Melting Snow

Wildcard Thursday: Writing Process and Characters

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Just a note for all the senior citizens in this group who may not know. Monty is starting the "Senior Center Forum"  contest on September 25. See "Note: *pokes head in* Quick update on [Link To User c..." about COUNTRYMOM .

The Wildcard Round prompt for "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" 
Tell us a little about your writing process (for blog entries, stories, poems, anything...your choice). Is it all digital, done on a computer, laptop, tablet, or even your phone? Do you start by jotting a few notes or lines on paper, or draw up an outline of some kind first, or use a voice recording app when you're on the go, and then switch over to a computer to formulate your ideas into words as you're typing? Or are you still completely old school, writing everything out first completely by hand and then entering it into a word processing program? What works/doesn't work for you?

Some aspects of my writing process has changed over the years, while some aspects have remained the same. Sometimes I begin a story or poem by writing the idea or lines down with a blue or purple ball point pen. At other time I begin writing in a computer document. I haven't uses my smartphone to begin a piece of work because I have to purchase data. I get 250 free minutes for phone calls per month and unlimited text, but I have to purchase my own data. If I had a tablet I might be more willing to purchase data because I can see stuff on the screen of a tablet easier then I can see it on my phone.

I begin my writing process by saying a prayer. Usually I say a morning prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah; however, this morning I changed that routine a bit. I said a prayer for Assistance with Test and Difficulties revealed by The Bab. After saying the morning prayer, I decided I felt like saying a prayer for assistance with test. I opened my prayer book to one of the prayers revealed by the Bab and said that. I feel better, less stressed, after saying the prayer for assistance. I think that from now on I'll begin the writing process by saying different prayer for assistance.

The "Blogging Circle of Friends "  prompt for DAY 1408
Let's talk character development: What are the significant differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional characters? Is it more difficult to write two-dimensional characters or three-dimensional characters?

A two-dimensional character is either good or bad without any in-between. A three-dimensional character is closer to a real human being with both good and bad qualities. A three-dimensional character is more rounded and easier for readers to identify with then a two-dimensional character. There are several ways to create a three-dimensional character but the two methods I like the best are (1) base characters personality attributes on three or four different people one meets in life and (2) use Astrological signs for the personalities of the characters. A good place to start is Astrological Zodiac Traits/ Sun Sign Personalities1 because it gives the basic good and bad traits of each Zodiac sign without getting into anything else.

Footnotes
1  http://nuclear.ucdavis.edu/~rpicha/personal/astrology/