648 Madness.

by

This page is going to absolutely ruin the site layout.

Whenever I change a scene, like from the previous page to this one, there’s a part of me that wants to stick in comic book style direction.  I thought about sticking a little box of text in the upper left corner that read “later”.  I ended up not doing it though because I convinced myself that every human reading my work would be exceptional enough to put together the visual clues and realize, without my nudging, that it was, in fact, later.  Later enough that the more industrious of the twins managed a pair of pants and a shirt.

This whole section was written very differently a long time ago.  In fact, it ended pretty fast, but when I sat down to cement the dialogue Jess resisted.  She refused to play the scene in a manner untrue to her character.  I had to rewrite the whole thing to suit her.  She kept doing it over and over.

Other characters have done this in the past, but Jessica resisted more pronouncedly that any other to this point.

Those of you who don’t write may think this sounds insane.  On some level it probably is.  The thing is, when you make a character you take part of yourself and your experiences and separate them out.  A little part of you begins to exist apart from you.  Over time, as you create, they begin to exhibit a will of their own.  They begin to resist things that are out of character.

It is through this phenomenon that I have begun to understand how a person could think that God has a plan for everything while still maintaining free will.

53 Comments

No, your not “mad”

I know a few writers, and when they talk about there “characters” it’s like there on a another level.

In a good way of course, but if you don’t know them…well it can seem kind of odd.

I’ll spend a few moments resisting the urge to tell you to die in a fire and simply point out that you screwed up the “your” / “you’re” distinction and the “there” / “their” / “they’re” distinction in the same post.

Oh yeah… and the whole “mad” used as a synonym for “angry” thing.
I figured that was just an americanism… like saying “pants” for trousers instead of actual pants.

Ah, characters. They’re wonderful things to create, but absolute pains to put up with.

Like children.

Yeah, but kids only take 3 mins to make(at least mine did)

You know, you’re allowed to exaggerate. I don’t think anyone is going to fact check that one.

Oh yes, you’re absolutely insane like all good writers. The biggest characters in my stories always tend to take on a life of their own, and nag at me if I write something out of character for them. I think that’s why I prefer writing short stories that make up a larger series or epic, so I don’t have to worry about my children being done with. (kinda feel like I’m rambling, but oh well)

I know what you mean, as I writer I have a hard time putting anything to paper sometimes because the person, place, or character just doesn’t match what I think of in my head. Dialogue is of course the worst because if it falls flat the characters seem like automatons instead of people.

Personally, I don’t think you’re crazy at all. In fact, I think it’s one of the signs of a good writer that they have defined their characters enough to know what they would and wouldn’t do! Or perhaps all good writers are just insane… XD.

As a writer, I understand what you mean about some characters not cooperating. If you build them up in your head enough, they simply won’t act in the way you want them to because it might not quite jibe with their nature. So what you’ve got is a storyline they wouldn’t rightly follow. Square peg, meet round hole. That’s why I try not to develop my characters beforehand. Just pigeonhole them into a clearcut role without any distinguishing characteristics, then the personality comes out later to fit.

Of course, that might not work with comics, the personality linked to appearance as it is. One method which I found effective when working with someone else’s characters is to kill off one early in the story so the rest of the little bastards know you mean business. Keeps ’em in line.

You don’t even need to reserve that tactic specifically for someone else’s characters. If they knew they were fictional, mine would fear me like some kind of easily-bored deity of undue suffering.

Alfred Hitchcock used to use the same tactic when filming a movie. Scary guy. A’course, he went through actors about as fast as he did his meals.

Did… did you just subtly compare yourself to God? That’s damned impressive man – I need to work on my subtlety!

Been reading for a while, love the comic :3

Glad you enjoy my work. Thanks for reading.

Anyway, Tolkien believed that since humans were created in God’s image that we all have the creative aspect in us. The better we subcreate the more it echoes the pirimary creation.

Im not a writer, i tried but the stories took on a Dean Knootz feel to it. he is one of my fav sci fi writers.. but i do understand what u mean about charaters having there own will

also let it be stated that some of the most brilant minds where crazy as hell, so in short, insanity is good, mmk?

No joke, My cousin and i Role-play many characters online and I speak for us both when i say, My Cousin once argued with his character on a topic (about what I’m at a loss) and after a paragraph or so lost to his own character. It was quite funny that he got put in his place… by himself.

And the second copy of the comic is still here. Ironically, it actually creates a longer joke, as though Jess hits him a second time to see if he really is angry or not.

The whole “mad” vs “angry” thing is what’s been bugging me all along. Sometimes, when I feel like being really quiet, my friends’ll ask me, “(Undefined Variable’s name), are you mad?” And then I’ll say, “You mean ‘angry’. Not ‘mad’. ‘Mad’ means crazy. As in, ‘madman’. And, no, I’m not angry.”

By now, they’re all used to me doing this but still say “mad” anyway.

Disregarding the ‘complete insanity’ aspect of mad
There is a subtle difference in ‘being angry at someting’ and ‘being mad at something’ that is an useful nuance to use.

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