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Friday, February 19, 2010

Even Frankenstein was an Experiment

Experiments can change the world and they can also be deadly. Although there are different degrees of the word deadly – Frankenstein, deadly. What I experiment with – not quite so deadly.

Take websites for instance. Sometimes maintaining your own website can be while not deadly, traumatic. Especially when html and web design programs are not your expertise! The other day was proof of that. For that was the day when I lost most of my book page on my website. The push of a key and voila - something is no more. Before you shake your head and say poor me – let me tell you I have hopes that I’ll build something better out of the fiasco – another experiment, just not today.


Isn’t life an experiment of choices? Rather like fiction. The experiment is key. That's one of the joys of writing you get to do what you would never consider in real life - play with peoples lives. Not to say that there aren't people that do that in real life but that would be another post, another opinion and... I've swerved far enough.

Seriously, experimenting with fictional characters can have some interesting outcomes. Push the limits of your character’s abilities to see what they’ll do. Make it difficult – but how difficult? When the push works it can be awesome. Stretching for something you never did before or something you never originally visualized for your character can be both daunting and exciting. If you're right things shift and change and the character grows before your eyes or, like the other day, things aren't quite that smooth and you're left shaking your head with a muddled screen or a troubled story. But when it works, the experiment is a beautiful thing.

Today my heroine has surprised herself and the story has deepened.  And the website - that now shortened book page? That experiment is not going as well, it’s still short a few details.

So anyone waiting for the winner of my latest contest to be announced - stay tuned if not today, I promise tomorrow.

In life or fiction, when do you push the envelope, hop a different boat and experiment? And when do you call it a day?










Ryshia

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is useful to try everything in practise anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)