Ganked from loweko.

[shirenomad]

Ask me one question - any one - about my writing, then post this in your LJ so I can satisfy my curiosity about yours, not that you haven't already...

Those who have never written a creative word in their life may feel free to skip the second step, though I think this meme works best as a way for authors to exchange tips.

Comments

[violentmike.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered, why do you tend to stick to writing your original characters in with characters from official canon? Why not just do everything original?

[shirenomad]

I've thought about that myself sometimes. I suppose the simple answer is that I got started that way. I can't exactly write Tor without Mina along for the ride... and as long as she's there I might as well include all the other characters I looted. And frankly, Board Prime has always been about ridiculously complicated crossovers, even though we've developed a more serious side to it. There's certainly nothing wrong with your approach -- in fact, I applaud you for it -- but I started early when plagiarizing from game universes was still in vogue, and it's a little late to back out now without scrapping everything and starting over.

There's probably one other reason, though: I have a bit of trouble coming up with new characters on my own. And I find it far more fascinating to theorize about characters that already exist but haven't been deeply developed. What are their real motivations? What was their earlier life like? What would they do in a situation like X? Sometimes the answers surprise me.

With that said, I have made a couple stories with completely original characters; they just don't apply to the Boards. Maybe I'll put one up someday... then again, maybe I won't.