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Reviewer: TutThreeSevens Signed [Report This]
Date: Apr 05, 2015 11:53 am Title: Developing Minor and Supporting Characters

Holy hell!!!! Yes Ski and his fam from Miami, Asap Rocky, Mike Giants, Pharrell, Cece, Les Twins, John Branca, Dr Shaw, Pam (Stewardess chick) Michael's Fam Bill Bray,The Judge Sheeshhhhhhh. I'm sure I forgot some more people too. I cackled so loud at this. Lmaoooo. 



Author's Response:

Don't forget Shana....and probably a few more celebs. LOL. It's SO easy to include too many characters. The trick is knowing when to keep the minor characters minor. Some stories I get into, but stop when every minor character becomes a main character.

Reviewer: TutThreeSevens Signed [Report This]
Date: Apr 05, 2015 10:59 am Title: Developing Minor and Supporting Characters

LMAOOO. I Started rereading Inked last night to refresh myself being there at only really 2 chapters left and a 2 part epilogue. You're so right. There's mad people in there. 

Holy shit balls of fire. Though the names where unique there was a LOT!!!

Amos,Cali,Elard,Saul,Ren,Diana,Nye,Fenty,Pen's parents Talise and Seku! Damn they do add up. Cali and Amos where the only ones with notable back stories though. It's interesring what you learn when you come to the end of a story. 

Mi agree CTTG is easier to follow. The drama is enough. Lol. 



Author's Response:

LOL I'm glad you don't think I was completely out of line. I was wondering if I just have a low threshold or not. Don't forget Michael's family, the doctors, the people he tattoos, the one shot women, and everyone in Florida (right?).

It's interesring what you learn when you come to the end of a story.

^ agreed. That's why I know it's hard, but having developing a list of characters from the beginning, can help. Those who don't play a big role, might not even need to be described physically, and/or named. Then again, I'm of the opinion that if a chapter is needed to introduce the full cast of characters (not speaking to this story, as you didn't do that), then the cast needs to be cut down.

 

Reviewer: TutThreeSevens Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: Apr 04, 2015 08:57 pm Title: Developing Minor and Supporting Characters

You had me wracking my brain trying to see if any of my supporting cast members fall into any particular category you mentioned. Lol. I think have have a good balance of Characters in Inked. Amos and Cali both seem to be the voice of reason with Michael and Pen in times of questioning. I think. Lol. In CTTG there aren't really any extensive supporting cast exclusive to any of the Main characters. Meaning pretty much all the supporting cast interacts interchangeably with the OG/Michael or has some varying degree of a relationship with them. (Hope that makes sense?) I'm not too sure if that's a good or bad thing. 

The names I use are usually very unique so it's hard to mix people up. As for knowing everyone's middle name its funny when a character is mad or making a point and they have to use the other persons entire name to address them. Once in a while with particular people is fine but not everybody lol. It's odd to me.

As for places I feel I fall short is sometimes supporting cast members fall off the map for a little too long. I have to take heed not isolate the OG/Michael. That can happen pretty easy. 

More soon!! <333



Author's Response:

The only thing I could think of is that most of the names had two-syllables. I don't know if I just suck at tracking, it was too many characters introduced at once, they weren't around enough for me to be able to differentiate them, if it's just b/c I read other stories, or there were too many names that I wasn't familiar with, but I kept having to re-figure out who some people were. I'm not sure how avoidable that is/was. Diana, Elard, and Michael's family were essentially the ones that I didn't have to read back to figure out. I find CTTG much easier to follow simply b/c each OC is meaningfully related to the OG and/or Michael.  I feel for you as an author, trying to figure out how many characters can be balanced at one time without overloading the reader and while maintaining some realism.

The full names. I don't know most people's full names unless I'm looking at records. I get doing it if the first and middle names go together (e.g. Ann Marie, Gloria Lee, Marie Danielle, Tiffany Amber, etc). Then again, my parents and family members have never called me by my full name.

Your last point - I think that's the hardest part about maintaining larger casts. It's hard to begin with, but it gets incrementally harder with each additional character.

Thx!

Reviewer: HoneyToTheBee Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: Apr 04, 2015 08:54 pm Title: Developing Minor and Supporting Characters

Supporting characters are challenging. I think my best most consistent one was Lauren in GUPI. I do tend to leave out their backgrounds or bring across their intentions in the best way. That's why sometimes I want to talk myself into writing a chapter or paragraph from the supporting character's POV so the readers can see how they view the world and whats' on their mind...

My pet peeves about supporting characters (and I'm not sure if I've done this too) but is when they don't seem to have a life of their own. Everything revolves around the OG and Michael. 



Author's Response:

I laughed at your last line. You mean the OG and Michael aren't the center of everyone's universe?!

I agree on Lauren. When you mentioned her, I couldn't figure out the acronym (sorry, my mind is aflood with acronyms), but I could immediately remember Lauren and her heels. IDK about writing from a supporting character's POV. I think that can be useful if the supporting character is roughly on the same level of storyline significance as a main character, but that takes a unique plotline.  Otherwise, I see keeping the POV to the main character(s) as a way of keeping the supporting characters in their supporting roles.

Thx as always!

Reviewer: MjjPYT Signed [Report This]
Date: Apr 04, 2015 03:22 pm Title: The Basics

I've been meaning to say that this is very important, this whole guide, and I'm glad you're doing it. Great tips and Ideas that are helping me with my narratives in general. Thank you!



Author's Response:

Thanks for letting me know that you've found it useful!

Reviewer: loyalpyt Signed [Report This]
Date: Apr 04, 2015 01:43 pm Title: Developing a strong female lead character - UPDATED

@redone, you are awesome! This is helping a lot!

Reviewer: SkyWriter Signed [Report This]
Date: Mar 30, 2015 04:29 am Title: Developing a strong female lead character - UPDATED

Number 11. By being sooooooo juicy



Author's Response:

Hmm. Suddenly I'm a little concerned about how you are going to write a sex scene. Then again, as long as it's 'so juicy', Michael has a third arm, and he makes Gumby look stiff, we're good.

Reviewer: KerenOlivero Anonymous [Report This]
Date: Mar 28, 2015 06:03 pm Title: Developing a strong female lead character - UPDATED

 Some of these I never really gave that much thought and so I end up developing the OG as I go along. Of course none of my OGs have my name or are practically me, although they do have a few of my traits/hobbies, likes, etc. I only put the picture of the main girl in the cover, not inside the chapter, although I occasionally put pics of the random OCs in the end notes. Also the original girl's maturity is important..it's a real turn off when the OG is so immature Michael feels as if he has to father/baby-sit her.



Author's Response:

I'd argue that these are good to know before writing the OG, as it helps with keeping her in character from the beginning. It's just a lot of effort upfront.

Your last point: is it just me or are the people who tend to really enjoy immature OGs are the under-18 crowd? Though some claim to be over 18....

Reviewer: Everlast Signed [Report This]
Date: Mar 28, 2015 02:23 pm Title: When the Dog Bites. When the Bee Stings

Haha oh my god don't read my next story after you get done with kind of like faith. I actually deliberately break one of the things you complain about here lol

 

but I do agree with all of this. Actually very helpful for me as a writer to see this information in general



Author's Response:

MJ-Is-My-Morphine says to read. Hmmm. I'm torn.

Thx for checking this out. Let me know if you have any suggestions for topics here/anything you disagree with.

Reviewer: TutThreeSevens Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: Mar 27, 2015 07:08 pm Title: The Dog Bit. The Bee Stung. P3

2) Yes this is my peeve. I love when an OG is flawed yet strong enough to walk through life on her own. Her relationship with Michael is about give and take. Also don't really like when Michael is the 'distressed damsel'. He was sensitive and hyper emotional at times but with due cause and that didn't mean he was falling apart at the seams every time we turn a corner. 

3)The too many. I almost had that happen in CTTG. I decided to just under write some of the charactors that are just supporting. 

6)Lmao. I'm so guilty of this. I have lessen the use of the vowels over the course of the stories tho. Lol. I'm literally lol-ing at this!!

Said vs Meant

Effect and Affect (I don't remember if you added this one before.) 

I'm also very baffled when AU Micheal works for a "Business Company" 

Ah I noticed you used a play on the old title with this segment. Nice touch for closure! 

What's next on the agenda?

more soon! <333



Author's Response:

2) Ugh. Agreed! Nothing is a bigger turn off then when Michael is constantly the 'distressed damsel'. It emasculates his character. Showing emotion is good....constantly crying and needing to be saved is....not.

3) Good catch.

6) I'll admit, sometimes I add extra vowels (e.g. looooooool), but that's just because using caps can come off wrong. In sex? Sometimes I start to feel like it's a measure of how good Michael is supposed to be, with each repeated vowel or consonent representing the degree of toe-curling or intensity of the orgasm.

I didn't include that in the text, as it was in the http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling that I ended up linking. Sadly, I find most of mine in the summaries of stories, and am now realizing that I missed a ton.

Thanks :)

I'm planning on a segment on writing supporting characters next. From there? I'm not sure. I need to find out which genres you guys are interested in me touching upon. I'm also tossing around an idea related to handling critical/negative reviews. Being one who has written some of those (and had the full spectrum of responses), it's clear that some people handle them more tactfully than others. Part of that would also be a breakdown on how to provide constructive criticism (including some of my own blunders).

Off to read CTTG!

Reviewer: KerenOlivero Anonymous [Report This]
Date: Mar 27, 2015 12:30 pm Title: The Dog Bit. The Bee Stung. P3

sometimes writing the third person onmiscient could be tough depending on the chapter so I would stick to the interaction of two characters alone even if others are around which would be third person limited.



Author's Response:

Ah. That makes more sense. I was having a slow moment ;)

Reviewer: KerenOlivero Anonymous [Report This]
Date: Mar 26, 2015 06:21 pm Title: The Dog Bit. The Bee Stung. P3

Yup I do whenever I can..sometimes it gets complicated though depending on how many characters I am covering in the chapter..sometimes I just stick with the first two categories of 3rd person POV. 



Author's Response:

You vary between types of POV between chapters? Why?

Reviewer: DareToDream Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: Mar 26, 2015 12:28 pm Title: Portraying Michael: When Michael isn't Michael

Thank you so much for that clarification. Now I understand the difference between the two.

Author's Response:

I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for letting me know it was :)

Reviewer: brandyandMJ Signed starstarstarstarstar [Report This]
Date: Mar 26, 2015 08:36 am Title: The Dog Bit. The Bee Stung. P3

1. One-dimensional Villain: here is my downfall in writing fanfiction. Its obvious that my favorite to pick on is Jermaine & Diana, LOL, sorry. I have nothing against him or her though. Its funny because in my second story on this site Jermaine was the gay good guy and Michael was the asshole. But I'm going to take your advice and flesh out the character!

2. Damsel in Distress: uh, I've never really done this. Stacey in Mars vs. Venus isn't really a D.I.D although Michael has helped and Semaj really wasn't either and you know Aaliyah definitely wasn't.

3. Blatant foreshadowing: I've done this once or twice but it worked out nicely. I think I did it in GL.

4. Meet, Sex, Marriage: #DIES. I have not sone this and in now way have I found it as okay. My characters have never tols each other i love you under fifteen chapters in except Michael to Aaliyah but they had already known each other. Also I think Semaj and Michael had a good amount of chapters before getting together(19) and before saying they loved each other(29).  It was really supposed to be chapter 35 or 36 but I changed it.

5. Conflict: I usually have no problem with this. I always have conflict.

6. Too Many: PERFECT example - WYWTOM. Too many characters, POVs and Plots.... waaaay too many plots.

7. Sex scene: LOL. "oh gaaaaaaaawd yeeeess Michaaaael! Right theeeeeeeeeeeeerrreeee!" Smh.

8. Run in: I did this in WYWTOM. Big mistake.

Excuse the mispellings and punctuation I'm on my phone, hahha.

Good stuff!



Author's Response:

1. I'll be writing about supporting characters next, so hopefully that will help.

3. Yep, I remember it in GL lol Not sure about your others.

4. I love that you can say that :)

Thanks :) And I'll ignore errors apart from the misspelling of "haha" lol.

Reviewer: KerenOlivero Anonymous [Report This]
Date: Mar 26, 2015 07:52 am Title: The Dog Bit. The Bee Stung. P3

1. AMEN, sister. I mean, I love certain villains in fiction but the one dimensional villain where the bad guy is evil because he/she can be is a huge turn off and I see it has started to become old in MJ fics to the extent where I get frustrated and not read..or wish I had brain bleach nearby..whichever comes first. If it's not the antagonist being evil for the sake of it, the same tired old excuse is often used or even making a mistake in making someone an antagonist who would not make a good one. And the same antagonist over and over. I mean, if there was truly bad blood between Michael and Diana because she broke his heart by dating Gene Simmons from Kiss, would he have made her second choice for guardian of his children on his will? I think not. Also to keep in mind that even if a certain antagonist in the MJ fiction has serious flaws and issues doesn't make him or her evil, so to consider them evil would be purely subjective. I mean, we all have our faults..just the difference lies in whether some tries to correct them gradually and some just live with them. In general, the bad guys I tend to take a liking to are the ones who are good but were tricked into being evil or who have legit reasons for being evil but don't share it away and at some point ends up on the road to redemption. In short I like bad guys who have potential for good and also if they have traits that make them different from your classic badguy.

2. Agreed. even if the OG is sensitive, there should be some indication she could hold her own and not be a weak, helpless person. I mean, I could deal if a fic starts with her losing confidence and self esteem for some reason, but she has to build both back up gradually. All the OGs in my fics who are of legal age have ways to support themselves and are not moochers off of Michael.

3. guilty of that one especially for my anime fics over on fanfiction.net like if a certain character think he/she is alone and someone is spying, but have toned it down a little..sometimes I use Unbeknownst, though.

4. This one? It boils down to lack of development. I have heard of instances where "love at first sight" happened, but even then, the feelings are hidden for awhile as Michael/OG gets to know each other--having Michael get to know the girl makes the relationship believable and also getting into it too fast causes irreparable damage because there are so many unpleasant surprises, not enough time to get used to the other's bad habit/imperfection, etc.

5.Personally am not the biggest fan of conflict but know it is necessary to make an interesting story. I can be glued to the screen reading a fic, depending on the type of conflict. The biggest issue is when there is too much conflict. That's a huge turn off for me. Especially if it is over the flimsiest things. 

6. Too many could be overwhelm the author writing and/or cause a big jumbled mess.

7.I got you on that one. there are times I don't use a tag at the end of the dialogue.

8. yes, it is imperative to consider what is likely and what isn't. 

9. ah, the list of misused homophones..there's also allude(refer) vs elude(escape)



Author's Response:

1.  I obviously agree about the villains. My use of the term "evil" was to emphasize how strongly some characters get portrayed as being the worst of the worst. TBH my motto is that there aren't bad people, there are just people who do bad things. Everyone has their backstory. The trick is to reveal the backstory without doing awkward info-dumps.

3. Is that consistent with your POV? I assume you are doing 3rd POV Omniscient?

heh. I just realized that you are right, I didn't cover allude or elude. I took all of mine from actual stories, so either 1) I'm missing the fanfics with that error, 2) Most authors don't feel comfortable with/are aware of those terms, or 3)The authors who use them, know how to use them.  Either way, you know that my eyes will now be looking for those errors!

Thanks as always :)

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