Believe it or not, the entire concept of “Temporal” came about originally because I was watching Nicktoons late at night, and the “WhoBob WhatPants?” episode of SpongeBob was on as background noise while I was doodling. ^^;
I also had an event in my childhood involving doctor error in prescription dosage that led to me spending a bit of time in the hospital when I was 7 years old, and I have a 2 week time chunk of memory missing of the time between the initial onset of symptoms and when I realized I was being handed a bowl of lemon pudding at the hospital. I spent a month there. I got a plush bunny at that time that remains with me to this day, albeit worn and torn, so you can imagine that QuackerJack appeals to me in that regard. Hospital settings are very vivid to me, and a good fodder for this.
As for my general creative process, I usually piece things together through a collective effort of drawings, using items I have on hand as a sort of scenery stand in (I have a QuackerJack doll I’ve knitted, and a Darkwing plush, so they get used for this), as well as verbally speaking out lines and letting the natural flow of conversation happen based on how the characters would normally respond, use IRL settings to imagine the world a bit more for the location settings…
I also use music as a way to visualize scenes, and because I have Aspergers, I have a tendency to be very meticulous in trivial details such as textures and scents and all that, which is useful in helping the reader feel the established world. It tends to be long winded, tho, not gonna lie. I also like to just mill around on sandbox video games (like Minecraft) to let my mind wander on ideas.
If all else fails, I try to beak the scenes down to meme format.
But, I’ve also been writing fanfiction in general since 2004, so I’ve had a majority of my life poured into that…
A simple tip I can give is to think of a sort of “End Game” to work for. Not necessarily the end of the story, but a goal for the events happening, and how you can get the characters there. Put some obstacles to make it more of a challenge, try not to make it too easy to get to the goal, but make it doable eventually. Reread old chapters to keep track of continuity and time passage.
For example, one of my goals for QuackerJack after long enough in “Temporal” is that he’s gonna either get a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and a chocolate milkshake once he gets the health okay for it (he’s on a particular diet right now to promote brain healing, and junk food has been nixed), or a mason jar full of jellybeans, since he’s asked for that at some point.
A silly goal compared to the drama of the story, but sometimes you and the characters just need a break.
I also aim for a happy medium most of the time. If a character is always at 100% angst, it becomes tiresome, so it’s fine to dial it back to 50% most of the time. Let them have a bit of humor in between. Let them have a moments reprieve, maybe a detour in the story.
A sample of the latest chapter, particularly the ending paragraphs:
It’s mostly dialogue heavy and uses repetition (a bit of a tic of my own, but I adapted that into QuackerJack’s speech and thought patterns when he’s agitated, tired or distressed).
It also acknowledges that it’s not a complete statement he’s trying to convey due to his aphasia (a medical condition where one has difficulty to understand or express speech, caused by brain injury), which plays into his insistence that “It’s okay to not be okay.”
Another sample from a chapter before that one:
This happening after a rather intense emotional sequence. Less dialogue heavy, more reliant on explaining the environment and having the characters react accordingly. It also reminds us that they’re in a setting where there are other rooms on that floor that are likely doing thier thing too, and it’s all been interrupted because of the fire sprinklers. Chaos ensues, everything is soaked.
((Which this was an excuse to get QuackerJack a chance to sit outside on a bench to dry off, so he gets a bit of sunshine as the payoff))
Does that help any? I’m very bad at tutorials, to be honest. I just “do” things, mostly. Spontaneous. My ability to explain things clearly isn’t the best. 😅
