I said I'd edit this... and now I have!
I believe that the human character shines its brightest when under the most stressful, make-or-break situations. It's easy to be, or pretend to be, whatever you want or idolize when you're comfortable, when you have a (relatively) easy path, with easy choices before you, but it's when you're really under the heat that your true personality is revealed, when your core really comes to light. And it's with this mentality that I endeavour to create my characters.
I find, after thought, that not many of my stories will have the "happy ending", infact, I believe it's much truer to have the joy of an ending in it's finality, i.e. Rather than all the characters dreams and wishes coming true, they're simply happy (or atleast somewhat content) that their journeys and struggles are finally complete.
As I said in my opening paragraph, I believe our characters are at their brightest and truest when we're in the hardest of times. In particular, Grief and Mourning, and Wrath and Rage tend to smelt away the layers of metaphorical makeup that we paint our characters in and as such, I won't be afraid of putting my characters in situations like that- actually in planning I usually pick at least one character to die, and will often decide to kill a character on a whim if the mood is right.
Now, reading over all of the above, I realize how pessimistic it all sounds, and I'd like to clarify- all the situations my characters find themselves in will be hard, dark, or all round depressing, but that shouldn't be the focal point of the work. No, the focal point of the work lies with the characters endurance, their stamina, their strength and their lust for justice or revenge. The focus should be on despite the whole weight of the world leaning against them, they still have that 'Oh so very human' spark of resistance. I want my characters to be a beacon of light in a sea of black.
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I'm currently involved in quite a few collaborative works, and the majority of my solo writing is for prequels and side stories in other authors creations, but I am brainstorming a solo work that I could write, and stick with.
Anyway, A list of my works:
- Deaths March, @CassieK
- 3002, @rhectoric
- The Dead Down Under (A Walking Dead Fanfic), @melikepork
- The Hurricane (A Pirates of the Carribean Fanfic), @melikepork
- Another Day for a Demon (Set in an another authors creation), @Mortis
- Aire (If we find one more Author), @CrystalRose
I'll always be interested in a collaborative writing, although I may not be able to participate sometimes, I will always give it a read and a review if asked.
All critiques are welcome, even just a friendly "Hello!" would be cool.
Thanks,
-Jay
