Favorite Characters to Write

When you read some books, you can tell right away that certain characters are favorites of the author.  It doesn't necessarily mean that they show an undue favoritism -- like letting them constantly survive situations that they shouldn't -- but it could be something as simple as certain characters getting a lot more "screen time" than their role in the story warrants.

The Strangest, the Weirdest Situations For Your Characters

The essence of a good story revolves around the characters and the situations/messes they find themselves in.  Some types of stories call for strange situations stacked on top of the bizarre, where others need little more than having the characters be in the same room.

How to Make Believable Characters

As I mentioned in my post about naming characters, they tend to pop into my thoughts almost fully formed.  They tend to have a name already attached to them, and a very general description for them.  I don't really have a process that causes that result.  The closest I've ever done it "on purpose" is if I go to sleep actively mulling a story over in my head.

Favorite Genre of Fiction

My favorite genre of fiction to read is fantasy.  I do like some science fiction, horror, and some thrillers.  But I often return to fantasy because it seems to capture -- for me, at least -- everything that fiction "should" be.

Music and the Creative Process

Do you need absolute silence to write?  Or can you handle some background noise, maybe even some music to help your creative juices get going?