Writing Knowledge: Basics to Advance

Interview about description with 7Bloodfire (part 3)

Interview about description with 7Bloodfire:
Let’s see what the lovely lady 7Bloodfire has to say on descriptions, if you haven’t checked out her work then you better get your finger a clicking on her profile page, she’s written the most amazing Vampire story, and no, (I know you’re going so say ‘not another vampire story’), but heck! You’ll be mesmerized! This isn’t like any other Vampire story I have ever come across, and damn, the girl knows all about descriptions, come on! I DARE YOU to check out her work :)

1. Where did you inspiration (description-wise) for The Leviathan books come from?
Answer: First of all? Hello, and welcome all! Second, the actual answer to this question: The Leviathans series was inspired by an incredible nightmare nearly 11 years ago, of a man who was possessed by demons and turned vampire. And he chased down a girl who had the other half of his soul once he discovered her existence. I cannot say much more about the future events of this story-from-a-dream, or I’ll ruin quite a bit for my amazing fans
Over time I have added endless other unfinished storylines into it, making it a Frankenstein monster of stories and genres, and I have adapted the storyline until it has grown into the megalith that it will someday be when it is finally finished. Many other things inspired it as well. I grew up in a very cult-like environment with abusive parents and very distant siblings-- the memories of that life helps on the horror side of things, as it inspired some of the psychological thrill, and the deep emotions and thought processes of the characters in the book. Studying myself because I was always by myself, I developed an acute understanding of what made me tick, and then, what made others tick. I love the decrepit, and more so, compassion and humor.
 
So, as a result, I’ve kind of masterminded a way to create my second self: Marie Ivan. Her life being worse than mine made mine much easier to handle, and it made me appreciate what I had, even though that wasn’t much. There are many real memories that have been mutated to fit the books, so , yeah, you’ll find some places are real, and some characters are tributes to loved ones who passed away.
 
I find it intriguing that many who know me in person say that my character Marie is a tough cookie, and then they say the same about me. Very flattering, you know? I wouldn’t survive in Marie’s life, and I bawled my eyes out over every little thing, even if she overcame it. The descriptions made every laugh and every tear more intense.  As a writer, my goal with descriptions is to provoke others to feel, so sometimes I have to dig down into the dirty, gritty psychological aspects of things and dredge up the word WHY on every reaction or description.

2. Do you plan your character descriptions beforehand? If so, how do you simplify character description so you can describe it a lot easier when you start writing?
Answer: Honestly, I don’t realy plan it ahead anymore, but I do know how to. Start with the idea of the personality and the role the character will be taking in the book. If it’s a creepy personality, I start writing them dark, using their quirks, giving them scars. If it is an intelligent character, I begin adding glasses to fit a stereotype, or I just kind of pass over them, adding a bit of hair color, and then a few more details as the scenes progress. In a first draft, I might give them all the details in a side note, or most, but that’s just to get the basics down. From there on, I begin to add a few new details in-between what’s really going on in the story. Like in The Vampire's Memory Keeper, how Ashley and Janice fight over a specific blue being their favorite color, and later the main character wears it on her fingernails in a tragic and heart-breaking scene.
How often new details about the characters crop up depends on how important they are, and when I am trying to break up dialogue or action. Sometimes those details present themselves in unexpected ways, like the smell of lavender from a reed scent diffuser startling a character after a horrible vision of death. It tied in a detail from the vision, and gave both more relevance, as well as gave emotional impact. Also, I never planned on Marie and the Fallen having silver scars. But there it was. And they glow.
My advice for other writers here is to never concentrate on what a character looks like. You’re not writing a police description: "Five feet tall, brown hair, blue eyes, etc." You can keep notes on the side like I do for offbeat characters who may pop up later, and the notes can be simplified like that, but when you are writing a story, go with the flow on what the character is doing, or about to do. If they are going to scratch at a tattoo pretty soon, only mention the tattoo when they actually go to do it. And only mention the tattoo if that is where their gaze will rest when breaking up dialogue, or when a grasshopper lands on it and freaks them out, and they kill it and get grasshopper guts all over it, and other kids laugh at them for the rest of the scene.