2010-09-17

30 Days of Writing Questions – Days 28 and 29

28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.

Funny you should ask . . . In my current WIP I have a character who’s a few bricks short of a load, but it’s not really his fault. His condition was brought about by torture and a device around his neck. The device also prevents him from remembering who he is and is used to control him.

After the device is removed he still can’t remember who he is, but he no longer feels the pain the device exerted and he regains his free will. Most of the time I show his disability by the way he speaks, although a few of his reactions are somewhat child-like as well (not childish, child-like). Even after he regains his fully memory, he’s still somewhat damaged because of the things he did/was made to do when he was being controlled.

29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?

When I’m not writing I’m usually thinking about writing. I have stories running through my head constantly. They’re not always good stories, so few of them ever make it onto paper (or into a document file) but there’re always there.

My stories are, for the most part, set in space, other planets, or other dimensions so there’s not a lot IRL that reminds me of either story or characters. That being said, I’ll sometimes come across a picture or a view that will trigger an idea for a story. I was driving through the fog when I got the idea for the Myste; the fog started me thinking "what if" and by the time I got to my destination the core of the idea was solid. Another time I was walking through a mall with a friend and saw a display in a store that started me thinking of the kind of person who’d wear something like that and the main character for my third Myste book was born.

If you'd like to take part, or just see the whole list of questions, go HERE

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