Dec
13

Character Evolution: From RPG to Hipster Elf?

Posted in blog, characters, dragon age, gaming, talivar, wtf am I doing | 2 Comments
I get asked how I think of my characters a lot – particularly the weird ones. Phin. Brystion, etc. I mean, my world-building as a whole is filled with odd beasties and people. OtherFolk come in many flavors, and it’s a kitchen-sink world so pretty much anything and everything is fair game. Sometimes it’s easy – the characters just show up and I know exactly how they’re going to fit in. Sometimes I don’t have the foggiest clue. Sometimes they surprise me quite a bit. Part of that is being a panster. Half the time, I really don’t know everyone’s motivation until I get there. As far as characters go, I still have to admit that Ion plays everything so very, very close to his vest.  I thought I had him pegged up front…and discovered I’ve barely scratched the surface. He’s one of the hardest characters to write, for that reason.… Read more
May
25

Those Pesky Side-Characters…

Posted in characters, terminator, writing | 1 Comment
This is half Terminator 4 review and half rumination on how minor characters in one’s book can interfere in the telling of a good story. (Small spoilers ahead). I saw the movie on Saturday, and I have to say that despite the majority of the reviews, I liked it. Yes, there were many issues, but I still dug the concept and it’s *way* better than T3. (And T1 and T2 are probably still my fav movies of all time – tho it’s a toss up between those and Alien(s)). One of the biggest issues with the T4 movie is that it couldn’t seem to figure out who it was supposed to be about. Suffice it to say, it really isn’t a John Connor movie, and from what I understand, JC was originally only supposed to be a minor character. The real “hero” character is that of Marcus Wright(Sam Worthington) and… Read more