Writing Meme of Undeniable Coolness (stolen mercilessly from dukesfreers)

[eponymous_rose]

Name a character that you know I write or have written, and I’ll tell you:

a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her
b. One of his/her best traits
c. One of his/her worst traits
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future

I'm hoping this'll help kick-start me on some of my projects that've been neglected as I did the whole back-to-school thing. And it looks like fun! :D

(Feel free to mention characters I've only drabbled about/written in the distant past!)

Comments

[rosa-acicularis.livejournal.com]

Erm...Rose Tyler!

[eponymous-rose.livejournal.com]

What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about her

Well, what first caught my attention was that I'd inadvertantly incorporated her name into my brand-new LJ account before ever having heard of her. It's fate, I say! :D This is actually a surprisingly tricky question to answer! I remember being startled in "Rose" by how real she seemed - she's charming and sometimes childish and the Bad Wolf and all that, but there's that very real ennui and the tragedy of day-to-day life that just shines through. And I love that she and the Doctor just pick up on each other's little mannerisms.

One of her best traits

It's a double-edged sword for characterisation, but as a writer it's lovely to have: the fact that she's basically erased every last vestige of this Rose Tyler, the shopgirl+Mickey+Mum+chips. I think I've mentioned before about how the Doctor is totally defined by his companions - and Rose gradually becomes defined in terms of her relationship with the Doctor. But that's not the most unique bit: the interesting thing is that she loves that fact. Much like Martha's story is about learning to be the Doctor, Rose's story is about loving to be with the Doctor.

One of her worst traits

She latches on to a single figure - be it the Doctor or her Dad - to the absolute exclusion of everyone else (e.g. Mickey, her Mum). This is apparent when she's with Nine in particular, and together they just ignore the world and look down at everyone else when she comes home. One of the biggest things she's picked up from the Doctor is that alien arrogance - because, again, she's defining herself as someone who travels with the Doctor, someone who's different and amazing and fantastic. And that is, of course, what makes "Father's Day" so poignant - she turns the tables on the Doctor and chooses her father over him, just for a moment, and the consequences are (nearly) catastrophic. It makes the Doctor/Rose dynamic a lot more toxic than many people give it credit for - and in terms of plot ideas, that's absolutely amazing! :D

d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character

Unbelievably hard. I have no idea why. Well, that's a lie - I become convinced I'm either writing her lines too "generically" or too "idiosyncratically" and wind up psyching myself out and cutting some thirty pages from a certain ficathon piece-that-shall-not-be-named. *grumbles*

e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character

Far and away, the whole scene in the Wanderer Fantasy with Rose and Matt playing board games in the TARDIS while the Doctor's - wait. Um, it just occurred to me that it's in the fourth chapter (I've been working on it so long it feels like I must have posted it by now *wince*), so it's time for SURPRISE RAW/UNBETAED SNEAK PREVIEW TWO CHAPTERS EARLY that may or may not make it into the final cut!

Rose stared at him. “Of course not! I went with the Doctor to escape that sort of monotony. This is where all the excitement is, the unpredictability of it all!” It took her a moment to notice how much she sounded like the Doctor, and she felt an unexpected swell of happiness at the thought.

Matt was still staring at her like she’d grown another head. “How can anyone live like that?” he said, softly. “You’ve got to have roots. You’ve got to have somewhere you’ve been and somewhere you’re going. Otherwise nothing you ever do matters!”

“Of course it does,” Rose said, with a hint of pity in her voice. “I used to think like that. But these people the Doctor and I saved – we’ve made a difference for them. They’ll remember us. And all these places I’ve seen-“

Matt crossed his arms on the table. “But you can’t just go around living your life for other people! You’ll completely lose who you are, become everything they want you to be.”


etc. etc. until I miss the point and have to totally rewrite the scene.

My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future

Heehee - the first time I read this, I thought: "That's an oddly specific question - how many fandoms enable you to write something taking place in the near future?" Wanderer Fantasy's the big project!