Character Motivations

 I am sorry. I don't normally miss doing my weekly blog. I've been having worse than normal headaches hitting, so I decided to take last week off. I feel so much better for the time spent off. 

However, I'm not here to dwell on that. So this week, I want to talk about something near and dear to my heart that I haven't talked about in a while.

Motivations.

In my estimation, as an author, there is nothing quite as important to the construction of a novel as your character motivations. If the reason your character is doing something isn't well thought out or the answer comes down to some version of "they have to for plot reasons", then that isn't a good motivation. Think about changing your plot if you can't make the motivations work, or changing the character if you really need one who will work in your plot better. Why? Well, I find that it is usually incorrectly motivated characters that end up seeming to not fit in their worlds or they end up coming across as stupid, which is a faster way to kill any connection your character even when compared with a character kicking a dog after stealing candy from a baby. 

So, how do you figure out the motivations? Look for reasons why your character is doing something. Talk to your friends about it. If at any point one of them tells you, "that's dumb, why would they do that", look long and hard at your characters and figure out what they really want and whether you have inserted the wrong character into this draft. 

Personally, I take it a bit far, making sure that even my "mindless" monsters have a reason and motivation for their actions, even if the readers never end up seeing it. You don't need to go to this level for your book, but I can guarantee that taking it that far will only improve how realistic your characters seem. 

Gong Hei Fat Choi!

Gong Hei Fat Choi!!!

Happy Lunar New Year! 

As a pagan who has an appreciation for other cultures and a love of holidays, I tend to end up celebrating a lot of things multiple times. For instance, today is the first day of the 2021 lunar new year. Being that I'm Pagan and put a lot of emphasis on the lunar/solar calendar, I celebrate it, usually by starting my spring cleaning (I swear, one day I will hear about it more than 2 hours before the date and will finish the cleaning beforehand like you're supposed to) and buying something red or something jade. When I have money, I'll treat friends to dinner or pick them up a little gift if I see something for them. I also celebrate the regular western new year, usually celebrated by reading for the evening and maybe going out for dinner with my husband and friends. I also celebrate the pagan new years on October 31st. While most of that day is filled with preparation for the upcoming Nanowrimo and maybe giving away Halloween candy to the local kids, my hubby and I usually end up going out for dinner if we can. If we find a stranger in need of food or a meal, we do our best to give them cash and buy them a meal. 

Basically, what this is saying is that I just love celebrating holidays. That probably comes with me being an Earth Goat in the Chinese zodiac. According to my horoscopes for this year (which as with any astrology thing, I follow till I forget about it in a few week's time) its going to be a year of improvement for me, which if nothing else means that I will be better equipped for the year afterward. While its a dim year for me, in almost every way but in the health department (which is amazing, but migraines will be a continuous issue if I read it right), it will be a better year than last business-wise, so long as I'm not trying to branch out into things I have no skill in. 

Do you celebrate the Lunar New Year? If so, how? And what is your Asian Astrology animal? 

Schrödinger's Christmas Tree

 Sorry guys. I have had migraines for days... the sort that makes you unable to think of your own name when asked. Apparently, the polar vortex hit and my brain was having none of it. Despite that, I managed to finish writing the two new chapters I needed to replace this week and, wonderfully, I got another order from Fiverr. I'm happy to say that was before the migraine hit (thank the gods I hadn't decided to put it off for a day) and now I have another satisfied customer. So even if the last few days have been kicking my ass, I can call this week a win still. 

However, my brain has gotten silly what with it either hurting to the point of making me dizzy or a pressure build-up making me feel like my brain is soft and slowly turning to goo. How does this come out in my day to day life? 

Well, this time it happened when I looked at the remains of our Christmas tree. I took off all of the ornaments earlier this week, but we haven't taken it down and boxed it up yet. Today, I have decided that it is a Schrodinger's Christmas Tree. It exists as both a Christmas tree and not until it is either redecorated or it is boxed up and put away. 

So, do you have a Schrodinger's tree up in your house? Let me know.