This week: You, the Character Edited by: Leger~  
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This week's Action / Adventure Editor
Leger~
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You, the Character
How often has a character you're creating suddenly loved something to eat that you as the author love? Or someone in your story looks like you? Does the personality of the character feel much like your personality?
Is the character someone you'd like to be? I often use my personal experiences as a baseline for a character. If I went hiking the Appalachians as a young person, I have the knowledge to create a character that intimately knows what that experience feels like. For example, how does my feet feel in my hiking boots?
If the character is from the fantasy genre, clearly I won't be able to have first-hand knowledge about flying, right? But, swinging on a swing, riding a roller coaster and flying in a plane can give me a good idea of what it might feel like.
But this is your story, you can create each character as you wish. They can do or say whatever you imagine. As long as a reader can somewhat relate, somehow feel what you describe, they can generally suspend disbelief and immerse in your story.
So, Write On!
This month's question: Do you push the envelope of belief in your characters and stories?
Answer below  Editors love feedback! 
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WDC Site Contest
Genre Prompt for November 2024: Fantasy
“You’re not squeamish, are ya Chuck?” Harley cocked an eyebrow and sneered showing his chipped tooth.
“Who me? No, I’m good," I said. "Let’s just do it and get it over with before somebody sees us.” I hoped my explanation was convincing enough to mask the look of anxiety on my face.
Excerpt: The urgent, piercing blare of an alarm jolted Nathan from uneasy rest. He sat up, checking his spacecraft's computers.
"OXYGEN LEAK DETECTED—IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED."
Excerpt: " Mrs. Clause, are you ready to go warm your chilled bones in the bright, beautiful Bahamas?" Santa said, with a twinkle in his eye.
Excerpt: The old scarecrow awoke from his post-harvest sleep. He was uneasy and twitchy.
“Don’t tell me it’s Halloween! That means...”
Excerpt: Elliot Kane sat at the kitchen table, his eyes drifting over the puzzle in front of him. He wasn’t a fan of jigsaw puzzles, but his grandmother, Ruby, loved them. She said they were good for the mind, keeping it sharp. So, Elliot often helped her, even if his heart wasn’t fully in it.
Excerpt: Suzanne ran from Mother's flower garden after a bumble bee buzzed in and out of the rosebush, making a beeline for her fair cheeks. It wasn't the first time since spring came in wet and wetter. Bees were everywhere with gallons of nectar to drink. Suzanne knew better than to linger while they feasted.
| |  | Flight (E)
Darragh isn't sure, but what happens is quite the adventure for the young hunter
#2326342 by hihohyena  |
Excerpt: "You ready?" Ronan looked back at Darragh, who was adjusting himself on the prince's back, the uncertainty plastered on his face made Ronan smirk a little.
"No! What in the gods' names are you plannin'?!" Darragh's grip tightened on Ronan's shirt, the thin cloth keeping his nails from digging into the skin of his palms. He stared out onto the water that crashed against the cliffside, the smell of salt water overwhelmed the hunter's nostrils and heightened his unease.
Excerpt: "So, we've got ourselves a broody teenager, an ogre who bakes—very badly, I might add—and a giant fish with no eyes? To save the world? I don’t trust any of them, John."
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This month's question: Do you push the envelope of belief in your characters and stories?
Answer below Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Action/Adventure Newsletter (October 23, 2024)" question: Does your inspiration often come from the question: What if?
Goddess : Not always. Most of the time, for me, inspiration comes from what is.
s  : About 90% of the time, yes. So many what ifs... Sometimes it's a "what if..." based on another work. My novel Patch Of Green started as "what if Day of the Triffids happened in Australia?" Gorgon With The Wind, which WdCers beta read for me, was "what if Greek gods were still kicking around today?"
The only time "what if..." doesn't appear is when I write about my own life (normally poetry), non-fiction, stories fro young children, and the occasional story where I read something in a newspaper or see something in real life and just write the story and let it flow.
So, for me, "what if...?" is my muse's most important tool for getting me creating...
StylusInk  : Er… Good question. Not really. For me, “what if” is often the second question in my working process. The earlier one is “what is”. I mean, one must have some basic knowledge about something before making assumptions, right? (In scientific means, observations come before hypotheses and empirical practices.)
Arsuit : I use the "what if" strategy to ask stupid questions that shouldn't have an answer, and then write a story around the answer. For instance, one of the stories I'm outlining for November asks the question, "what if a sorcerer can't cast spells at opponents?"
NaNotatoGo! : Sometimes yes, not sure how often.
HollisFrances : Yes, well twice so far. The inspiration for two of my writings was based on, what if Biblical is written in the stars. And I found the answer to be true. Interestingly, the data is based on astronomical data using modern astronomy software. Not conjecture.
Now, there is a new what if. I recently learned that the kabbalist sect of the Hebrews teach that people can have an affect on the physical universe. Including the stars and planets.
What if the data that I found is not related to cosmological influences, i.e. creation/formation of the universe? What if the data was actually influenced/created, developed by the people/events on the earth?
How could this be proven either way? Even though what I did find comparing Biblical/historical dates and times seem to match what is in the software. What could possible make this distinction.
A lot of the data is written in my Blog spot. Investigating the Hebrew Mazzaroth.
https://www.writing.com/main/books/entry_id/1074745-Alter-Called-Witness-Blog-1-...
https://readerviewsarchives.wordpress.com/2023/10/19/alter-called-witness-france...
Please note, I have discontinued the sale of my writings. If you want a copy of any of the following just send me a message and I can email the pdf versions.
Alter Called Witness and the Hebrew Mazzaroth ("Alter" in Hebrew/Yiddish means old man or old one)
Visit of the Wise men ( an Alter Called Witness Special edition)
Willy's Accident
MayDay : Sometimes.
deemac  : What if Marilyn Monroe had survived that tragic night in 1962? "The Dedication" [E]
TheBusmanPoet : Rarely.
Beholden  : If I knew where inspiration came from, I wouldn't need the prompt. 
Tannus : No. My inspiration comes from my past.
Ann72 : My inspiration comes from my own feelings. When I start writing, I put myself right in there, and whatever I feel, I write. If that makes sense.
Mouse says gobble gobble  : Not really. My inspiration comes from asking why. Mostly why should this matter.
oldgreywolf on wheels : That's one of my idea generators. Not necessarily "often."
The earliest confirmed controlled fire was approximately 1MYA.
Who arrived first, the storyteller or the campfire? My money's on the storyteller, who could've been too injured to hunt or gather food, but could take care of the youngsters, educate the youngsters, and tell them stories.
"What if" is a function of curiosity. The Curiosity Quotient has been recognized since at least 2017, but how many thousands of years has the Homo species used it?
A writer needs curiosity to learn how to do research (and improve), how to writeincreasingly better, how to create characters that evolve over time (four dimensional), how to turn a random idea into a concept into a story . . .
Without the "what if" ability, a person isn't a writer, they're just someone spewing words at random like Scrabble tiles dropped on the floor.
Next question.
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  : "What If?" is a good starting point for fanfiction. For instance, what if, in the Sly Cooper franchise, Carmelita Fox ended up teaming up with that ringtail much earlier, because a common foe had messed with her at that point, and the Cooper Gang had rescued her, and brought her along for the rest of the game, or some such thing. I'm actually part of a fanfic like that - Carmelita Fox: Mistress Thief. (Now, a bit of a warning, it's rated GC, for some harsh language and sexual content, but I'm sure that most folks over 18, who liked that series, will get a kick out of it.)
Monty  : What if it did? 
Carycomic : Well, if it works for Marvel Comics...
Hiatus : Less frequently, but possible.
Jaycin Alexis : I suppose it could if I could track my thought process well enough. Mostly it's "How do I...?" I think.
keyisfake : No. it comes from do I want to be happy of sad today.
Thanks to everyone for your responses! L~
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Action/Adventure: November 20, 2024 Issue [#12856]
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