Character Building, AI Assistance, and Negativity
Why Knowing My Characters Is Everything (plus a bonus mini-rant)
A short post this week. But not for the usual reasons (day job, family commitments, etc.) This week, I’ve been busy developing the character biographies for ‘The Book,’ then back to the novel’s outline.
It seems that I need all the pieces of the jigsaw organized and ready to put together before I can start writing. I’m still not 100% sure, but I feel much more comfortable working out the story outline and the main characters’ backstories before I begin.
Maybe I’ll change my mind as the book progresses. Anyway, it looks like I’m drifting towards the plotter camp of writers. I guess I’ll have to have a few books under my belt before I’ll know with any certainty.
Spring has sprung. This image is entirely unrelated to anything covered in this week’s newsletter. But after a rain-soaked winter, the sight of the crocuses blooming on one of the few sunny days of the last few months lifted my spirits.
Why I Need Character Sheets
Perhaps it is just how I think; it certainly seems to be an important part of my long-form writing process. If I don’t know my characters in depth from the get-go, I tend to flounder, unable to put anything near a coherent plot together. As I said, most likely, most authors don’t have that problem, but that’s ok; everybody is different.
I have four distinctive main characters, but they didn’t have any depth, just a few notes in a template character sketch provided by Scrivener, a general outline, in other words. I needed much more.
I’m working on a new Your Creative Edgepost detailing all the steps needed to develop each character’s full biography. I’ll cover the main character from the initial concept to the final Bio. Only the antagonist needs more work, as vital information is missing. Each character’s Bio is around eight pages, covering everything from background story to internal and external conflicts.
Now that I’m finally getting to know the characters, I can better work on the outline. Every major turning point can be more easily thought through, knowing how each might react in the given situation. This will take a while, but I’ll not hurry through the process. It will take as long as it takes.
Editors Note: After the first 400 words of this newsletter written this morning, I was in a bind and had limited time. The solution was to open Ulysses on my phone and dictate. When I returned to the office this afternoon, thanks to Ulysses synchronizing with my MacBook, I only had to edit it and ensure it was cleaned up and ready for posting. Unfortunately, I’m still terrible with dictation, so no time was saved, but at least I got a few thoughts down.
And Why Strong Characters Matter
A few weeks ago, after finishing the extended edition audiobook of Stephen King’s The Stand, I wrote about the importance of character-building in fiction.
Since then, I’ve been working through the Poseidon’s Children hard science fiction trilogy by Alastair Reynolds. Although entertaining, I noticed that I didn’t care about the fate of the characters anywhere near as much as I did with The Stand. Comparing King’s novel with these, well, there’s no comparison. I was upset with the fate of some of the characters in The Stand, but I couldn’t care less about those in the Reynolds trilogy.
If I can write characters only 10% as engaging as Stephen King did, I’ll be an ecstatic writer. But I’m not holding my breath. All I can do is try my best and see what happens.
I won’t be too hard on myself, though. After all, it will be my first completed manuscript (if I ever get it finished.)
Bonus Mini-Rant
In a recent Substack post, the author begins the post by defending his AI-positive position. But why should we?
See Bryan Collin’s Substack post here: My controversial take on using AI to write. He lists and explains several ways that AI can be extremely helpful.
If a person doesn’t want to use AI, then don’t. That does not, however, give them the right to dictate to others what they should, or more precisely, should not do. I think it’s about time the anti-AI crowd woke up and took a good deep breath of the coffee aroma wafting around the writer’s studio.
Bryan’s post is just the latest, but many others have used similar justifications for using AI. I’ve explained myself more than once in several of my articles. Honestly, I’m tired of having to defend or justify myself (I’m not criticizing Bryan at all; far from it), so from this moment, I’m done with it. Either accept that I use GenAI tools or don’t. I won’t explain myself anymore unless it falls within the theme of a particular post.
Why Should AI Advocates in Writing Have To Explain Their Stance?
Mini-rant over ;-)
Final Thoughts
We are having a short weekend break away next weekend. On Friday, we’ll be in Ghent, Belgium, before driving a short distance to Zeeland in the Netherlands, where we’ll be spending the night. It’s not often that we get to spend any quality time together these days, so we are both looking forward to it.
I heard about writers refilling their creative wells by traveling to cities or countries they’ve never experienced before. I’ll be doing my utmost to profit from the trip. If not new ideas, then at least I’ll get to sample a few Belgian beers.
The plan is to have the next issue of Your Creative Edge out this coming week. If so, I’ll include a link in next week’s newsletter. Until then, I hope you have a great writing week ahead. And if you’re not a writer, then have a wonderful week.
Enjoy the coming Spring season wherever you are.