Monday, August 8, 2011

Melissa-ish Monday : Questions!

A new feature that I've started is "Melissa-ish Monday." I'll answer questions about me or (if there aren't any questions), a random fact about myself.

To start off - "What does 'Melissa-ish' mean?"
When I was a summer camp counselor, I was put in charge of the office at our camp site for a day while the camp director was out. Eight hours in a white room, waiting for kids to come in that were in trouble or hurt. Very dull. There were three 8 feet tall by 4 feet wide storage cabinets in the room. Everyone would just throw old craft supplies and sports equipment in the cabinets, slamming the doors to make sure stuff didn't fall out on them. After the first hour I was in the office, I was itching for something to do. My OCD got the better of me and I started emptying out the cabinets. I organized EVERYTHING and labeled every shelf, bin, etc. My camp director came back in the afternoon and just stared at the open cabinets. "Wow. That is very...Melissa-ish." A word was born. :)

Question from a friend: "What scenes do you like to write the most?"
This made me pause a moment because the answer instantly came to my tongue but I didn't know how it would sound. Fight scenes are my favorite to write. Weird, I know. I put myself in the position of the attacker and the defender, actually working out the moves in a physical way.

*Note* Do NOT do this while writing at Starbucks. Or anywhere else in public. It will earn you stares and whispers.

Fight scenes are intense physically and also mentally. The characters have to think about reacting, have to think about how to get out of the fight or how to fight back. It's exhausting as a writer to write from both sides. I have to tap into "the Dark Side" to make the villain laugh maniacally, hurt my protagonist, say horrible things. I hate hurting my protagonist but I have reader friends who have helped me get past this. :) (You know who you are!) In order for the character to grow, they have to go through trials. Sometimes rather painful trials.

Question for you! If you're a writer, what scenes do you like to write? If you're a reader, what are your favorite scenes to read?

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