The Creative Process

Article 04 - April 16, 2016

Being creative isn't easy. Sometimes you get stuck on an idea that you really loved, and can't seem to get pass it. Everything else you do going forward is going to feature that little fragment in some way. 

It happens to me too, of course. 

There is a need of course to split that off, temporarily cast it into obscurity, and start something entirely new. 

And that's what we're focusing on today. 

To illustrate this, I'd like to use my novel as an example. Fool Me Twice was this adventurous, desolate, and occasionally rather abstract tale. It didn't start this way. It started as a very typical, run-of-the-mill young adult tale that's no different than what you can pluck off the shelves after you waltz in your local bookstore. 

I hate this mentality of being a follower. 

The main character in my book was this rich girl named Kayla Ferrule. Demanding, sometimes annoying, but not obnoxious. I designed her personality to fit her background, as well as to hit contrasts with the male lead. The reason that Kayla was set out to be wealthy and loaded in the first place is for her to avoid being that copycat female lead that grew up in the suburbs and whines on social media all day. 

Kayla needed to be rich and assisted at all times so everything else that isn't related to the main plot gets out of the way in some easy exposition. 

I swayed her away in my design process. Yet for the sake for familiarity, I hit Kayla with some normal traits for what a person in her shoes would be like. A showoff,  self-centered and quite selfish, and the frequent use of "I". When I say "She is as plain as anyone else" in the book, I did it to echo the striking resemblance to what existing traits readers already know, while I subtly introduce new elements to the audience.

And her outfit? That's a jab. 

The dude. Freaking Miles Hector. The male lead also featured some constraints to lead him away from being too normal. He's sarcastic, he's animated at times, kinda kind at heart, and most importantly, doesn't fall in love with the main in the book. And that's a good thing. 

One thing I took note was the possibility of a romantic plot line. That again was omitted because it draws attention away from the focus. 

I still concealed references to one. I'm not set to degrade it to the quality of that one romance novel that everyone says "it's garbage". Because I think a story needs to be captivating. It needs to grab attention. 

My story needs to have its focus set well and its events easy to digest, yet complex in meaning behind it. 

The next article we will talk more into the plot itself and the two second-billing characters. Well, "second-billing" might not be the best adjective, because they help push the story significantly as well.