Blog Chain - I'm Dead? Damn...

This blog chain round is brought to you by the devious Shannon, who evidently is wishing dire consequences on all her fellow writers.  Consider this evidence:


Imagine this: when you're gone, readers will remember your writing most for just one of these things: your characters, your plots, your settings, or your style. Which one (only one!) would you prefer over the rest? Why?




What did we blog chainers do to you, oh Shannon the wise, to deserve a premature death?  It must have been that fruitcake I sent last Christmas.  I swear they promised it would arrive fresh and tasty, so I don't know why you had such a debilitating reaction.


In any event, I will answer this interesting question regardless.  I suppose I should feel a bit morbid thinking about my own demise, but I'm fairly matter-of-fact about it.  I'm a firm believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason, including the end of all that is me.  But should such a travesty occur, what impressions would I want to leave behind?


Though I am as of yet unpublished, I expect (barring a random bus accident or falling off a bridge) that I will attain that goal sometime in the near future.  And with that, I'm hoping my words will reach more than ten people (not counting family, of course).  So if I have to pick just one thing I'd want those ten people to remember about me as a writer, I'd have to go with memorable characters.  Part of that is because I struggle to make my characters realistic, 3 dimensional beings, and being remembered for that would mean that I have succeeded in not only creating fully-fleshed out characters but also memorable ones.


I also am thinking about books that I have enjoyed thoroughly, and it really hasn't been the settings or plots or even style (though this is something I do like alot also) that I remember most.  It is the characters that an author creates - both good and bad - that stay in my mind long after I turn the final page.  Emulating these lingering tendrils of memorable personages is a worthy task and one I work at constantly.


Well, I've ranted long enough.  You needn't worry;  I'm sure the epitaph on my tombstone will be much shorter.  Something along the lines of, "He lived.  He died.  Play some AC/DC in his honor."


If you didn't get a chance to see the awesome Sandra's take on things, head on over here.  And Michelle Hickman's inspiring post on the subject will be up tomorrow.