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Dreamflower's Musings by Dreamflower	3 Review(s)
Virtuella	Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 9/30/2010
That's a very interesting essay. I think Merry is one of Tolkien's best developed characters, which is perhaps what allows us such good extrapolations from canon. I must say, though, that I write in a less systematic manner than you've outlined here, not sitting down and "deciding" on a characters social status, speech pattern etc, but beginning to imagine the character and then intuitively seeing that character develop. Author Reply: You are quite right about Merry, which is why I chose him as an example. I'm not always quite so systematic as I sound in the essay myself. Characters do present themselves to me, sometimes nearly full-blown, but I also try to use these principles in making sure that they will fit into canon once I've imagined them. Sometimes I use an OC more than once, and as I develope him or her I try to make sure they have their own place in Middle-earth. I am far more careful with canon characters, though, and often if I am going to write a particular canon character I will re-read the parts of the books in which they appear in order to "freshen up" my memory of them.

cookiefleck	Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 9/17/2010
It's interesting how small details reveal authors' biases, even though a story may be otherwise well-written. It always takes me right out a story if I read that Frodo has (take your pick: striking, gorgeous, amazing, beautiful, stunning) blue eyes. It's hard to take the story seriously when that occurs, unless it's a comedic treatment. Or, for exammple, when one can tell that an author is using fan fiction to proselytize about religion. At that point, I stop reading. Author Reply: nods I try to be careful in using eye-color in fic. No more than one mention in a short story, and as few as possible in multi-chapter fic. And I shouldn't normally need another adjective than blue most of the time. Perhaps I may have used striking at some point-- I don't remember. Usually if I use another adjective besides color for eyes, it's a mood word: stormy, stern, sad, etc. And I think I use "warm" when I describe Sam's brown eyes. Of course, that's now. I don't really vouch for what I've said in my earliest stories, LOL! Or, for exammple, when one can tell that an author is using fan fiction to proselytize about religion. JRRT would have hated that. He filled his books with religious symbolism that meant something to him personally, but he did it in a very subtle way. Christian themes and symbols abound, but it's NOT allegory, and he would have been appalled at someone using his work to proselytize. I think for many of us, it is impossible not to let our beliefs be part of our work, but we should follow his example and make an effort not to hit people over the head with it. Some people are able to do subtle well. Some either can't or won't be subtle. And some of us try to be subtle and are hopefully soemwhat successful. And some are so subtle that no one actually gets it. That's probably the best of all!

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 9/16/2010
That was a very interesting article! Thank you for showing us how a character takes shape in your stories. I've always liked your Aunt Dora. She just felt "in-character". Now I know why that is so! You did a great job there! I also liked jodancingtree's stories about Frodo, Radagast - and Canohando, a very unusual Orc. He looked like an Orc, he behaved like an Orc at first, but deep inside he had a sensitive soul. And Frodo made him realise that. It was fascinating to see how he changed. Very unusual, but still "in-character"! Author Reply: I'm glad to know that you like Aunt Dora; really, that brief description we have from Bilbo's gift to her gives us so much to go on! JRRT had a way of bringing even the briefest cameo appearances of a character to life. I remember Canohando. Indeed, she did a brilliant job with his character! And the way in which Frodo dealt with him did so much to illuminate Frodo's own character as well.

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