by ToxicShadow » 12/12/2015 10:01 PM
The very simple answer is that I write because it makes me happy.
These days, I don't really write anywhere other than on Evelon, as it comes down to me not realistically not having the time. As far as writing styles go, my style varies a little, from character to character. For example, if my character is more of an intellectual type, that will likely be reflected a little in not only what she says, but in the way that I write everything else. If my character is the sort that freely cusses, that will also likely happen outside of just their spoken words. I sometimes describe things in a way that they may describe them.
I don't always like the way I write things out, I even recognize that I use certain words too much in my writing, but that's just how it is. When I'm roleplaying, I don't try to focus on those things too much, since I'm in it to enjoy myself. If a roleplay ends up becoming a point of stress rather than enjoyment, I'm likely to stop replying. I don't write to torture myself, especially now that I only have so much time to do what I enjoy.
I used to read other users' roleplays more often than I do now (again, because of the reality of just not having a lot of free time), but I still read them occasionally. However, I very rarely draw inspiration from roleplays I am not involved in, unless my character is already somehow involved with the characters in that other roleplay. I suppose I don't really draw inspiration from them often because I don't see the stories of other users on Evelon as things I can draw from. It don't like drawing from characters on Evelon (that mine are not involved with) as it seems odd to me, almost like stealing material. It's a bad habit, but I still get a wee bit uncomfortable if I took a long time considering a name (not something exactly common or something that shows up in behindthename) and then I see someone else using it suddenly, after the name of my character shows up in my journal, roleplays, etc. I know that it often happens on accident, too, but it just makes me a bit uncomfortable. I'm trying to get over it, though, because reality has it that, guess what, your name may be unique on one site, but its not unique to the world.
Ah, I was getting a bit off track there.
What I draw a lot of inspiration from, especially these days, are songs, manga, anime/Korean dramas (or the FEW other shows I watch), and video games. I'll often end up taking a concept I see/read, apply my version of it to a character, and run with it.
For example, I was watching an episode of Doctor Who with my husband a while back. This whole episode was about the idea of there being some kind of alien/monster that was always there, but couldn't be seen. A monster under the bed, if you will. Although, in the episode, such a thing didn't seem to exist, in the end.
I became almost fascinated with such an idea, so I ended up making a character that, indeed, was a monster under the bed. But I had to decide why he was such a thing, what he did, how he did them, etc. After I designed the first one, I ended up coming up with another, and another, but all different characters with different lots in life.
Often times, I end up getting inspired from several things, and that all ends up into one character, or group of characters, too.