NanoWriMo - Character Development

This part of Nano usually comes later for me, but this time around I have SO many characters that it seemed like a good idea to start some of this early, especially for the deeper (or really the sadder) stories.

The first one I want to work on is the first one I came up with. This story really started off the whole project and gave me the idea to make several shorter stories instead of making it one really long story. This one was just too much for me to do as a novel in and of itself, though I have enough ideas that I could. It just seemed more meaningful as a shorter story.

This story has two tentative, working titles at the moment. I'm not a huge fan of either, but you get the idea. It's called "Brothers" and "Always Half, Never Whole."

Brief Summary:

Jonathan is in a very bad accident (details TBD) and will not be able to recover. His father, a renowned surgeon, attempts to save him. He can't save him as a whole (due to a massive and vague head injury that damaged his brain) so he splits him in to 2 humanoids, John and Nathan, each with half of what the human child was.

They have no memory of ever being Jonathan and so continue their lives as new people. Nathan is perfectly content to live his simple life, going to school and being with his father and brother. John, on the other hand, is not. He longs to be human and know what it's like, so when he can't find a way, he gives up everything, leaving Nathan alone.

The story takes off from there and watches Nathan struggle to be half of the entire whole. In the end he can't manage it and decides to find his brother in the next life, whatever that may be. And if there isn't one, then he sees no reason to continue on in misery anyway.

SO! Very depressing. There are fewer depressing stories in my book than not. Have no fear! This one just happens to be my favorite.

The development of Nathan's character is easy for me. He's very simple and easy to me to understand. He's at his happiest when those around him are happy. He wants nothing more than to be with his father and brother and live his life. He thinks he's relatively selfless because all his actions revolve around making others happy, but when John dies he discovers he's extremely selfish. All he wants is to be happy himself, and he doesn't know how to be happy without his brother there. He knows his death will (no pun intended) kill his father, but he can't make that more important than satisfying his own wants.

John is a little harder. Here's what I have in my notes:

"John. Teenaged humanoid. He wants to know what it’s like to be human. He hates being different and thinks everyone despises him for being a part of their “perfect world.” He feels like a stain on a white carpet that everyone wants to be rid of."

It's important, but that's not all of it. He's so complex... and it's hard to get in to his head. I'm much more like Nathan or Sara (the friend who tries to stop Nathan) than John. I looked around for something to inspire me. Here's something I found that helped a bit:

This picture was found here. I don't own the drawing, nor do I own the original picture that this is based off of.

Anyway. This seemed to fit because one brother (the one on the right) is looking at the camera and seems content and grounded. The other (left) isn't paying any attention to what's around him and is staring off in to space, probably dreaming about something better.

It gives me a visual reference, I guess, but I'm trying to steer clear of "reference photos." I feel boxed in when I have them, so this is a feeling reference, I suppose.

GAH! Unfortunately I'm now completely out of time. I slept in until 9 - WAY LATE - and have gotten nothing done since except to clean up and partially cough up my lungs. Fun, eh? =P

So before I run off and leave this be until another time (probably tomorrow), I'm going to post 2 videos for songs that have really helped me with this one. Interpret their purpose as you like. =) That I'll keep to myself for now.

Tschüss!

Spring Nicht Official Music Video from Scream TH on Vimeo.

Note: This is an edited version of the video. In the original, he falls off the roof at the end (in addition to his other selves walking away and disappearing). I couldn't find a good quality video of that version, so I posted this one instead. The fall is important to me, though.

NaNoWriMo

This year, I am once again going to try NaNoWriMo. I've made it twice I think and attempted it 3 times so far. Last year I didn't make it because of how sick I was. Not a fun time.

Anyway.

NAnO! I'm excited :3 I just wish November weren't so far away. Well, at least as far as that's concerned. As far as school work... November can just stay as far away from me as possible XD I have 2 major projects and a presentation for work and I have to write a chapter for a book we're presenting to the Dean of the Education Department. Stressful! Plus whatever other assignments and exams my professors feel like throwing at me haha. So yeah.

This year, I'm very set in my story. Most of the pieces are in place, I just have to start playing. Ironic... I hate playing the waiting game and yet that's what I'm doing.

This year, my book is called "Humanoid City." I'm not gonna say too much about it right now because I have no "off" button when it comes to my books. =P

Here's the info I have on my Nano page:

"Humanoid City" is a set of short stories all taking place in the same city on the Border Lands. There are different neighborhoods and many different lives, each with their own stories to tell. Each story is about the struggle between humans, androids, and humanoids (a mixture of the two). Everyone is different, and that's what makes them human whether they look like it or not.

Story Titles (subject to change and in no particular order):

1. The Little Tailor
2. Lovers Scorned
3. Junkyard
4. Half and Never Whole
5. Hearth and Home
6. Dancer in the Street
7. Curiosity
8. Serenity / 1000 Words / Simon Says (Nothing)
9. Asylum
10. The Creator

Yay!

I can't say too much about it because I don't want to be in danger of "self publishing" because then I can't go many places with my finished product.

If anyone out there is also doing Nano, please add me as a Writing Buddy! I love sharing this experience with other people.

For those of you that don't have ANY idea what I'm talking about, here's the idea:

NaNoWriMo stands for Nation Novel Writing Month. In the month of November, we are challenged to write 50,000 words of a novel that we start on Nov. 1st and no sooner. It's crazy but it's SO much fun. It gives me all the motivation I need to start writing again.

I find that, when I have too much to do, I somehow get it all done. But when I don't have very much I tend to get NOTHING done. Weird, isn't it?

Anyway. I'm just excited :3

A lot of my inspiration comes from Tokio Hotel, to be honest. It's a confusing story, but I came up with the idea when I was trying to remember song lyrics of theirs from a song that was stuck in my head. Then I remembered that the name of their tour for their newest CD (Humanoid) was called "Humanoid City." It really has nothing to do with them other than that, but the name inspired me, as does their music on occasion.

I also find that several pictures of theirs or those made by their fans give me ideas about the city itself and the way I think the people in it would look.

Here are some pictures that inspire me (since I haven't put up any pictures in a while):

Disclaimer: These are not my photos. They are pictures I found on the internet. I don't know where many of them came from since I simply did a Google Image Search.

This one is one of my favorites. The man here looks very much unreal and mechanical... until you look at his face. Then he doesn't seem so "inhuman" after all.

This one is just beautifully shot. The gears are well placed and the colors are soft and cold at the same time. I chose this one because her tears are oily and obviously inhuman when, apart from the tiny gears on her cheek, she looks completely human.

I like this one because it's simple. The unpolished feel of it is what makes it beautiful. The red of his heart is the only color he has, but I think it's the only color he needs.

This is my favorite. I don't know if it's "official" or not, but I don't care. I love many things about this. The colors and lighting are very warm except on his mechanical parts. His skin and his shirt look like they've absorbed the light, but his inner machine merely reflects it and doesn't take it in. To me, it looks like he's checking to make sure no one can see him. It also illustrates for me that "beauty is skin deep." When you tear away his skin, he's a different kind of beautiful. One that is raw and exposed and deep and has nothing at all to do with the face above. Even the skin on his arm is cut away a little. It's beautiful to me.

So anyway! That's all I have for now. I'm going to start compiling music for this project soon. Yay! =D I'll post song lists and things later when I can. I can't post music here as far as I know, but I can at least post song names and maybe YouTube links or something.

A lot of the music I'm going to use will probably be German. As stated, that's mainly what I listen to. But we'll see. I'm going to go through all my music archives and not just the stuff on my hard drive right now.

Wish me luck on my crazy endeavor! =D I'm excited haha.