Open Thread: Oracle Hotline

[mithen]

--How do you develop your plot and characters?

I'm a big fan of saying "what if..." and letting things play out from there, give me all of the canon-divergent fanfic! I also really like getting into character's heads for canon events and trying to figure out how they say it and how they were motivated, especially for visual canons that don't have a clear POV voice. I'm also a sucker for a good trope and I like seeing how a fairly cliched trope might play out differently with one set of characters over another.

Very, very little writing this week, although a lot of planning and inspiration! Just no time. Grading has to get done, even if I would really like to get ideas down on the screen. How about you?

Comments

[me_ya_ri]

I completely agree with what if-ing. I also tend to try to sink as deep into the character's POV that I'm describing things from their point of view. Giving their opinions on what they see and hear and smell and what's going on. It works really well for me.

The plot comes from the character reacting to the situation set up by the what if. Everything blooms out of that. I so rarely plot anything. It just grows in the writing.

I've gotten my standard 1300 words on average this week. I've wanted to do a lot more but by the time I get to the writing in the evenings I've been too tired to do much more than that. Life, you know?

Good luck getting past the grading and to the writing!

[bradygirl_12]

How I do I develop my plot and characters? I guess whatever my Muses come up with. :)

I go both ways: sometimes I'll think of a plot and see if the characters can fit into it. Most times the plot is an outgrowth of the characters' personalities and interactions.

Sometimes I 'rip from the headlines' and find out what my characters think or feel about certain events.

Sometimes it'll be a grand event, like World War II, and how do my characters fit into it? What are their stories with that backdrop?

But 'What-If' is definitely a game I play, too. :)

My original writing is going along at a very satisfying clip. Fanfic? Slower, but I've had a few ideas recently and I'm working on them. I have a new Bruce & Dick ficlet and am busy writing a second story in the Evil fandom. :)

[navaan]

I am absolutely on the canon divergent what if side, too! Most of my plot start either as notes for "what if x" or as "during x". I often have ideas during rewatches or canon reviews that spin from a "so x said y during this scene, why and what did go on that we didn't see?" and then it springs into character exploration and often ends up with the big canon divergent questions from there. Sometimes changing one detail but trying to keep the motivations straight (and explore what they might have been) is where all the drive comes from.

Work and the prospect of adopting new cats has been keeping most of my attention. ^^