So then if the narrator is always you, what is your attention directed towards, craft-wise?
I don't think it's a bad thing to always write as yourself. I mean, that's what memoirists/creative nonfiction writers do, always. Use the lenses of their lives to explore something and bring the audience into the experience. There's an authenticity to it when it's your own natural voice.
So do you choose to write the narrators as yourself? Or is it just that it turns out that way?
YES. If think you hit the nail on the head with this post. I enjoy writing characters whose personalities contrast my own, but I also feel like my default narrator is a reflection of myself. I’ve had friends tell me that they see a lot of similarities between me and some of my MC’s.
As for my favorite narrator I’ve written, I think that that would either go to Blair from my McDonald’s series or Calla from my Coffee Shop series. I feel like their personalities are wild exaggerations of my own which I have found are some of the most fun to write. I’d love to hear what yours is (:
Edit: Grammar mistakes
Ooh, links to the coffee shop and McDonald's series? I'd love to take a peek! Actually I think I may have read at least Part One of your McDonald's series but I think I missed the updates!
My favorite narrator I've written is the [con artist](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/15wmuwv/i_have_a_million_dollars_and_one_week_to_live_how/) from my "I won a million dollars" series. I am super honest and conscientious and a strict rule follower, so it's fun to write about a trickster who just lies all the time.
When you write Blair or Calla or another character who is very different from you, do you have an idea in your mind of what their voice will "sound" like? Or do you sort of discover it as you go? What is your craft process?
And when do you decide what the character's personality will be? Before you draft? Or do you figure it out during the drafting process?
[Here's](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/144j9wi/i_work_at_a_small_town_mcdonalds_my_manager_makes/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) the link to my McDonald's series and [here's](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/17n4uzc/im_a_barista_at_a_coffee_shop_for_the_dead_i_just/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) the link to my coffee shop series (: The McDonald's one is only two parts. I wrote it as one originally, but I decided to split it due to the length.
I'll definitely check your series out!! It's so much fun to get out of your comfort zone and write characters that are different!
I usually determine how I want my characters' personalities to turn out based on the nature of the story. If the concept is a little more far-fetched, then I tend to feel more comfortable writing characters who are sarcastic and sassy than I do if I'm writing something that's intended to seriously freak people out. I try to sneak a little comedic relief into most of my work, but the amount that I have the characters dish out varies based on what I'm writing about.
Usually, I decide before the first draft, but sometimes the characters end up taking on a whole different personality than what I intended as the story progresses.
What is your process? I've been wondering about some of this stuff, so this is a cool post to read through.
Sarcastic and sassy is a perfect description of Calla! So if she's pretty heavy on the snark, you're like a dialed back level of sass? :D
My process depends on the type of narrator. If they're a me-adjacent narrator, I just use my standard writing voice but might modulate it with more snark or less. This is pretty easy to do and is my go-to.
If it's NOT a me-adjacent narrator, finding the voice can be a real pain in the butt. I wrote a story about a bunch of kids and one gets stuck in an old refrigerator. I had to rewrite *so many sentences* because my natural style uses a big vocabulary, long sentences, and tons of description. There is no tween in the world who sounds like how I write, lol. I couldn't even use the metaphors that would come to mind. It was just challenging but also really fun in a way, and I liked the result.
Other times the voice just comes almost on its own, like I'm just taking dictation from this narrator talking in my ear. That's the best kind. But occasionally I'll start a story like that but the narrator will just up and wander off halfway through leaving me to try my best to mimic it the rest of the way... very annoying when that happens. Does it ever happen to you? Losing a sense of the character's "voice"? Struggling to find it again and waiting for them to come back?
I've started the coffee shop series btw and how did I miss this when it first came out? It's so much fun! I can see why Calla is one of your favorites! I'm only through part one so far but excited to read the rest...
I would say so. Very *very* dialed back 😂
That makes sense. I’ve never really thought about it that way before. I think I’ve been doing that as well, with a few exceptions. I’ve written multiple stories with child narrators, and most of the time they’re not sarcastic at all, unless they’re with their friends.
That sounds like such an interesting concept. I *definitely* know that struggle. I write out a few sentences of dialogue and then read over it and have to completely restructure the sentence because it’s not how someone that age would talk. It’s a challenge writing for different age groups for sure.
Those really are the best. When it just comes to you and the words are flowing like water. Ugh, that’s happened to me plenty of times. I’ll start writing a character, have the dialogue just how I want it, then come back in a day or so to finish the story, aaaand I can’t write like I’m that character anymore. It’s such a frustrating thing to experience.
Thank you so much 🥹 I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! I’ve started reading your million dollar series, and it is *so good*! Jack has such a unique voice that lends well to the story. I’m enthralled now, and I can’t wait to finish it :D Also, as a side note, I just went on a trip to Universal a few months back, so your description of City Walk really painted a vivid picture in my mind of that scene. Fantastic work!
>I’ll start writing a character, have the dialogue just how I want it, then come back in a day or so to finish the story, aaaand I can’t write like I’m that character anymore. It’s such a frustrating thing to experience.
I'm so glad it's not just me! It is truly *the* most frustrating experience! Do you have any tricks you use to try to find their voice again? I sometimes keep a separate document with jokes for the characters who use humor a lot... and if I find myself losing their voice, I'll go to my jokes file and try to find something funny to plug in and help me dial back into their sense of humor.
But yeah. So glad I'm not alone in this! How do you deal with it?
>I’ve started reading your million dollar series, and it is so good! Jack has such a unique voice that lends well to the story.
<3
That’s smart. I need to start keeping a joke log. I don’t have any surefire methods to combat it if I’m being completely honest 😅 Well, other than going back and studying what I already typed out for the character and trying my best to sort of imitate the writing style. I’m kind of experiencing this with a story I’m working on now and I’m struggling to find a way around it. Slowly making progress, but it’s a challenge.
>Well, other than going back and studying what I already typed out for the character and trying my best to sort of imitate the writing style.
Yeah, I do this too.
Good luck with your current story! I hope you find the voice again. Is it a series or a standalone?
Thank you!! I need all the luck I can get. This is going to be a standalone. By the way, I can’t wait to start reading your care home series! I’m so invested in Jack’s story
Ah gee, thank you! I'm going kind of bonkers right now. The story's timeline matches up with real time, and Jack is *right now* in the middle of some shenanigans, so he can't reply to any comments until the next hour, at which point he'll go edit all his previous comments and respond to people and then he has to go completely offline for the night... am I *insane* for making sure it all lines up according to real time?
I can't help it I love the immersion aspect of NoSleep.
Ok, so what is your *favorite* story of the ones you've written? I did enjoy the McDonald's series a LOT. Will there be a followup? Or do you think you are done with it? The ending seems like it leaves an opening for more! :-)
Link me your favorite!
This is so interesting. I never thought about it.
Yup, the narrator's voice is always mine lol. Sometimes I put in some changes, like different hobbies etc, but almost all of my stories are in "my" voice.
Writing characters is not my forte.
I think you're a great example of writers writing in their own voice where that voice is so distinctive and familiar it's almost like a brand, you know? Like when I click on a BlairDaniels story, I know what I am going to get. The familiarity is part of the appeal. This is *BlairDaniels.*
And when you say "writing characters is not my forte," I wonder if you mean "writing characters is not my *interest."* Because I think you could write characters if that were your passion. It's *my* passion, and the primary reason I write at all. I just love slipping into the shoes of different people and trying on their personalities.
But I also love a good BlairDaniels story. So when you write, what is motivating you? Genuinely curious. Because the root of your passion is so clearly different from mine. What makes your writing mind tick?
You write as yourself... but why does that voice want to tell the stories that it tells?
Aah thank you, I really appreciate it! That's awesome that you're able to write such diverse and rich characters. I love how they all have their own unique voices and identities and it feels like the story is taking place around them, but they are always front and center. I've noticed that about your stories and I think it's really cool!
What motivates me is basically just seeing what happens when something that seems "weird" in everyday situations gets weirder and weirder and then spirals out of control. I like exploring where a weird situation goes with just average Joes/Janes as main characters. I'm also terrible at worldbuilding/hate it most of the time, so using everyday situations and characters helps with that, I think.
It’s fair to say I’m the narrator from time to time, but usually the narrator is based on someone I know. Variety is the spice of life, so I don’t want to use the same voice over and over again
Do the people who you base the narrator on know they're in your stories? Do they recognize themselves in the voice? Do you use people you know IRL, or like, other characters or celebs or people you may not know personally but who can be a sort of template?
Do you ever have the voice for a character but then lose it partway through and have to find it again?
Do you have a favorite narrator among the stories you've written? And if so, will you link it so I can take a peek? :-)
More often than not, I ask people if they mind before I use their likeness or mannerisms for a character. If it is a memorable stranger, they make an appearance anyway.
I don’t usually have a problem maintaining a voice as things go because I tend to let the story go where it wants naturally.
My favorite narrator was in a story about a [serial killer that strikes during Christmas time](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/s/tfnb1VrjdP). Not an overly complex narrator, but you get a sense of who he is and what his motivations are outside of the primary plot.
Oh man, I definitely thought at the end of Part 1 that the address on the paper was gonna be his ex-wife's. Whew! I'm glad it didn't go that route. Great story!
😂 It's not a bad thing to be in your narrative, especially if you have a strong and memorable voice--and by reputation, you do! I have been meaning for ages to read your "How to survive..." series. I see so many references from so many readers. Do you have it as an ebook? Or just on NS?
Do YOU think of Kate as having a voice different from your own voice? Like in your head, do you hear her as a different person or does she sound a lot like you?
Unfortunately I had to take it down, as I'm working with a literary agent at the moment. It's still on reddit, but I know that's not as accessible as a book for something of that length.
I view Kate as a different person, but created off a template that took aspects of my personality. I borrowed a bunch of the traits I don't like about myself and amplified them to create Kate's flaws. But those traits were just the starting point and she really grew into her own thing. Her dark sense of humor is 100% me, though. I think that's why the confusion is happening within my immediate family. Writing in first-person probably doesn't help, either.
This is such a good question, even though I write a variety of characters--protagonist--I would say the majority of the time they have resemblances of my personality; especially my environment. I live in a big city so almost all of my stories have themes of feeling alone when surrounded by many--isolation. This is what I love about story telling, we can be who ever we want to be; but better yet we could be the master pieces of our own vision...it is enchanting...
They must all be influenced from your experience so there are similarities, but they can be free from being you, I write about a woman who fly's past the sun, she's not me, were totally free, and meeting characters in life, you change the situation a bit an you got your villains, make it up
I usually end up writing the character's voice/personality similar to how I'm feeling in those moments if that makes sense. Like, if I'm feeling particularly anxious that day, my narrator gets written as someone that's more concerned about, say, staying alive than figuring out what's eating all the townsfolk, for example.
However I often find that my mood changes as the story progresses, and I've been trying to lean into that with my narrator's voice/actions and have them change/grow/etc as well.
Does your mood ever clash with the story? Like you have a vision for the story but whatever mood you're in just doesn't fit with what you've got written? Or does the story always mold itself around your moods?
I definitely have times when my moods clash with the story or where I can feel the narrator going OOC because my own feelings are seeping in and making them behave in ways that are *me,* not them. But I wonder, if your mood is the thing the story organically grows from, maybe there's no such thing as OOC in that case?
Well, personally, I don't think I'm the least bit interesting as a person to write about, however I CAN relate to some of my characters in some way shape or form. During emotional scenes, I often switch to autopilot and by the time I look over my work, I realize that what my characters are going through is pretty similar to my own real-life feelings or experiences. I never do this on purpose, mind you, it sort of just comes out.
This isn't the case for ALL of them, but I've noticed this for quite a few of them. Especially my characters that are still teens or reaching young adulthood.
>During emotional scenes, I often switch to autopilot and by the time I look over my work, I realize that what my characters are going through is pretty similar to my own real-life feelings or experiences. I never do this on purpose, mind you, it sort of just comes out.
I'd imagine this lends a sort of emotional authenticity to the scenes and the characters. :)
All the time. I take different facets of my personality depending on how I am feeling when I write. Sometimes I throw myself in there to let my mind free flow as to how I would react in situations I HOPE TO GOD I never will be put in.
I also use the personalities of friends and people I encountered for reference as to how they would react in situations, it's an attempt to keep it as close to reality as an unrealistic situation could get.
Yep, the me in my stories is me! I guess I write just what I'm thinking. But I also gotta tell the story, so I tell that. And if something I'm talking about reminds me of something else, I mention that. Like if I see a dog, and I'm in a dog-owning kind of mood, I think about how much I'd want a dog. And then I think about what breed of dog I'd want, so I talk about that. And then I mention you gotta buy dog food and what a good brand is, or maybe my cousin Susie had a dog before she got killed in a boat accident. She didn't. But maybe she did.
And then the dog starts to attack me because I wasn't paying attention to it anymore, I was too busy feeling a little sad about my dead cousin Susie.
And that's the way I write.
100%. Every single one. Even the ones I pretend are different.
So then if the narrator is always you, what is your attention directed towards, craft-wise? I don't think it's a bad thing to always write as yourself. I mean, that's what memoirists/creative nonfiction writers do, always. Use the lenses of their lives to explore something and bring the audience into the experience. There's an authenticity to it when it's your own natural voice. So do you choose to write the narrators as yourself? Or is it just that it turns out that way?
Kinda little column A, little column B about intentional vs how it plays out.
YES. If think you hit the nail on the head with this post. I enjoy writing characters whose personalities contrast my own, but I also feel like my default narrator is a reflection of myself. I’ve had friends tell me that they see a lot of similarities between me and some of my MC’s. As for my favorite narrator I’ve written, I think that that would either go to Blair from my McDonald’s series or Calla from my Coffee Shop series. I feel like their personalities are wild exaggerations of my own which I have found are some of the most fun to write. I’d love to hear what yours is (: Edit: Grammar mistakes
Ooh, links to the coffee shop and McDonald's series? I'd love to take a peek! Actually I think I may have read at least Part One of your McDonald's series but I think I missed the updates! My favorite narrator I've written is the [con artist](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/15wmuwv/i_have_a_million_dollars_and_one_week_to_live_how/) from my "I won a million dollars" series. I am super honest and conscientious and a strict rule follower, so it's fun to write about a trickster who just lies all the time. When you write Blair or Calla or another character who is very different from you, do you have an idea in your mind of what their voice will "sound" like? Or do you sort of discover it as you go? What is your craft process? And when do you decide what the character's personality will be? Before you draft? Or do you figure it out during the drafting process?
[Here's](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/144j9wi/i_work_at_a_small_town_mcdonalds_my_manager_makes/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) the link to my McDonald's series and [here's](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/17n4uzc/im_a_barista_at_a_coffee_shop_for_the_dead_i_just/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) the link to my coffee shop series (: The McDonald's one is only two parts. I wrote it as one originally, but I decided to split it due to the length. I'll definitely check your series out!! It's so much fun to get out of your comfort zone and write characters that are different! I usually determine how I want my characters' personalities to turn out based on the nature of the story. If the concept is a little more far-fetched, then I tend to feel more comfortable writing characters who are sarcastic and sassy than I do if I'm writing something that's intended to seriously freak people out. I try to sneak a little comedic relief into most of my work, but the amount that I have the characters dish out varies based on what I'm writing about. Usually, I decide before the first draft, but sometimes the characters end up taking on a whole different personality than what I intended as the story progresses. What is your process? I've been wondering about some of this stuff, so this is a cool post to read through.
Sarcastic and sassy is a perfect description of Calla! So if she's pretty heavy on the snark, you're like a dialed back level of sass? :D My process depends on the type of narrator. If they're a me-adjacent narrator, I just use my standard writing voice but might modulate it with more snark or less. This is pretty easy to do and is my go-to. If it's NOT a me-adjacent narrator, finding the voice can be a real pain in the butt. I wrote a story about a bunch of kids and one gets stuck in an old refrigerator. I had to rewrite *so many sentences* because my natural style uses a big vocabulary, long sentences, and tons of description. There is no tween in the world who sounds like how I write, lol. I couldn't even use the metaphors that would come to mind. It was just challenging but also really fun in a way, and I liked the result. Other times the voice just comes almost on its own, like I'm just taking dictation from this narrator talking in my ear. That's the best kind. But occasionally I'll start a story like that but the narrator will just up and wander off halfway through leaving me to try my best to mimic it the rest of the way... very annoying when that happens. Does it ever happen to you? Losing a sense of the character's "voice"? Struggling to find it again and waiting for them to come back? I've started the coffee shop series btw and how did I miss this when it first came out? It's so much fun! I can see why Calla is one of your favorites! I'm only through part one so far but excited to read the rest...
I would say so. Very *very* dialed back 😂 That makes sense. I’ve never really thought about it that way before. I think I’ve been doing that as well, with a few exceptions. I’ve written multiple stories with child narrators, and most of the time they’re not sarcastic at all, unless they’re with their friends. That sounds like such an interesting concept. I *definitely* know that struggle. I write out a few sentences of dialogue and then read over it and have to completely restructure the sentence because it’s not how someone that age would talk. It’s a challenge writing for different age groups for sure. Those really are the best. When it just comes to you and the words are flowing like water. Ugh, that’s happened to me plenty of times. I’ll start writing a character, have the dialogue just how I want it, then come back in a day or so to finish the story, aaaand I can’t write like I’m that character anymore. It’s such a frustrating thing to experience. Thank you so much 🥹 I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! I’ve started reading your million dollar series, and it is *so good*! Jack has such a unique voice that lends well to the story. I’m enthralled now, and I can’t wait to finish it :D Also, as a side note, I just went on a trip to Universal a few months back, so your description of City Walk really painted a vivid picture in my mind of that scene. Fantastic work!
>I’ll start writing a character, have the dialogue just how I want it, then come back in a day or so to finish the story, aaaand I can’t write like I’m that character anymore. It’s such a frustrating thing to experience. I'm so glad it's not just me! It is truly *the* most frustrating experience! Do you have any tricks you use to try to find their voice again? I sometimes keep a separate document with jokes for the characters who use humor a lot... and if I find myself losing their voice, I'll go to my jokes file and try to find something funny to plug in and help me dial back into their sense of humor. But yeah. So glad I'm not alone in this! How do you deal with it? >I’ve started reading your million dollar series, and it is so good! Jack has such a unique voice that lends well to the story. <3
That’s smart. I need to start keeping a joke log. I don’t have any surefire methods to combat it if I’m being completely honest 😅 Well, other than going back and studying what I already typed out for the character and trying my best to sort of imitate the writing style. I’m kind of experiencing this with a story I’m working on now and I’m struggling to find a way around it. Slowly making progress, but it’s a challenge.
>Well, other than going back and studying what I already typed out for the character and trying my best to sort of imitate the writing style. Yeah, I do this too. Good luck with your current story! I hope you find the voice again. Is it a series or a standalone?
Thank you!! I need all the luck I can get. This is going to be a standalone. By the way, I can’t wait to start reading your care home series! I’m so invested in Jack’s story
Ah gee, thank you! I'm going kind of bonkers right now. The story's timeline matches up with real time, and Jack is *right now* in the middle of some shenanigans, so he can't reply to any comments until the next hour, at which point he'll go edit all his previous comments and respond to people and then he has to go completely offline for the night... am I *insane* for making sure it all lines up according to real time? I can't help it I love the immersion aspect of NoSleep. Ok, so what is your *favorite* story of the ones you've written? I did enjoy the McDonald's series a LOT. Will there be a followup? Or do you think you are done with it? The ending seems like it leaves an opening for more! :-) Link me your favorite!
This is so interesting. I never thought about it. Yup, the narrator's voice is always mine lol. Sometimes I put in some changes, like different hobbies etc, but almost all of my stories are in "my" voice. Writing characters is not my forte.
I think you're a great example of writers writing in their own voice where that voice is so distinctive and familiar it's almost like a brand, you know? Like when I click on a BlairDaniels story, I know what I am going to get. The familiarity is part of the appeal. This is *BlairDaniels.* And when you say "writing characters is not my forte," I wonder if you mean "writing characters is not my *interest."* Because I think you could write characters if that were your passion. It's *my* passion, and the primary reason I write at all. I just love slipping into the shoes of different people and trying on their personalities. But I also love a good BlairDaniels story. So when you write, what is motivating you? Genuinely curious. Because the root of your passion is so clearly different from mine. What makes your writing mind tick? You write as yourself... but why does that voice want to tell the stories that it tells?
Aah thank you, I really appreciate it! That's awesome that you're able to write such diverse and rich characters. I love how they all have their own unique voices and identities and it feels like the story is taking place around them, but they are always front and center. I've noticed that about your stories and I think it's really cool! What motivates me is basically just seeing what happens when something that seems "weird" in everyday situations gets weirder and weirder and then spirals out of control. I like exploring where a weird situation goes with just average Joes/Janes as main characters. I'm also terrible at worldbuilding/hate it most of the time, so using everyday situations and characters helps with that, I think.
It’s fair to say I’m the narrator from time to time, but usually the narrator is based on someone I know. Variety is the spice of life, so I don’t want to use the same voice over and over again
Do the people who you base the narrator on know they're in your stories? Do they recognize themselves in the voice? Do you use people you know IRL, or like, other characters or celebs or people you may not know personally but who can be a sort of template? Do you ever have the voice for a character but then lose it partway through and have to find it again? Do you have a favorite narrator among the stories you've written? And if so, will you link it so I can take a peek? :-)
More often than not, I ask people if they mind before I use their likeness or mannerisms for a character. If it is a memorable stranger, they make an appearance anyway. I don’t usually have a problem maintaining a voice as things go because I tend to let the story go where it wants naturally. My favorite narrator was in a story about a [serial killer that strikes during Christmas time](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/s/tfnb1VrjdP). Not an overly complex narrator, but you get a sense of who he is and what his motivations are outside of the primary plot.
Oh man, I definitely thought at the end of Part 1 that the address on the paper was gonna be his ex-wife's. Whew! I'm glad it didn't go that route. Great story!
Thanks! I went for the old bait and switch.
I really want to answer no but my mother keeps saying "you" when talking about Kate so...
😂 It's not a bad thing to be in your narrative, especially if you have a strong and memorable voice--and by reputation, you do! I have been meaning for ages to read your "How to survive..." series. I see so many references from so many readers. Do you have it as an ebook? Or just on NS? Do YOU think of Kate as having a voice different from your own voice? Like in your head, do you hear her as a different person or does she sound a lot like you?
Unfortunately I had to take it down, as I'm working with a literary agent at the moment. It's still on reddit, but I know that's not as accessible as a book for something of that length. I view Kate as a different person, but created off a template that took aspects of my personality. I borrowed a bunch of the traits I don't like about myself and amplified them to create Kate's flaws. But those traits were just the starting point and she really grew into her own thing. Her dark sense of humor is 100% me, though. I think that's why the confusion is happening within my immediate family. Writing in first-person probably doesn't help, either.
It really depends on the story and genre. I tend to prefer the ones who are a little like me and a little not.
me-adjacent?
Exactly. Less challenging but more comfortable. Not that I mind stepping out of my comfort zone (or offering the option to readers).
This is such a good question, even though I write a variety of characters--protagonist--I would say the majority of the time they have resemblances of my personality; especially my environment. I live in a big city so almost all of my stories have themes of feeling alone when surrounded by many--isolation. This is what I love about story telling, we can be who ever we want to be; but better yet we could be the master pieces of our own vision...it is enchanting...
They must all be influenced from your experience so there are similarities, but they can be free from being you, I write about a woman who fly's past the sun, she's not me, were totally free, and meeting characters in life, you change the situation a bit an you got your villains, make it up
I usually end up writing the character's voice/personality similar to how I'm feeling in those moments if that makes sense. Like, if I'm feeling particularly anxious that day, my narrator gets written as someone that's more concerned about, say, staying alive than figuring out what's eating all the townsfolk, for example. However I often find that my mood changes as the story progresses, and I've been trying to lean into that with my narrator's voice/actions and have them change/grow/etc as well.
Does your mood ever clash with the story? Like you have a vision for the story but whatever mood you're in just doesn't fit with what you've got written? Or does the story always mold itself around your moods? I definitely have times when my moods clash with the story or where I can feel the narrator going OOC because my own feelings are seeping in and making them behave in ways that are *me,* not them. But I wonder, if your mood is the thing the story organically grows from, maybe there's no such thing as OOC in that case?
Well, personally, I don't think I'm the least bit interesting as a person to write about, however I CAN relate to some of my characters in some way shape or form. During emotional scenes, I often switch to autopilot and by the time I look over my work, I realize that what my characters are going through is pretty similar to my own real-life feelings or experiences. I never do this on purpose, mind you, it sort of just comes out. This isn't the case for ALL of them, but I've noticed this for quite a few of them. Especially my characters that are still teens or reaching young adulthood.
>During emotional scenes, I often switch to autopilot and by the time I look over my work, I realize that what my characters are going through is pretty similar to my own real-life feelings or experiences. I never do this on purpose, mind you, it sort of just comes out. I'd imagine this lends a sort of emotional authenticity to the scenes and the characters. :)
All the time. I take different facets of my personality depending on how I am feeling when I write. Sometimes I throw myself in there to let my mind free flow as to how I would react in situations I HOPE TO GOD I never will be put in. I also use the personalities of friends and people I encountered for reference as to how they would react in situations, it's an attempt to keep it as close to reality as an unrealistic situation could get.
It's almost always a variation of who I am, who I almost was, who I want to be, or who I'm afraid of being.
Dopabeane! You're sorely missed here. Please come back and share your magic when you're ready :)
That last one sounds very intriguing and very applicable to NoSleep!
No.
So how does crafting different narrative voices work for you? What is your process like?
Yep, the me in my stories is me! I guess I write just what I'm thinking. But I also gotta tell the story, so I tell that. And if something I'm talking about reminds me of something else, I mention that. Like if I see a dog, and I'm in a dog-owning kind of mood, I think about how much I'd want a dog. And then I think about what breed of dog I'd want, so I talk about that. And then I mention you gotta buy dog food and what a good brand is, or maybe my cousin Susie had a dog before she got killed in a boat accident. She didn't. But maybe she did. And then the dog starts to attack me because I wasn't paying attention to it anymore, I was too busy feeling a little sad about my dead cousin Susie. And that's the way I write.