Character Closets

Well, I am officially knee deep in the drafting process. This means I’ve finally gotten to the point where it’s not pulling teeth to fill up those ominous blank pages. 

*turns cartwheels…remembers I can’t turn cartwheels…falls down…sticks to writing*

Now, I always try to go into writing with as much research done as possible, but I’ve found that there’s really no way to avoid a certain amount of mid-chapter inquiries. The fantasy creatures are the easiest part – mostly because they’re the most interesting. Who doesn’t want to look into the argopelters and their penchant for throwing splinters? Or how about cactus cat’s drunken shrieking? That’s fun for the whole family. And the medicinal purposes of jackalope milk? Life changing.

It’s the non-fantasy aspects that I find myself needing to delve into as I write. Necessary steps for obtaining a food vendor license in Manhattan. State regulations regarding homeschooling. The meaning behind various Hopi names. These are the bits of information that I don’t necessarily realize I’m going to need until I’m in the thick of it.

What I do know that I’m going to need is for all my characters to be wearing clothes. You know, at least until I start writing my series on the haunted nudist colony.

The drum alerts everyone to the sale.
Photo by Pere López (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

But somehow, I have recently found my characters are suddenly all showing up in extremely similar outfits. Sure, a little crossover is fine – after all, I borrow (read: steal) from my friends closets – but I’m talking a Smurf level of similarity. Apparently there was a sale at the white pants and hat store, and all my characters went on a shopping spree.

So, in an effort to keep my world from looking like a larger scale version of Doug Funnie’s closet, I’m making sure that each of the characters has a fully stocked wardrobe of their very own.

And, now, if you have any interest in rifling through the drawers of the characters in my current WIP, you can! Just check out my new Pinterest page and let me know your thoughts!