My question to you writers is, do you use the Goal-Motivation-Conflict technique in your writing? Do you apply GMC to both internal and external goals?
Joan Swan over at Romance Worth Killing For wrote an interesting post about Robert Gregory Brown's attitude, emotion, goal and action technique. Swan says:
In relation to character development though, RBG brought it all back together for me with one simple concept: imagination + self.
He says every character he writes is him--hero, heroine, secondary, tertiary, one-liners. They're all him...
RBG suggests you ask yourself, if this were me, how would I handle the situation?
My next question is, do you get your characters from within yourself? Or, do you create characters externally? Or, if none of the above, how do you make your characters seem real?
UPDATE: Therese Walsh over at Writer Unboxed has posted the 'Mother of all Character Interviews.'
11 comments:
My characters are definitely not all based on myself. I don't think anyone has enough facets in their personality to be able to write every character this way. I also think this could be very limiting. I am a study of human nature. I draw on my observations of the people around me constantly. I believe this is the way to make your characters real.
I'm not sure what GMC is, but as for characters being all me - not at all. Perhaps some traits they have, perhaps.
Some of my characters are quite the opposite, some similar and some simply different. I agree with bren, it would be limiting, oh, and I'm not that interesting to boot :)
Hmm, I've never really thought about it. I just kinda start writing about my characters, a little bio, and stuff comes out. Hmmmmmm.
When I was first trying to find my writing strategy, I did use the GMCs. But then I've tried almost every technique I could get my hands on. None seemed right for me. Now I sort of do a character sketch, habits, looks what the character wants, type of thing. Most of the time the characters change, but it gives me a starting point.
And my answer is both internal and external. Part of me goes into my characters, and part I create from maybe what I see in others. =D
I use GMC - it helps me to stay focused throughout the book.
As far as my characters...well, I'd have to say that there is a little of me in many of them, but not very much. I think we need to include one of our own traits in order to understand them well.
Actually I have a tendancy to loosly base my characters on people I know or have met.... I know this can be a bit dangerous but it helps in relation to physical attributes and mannerisms.
IF I dont catch you before your week and a half have a good one!
Wil
I'm not a big GMC fan. Obviously it plays a part in the story, but I don't like using the "formula."
My characters are fractures of myself. I'm more...hmmm...yin&yang about my characters. I believe my hero and heroine are half of a whole and the whole point of the story is for these two people to come together and create a whole. I'm so freakin' spacy.
Where do characters come from? Characters are a jigsaw puzzle of pieces I find all over the place. Certainly, pieces of them come from me. Other parts of them come from observations made outside myself. The whole is, ideally, something synergistic with a life of its own.
I don't think I use GMC.
Fascinating! Thanks for your comments. In my journey to find my 'method' it really helps to learn how other writers work.
I try to use the whole GMC thing, but I do deviate. My characters are both pieces of myself and those around me (makes the family crazy trying to figure out who they are...heehee.
Have a great vacation!
hey i think i'm gonna take writing classes....don't know if that'll help or hinder Attachments...lol.....
great post Nienke
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