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I was going to write this last night, but the Alexandria Write-Up decided it needed to be done. Anyways - JENN'S CREATIVE PROCESS PART 3: IDLING

So, when i'm not actively working on stories, there are two "places" my stories go. (1) The Backburner and (2) The Playland. Today, we'll go into the Backburner as The Playland...that's kinda complicated.

As you've probably noticed, I'm kinda on a roll with the Alexandria idea. However, I had things to do today (Zelda streaming, house cleaning, worrying about finances). When I'm not actively thinking about stories, they go on what I call my back burner. It's an area of my head that seems to work on stories even when I'm not actively thinking about it.

Sometimes, I'll get quick flashes of stories while doing something else. Just quick millisecond scenes or feelings. I'll usually write these down in a book I keep with me at all times. My book is currently full of Genevieve ideas, a few Closetspace ones, and now Alexandria stuff. Pictures below.

Case in point - I spent about three hours today streaming The Wind Waker, and not thinking about the Alexandria story at all. There was also an hour or so of video editing and a little more gaming with the roomies. On sitting down getting ready to write this, I kind of pulled the story back from the mental shelf I put it on only to find it'd had kittens.

Small pieces of plot and story and episodes appeared. I didn't consciously work on them - they're just there. This happens with most of my stories once the inital "push" to develop them is over, or I don't have time to work on something. It works on itself.

In this case, there are several storylines starting to appear.

1) Their first foray to another star (Sirius). 15 hour trip estimated, but actually takes about 24 straight hours (They planned the trip at top speed, but the ship cruises at 80% or so speed). A story about "A Watched Pot Never Boils." It could be hundreds of years before they find another planet with life...how is that first 15-now-suddenly-24 hours going to go? Especially once boredom sets in. Did they make a mistake?

2) The Rogue Ship. A Rogue Library Ship (Another Ixore ship? A ship made by a third party using plans from another library ship?) attempts to destroy the Alexandria and it jumps away. The Rogue Ship is hot on it's tail, and it becomes a big chase through space as each ship jumps, has to take time to repair miscellaneous damage, and recharge their jump engines and try to keep one step ahead/catch up with the other.

3) First Contact situation where the Library Ship is detected by a civilization that is space-faring, but only around it's own planet and moons. How do people from a civilization who have never had first contact handle first contact with a species more advanced than the pilots? Manu: "They're more advanced than Earth, and the pilot of this technological marvel is a community college dropout!"

4) WE WANT THE SHIP.

I didn't consciously develop these - they just kinda showed up on "looking into" the story after a time away.

Story development can get a little more complicated than this for me, but I'll go into that tomorrow when we talk about "The Playland." That's...that's it's own little bit of wierdness.

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Things I never got used to even nineteen years after my transition, #7572:

When my boob Presses Down On my Spa Ce Bar

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JENN'S CREATIVE PROCESS PART 4: THE PLAYLAND

Alexandria AI: "...the local space is then enveloped by a series of encapsulating space time bubbles with local physics manipulated on a micro-level allowing for faster than light travel."
Manu: "Can you just explain that in a way where my high school diploma doesn't feel inadequate?"
Alexandria AI: "...processing.........................No."
Celeste: "If you can't explain it simply, you probably don't understand it at all."

One of my strong points is dialog. Being a comic writer, 99% of my stuff is dialog, and the few people who've read my novel snippets usually say the dialog is really good. The reason? Well...my characters talk to each other and let me watch.

I usually form up my characters very roughly and archetypically. In Alexandria, we currently have "The Smart Loner" "The Smart Alec" and "The Robot." Genevieve: "The Type A Scientist" "The Type B Scientist" "The Guilty Conscience." Closetspace: "The Brooder" "The Doubter" "The Free Spirit."

Once I have a Character that I want, I begin talking to them. "Who Are you?" "What do you want?" "What's your motivation." And I get their answers. "I'm an angel." "I want peace in my life." "I want to make it up to the person I killed."

But I don't stop there, and start asking my characters the one question they're going to hate: "Why?" I ask and ask and ask, to get deeper and deeper into who and what the characters are.

Manu: "I was chosen to pilot the Alexandria."
Jenn: "Why?"
"That alien chose me."
"Why?"
"He said I was perfect for piloting the ship."
"Why?"
"He told me I was smart and could handle the isolation."
"Why?"
"Because I'm always lonely already."
"Why?"
"Because I don't seek people out. I bury myself in books and learning and prefer them to people."

And we've got a more developed character just by asking Why. Eventually, they become so developed, they'll start talking back or becoming aware of their own stories.

"And why did Han'a choose you as an angel?"
"Because I already believe I was one. I was wrong, though - I was young, bought into a pet name my mother gave me. But come to think of it, that shouldn't been enought for Han'a to have picked me. I should ask her why. How strange."

This back and forth goes on and on over months and years to make these characters, who almost become full on people in their own right. A good example of that was some time in the late 90s. At the time, the Closetspace story in my had a Carrie that worked at a security firm. My (now) ex and I went to go see Dark City. When the scene of Jennifer Connelly singing "Sway" popped up - Carrie from Closetspace popped up in my head and told me she wanted to be a singer like that character. No prodding from me, no suggestions or push from me. She initiated it. And now she's a singer, but that process is gets a little deeper into character development. Han'a specifically rewrote my entire planned storyline for AWFW into what it is now.

In the back of my head is the "PlayLand." The Playland is a very specific "mental space" that I'm not actually allowed into. The characters who are developed enough to independently work on their stories all live there and work on those stories, even when I'm not actively working on them (Manu, Celeste and the Alexandria AI aren't there yet, but Carrie, Andrea and others are). In the Carrie case, this is where Carrie went when I gave her the Okay to be a singer. She worked with the characters in her story to make it happen, and presented the plot to me several weeks later. I'm allowed to "peek" into the Play Land to watch stories play out, get plots and ideas, and generally find ways to tell their stories.

Some have become such strong personalities that they've "Ventured out" of the Playland, and interacted in the real-world. Andrea had a livejournal for sometime: https://anangelinyellow.livejournal.com/627.html . Carrie and Han'a have "talked" with fans via IM. Something I like doing because it makes them stronger characters.

Carrie: "Um...hi?"
Andrea: "Hi!"
Allison: "...hello."
Han'a: "Kiyetorri."

I later found out that this way of creating characters is essentially one of the ways to create tulpas (a being or object which is created through spiritual or mental powers). No idea I was doing that, but it explains the deepness and richness of the characters.

That last part gets very woo-woo, but, well, they're here, and they're telling their stories. I just wish I was faster at it, since I have a LOT of characters, all clamoring to tell their stories. And not all characters go through this process - Andrea first appeared to me fully formed.

And that ends this unexpected multipart "How Jenn Writes Stories." Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5dwTjPy5tI