We all know there are six elements
of fiction. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. I believe the first five lead
to the sixth which for me is plot. What's your take on this?
1. How do you create your characters? Do you have a specific method?
My characters start off in my head,
but they’re like chess pieces I move around to make the plot work. Once I have
that, I think about the people. What do they like? What do they dislike? Why
are they attracted to each other? One of the pins on my Pinterest board of
writing tips is a questionnaire about your characters. I find it helps sharpen
up my ideas about them. After all that, when I start writing, they take on a
life of their own. Maybe I wanted one to be uptight, but she shows me her
slutty side. It’s an amalgam of methods that seems to work.
2. Do your characters come before
the plot?
I’m a big believer in plot first.
That said, if the characters are wooden, my writing wouldn’t sell.
3. Do you know how the story will
end before you begin? In a general way or a specific one?
A general way,
with a happy-ever-after guaranteed. I know my hero and heroine will fall in
love, and I know some of the obstacles they’ll face along the way. They never
have an easy ride.
4. Do you choose settings you know
or do you have books of settings and plans of houses sitting around?
For my Scattered
Siblings series, my husband drew me a map based on what I told him about my
otherworld. I know which species lives where and the home territory of each
werewolf pack. For my Heroes of Westhorpe Ridge Trilogy, I needed a coastal
town in North Carolina. I’m a Brit who for health reasons doesn’t do long haul
flights. Since my town was imaginary, I used the British sea side resort of
Whitby as my base but Americanised it. (And yes, that is where Bram Stoker wrote
Dracula, but I left the vampires behind.)
Westhorpe Ridge
straddles a gorge with cliffs either side. Devlin’s hotel sits on the cliff
top. Montgomery Hall replaces Whitby Abbey on the other.
5. Where do you do your research? On
line or from books?
Mostly on line,
but anything’s research. I recently went to a talk by a Farrier. I went out of
interest, but afterward, l realized I knew my next hero’s profession. My Heroes of Westhorpe Ridge series features former military men.
I looked at USA service websites so much a recruiter came
on line and wanted to chat with me. They’re also into BDSM and I visited one
that opened its doors for writers to chat with the Doms. I learned about
flogging, people visiting in their lunch break, and breath control. It was
quite a day.
6. Are you a draft writer or do you
revise as you go along and why? Do you sketch out your plot or do you let the
characters develop the route to the end?
A bit of both. I
write until I’m stuck, then revise the chapters I’ve written. By the time I’ve
done that, I generally know what happens next. Once my first draft’s finished,
I revise and revise until my head hurts. I’m dyslexic and don’t see the errors
every time, but with the help of my husband, I get there in the end.
7. Where can we find you on
the net?
Twitter https://twitter.com/KryssieFortune
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KryssiesFortune
Pinterest http://bit.ly/1OGFnjc
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