30DoW: Day 11

[ravenswept]

11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?

Of all time or just for the moment?

Well, currently (unlike jkoyanagi or limiinal I have no big masterwork in the process, and I'm jealous of both of them) I'm having a lot of fun writing for my Noir story. While not my first, it's my biggest foray in first-person perspective, and she's a ton load of fun to write for. The way she thinks (and I write for her) is short and crisp, and she is all about keeping the advantage. She's smart and observant and always keeping some secret, so what she thinks and what she actually says are a fun constrast; I especially like when what she says and what she's thinking are the same, but still mean different things.

That, and she's a little badass. She (fuck it, you know what, until I think of something better, her name is Rachel THERE) built her little empire from the ground up, starting as a cleaner for another Don. She built up her contacts, progressing upwards through different ranks, until she split off and started her own. She completely business about it, refers to the job in professional terms and even keeps track of records in business terms (which, admittedly, makes it easy to keep records without much fear of incriminating ones self, as everything looks like legitmate accounting ledgers). And she follows through with her decisions, even if she doesn't like it (if you've read the ending chapter, you know what I'm talking about).

Now for least favorite... um... probably Haitel from Tigress. He's the young ruler of a large kingdom (or was it an empire?...) who was spoiled from the day he was born. He has little concept of the outside world, and even though he shouldn't, makes big decisions that affect his subjects more than they'll ever affect him. The boy is just a total brat, and he's a pain to write for. He needs to be a threat on some level, because he's the antagonist, but writing a normal human boy who has no special powers (beyond being ruler) and isn't psychotic (just spoiled) into something isn't easy (or fun). The kid's just a little douche.

Comments

[jkoyanagi.livejournal.com]

I can see why you'd enjoy writing for Rachel. Also, this:

And she follows through with her decisions, even if she doesn't like it

...makes me happy. I'm so sick of whiny, indecisive main characters. I mean, I like internal conflict, but I hate it when someone supposedly feels passionate about something but then hedges at the last minute for some minor reason. For me, it doesn't create tension... it creates annoyance.

Point is, I like what I've read of Rachel!

[ravenswept.livejournal.com]

You've read the excerpts? And like them? SWEET!

[limiinal.livejournal.com]

Tigress is the twisted Disney version, right? Maybe you could give Haitel some sort of nod to that influence -- say, a laughing disorder, since so many Disney baddies have over-active laughs. Something to make him more interesting to write, so his bratty behavior is easier to deal with.

Well it sounded good in my head.

[ravenswept.livejournal.com]

He laughs, he has no corralation between the decisions he makes and how they actually affect his subjects; in his mind he has ended the problem, no matter how he does it, so why aren't the people happy?

I don't want him to go overboard with it, because then he teeters close to having an insane laugh like the Joker, and he isn't, he's just a stupid kid.

But giving him some kind of tic is a good idea.