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Jul. 31st, 2018 08:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuuagoI think one of the reasons that I like writing Hetalia fic so much is - the characters aren't human.
Writing people who act like actual people is incredibly difficult for me. I don't really know how normal human beings work.
So, writing from the point of view of someone who isn't a normal human being, the point of view of someone who isn't a human at all, but rather an entity that is made up of a whole load of different things - it's different.
Not that this comes through in the text as much as it should, of course. I really should make an effort to incorporate organically into the text things relating to the characters' existence as not-human entities, because this is something that I enjoy when other people do it. But even when I don't emphasize it, it's still kind of there in its own way.
Sometimes I still run into problems - there is one longer story, something with a plot, and I was stalled on it for a while because I don't know how to write people who act like actual human beings and I didn't know how to move the story forward. But once I reminded myself that they aren't human beings, it was easier. (And then I got stalled on it later, again, but that time it was because of a scene with a character that I hardly ever write. I'll figure out my way around it somehow.)
Anyway. I was thinking about this today. I really should emphasize this more. It's what I like best about writing for this series, anyway.
Writing people who act like actual people is incredibly difficult for me. I don't really know how normal human beings work.
So, writing from the point of view of someone who isn't a normal human being, the point of view of someone who isn't a human at all, but rather an entity that is made up of a whole load of different things - it's different.
Not that this comes through in the text as much as it should, of course. I really should make an effort to incorporate organically into the text things relating to the characters' existence as not-human entities, because this is something that I enjoy when other people do it. But even when I don't emphasize it, it's still kind of there in its own way.
Sometimes I still run into problems - there is one longer story, something with a plot, and I was stalled on it for a while because I don't know how to write people who act like actual human beings and I didn't know how to move the story forward. But once I reminded myself that they aren't human beings, it was easier. (And then I got stalled on it later, again, but that time it was because of a scene with a character that I hardly ever write. I'll figure out my way around it somehow.)
Anyway. I was thinking about this today. I really should emphasize this more. It's what I like best about writing for this series, anyway.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.
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Date: 2018-08-05 06:11 pm (UTC)I really do enjoy writing Hetalia for these same reasons. They're a bit like the Greek gods in their personification of an idea (or several), though unlike the gods these ideas can change over time, and occasionally they do learn something from their actions in ways that Zeus and Hermes and Aphrodite and the rest never do. (Psst, maybe don't have sex with humans, guys -- time and time again, it doesn't end well for the humans, and yet you just shrug and move on because you can.)
What I really latch onto when I'm pondering characterisation is the sense that even though they look human and at times they can and will interact with each other as humans might, they fundamentally lack free will. Deep at the core, they're at the mercy of forces they can't control and can't change, and they all have cautionary tales from their past about what happens when they forget this aspect of themselves. And I love seeing how that plays out with certain characters, and the different ways in which it might manifest.
All of which is to say that I'm nodding along with this very firmly, so yes. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2018-08-06 02:34 am (UTC):D :D! This is one of the ways I prefer to look at them too. Somewhat, anyway. xD
(And yes, sex with humans is a terrible idea ffffff)
Deep at the core, they're at the mercy of forces they can't control and can't change, and they all have cautionary tales from their past about what happens when they forget this aspect of themselves.
^^^ That right there, that's the good stuff. Mmm gimme' some of that. (He says, when he should be doing this sort of thing himself). It's wonderful.