WIP novel ruining my life.

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To find a purpose to her otherwise meaningless existence.

She's isolated, so that question is tough to answer.

-Hacking
-Reading

Her hacking terminal, Pegasus.

Need to work more on that.

A suburb of Janus City, mostly populated by students of Janus High.

Her hovercar.

-Biting lips
-Popping Valium
-Smoking
-Scratching her cheeks against her shoulders
-A low growl, akin to Rorshach's.

How would she go about that, and what form might it take if she were to reach that goal? How would she know if she's reached it or not?


No on can stay completely isolated. She must be around some people, at least from time to time: classmates, teachers, friends, family, co-workers, drug dealers, prostitutes, police, thieves, robbers, looters, hackers, junkies, scientists, business men/women etc.


Any sports, games, martial arts, or other activities like dance, yoga, pilates, etc.? You can make up your own sci-fi stuff for it, too, which is always fun. Any other mechanical or technical skills? Is she into music, writing, going to parties, clubs, bars, concerts, orgies, etc.?


Anything else? Clothing, weapons, technology, vehicles, books, artwork, art supplies, jewelry, toys, games, photos, movies, musical instruments, medications, drugs, drug paraphernalia, etc.


Definitely do that. A character with responsibilities has the chance of failing them, thus creating conflict. Even if it's just simple things like getting to school or class or other appointments or meetings/gatherings on time, doing chores around the house, or running errands or something.


Get more specific. A house, an apartment, a town-home; in a slum, a rich neighborhood, average, etc. How big is the place? What kind of furniture and interior decorations does it have, if any? What kind of architecture does the apartment/town-home/house have; the rest of the neighborhood, the rest of the city?


What make and model? What year? What color? What kind of modifications has she made to it, if any? Is it reliable? Is it expensive or cheap? How does it work? Is it a luxury car, a performance car, or just an old beater?


Anything else? Like knuckle cracking, stretching, head tilting, pacing, unique facial expressions? Any speaking mannerisms? Accents, dialects, chronic mispronunciations, slang, preferred response phrases, insults, swear words/phrases, etc.

And more questions to ponder:

1. What major events shaped the society Eva lives in; social, political, and economic? Thinks like wars, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, new laws and government regulations on people and industries, economic boom/recession/depression, government elections (local, national and international), famous scandals and crimes, the formation and/or dissolution of major companies, industries and political/governmental bodies (again, local, national, and international), new technologies, natural discoveries, architectural projects, art, fashion and music movements, civil rights/social acceptance movements, popular/famous music, books, movies, TV shows, essays, speeches, etc.

2. What events in her life made her into the person she is today? What was her childhood like? Was she abused, neglected, loved, spoiled? How about her teenage years? Did she ever have any close friends; what were they like? A good influence, a bad influence, or no influence at all? Any run-ins with the law or other authority figures? How did she react to that? Did anything ever happen at school to affect her? Getting good, bad or mediocre grades, passing or failing important exams, joining or being kicked out of extra-curricular activities?

3. Has she ever committed any crimes, either felonies or misdemeanors? Assault, battery, burglary, robbery, fraud, shoplifting, possession of drugs and/or drug paraphernalia, underage drinking/possession of alcohol, etc. Did she ever commit any crimes on campus? Hacking the school's computer network, getting into fights with other students or teachers, bringing a weapon to school, etc. Has she ever bought or sold drugs? Has she ever been caught for it? If so, by who? What were the consequences? How do she react? Did/would being caught deter her from doing it again?

4. What are her vices, bad habits, and addictions? How often does she do them? Does she want to stop herself from doing them? How far is she willing to go to satisfy them? Have they ever caused her any serious problems with her family, friends or the law? Has she ever come to school or work drunk/high/stoned/tripping/tweaking or gotten drunk/high/stoned or tripping/tweaking while at school or work, etc.? Has she ever brought drugs/alcohol to school or work or sold them at school or work? Would she do it if she had the opportunity?

5. Any significant romantic and/or sexual relationships, either heterosexual or homosexual? What were those like? Who were they with, and how long did they last? How old was her partner? Did they end well, badly, or neutrally? When and where was her first sexual experience, and what was it like? What does she think of it, looking back? Does she even remember it? Is she comfortable with sexual encounters? Is she monogamous or polygamous by nature? How does she feel about open relationships, exhibitionism, voyeur, BDSM, threesomes, group sex, solo/mutual masturbation, porn, etc.?

6. Who are her parents? Are they divorced, separated, or never married? Does Eva even live with her parents, or does she live on her own or with a legal guardian? Are her parents both even still alive? Has she ever met both of them if they're separated or divorced? How do they get along with each other? Is one or both of them ill, either chronically or terminally? How does she get along with her parents? Well, poorly, or does she just ignore them for the most part? How do they show concern or affection for her, if any? Are they abusive, negligent, resentful, caring, doting, protective, aloof, jealous, gloating, spiteful, ect.? Is one parent caring and the other not? If so, which one? Why? How does this affect each parent's behavior and attitude towards the other and towards Eva and/or her siblings, if she has any?

7. Who are her siblings, if any? How many? Older or younger? Are they treated any differently from her? How does she feel about that? How does she feel about her sibling(s), if she does have any? Is she resentful, caring, doting, protective, aloof, jealous, gloating, spiteful, ect. towards them? If there are more than one, how does she treat each one? How do they show their feelings for her, if any? If her parents are separated or divorced, which of the children does each parent have custody of? What's the schedule for family visits/spending time with each parent?

8. What physical and/or mental health issues does Eva have, if any? Do these keep her from achieving her goals? How do they do that? Was she ever in any serious accidents or vehicle crashes; did she ever witness one? Did she ever have any invasive surgeries to correct health problems? Any other traumatic events that might have affected her? The death of a pet, a friend, a family member, a teacher, a fellow student, a co-worker; being arrested, being the victim of a violent crime or witnessing one, etc.

9. Does she have a job? If so, where does she work; what company, what do they do? How did she get the job? Why did she take it? What kind of work does she do for them? Does she like her job, or is it just whatever she could get? How much is she paid? Is it an hourly wage, or is it a salary? Does she take advantage of any employee discounts she might get? How does she feel about her co-workers and her manager? Does she interact with customers much? How does she feel about the customers? How does she deal with an irritated/impatient/rude customer? Has she ever been fired from a job? If so, why was she fired? Did she ever willingly quit a job? Why was that? Was she ever laid off? Why?

It's implied the world was f****d up by biochemical warfare, resulting in the sky having a dark tint. Overpopulation and pollution are commonplace, especially in her hometown of Janus City, which has thirty million residents, record unemployment, the world's highest crime rate, and a good number of unpleasant people.

Eva was the victim of severe emotional (and perhaps physical) abuse at the hands of her mother, who more or less conceived her to spite her redesign neighbors. She is/was pressured to make perfect grades and was exposed to all manner of sleaze that was inherent in her mother's vicarious lifestyle. She's a basket case to the students at Janus City High School; not surprising, considering she's one of the nicer people there. On campus, prostitution, gambling, homicide, suicide are present, amongst other things of a questionable nature; they actually have heavily armored cops patrolling the halls.

She's a Valium addict who cheats on exams, plagiarizes assignments...

She's strung out on Valium sometimes, frequently drops F-bombs. Uses Brian as her drug connection.

She has a shady relationship with Brian, her boyfriend/gigolo/drug connection/informant/fellow student. They treat each other likeCRAP.

No siblings.

I'd describe her mental problems as a combo of depression, streetwise psychopathy, PTSD, paranoia and borderline personality disorder.

Now, I have to ask: Are you answering the questions with short, simple answers because there's a lot more behind those answers that would take up too much space to explain, or because you don't really have any more detailed answers than that to give? I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything and call you out on a lack of critical thought; I just think that even if you don't want to elaborate on any of it to me or anyone else, you should at least have it all detailed an sorted out (and probably written down somewhere, too) for yourself, if you haven't done that already.

I'm asking because, if someone asked me the questions I asked you about my WIP, I could go on for pages and pages, answering with relative detail each individual question put to me down to the last one; and about all the main characters, too; not just one. It could probably take up an entire book in and of itself, just explaining it all and how each piece of information fits in with the others. That, and also, because, in some slightly odd, round-about way I can't quite describe, I care. I care about good fiction, and I like (to at least think, anyway) that I can help and encourage more people to write it

It's not always fun, and it's not always easy, but the potential reward is great; both in terms of personal satisfaction that comes with the sense of accomplishment, and the idea of possibly becoming a published author, as well.

*facepalm*
This premise is just broken.