tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post2679008311261612810..comments2023-10-29T12:28:26.775+00:00Comments on Charley Robson's Leaning Tower of Plot: Lessons from HistoryCharley Robsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09542608515324640174noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-68064528940873144782012-09-28T07:59:16.903+01:002012-09-28T07:59:16.903+01:00How cool! Though I suppose starting from something...How cool! Though I suppose starting from something so small means the plot is rather hard to has out, non?Charley Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09542608515324640174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-81027526246619858452012-09-27T21:09:39.443+01:002012-09-27T21:09:39.443+01:00I often have a ... a phrase I think. A little idea...I often have a ... a phrase I think. A little idea. A nugget of plot. I have no idea with Watching because it's been nearly three years now. I don't know where that came from. With some things, though, it's more conscious, like a little word that catches my interest.Miriam Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10516402325473855925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-73572804602080844982012-09-27T08:15:46.779+01:002012-09-27T08:15:46.779+01:00I just find it easy to infer peoples' personal...I just find it easy to infer peoples' personalities (or assumed personalities) from their actions, I guess, so that's why I find them so useful. My textbooks are pretty good, but mostly I was just looking for how an individual would act in a certain situation and comparing and contrasting different actions against the personality of the character in question. It sounds so much more complex than it is, haha.Charley Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09542608515324640174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-57229931435616983912012-09-27T08:14:23.107+01:002012-09-27T08:14:23.107+01:00Haha, I suppose. Though even in a modern setting y...Haha, I suppose. Though even in a modern setting you could borrow parallels from other famous modern types if you needed to. Admittedly I needed a blueprint because I was dealing with a political historical setting, hence half the problem, but heydiho, to each their own genre.<br /><br />Indeed . . . my characters always come first but I have no idea how they do that xDCharley Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09542608515324640174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-62222552908708502442012-09-26T20:38:47.555+01:002012-09-26T20:38:47.555+01:00I actually don't have this problem. Though my...I actually don't have this problem. Though my characters are never quite as I thought they'd be when I started thinking about them, they never refuse to work. I just go with the flow they create, and it works pretty well until I want to stick something in that I thought, while plotting, would be cool to write. Then it doesn't work and I have to go in a different direction.<br /><br />The problems I've found with trying to copy from my history textbook is that it doesn't give the actual personalities of the famous figures-- it just gives their actions. Even though their actions say a lot about their personality, it often isn't enough to imagine them vividly. If it works for you, though, you've got a much more in-depth textbook.Liam, Head Philhttp://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-49383442978604344652012-09-26T19:48:56.219+01:002012-09-26T19:48:56.219+01:00Unfortunately, because I write urban fantasy it...Unfortunately, because I write urban fantasy it's kind of hard to take people from history, as my characters are all modern. And magical. Hmm. I could see it working with, say, Cormac, but he's so heavily based on mythology I don't need any more people to muddle into his personality! Ehehe :D<br /><br />People always ask me whether characters or plot come to me first... I don't think it's either. I usually just have an idea. Sometimes a whole story, sometimes not. It's a long time since I wrote a first draft and I don't really remember how I usually start. Where do the characters come from? Why are they in my mind?Miriam Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10516402325473855925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-33951511073259677802012-09-26T16:18:23.493+01:002012-09-26T16:18:23.493+01:00Working with them more extensively can be helpful,...Working with them more extensively can be helpful, but as Vidal was my narrator I was essentially doing that anyway - and unfortunately he's too blasted complex a character to let me in on his foibles that way. Thanks to a certain sneaky cardinal, however, I now have a better insight into what he's up to. And we're both having a lot more fun because of it, because I can now make his plans more cunning due to greater research and knowledge into powerplay and politics. Everone wins . . . apart from the people who don't.Charley Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09542608515324640174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-91768179711505813392012-09-26T14:36:23.154+01:002012-09-26T14:36:23.154+01:00Ahhh... James, and perhaps sharon to a lesser exte...Ahhh... James, and perhaps sharon to a lesser extent. But James was the real problem.<br /><br />How can a man, who rose to a high rank in an evil General's army, suddenly turn into a coward and be ner to running away when he's brough back to play a part in a ruse?<br /><br />I didn't dip into history for my solution though, but I'll put that on the back burner in case I do need it later.<br /><br />Instead I started writing from James's perspective, to find out why he was in that army to begin with and what had happened that had changed his allegence. <br /><br />What I got was... well a much more believable man, who even scared me a couple times wondering what side he really was on, even though I knew. :}Cathryn Leighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14816869021658935999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-2853093682718011002012-09-26T14:31:56.313+01:002012-09-26T14:31:56.313+01:00Just make sure to get the goo and gund from Cahrle...Just make sure to get the goo and gund from Cahrley. Her source is the best! :}Cathryn Leighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14816869021658935999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-65422478443961255332012-09-26T07:47:24.701+01:002012-09-26T07:47:24.701+01:00Heh, don't worry, Vidal was just like that - I...Heh, don't worry, Vidal was just like that - I think he did it to spite me, knowing how evil I planned to be once I got hold of him. A little historical adjustment and he's much more compliant.<br /><br />And for both of you . . . you're authors! You have the powers of your own imagination to defend yourselves with! I just wish for weapons and an army and next thing you know I'm having so much fun that their rebellion is more entertainment than threat! <br /><br />Goo guns are the best choice for personal weapons, just so you know ;)Charley Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09542608515324640174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-83547022375556806512012-09-26T03:59:03.713+01:002012-09-26T03:59:03.713+01:00Don't even mention Micah to the literary world...Don't even mention Micah to the literary world--they might pick him for the Mockingjay after all you've done to him. Like squashing him with a mast. (You gotta love him) :)<br /><br />That's quite a good idea about the historical characters. I have one who is... fickle. He won't decide what kind of a person he wants to be. Bad Erastus, Bad! :)Mimehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03166384979716659441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4553951271806645988.post-84008749696238087362012-09-26T03:00:16.908+01:002012-09-26T03:00:16.908+01:00My character *Micah* gives me a headache. Just kee...My character *Micah* gives me a headache. Just keeping him IN character. Ack. Headache is an understatement. If he wasn't so darn needed, I might throw him on a one-way trip into a black hole and order an attitude adjustment. Or worse (knock him off, but shh...after my post yesterday, and mime's characters ralleying for human rights, we're lying low in our household. Safety for authors! Heeeelp.)<br /><br />I like the idea of taking snippets from history characters. Never thought of it. But (without outright copying everything about them) it's a viable source. :DCG @ Paper Furyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14954615708675952085noreply@blogger.com