Another One of Those Writer Blogs

And I don’t even like character sheets. I mean, not the stupid ones that ask you what your character’s favorite type of animal is, but I like this one. And I think it’d be cool to do another one. This is the same idea as the one Charles comes from, and is actually his foil. Well, here she is. Continue reading ‘Villain Month: Roseanne Character Sheet’

I’m a bit late for Villain Month, but whatever. And I probably won’t update every day, since my computer is broken and I have exams, so… yeah.

I’ve been bouncing this idea around for a while, but I haven’t actually started writing it yet. Next I might work with a villian from my actual WIP (perish the thought).

So, without any further ado, my first villain.

Full name of Character: Charles de Paul
Reason, meaning or purpose behind the name: Parents thought it sounded nice
Nickname: None. Charles doesn’t like nicknames.
Reason for nickname: None.
Occupation: He’s in charge of making sure the student at the Academy behave, as well as tracking down runaways.
Social class: Upper-middle class.

Appearance

Age: 19.
How old they appear: In his twenties, but more because of his prescence than his body. He’s an old soul.
Eye Color: Brown
Glasses or contacts? Neither
Hair color length and style: Brown, cut short.
Weight and height: 130, 5′11″.
Type of body (build): skinny
Skin tone and type (i.e., harry, slimy, scaly, oily, fair, burns easily): Fair, clean.
Shape of face: Pointed chin, wide forehead.
Distinguishing marks (dimples, moles, scars, birthmarks, etc.): Crooked nose.
Predominant feature: His nose.
Is s/he healthy? Yes.
If not, why not? Or why are they healthy? Exercise, healthy meals, relatively low stress.
Do they look healthy? Why/why not? Yes.

Favorites

favorite color: Red.
Least favorite, why? None.
Music? Classical. Bach, usually.
Least favorite music? Contemporary, Romantic
Food: steak 
Literature: Greek tragedy and history.
Expressions: I don’t know.
Expletives (curse): Damn, probably. Charles doesn’t curse much.
Mode of transport: Zeppelin.
Hobbies: chess, literature, music, miltary history
How do they spend a rainy day? Practicing chess, reading, working on his strategy, practicing his powers.

Personality

Are they a daredevil or cautious? Cautious. He hates having to change his plans.
Do they act the same alone as when with someone? Mostly.
Habits: Getting lost in thought when someone’s speaking.
Drinks: Wine. Yes, I know he’s too young.
How much: One glass with dinner, usually.
Greatest Strength: His ability to hide his emotions.
Greatest Weakness: His belief that everyone is stupider than himself.
Soft spot: Beauty. He doesn’t like to destroy pieces of art, furniture, houses, etc.
Is their soft spot obvious, why/why not: Not really. He’s good at keeping his emotions under control.
If not, how do they hide it: He keeps a blank face most of the time.
Biggest Vulnerability: Pride

Background

Hometown: Not sure. He seems like a New Englander.
Type of childhood: Happy enough.
First Memory: His grandfather dying, and his parents trying to hide it from him.
Most important child hood event that still effects him/her: When the soldiers came to take him to the Academy.
Why? Because he is now trained as an officer, spent twelve years in Boot Camp.
Education: The Academy, aka Boot Camp
Religion: Apathetic.
Finances: He’s pretty much set for life, but he’s not hugely wealthy.

Family

Mother: Anne de Paul, nee Willis.
Relationship with her: Non-existant.
Father: John de Paul.
Relationship with him: Non-existant.
Siblings, How many, relationship with each: None.
Children of siblings: None.
Other extended family: None that he knows.
Close? Why or why not: Not close, because he left home at six.

Attitude

Most at ease when: He knows exactly what’s going on, and no one else does.
Most ill at ease when: He’s dealing with calm people.
Priorities: Become a general in the army, serve the government.
Philosophies: Keep to the law, except when you have to deviate.
How they feel about themselves: He’s doing well.
Past failure they would be embarrassed to admit: Was caught skipping class when he was eight.
Why? Because now he is a law official, and realizes the worth of the law.
If granted one wish what would it be, why?

Traits

Optimist or pessimist? Why? Pessimist. He sees everyone else as idiots that he has to put up with to get anything done.
Introvert or extrovert? Why? Introvert. He prefers to keep his emotions to himself, to put his enemies at a disadvantage.
Drives and motives: He wants to succeed and become a general in the army. He believes that he is the only one smart enough to lead government troops.
Talents: Charles is a genius, and is very good at strategy. He is also an Id, meaning that he can sense other people’s emotions.
Extremely skilled at: strategy, reading people, keeping in control, thinking ahead
Extremely unskilled at: making split-second decisions, dealing with change
Good characteristics: intellegent, calm, loyal
Character flaws: proud, vain, cruel, unadaptable
Mannerisms: folding his hands together when upset
Peculiarities: almost never changes his expression
Biggest regret: Charles doesn’t like dwelling on the past.
Minor regrets: Same.
Biggest accomplishment: Getting a leadership position immeadiately after graduation.
Minor accomplishments: Graduating from Boot Camp, mastering his Id powers.
Darkest secret: He feels some regret when he has to kill people.
Does anyone know? Hopefully not.
How did they find out: None.

Self-perception

One word they would use to describe themselves: Collected.
One paragraph of how they would describe themselves: I am intellegent, possibly the most intellegent graduate of the Academy. I am a strategist above all else. I am calm. I would never betray anyone, be it myself or anyone else, unless I absolutely had to. The law is supreme.
What do they consider their best physical characteristic and why: Eyes. They can see everything, but give away nothing.
The worst one? Why? His nose, because it makes his face look off-center.
Are they realistic assessments? Yes.
How they think others preserve them: Calm, emotionless, intellegent.
What four things would they most like to change about themselves: His nose.
Why? His nose makes him look undignified.
If they were changed would they be the same person, why/why not: Yes.
Would changing of number 1 make them more happy? Why/why not: Yes.

Interaction With Other People

How do they relate to others: He looks down on most people, considering them inferior. This disdain usually slips out in the form of passive-agressive insults.
How are they perceived by strangers: Aloof, cold.
Friends: He doesn’t really have friends, but people who know him better than strangers find him calm and focused.
Wife/husband/lover: None.
The Hero/Heroine: They see him as an authority figure at first, but then they see him as a heartless killer who is prusing them for his own gain.

How do they view the Hero/Heroine: He sees Ken as something to be collected in order to be promoted. He thinks Laura has potential, but her rebellious streak gets in the way. Jay is completely useless and out of control, while Andrew is a cowardly weakling.
First impression of the char: Don’t know.
why?
What happens to change this perception:
What do people like most about this char: He is efficient.
What do they dislike most about them: He is frustratingly calm, and you can never know what he’s thinking.

Goals

Immediate: To capture Ken and his friends and return them to his superiors.
Long term: To get promoted to general.
How do they plan to accomplish them: First, he will capture Ken, which should place him firmly in the superior’s good books. Second, he will continue to do his work well and efficiently, displaying his strategical talent, until he rises through the ranks.
How will others be effected by this: Ken and the others will have to be killed. Charles is not afraid to trample on others to acheive his goal.

Problems/Crisis

How do they react in a crisis: If he has time, he replans. If he doesn’t, he tends to break down and make mistakes.
How do they face problems: With a plan.
Kind of problems they usually run into: How to plan a battle, how to capture runaways.
How they react to new problems: In the spur of the moment? Panic.
How they react to change: Badly.

General:

Favorite clothing, why: His uniform, because it makes him look smart.
Least favorite, why: I don’t know.
Jewelry: None. 
Other accessories: Gun, usually.
Drives: He is eager to succeed.
Where do they live: In the army barracks.
Where do they want to live: In a nice house when he isn’t at war, and in a tent when he is.

Spending habits, why: He likes buying good food, good wine, and some entertainment, but he doesn’t need to buy many clothes.
What do they do too much of, why: Over-indulge in food and wine.
Most prized possession, why: His chess board, because it belonged to the man who taught him strategy, the former General Anderson.
People they secretly admire, why: He envies Laura’s ability to react quickly to change. He also admires The Principal and his ability to intimidate others.
Person they are most influenced by, why: General Anderson, various historical figures.
Most important person in their life before story starts, why: The Principal, because he is his immediate superior.
How do they spend the week just before the story starts: Finding trouble-makers in the halls, waiting for his first runaway assignment.

Or, when characters hijack the plot for their own devious ends.

Anyway, one of my characters just turned out to be in love with someone they’re not supposed to be in love with. Part of me’s excited because, hey, the little characters are all grown up now and can make their own decisions! And it does actually fix a lot of plot holes. But on the other hand, it sort of pisses me off because… well, he wasn’t SUPPOSED to be in love with her. No matter how glad I am that my characters can reveolt, it’s sort of the thought that they know better than me that makes me mad.

So, yeah. That’s my post. Nothing deep and profound today.

Has it really been over a month? I’m sorry, if any of you are reading this. I did warn you guys.

Anyway, for lack of anything better, I’ll talk about different types of comedy. Yay.

I just started thinking about this, apropos of nothing, the other day. I’ve noticed that, in movies especially, there seems to be three broad categories of comedy: smart comedy, good-stupid comedy, and bad-stupid comedy.

Smart comedy is exactly what it says. It’s comedy that makes you laugh by being genuinely insightful about human existence and emotion. It’s the sort of comedy that you’re allowed to like, and will admit to liking. Of course, there’s always the risk of going for smart-comedy and ending up with unfunny and prentetious, but not to worry. There will always be a small subset of people who like what you’ve done, albeit only because they’re “supposed to”. But that’s a rant for another day.

My favorite “smart-comedy” is Stranger Than Fiction. It’s a story about a guy who’s the main character in a novel. It’s smart, it’s funny. And, like all great comedies, it can be truly heart-breaking. Packed with an all-star cast and headed by Will Ferrell, who gives an outstanding performance as the meek accountant Harold Crick, it’s a great movie that plays with our ideas of reality and destiny, while still being pretty damn hilarious. It’s one of two scripts that I will kick myself forever that I didn’t write (the other being another one of my favorite smart comedies, Grosse Point Blank).

And then there’s good-stupid comedy. Everyone knows this. It’s basically just crudity and pop culture references. But you still laugh anyway. You know you shouldnt, but it’s genuinely funny. The best make you wonder if it was a work of genius or the work of a twelve-year-old. I find Anchorman, another Will Ferrell movie, to be a great example of this confusion. I mean, it’s so dumb… but they CAN’T expect anyone to take it seriously, can they? Gah, it makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

And, finally, stupid-stupid comedy. Self-explanatory. Schlock like Meet the Spartans. Comedy so unbelieveably dumb that you can’t figure out who pays to see it. Answer: frat boys and bored nerds who like picking it apart.

Of course, the lines can be blurred (South Park is usually a smart-comedy, with elements of good-stupid comedy and the occasional stupid-stupid comedy moment), but those are the basic categories. That I’ve noticed, anyway.

Yeah.

Things I Love About the Internet, number 3,794: It has changed the way creative people interact.

I honestly don’t know what my writing would be like if not for the Internet. I have improved immensely in the two years or so that I have been active on the Internet. Maybe it’s just a natural result of growing up and realizing that my writing isn’t the best thing since Shakespeare, but I think it mostly has to do with getting real criticism from other writers.

I used to give my stories to my friends, and they’d gush over it and say it’s excellent, it’s the best thing they’ve ever read. That’s nice, and all, but it isn’t exactly helpful. Then I got on the Internet. Suddenly, I was getting lots of critiques, and quite a few of them weren’t “OMG UR SO GOOD” (although a lot were — this is the Internet, after all). At first I couldn’t deal with it. Like, at all. I’d ignore it, and then I’d never finish whatever got critiqued. It hurt too much.

But, eventually, something snapped. Somehow, without even trying to, I’d snapped the bonds between my ego and my writing. I didn’t see critiques of my work as someone hating me, my writing, and everything about it. I began to see that the critiquer likes my work, but thinks that it can improve in certain areas. Otherwise, why bother? Maybe it was because I was beginning to critique more, as well, so I understood where they were coming from. I don’t know. But it’s the best thing that ever happened to me, as far as my writing is concerned. This revelation might never have happened if I hadn’t begun posting my work on the Internet.

I also love how the Internet is a level playing field. Let’s take a webcomic, for example. If you are talented, and if you put tons of work into your webcomic, and update regularly, people are more likely to take notice. There’s always the fluke of human stupidity to count for, but, in general, popular comics are popular because they deserve to be. Of course, some of the popular comics have flagged in recent years, but, in general, are based on strong writing and consideration for their fans (I can forgive a comic poor art, but I will never keep reading a poorly-written comic. I can understand missing updates if you have a day job or personal problems, but if the author doesn’t bother giving any explanation, or misses updates when the comic is their job, I’m sorry. I hate it).

Also, the degree of creator-audience interaction is great. From your first fan fic to your webcomic of ten years, there is always the possibility of easy communication between the two. I believe that, although puff pieces bloat an artist’s ego and cause stagnation, I also believe that good criticism is the most valuable tool and author can have. I would consider a creator extremely lucky if he or she has one constructive critique for every twenty empty praises (or empty flames). Having been guilty of both of these types of reviews, I know that con crit is more rewarding both for the creator and the reviewer.

In short, even though the Internet is filled with drek, it is one of the best tools an artistic person can have. To quote one of the many versions of Sturgeon’s Law: “90% of everything is crap, but the 10% is worth dying for”.

Jesus Christ, next thing you know, I’ll be singing about how the sun’ll come out tomorrow.

I hate beginnings.

No, honestly. They’re the hardest part of a novel for me. I struggle with how much information to give, what the characters sound like, sorting out the plot holes, everything. Mostly I wonder if my writing is good enough for the work I’m doing. I want it to be really good, but I know I’m not really good yet. I’m pretty good, but that just won’t cut it.

So I stress about it, trying to get better, thinking that maybe I should put this aside, work on something shorter, something easier, until I get better.

If I keep doing that, I’m never going to get better.

I can’t keep getting wrapped up in my own insecurities to the point where I don’t do anything. I’m a writer. It’s what I want. And I’m young. I’m allowed to suck for now. But if I don’t practice, I’m never going to improve.

Of course, maybe posting something for critique the moment I finish it doesn’t exactly help, either.

So, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll keep it to myself for now, and I won’t stop to think how bad the dialogue or the prose or the plot is. That’s what editing’s for. The first draft is for getting the general idea of a novel down. I can polish and edit as much as I want, but I’m never going to get to that point if I don’t plough through this.

Wish me luck.

I have made up a new law.

Not a civil law (that would be bitchin’, though), but more like Murphy’s Law or Godwin’s Law. Just a generalized maxim about life.

Here it is, Belton’s Law:

“There is no middle ground on the Internet. Ever. No exceptions.”

I’m not sure why this is, but I have seen it more times than I can count. Maybe it’s just nuts that go on the Internet. Maybe it’s because you never see forums called “Generic Sci-Fi Series is OK.” No, it’s either the best thing since whatever anime show everyone seems to adore, or its completely execrable and deserves to die a fiery death.

Like I said, this might be because forums and communities centered around a specific topic don’t usually attract casual fans, or people who think it’s pretty bad, but nothing to get upset about. It’s either “OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING EVA” or “OMG THIS IS THE WORST THING EVA”.

Why is this? Why is the Internet such a breeding ground for fanaticism? Well, have you ever tried going onto a forum of a show that you’re only a casual fan of? If you mention that you’ve only seen three episodes in syndication. You will undoubtedly be ridiculed as a “n00b”. And God forbid that you stumbled across the episode that the fandom in general declared a bust. It’s as scary as shit for a novice.

On the other hand, if you don’t really like it, then you’re probably not motivated to post, anyway. But, if you do point out that you don’t like a certain character, or perhaps that the show is decent, but not groundbreaking, you get torn to shreds. You get a bunch of people obsessed with the show screaming, “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!!!!ONE!!!” It’s only the people who really, really hate it that stick it out. That, and trolls, who get off on being screamed at, apparently.

But this is mainly focusing on forums specifically devoted to the thing in question. Whenever an issue pops up on an otherwise unrelated forum, it usually turns into a knock-down brawl between those who support it whole-heartedly and those who hate it with all their being.

This is partially because of the issue I mentioned above. The middle ground can’t bother to be lambasted for their wish-washy beliefs. What’s even worse is if you say, “I like X, but I think Y has a point,” you’ll get flamed on both sides. Twice the fun, huh?

But, as convincing as that all sounds, I don’t think that’s the extent of the issue. If you’re not a complete dick, and you meet someone at a dinner party, and they have radically different views from you, you don’t start screaming “U NOOB!” at them. Why not? Well, because it’d be rude and embarrassing. But there’s no such judgment on the Internet. Sure, people think you’re a jerk if you act like that, but there is, effectively, nothing they can do about it, unless they are mods or admins. You don’t have to see them at work every day, with them knowing you’re a jerk. You don’t have to see their reactions to your huge freakout. You don’t care what they think. And that, I believe, is why people go to extremes on the Internet. They can’t be assholes in public, so do it over the Internet. Blow off some steam. Call people noobs. No one cares, and, even if they did, you’re still right and they’re still wrong. So, ha.

Only you’re still a jerk, whether we see your face or your avatar. So, ha.

Let me just warn you: I am infamous for starting blogs and never updating. It’s not cool of me, I know, but, then again, I never said I was cool.

So, yeah. This is my newest blog. I’m sure you could trace my progress through the Internet by my trail of abandoned blogs. My first was a crappy little AOL blog, where I coyly changed the names of my friends so that they wouldn’t be targeted by “stalkers”. Please.

Then I moved onto deadjournal. I was there for about ten days.

I still have my LiveJournal. Apollonia F, if you care enough to look it up. I don’t update anymore, but I still read my friends’, and very occasionally comment.

So now I have a wordpress. Hopefully it won’t sink into the deep black abyss.