Musings of Two Creative Minds

Greetings all.  I'm sure everyone has been noticing I've been putting up more and more videos lately as opposed to my usual entries.  Well, part of the reason for this was to get more traffic to come to my Vlog on YouTube.  But there is another reason. Those of you who watched the video on my last entry:  http://allankrummenacker.blogspot.com/2012/09/another-entry-about-creating-characters.html  will already know what I'm about to say.  I have a chronic pain condition.  I can still see the doctor who diagnosed me with it 12 years ago as he gave me a sad smile and said, "The good news is that it won't kill you.  But you'll be in pain the rest of your life."  The condition is known as Fibromyalgia and based on my own research over the years and from speaking with experts, I've had this since childhood.  I've always suffered pain more readily and easier than my peers back in grade school.  No one ever believed me when I told them how much I hurt esp

This latest installment not only deals with creating characters, but also explains a bit why I haven't been making as long an entry as I'd like lately.  I hope to do a more proper entry shortly.  Thanks...

The move is over, I'm settled in.  It's time to get back to the business of blogging and writing.  Thanks for all your patience everyone.  In today's Blog/Vlog installment, you'll get to meet an artist who helps me explain how to create characters in your stories, who feel more like real people.  Enjoy.

Wow, my latest video seems to be my most popular one to date. It's sitting at 65 views in just 3 days. It took weeks for any of my other installments to reach that number. If you haven't already checked it out please do. I'd like to see it r each 100 by the weekend. And if you enjoyed it, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and also spread the word to help me reach more viewers. Part of a writer's job is to get their name out there and this one of the methods I'm using to make that happen. Thanks everyone and I'd be happy to return the favor, just ask. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9VQNVH0uzg

This was going to be a Vlog entry about settling into my new home.  But it quickly went into a very different direction.  I did not plan this, it just happened and I ran with it.  I hope you enjoy this video.  It wound up inspiring an idea for a scene in novel #3.  It's just too good to not use.

Well, we're mostly settled into our new place in the Monterey Bay area, so the dust is slowly settling from all of that.  Still unpacking and organizing where we want things to go and how, but that's just normal after a move. But sometimes figuring out how to organize your story and where you want certain events or revelations to go can also be pretty tricky.  It can even lead to problems I'd never thought about, like Writer's Block.  Or, as it was with me recently,  STEALTH WRITER'S BLOCK! Now what I mean by that is a kind of Writer's Block you aren't even aware of.  To give you an example, this is what happened to me.  I had finished a particular scene in my current novel and had moved way beyond it with the rest of the story.   But for some odd reason, I kept finding myself going back to that scene and wondering about it.  It would happen every so often then I'd get back to where I actually left off writing.  But soon enough I was back to that sce

I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor because my cell phone will only allow me to e-mail videos only once and I accidentally lost all of them on my laptop.  So I just sent all the vids to YouTube and edited the puppy here (http://www.youtube.com/editor). Anyway, this is the finale about my setting changing.  I know you all have been supportive and maybe wondering a little bit about why I chose to do this series. Well here's the answer, setting affects people.  Especially it affects your characters.  Their drives, dreams, motivations, how they feel (excitement, boredom, anger, resentment, etc.)  And changing settings can have a huge impact on them and what choices they make with their lives and how they react to it.  You've seen me go through a range of emotions and seen some parts about me I've never revealed to you before (like saying goodbye to a place and thanking it for all it had done for us).  Can a place be sentient or aware?  I like to think so.  But

Here is part 3 of my 4 part video series on my wife and I moving from Santa Cruz to the Monterey Bay area.  The experience itself has given me loads of ideas and I hope it's been doing the same for you.  You've seen me going through a range of emotions and hearing how I feel about leaving the place that's been home and my inspiration for the last 4 years.  But with any new experience you can find a lot of ideas if you just keep your eyes and mind open.

Well, my wife Helen and I have finally finished moving into our new place.  I'll be posting some more videos from my Vlog about that shortly, but I wanted to focus on another subject today.  Hobbies, talents, things people do for adventure, enjoyment and relaxation. Now in creating characters that seem real to the audience I've found that the more real and reachable the characters are (i. e. they're like people you know or might meet) they're the ones that the readers seem to really relate to and even come to love.  Now one method I've used to make my characters seem more human and real is to give them traits that are familiar, and even somewhat odd but intriguing.  I've given characters hobbies or activities I've tried.  When they are finished with what I've written, some have even gone and done research of their own on the activity.  Some have even taken it up and made it a part of their lives. But how did that happen?  Simple, whether it's pla

And here is part 2 of "My Setting Is Changing". This time we're starting to say farewell to some very close friends...