training and fun. Blake was setting down roots and eventually wants to start a family. He has previous gang ties that keep coming back to bite him, so he begrudgingly asks for protection for Natalie and officially joins SPAWA when he realizes he can't do it on his own. Itsuki is Blaine's uncle and information broker to Russell, who met Blaine when he was younger. Blaine comes into the fold because it's kind of like the family business. David eventually abandons teaching at the school and acts kind of like a moral compass [hash that out later] and tactician with Blaine. He teaches recruits of SPAWA who weren't directly plucked from one of the neighboring colleges.
Kris and Schwanz both floated around doing odd jobs. Sometimes as a unit and other times solo. Neither are strictly in the employ of SPAWA, but a majority of Kris's tasks are for SPAWA. Kris is loyal to David and therefor SPAWA, but he does contract jobs on the side. Schwanz is strictly an enforcer and a wild card. He appears when he's needed and his loyalty is questionable. He stays on because he does things other people won't and hasn't betrayed any SPAWA secrets -that any of the others know of. Schwanz will defer to David or Renee if it pleases him, but the price has to be right and the job interesting. If he ever betrays them or gets too dangerous, Renee will try to have him killed before he kills her. Traine stayed the longest after everyone left, since he and Renee were kind of in a relationship. Once it 'ended' [they both ran out of time to pretend they were in one] he drifted off to other jobs. He came back periodically to return home and see family then dropped in on SPAWA to catch up with friends. Near the middle of the first plot [whatever that ends up being] he comes back in town for a visit or a job [not sure which] and eventually just ends up staying. He doesn't end up joining SPAWA right away [maybe not ever to avoid conflict of interesting? >_>] and he and Renee end up in a relationship again, but more relaxed and mature and it works for both of them. A kind of open relationship.
I've got characters I've made that I'm not sure what to do with, Craig and Thomas from school, and Marco who is another Org leader who I wanted to be a romantic interest for Renee [a failed one, as he has a motive and Renee won't let herself be used] and other characters like Drei and Rosetti who I haven't fleshed out properly because I have so many characters already and I don't know how big a part they would all play. I don't want to mire everything down in names that people will forget the significance of. Since I have characters now that are going to float in and out of the story who I had originally had there all the time, it might be easier to have more permanent characters.
I was on plurk talking about original stories and my failings and decided to use my LJ for it instead. It's long-winded and I've said the same thing multiple times, but writing it out in long format might help me work things out instead of complaining about the same things over and over and never coming up with a solution.
The problem I have is that I'm decent at creating complete character relationships and interworking all the characters together so that one fallen domino of EMOTION causes the whole thing to explode. It's been a bit difficult to decide how a large group of friends from college interact with one another. Not everyone is as closely tied to all the people in the group, especially when it's large and not all personalities mesh well, but they form a group of people that get along relatively well. The group breaks up into smaller groups at will of people who get along the best and there's mingling between the smaller groups but not everyone does well without a person in the middle to drawl them together. I actually need to create a large chart of all the main characters and how they interact with one another and form cliques out of them. BUT ANYWAY.
The problem I have is that this is a story that is starting in the middle. The characters have known one another for years, and I had started writing it when the characters were in college. They were 18-22 for the duration of that story that I never finished and now it's ten years later and you see where they've gone. It's not hard to add flashbacks to explain some things, and you can always insert how characters feel for one another by how they interact. The real issue is figuring out WHAT happened during those years and how it effected the characters and their relationships with one another. They've floated in and out of each others lives since graduation, which was 10 years ago from where I plan on starting the story, so why are they all suddenly together again? What brought them all together again? Some have stayed together for various reasons -specifically a job with SPAWA and Renee's request for them to stay- but the others came back into the picture why? And more importantly, why did all of these college friends stay together again? There has to be a major plot that keeps them together so they don't drift off again. They're successful enough that it isn't the money that's a major factor that keeps them there.
So my important questions are: What important events happened in the past that shaped them? What event keeps all the characters together?
Putting my thoughts into one long blurb that will make due for a timeline [Lots of names that will make no sense to anyone but me] : Renee runs SPAWA and was groomed for it, so she's always been in the city. Manda and Tracy are Renee's friends and work normal jobs, though they will give her information if it pops up. She uses them to wind down and remind herself she's still 'human'. David was a recruiter at Caster College before he started working for SPAWA full time, and he was recruited by Itsuki, who still works at Caster doing the same thing. All of Renee's classmates stuck around for a while to do random jobs with and for her, but most floated away for varying amounts of time. Blake and Blaine came back first. Blaine went off for a year or more of globe hopping with Russell for training and fun. Blake was setting down roots and eventually wants to start a family. He has previous gang ties that keep coming back to bite him, so he begrudgingly asks for protection for Natalie and officially joins SPAWA when he realizes he can't do it on his own. Itsuki is Blaine's uncle and information broker to Russell, who met Blaine when he was younger. Blaine comes into the fold because it's kind of like the family business. David eventually abandons teaching at the school and acts kind of like a moral compass [hash that out later] and tactician with Blaine. He teaches recruits of SPAWA who weren't directly plucked from one of the neighboring colleges.
Kris and Schwanz both floated around doing odd jobs. Sometimes as a unit and other times solo. Neither are strictly in the employ of SPAWA, but a majority of Kris's tasks are for SPAWA. Kris is loyal to David and therefor SPAWA, but he does contract jobs on the side. Schwanz is strictly an enforcer and a wild card. He appears when he's needed and his loyalty is questionable. He stays on because he does things other people won't and hasn't betrayed any SPAWA secrets -that any of the others know of. Schwanz will defer to David or Renee if it pleases him, but the price has to be right and the job interesting. If he ever betrays them or gets too dangerous, Renee will try to have him killed before he kills her. Traine stayed the longest after everyone left, since he and Renee were kind of in a relationship. Once it 'ended' [they both ran out of time to pretend they were in one] he drifted off to other jobs. He came back periodically to return home and see family then dropped in on SPAWA to catch up with friends. Near the middle of the first plot [whatever that ends up being] he comes back in town for a visit or a job [not sure which] and eventually just ends up staying. He doesn't end up joining SPAWA right away [maybe not ever to avoid conflict of interesting? >_>] and he and Renee end up in a relationship again, but more relaxed and mature and it works for both of them. A kind of open relationship.
I've got characters I've made that I'm not sure what to do with, Craig and Thomas from school, and Marco who is another Org leader who I wanted to be a romantic interest for Renee [a failed one, as he has a motive and Renee won't let herself be used] and other characters like Drei and Rosetti who I haven't fleshed out properly because I have so many characters already and I don't know how big a part they would all play. I don't want to mire everything down in names that people will forget the significance of. Since I have characters now that are going to float in and out of the story who I had originally had there all the time, it might be easier to have more permanent characters.
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