What's more difficult to write, people or setting?
"People. They're much more complex and ever-changing, and it's tough to balance reality with likeability. We all have major flaws, but reading about them in another character doesn't always make for a fun story. I'm always striving to develop realistic but compelling characters--it's a huge challenge!" - Sarah Ockler, author of Bittersweet.
"Oh – those are two of the bits I like. Can I punt and say "plot"?
(I guess not. Okay, Leah, answer the question.)
(I guess not. Okay, Leah, answer the question.)
Setting, probably: It's so precise, and it has so many moving parts, each of which impact the other. People I can sort of feel my way into, work intuitively. Setting's always deliberate logic." - Leah Bobet, author of Above.
"Setting. In the worst case scenario, if I can’t figure out how to write a person, I’ll just make him or her like one of my friends. Settings are tough though unless you’ve actually been there, at least for me." - Aaron Karo, author of Lexapros & Cons.
"Setting is more difficult. You want it to be evocative but not heavy-handed in suggesting the feel of the place and the emotion connected to it, at the same time there are the concrete parameters of the physical space." - Ann Stampler, author of Where It Began.
"If you’d asked me this a few years ago, I would have said setting, as I started out very uncomfortable with having to write descriptions of places (I often skip over them in other people’s books) and I’m such a non-visual person that trying to describe the way something looks can be torture for me. But as I’ve gotten better at evoking a feeling of place—and having more fun with it—it’s the people that I now see as a bigger challenge, maybe because these days I’m putting more pressure on myself to come up with truly believable, three dimensional characters who have a life off the page." - Robin Wasserman, author of The Book of Blood and Shadow.
"I'm gonna go with setting. Like I said, I set Ferocity Summer in an area I know pretty well. That's sort of like cheating. I didn't have to make anything up, even if I might have taken a few liberties." - Alissa Grosso, author of Ferocity Summer.
"I suppose I should say setting, because I think I'm a bit of a minimalist. But characters can definitely give you more trouble. Sometimes they just won't do what you intended them to." - Kendare Blake, author of Girl of Nightmares.
"People, to me, are generally more nuanced, and therefore both more difficult and more rewarding to write." - Jennifer Bosworth, author of Struck.
"Setting." - Cat Patrick, author of Revived.
"Setting. Unless it's Under. Under was a lot of fun to detail. Otherwise, I always have to go back and make sure my characters aren't talking to each other on the equivalent of an empty stage." - Gwen Hayes, author of Dreaming Awake.
"People. Nothing’s more confounding than people. That’s one of the reasons I write — to gain a better understanding of human nature. The motivations, the rationalizations, the psychoses." - Nina Malkin, author of Swear.
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Wow, so may great books! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteAnd that was a good question to ask the authors. I've never actually wondered about it until now.
I would go with people being the hardest thing to write. You can just make the setting anything you want it to be, but a person has so many different dimensions.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good question! I guess I always thought people were the hardest to write, but now I can definitely see how setting could be harder. Very thought provoking :) That is one awesome giveaway, thank you so much for the opportunity!
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