@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop

#WritersCoffeeClub How do you get to know your characters before you start writing?

I almost always get to know them *by* writing. I often have only a sketchy idea about their backstory when I start, but details emerge as I write. I often write story fragments (frequently using @wss366) to develop characters, as I'm getting started. Eventually, I develop a text file to record details about characters, but rarely try to make decisions about characters separately from storywriting.

People stood under the night sky, silent, watching streaks of fire pour out of the heavens. They came constantly — more than a dozen visible at any one time.
"What's it mean, Dad?" asked a boy.
"It's the Kessler syndrome," he said. "It's the end of an #age."
"What age?"
"The space age." #wss366

I've not posted much this weekend because my son is in the hospital. And I've had to cancel my panels at Arisia. That's the bad news. The good news is that I've been spending most of my time with Ta-taso, keeping her company and taking long walks to take our minds off things. ❤️ #DogsOfMastodon

"Well? Well? Did your fortune come true?" Brunhilde asked, smugly.
"Yes, it did," the bear admitted, munching on the honeycomb. "But how did you get Forrest to cooperate?"
"It's a secret!" Brunhilde said. (4/4) #wss366

Brunhilde closed her eyes and brought her fingers up to her temples. "You… You're about to have a pleasant surprise."
At that moment, a honeycomb fell out of the sky and landed in the bear's paws.
"What? Where did this come from?"
There was a screech as Forrest flew off into treetops. (3/4) #wss366

The bear looked at the palm of his massive paw and said, "Maybe you should tell my fortune, because if you try read my palm, we'll be here all day."
"Ha, ha. Very funny," she said. "You're not taking this seriously!"
"Alright, alright," the bear said. "Go ahead." (2/4) #wss366

"Hey! Hey!" Brunhilde said. Today, she was wearing a strange, multi-colored dress with a blue vest and a belt made of small coins. "Would you like me to read your palm? Or tell your fortune?" (1/4) #wss366

Totemo and Miss Dairy ate and then relaxed for the last few minutes of their lunch break. The sun was warm. Miss Dairy started to nod off.
Lambda sprang from under the bench. She began jumping up and snapping at the air.
"What's with her?" Miss Dairy asked, concerned.
"A #bug," said Totemo. #wss366

As a motif, all of the covers in my steampunky fantasy adventure *Revin's Heart* books feature windows (and airships). My favorite cover is the one for Part Seven, *Rewriting the Rules*: https://waterdragonpublishing.com/product/rewriting-the-rules/ #FensterFreitag

Totemo rolled her eyes. "Someone," she said, pointing down, "sheds."
Lambda, with her eyes closed, growled quietly. Miss Dairy snickered.
"Once!" Totemo snapped. "One time one of my hairs got in your food. Only once!" (3/3) #wss366

Miss Dairy looked over at Totemo, who was wearing her khaki shirt and trousers.
"Are you going into the field this afternoon?" she asked.
"No," Totemo said. "I'm working on reports in the office."
"Why are you wearing your field clothes then?" (2/3) #wss366

Totemo Isogashii met Miss Dairy for lunch at the park. They sat on a bench eating their bentos while Lambda lay underneath in the shade, snoozing. In point of fact, she had joined them for lunch too, but had eaten hers in less than 30 seconds. (1/3) #wss366

Adhorbs: adorable and horrible at the same time.

After a half hour, she stood and stretched. She inspected the results critically.
"On the way home, I need to buy a new drawing notebook and some charcoal," she thought. "Or maybe pastels." (4/4) #wss366

She turned the page, and began to sketch a rose blossom. At first, her movements were uncertain and shaky. She made a couple of false starts, but then began to regain confidence. But the pencil was frustratingly pale and imprecise. (3/4) #wss366

She glanced over, and then looked again. Seeing her old art notebook had reminded her of the interplay of light and shadow. Her fingers itched. Finally, she could stand it no longer.
She settled onto the ground near the rosebush, with her observation notebook in her #lap. (2/4) #wss366

Cecelia spent the early morning in the botanical garden, quietly pruning, weeding, and recording observations with pencil in her notebook. The sun cleared the wall into the courtyard and illuminated one of the few remaining original rose bushes. (1/4) #wss366

#WordWeavers Tell us about something funny that happens to a character.

Tseluna held up a finger and said, “If you don’t learn to obey promptly, I will be compelled to punish you.”
Grumbling, he dragged himself out of bed.
“You’re Tseloony,” he thought to himself.
“I heard that,” she said in his head. He cringed to be reminded, once again, that she was constantly in his head, reading his mind.

from my cozy, dark fantasy *A Familiar Problem*: https://waterdragonpublishing.com/product/familiar-problem/

The real difficulty isn't providing universal health care. All of the developed countries have shown that's feasible. But the US has an additional requirement, namely that it must not provide care to the "undeserving." Keeping people divided is fundamental to how the oligarchy maintains control.

#SilentSunday Rainbow over West End, St. Croix, USVI, August 2017.