Oh, absolutely! I hope they don’t take me away in a straitjacket for answering this, but when I have a particularly dramatic scene and I’m really into the book, I act it out, playing all the various parts. (I only do this when there’s nobody else in the house.) That’s how I get some of my best lines from both heroines and villains. At the time of creating the scene I am the heroine or villain. And the books I consider my better books come to me as if I were listening to them, not writing them. As I once said of a writer who had written a single book that I adored and a number of books that I found rather disappointing, “The angel Gabriel must have come down, taken hold of her pen, and written that one for her.” And the funny thing was that when I met this authoress, she surprised me by saying that that particular book I adored was written much faster than her other books, almost “as if someone else was writing it.” I can only guess that all those characters were part of her and clamoring to come out.
I know that for myself, all my characters are parts of me, some better parts than others. And when a book is easy to write, it’s because the characters take charge and do what they choose. I can only follow along, trying to keep up with them.
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I find acting out charaters for a book would be so fun and helpful in writing. It could give you new ideas and inspiration to write more. (I might try it sometime :p)
i have been writing my own novel now for a while, a couple actually and i have come to realize that a piece of myself is going into each character and it starts to become somewhat addicting like creating an alternate reality is that normal?
My best friend and I have been writing a book the past several months. I agree with you! Every one of my characters is a part of me. I didn’t even realize until later, but many of our characters were based on people we really knew and admired. It’s like finding strength in writing and taking that stregth and actually using it. They are me in every way. So I agree with your answer! (:
Oh, and love your books! Huge fan of Night World and Vampire Diaries. I’m looking forward to getting your other books, but I’ve been having trouble finding them due to sold out stores! (:
Good luck and happy writing!
If it makes you feel less crazy, I talk to myself all the time. Well at least when I am alone. N9ck Armstrong is one of my favorite characters of yours.
I wish I had the talent to write, I am very abd at it.
hey,
LJSmith, I wanted to know are you going to make a conclusion in STRANGE FATE about the characters who don’t want to become immortal? And their immortal counterpart, because in the end they’ll die if they refuse becoming eg. vampires.
Also, will you pick up from the last scene were the Overseer changes his taste in women and picks Brionwy?
Thanks. Cheers.
- gita
p.s. the mood in your books are is a lot darker! I like it. But I hope there are no sex scenes, since YAs are reading these. Meyer made a huge mistake by including Sex Scenes & Abortion … etc.
Do you pick character names for their symbolism? I’ve been trying to figure out the meaning of Meredith’s last name, but I can’t find much about it at all.
Hi, I just wanted to say I absolutely love your books.
To what Samosa said – I disagree. YA are having sex? So why would it be taboo or anything for them to read about it. LJ’s books are great and I’m sure that if she wanted to incude sex she would be able to include it in a tasteful and nonraunchy way. There is murder in the books too, and there’s a fine line here.
But anyways,
I really love these books, no matter which direction they go in. :)