Progress...of a different kind

I have been away from this blog for far too long, but more ashamed am I of the time I've spent away from the pages of my story. It has been weeks, nigh months, since Yamini has had any action. I can't blame writer's block, because I know exactly what is to be written. I can only blame my motivation. Lack of sleep. Lack of initiative. And lack of inspiration. I need to crawl out of this funk, and ASAP!

Of course, I know the only way to get back into the groove of things is to start putting words down on the screen and stop caring (temporarily, mind you) how pretty or perfect they are. Well, a very large part of me still fights this philosophy of "putting down crap and cleaning it up later" so I've taken a different tack. Character mapping! Probably more exciting than it actually sounds, and way more beneficial to me than any standard outline formatting. I've never been one for outlines, timelines, ANY kind of lines, really. They're too restrictive, too concrete. I liked to color outside them as a kid. Not because I didn't possess the coordination to stay within them, but rather...because I didn't always like where they were placed. My stories are no exception.

The character maps provide me with a deeper insight to the characters, their motivations, their progressions in the story, where significant events overlapped, and the ultimate goals or endgames of each. What I have been focusing on these last two weeks is essentially each character's (sub characters included) entire story, beginning with the start of the book until the end of it, summarizing the whole of their importance, explaining their motives, and drawing a vague idea of how they will accomplish or fail their purpose. It is an interesting strategy, one I've never before employed. And despite the time it is consuming, I am finding it both fun and helpful. Several plot issues--aspects of the story that up until just days ago were question marks even to me!--are being resolved and fundamentally fleshed out so that when the time comes to reveal a twist or hidden motive or some such thing, I will at least know which way the story will go from there.

Perhaps these ramblings sound like that of a poor writer. I can imagine the commentary. "This guy doesn't even know what he's writing half the time!" Well, I don't. Half the time, the things that come out of my characters' mouths or their actions are just as surprising to me as they are to the readers. THIS is what keeps the writing process fun for me. Experiencing the story myself as the reader must. Being surprised. Not being quite sure what will happen, how, or when. Most of the time I'm in the mystery with my own writing, my own characters. But the way I see it...if I can fool myself, then I must succeed, in part or in whole, in tricking out the masses. I consider that a victory as an author.

Now, it wouldn't be right for me to post the character maps I'm creating, for there would be spoilers abound and practically give away the entire story! I can, however, provide a brief bio of each, similar to the character sketches found in video game manuals. The purpose in the game books is to get the players interested in the characters said game has to offer by giving their background and letting the player decide who to be, who to care about, who to trust and who not to. Video games have been such a big inspiration of mine thus far. I see no reason not to continue the trend.

That said, look for these bios to come one at a time in the near future.