And so it's Nov the 1st (depending on where you live)

So I've started, this morning as soon as I woke up :) well pretty much. Anyway want to hear it?
(disclaimer: I won't be posting here all the time, and I'm just writing enough to be cruel ;-) )

Down the dark, dank, cobbled streets of London the sister's trudged. They passed a beggar/child with sightless staring eyes and a steaming, feverish brow that had turned his sooty face to a mottled grey. A hat lay beside a wasted arm, there was barely a coin in it, but the sister's ignored his plaintive cries and carried on into the deeper filth of London's East-end.

An icy wind breathed down the narrow street and the sister's drew the tattered shawl they shared tighter    , they increased their pace; today had been pay-day at the factory and they needed to get home quickly before the infamous night dwellers, theives, murderers, whores and drunkards appeared.

On they scuttled quite unaware that one such night-dweller was watching them, stalking their progress.
Tonight there'd be murder done.

So how 'bout that? do you think it will do? Please comment, I adore your advice.

Miss Tiffany
( OH and I'll probably post most of the story over at where words are woven my other blog (yes I have two, one just for writing, feel free to read the other storys)  

Birth Order

Did you know that the order in which you were born greatly affects you?
Well it does, read and see if it is...

The eldest is the apple of their parents eyes, because its their first wee darling-they are likely to be the most responsible.Two years later number 2 comes and number 1 has a fit of jealousy because they are no longer number 1 and only, they now have to share their parents. So the eldest will grow up saying "I was here" first and 2 will say "I try harder".
They will generally be in some kind of competion all their childhood days. The first might be good at drawing and the other scrapbooking [this is true for two people I know, remember I am first born]
One might be a socialite [generally the second] and the other not, they complement each other if they work together.Middle-ies tend to be peace makers, how sad for the 'norm' of 2 children!! [and they say life is unfair] We'll all be at logger heads.  
Youngest's  are the charmers, [this is probably the same for only children] they tend to expect things done for them, everybody else will be looking for baby's stuff while baby waits round.Bit of a mix huh?This is not always true though...

So what could they grow up to be?
Interesting Info from a counseler.
Eldests tend to be doctors CEOS lawyers 92% of US astronauts and 94% presidents were first born.
Seconds more popular.
Middles Peacemakers
Youngests, *because of their charm* make good actors, sales people and con- artists!
[Mr Wickham was the only child aka the youngest]
[Mr Darcy the eldest]
See how this can make a difference, to your character?

Something funny a person put all the eldests in a group, middles and youngests. They were all asked to do something, when their time was up, they were all ask to present, the oldests had elected a spokesperson to speak so he started, the middle said they hadn't enough time, and the youngests all started talking at once, familiar?

So where did I get all this info? Laurie Campbell *warning one bit one may like to skip*

-Miss Tiffany 

Enneagram

I've been reading Crafting unforgettable characters an e-book and its proving quite interesting *see end of post*
And it talked of enneagrams, ennea, means 9 in greek.I didn't know what that was and it has to do with psychology.

So what is an enneagram?
It is like the king, servant, thing in my meet me post.But it is more than that.
It's to do with different personalities [warning you can't actually say someone is 1 or 2 it's their choice]
So it's useful for guess what- finding your character's personality
so what could your character be?

1# Perfectionist or Reformer [I think this is like prophet]

2# Helper, Nurturer, Giver, Caretaker or Pleaser [Servant]

3# Achiever, Succeeder, Performer

4# Artist, Individualist, Romantic [Dreamer]

5# Observer, Watcher, Thinker

6# Trooper, Loyalist, Guardian, Defender

7# Enthusiast, Adventurer

8# Controller, Aggressor,  Chief [King]

9# Peacemaker, Mediator

Twos, Threes, Fours -come from the heart- these people are more caring, more emotional, think about the past-

Fives, Sixes Sevens- are from the head- these people tend to plan, plan, plan and think about the future-

Eights, Nines, and Ones-are from the gut/body- and I suppose you can tell what these people are like-they tend to think about now/the present.

And if you are writing about a husband and wife or romance, the same thing goes for them as in the preparing to be a help meet, opposites attract, good thing for us writers because it causes conflict, which is needed in stories, and it's just good in general, imagine two pleasers married! They'd  both be up at 5am bumping heads, because their making each other breakfast in bed!!!Or two Controllers trying to boss each other round.God knew!!! What a relief!*some people do marry the same but it's very rare*
Hope you found that interesting.I'll talk about how birth order can change your character.

Miss Tiffany

* You can get the free e-book crafting unforgettable characters at wordplay





  

A Name

More character-ness ; )

Names.

They are *so* important. For writing they are very... useful, but also very annoying.
Your character must have a name that suits him/her- that is very annoying
e.g you don't call a strict teacher a soft floaty name like, Charlotte, it doesn't suit, but Augusta might.

This is way baby name books/sites are very helpful as they tell you the meaning as well, as in if you're looking for a name for your fat, pigish rich old man[who has probably lived in the English court] you could call him Gulliver, because it's English and it means glutton [I have Mr Hurst in mind right now]
  - ;D

This means you must already have a rough idea as to what your character looks like and behaves
this is why I don't usely fill the name in first or haven't found my favourite name.

Well that was quite short I'll do another post I think

Miss Tiffany    

Meet me.

I've decided that this week as I'm allowed to do 1/2 an hour a day of writing on my blog for school work.[It has to be school work related]That I am going to share with you what I know of making up characters.

When you are writing a story you want to make your character as human as possible, nobody likes a know it all, and most scoff over damsels in distress and Prince Perfects.It can be quite hard to make your hero/ine "normal".

A really good tip is not to make her really beautiful, I read a book where the main character was not "beautiful" but "pretty",  it was really interesting as what one noticed about her was her "honey" coloured  eyes and, well her, she went to balls and taught her self to enjoy them, to find new things in the stagnant water of normal.It was really neat to find a different kind of beauty.Anyway...

 "A character prompt sheet"
this is something to use to create your character, but it is a prompt not a fill in the gaps so it is a good idea to write sentences eg Will the reader dis/like  this character: he loves the night his dark features will repel the reader, he'll be my villain e.t.c.

Name:

Age:

Height:

Weight/Build:

Birthplace:

Colour hair/eyes:

Physical peculiarities:

Education:

Married:

Best friend:

Enemies:

Family:

Core need:

Pathological manoeuvre:

Ambition in life:

Gestures when talking:

Gait:

Strongest character trait:

Weakest character trait:

Laughs or jeers at

Philosophy:

Political leaning:

Hobbies:

What others first notice about him/her:

What character does alone:

One line characterisation:

Will reader dis/like character:

Does s/he change in the story? How:
            [your main character should]

Significant event that moulded him/her:

Significant event that illustrates the character's personality:

[In Depth]- not really needed, from NGJ well the top two

Is he a: "King"
           "Preist"
           "Prophet"

Is she a: "Queen"
             "Servant"
             "Dreamer"

Are they a: Teacher
                   Servant
                   Leader
                   Encourager
                   Perciver
                   etc:


You don't actually have to write down all these things.Just the ones you need to paint the out line of your character.If  you have trouble imagining things drawing is a good idea or looking on the internet or in books for what you want be it person , scene or location.

Hope you have fallen asleep or that you have been able to understand me.


-Tiffany

A writer

I am a writer. I am learning to be a writer.I believe all writers are doomed to be night owls, with a note pad beside their bed for 1:00am inspirations [glad to say my latest yet is round 11-12pm] I am learning what a crazy life a writer leads, how they lead a love/hate relationship with their pen.I mean, writers like me are in the middle of a story, tearing our minds out for the next scene, and vowing never to write. But... that little God-given story-tellin' part inside you gets excited and inspired and you just have to write.

I am a writer that usually will not write unless she hhhhaaaassss to, I cannot keep a diary, I am too impatient to write in it every day,  I've got better things to do. [I have a plan to stop people reading my diary, I write sooo fast and messyly that its TIFFY CODE :D]
But I am trying to break this habit of only writing when I have to. I am not saying I keep a diary [waaaayy too boring] but I try to write about something.

I am a Fiction writer, a story-teller, I just love making things up, and hate writing of things that don't require imagination, I don't love movies for this reason.I am a book worm, but lately I've got tried of books, they might be boring or it might just be me, so I've tried writing what I want to read, the blessings of being a writer :).

Also I'm in love with making up characters that seem real, that are real to me and the reader..That tell me their story, well that's the aim.So expect to see things about characters.
I have a book that is just for characters and you know how the books have name and subject in the corner, well I've written on my subject BEWARE OF WHO MAY JUMP OUT :D. Also beware this DB, I hope :)

-Tiffany  

A night of characters

I was in the library the other day shelving books, when I thought would it be worse to spend a night in the muesem {give up cannot spell that word Mum can't either} or a night in the library. I asked S' and she wasn't sure. Now just in case you were wondering, well, it'd be 'bout the same both are public places, no big deal. Well that'd make sense if you haven't seen or read A night in the muesum , the basic idea is that all the creatures wake up at night and walk around.

So I was wondering, would it be worse to have a library full of characters jump out at you, or have a lot of stuffed animals come to life?
My opinion, the library by far, I mean I wouldn't mind meeting Whinne the Pooh,  Jobyna, Lucy, Mr-Tumnus,  Aslan, Elizabeth Bennet,  Emma Woodhouse  or Lady Grace Cavendish
But if I were to meet The White Witch,  Jack Frost [ok he's not really all that bad, more a silly fool ],  Veruca the Vile,  Gredal [I had to add my villans:)], Eillad or any of the Villans that are sure to be found in every book, I sure I wouldn't know what to do that's not even talking of their helpers, armies or horrors.
I haven't even started with the Non Fiction - all the serial killers, murders, Hitler, Stalin etc

You would find only the non fictionists in a meusem [at best] the worst might be the Dinosaur skeletons  on display, but, hey, they're in books too, fiction or no.


A writer should remember, I think that, the more realistic they paint their character the more able s/he is
able to step out of the page.
And I know all too well that characters have a bad habit of doing just that.

By the way this is my first long post, there will be more... :)

I like writing about characters


Miss Tiffany  
          

P.S DB story ideas anyone?