i have stumbled upon another use for blogs. We know, of course, that they can be used as a weapon against other bloggers, a means of exalting the ego, or to announce one’s dubious literary abilities to the indifferent world. But i have discovered another use: character creation. Usually, when sketching out a character, i just jot down lines, anecdotes, observations, on scrap paper, and at some point copy them into a notebook, all posh like. However, in future i believe i shall create a blog per character and put all the usual jottings there, in the character’s voice. So let’s say i’m creating a 7 foot tall Viking-looking Chemist Christian, rather than jot down “will want to have sex with his mother”, I will create a blog post like this:
Today I realised that a substantial proportion of the females I find sexually attractive look like my mother. I will subject this to statistical analysis later. It is possible that God wants me to have sexual relations with my mother, in which case it will be my duty to comply. My mother is a good Christian so she will also accept God’s will. There will be compliance.
In the act of turning this simple idea into a short monologue, using what little I know of the character (that he is a scientist and a Christian), it has opened up and developed into quite a promising starting point for the character. Blogs seem to me an ideal platform for character generation; it could even be that one of these tools could take on a life of its own and become a popular and notorious blog.
Perhaps The Lumber Room is just such a blog.
By this point, I sincerely doubt The Viking needs a blog to flesh out his character much.
I note also the Achewood webcomic has been doing this for years – the author keeps up a regular blog for each of the main characters, and finds character-blogging easier than the actual comic.
As yes, as i recall i wrote a novel about you. However, i feel the urge to write about you coming upon me – it is time for a sequel.