Musical Theatre Tag (I ramble about Musicals and my WIPs)

The wonderful MyMusicalAndWritingLife created this awesome musical/WIP tag which I just had to do, given my adoration of everything musical and because of my love of rambling about my WIPs. So…here we go. If you are not prepared for wild fangirling and ramble, you’d better leave now 😛

Jean Valjean [Les Mis]

 (A character you’ve written that underwent major character change)

All my characters?

Okay, Justice probably changes the most over the course of The Stars Fill Infinity, Zachary Stoner changes the most over When Infinity is Empty, Chessy and Quillon don’t really change that much. They have arcs that kind of border on flat. They grow and deepen and definitely do change, but they don’t…do a 180 and change themselves completely (Justice and Zac do though).

I Dreamed a Dream [Les Mis]

(A writing project that turned out completely different than you’d initially expected or planned)

Let me tell you a tale…

In August last year, I wrote a short dystopian story (which still doesn’t have a name, because titling has never been my forte). Basically, it was about a man named Jean Verde who played butler to the last surviving member of the British monarchy. However, Jean Verde was rather fed up with the spoilt prince (who lived in an underground bunker because cyborgs had taken over the world and wanted to kill him), and the final straw comes when the prince demands that his butler find him a wife. Jean Verde starts lowkey planning revolution and that’s where Rosemarie, the lucky bride to be, turns up. By the way, this was all a retelling of The Princess and The Pea.

Anyhow, in August last year, I also read Les Miserables. Eventually the story idea grew into a Les Mis retelling, and then into The Stars Fill Infinity. Currently, Stars and the unnamed dystopian story (which I’m still quite proud of to be honest) bear only one similarity–they both possess a character called Jean Verde.

So, it would be an understatement to say that Stars ended up quite differently to it was originally planned.

Gold von den Sternen [Mozart!]

(where do you like to get inspiration for stories or which of your characters inspires you the most?)

Inspiration is everywhere. I know that sounds cliché, but its true. I just told you about the inspiration for Stars, I got inspiration for a short story of mine when my family had lunch with a few other families in the park and one of the boys started making origami animals. Basically, anything and everything can become a story. Nothing is safe.

As to the character who inspires me most…I’m torn, because most of my characters have aspects that I look up to. Maybe Jonas from Stars though, because he’s quiet (like me), but he speaks up when he has to (which I don’t do enough), because he’s gentle and caring (I am not always that), and also strong, but vulnerable and honest. I love him and want to be like him.

Wie wird man seinen Schatten los [Mozart!]

(Which of your characters has the most internal struggle?)

This is an interesting question, because pretty much as soon as I heard Wie wird man Schatten los for the first time a few weeks ago, it reminded me of one particular character of mine. That being Justice Rift. The English translation of the song’s title is How do you get away from your shadow? and that’s very much what Justice struggles with. He doesn’t know how to escape from the things he’s done and the expectations people have for him.

For Good [Wicked]

(When was a time that you felt like something was going wrong with a project but it turned out okay?)

Once upon a time, I wrote the worst essay in the history of essays. And I entered it in a competition. Even though I was hugely passionate about the subject matter of the essay (the Aboriginal soldiers who fought during the Vietnam War), I hated the essay that I’d written. I knew I could have done so much better than I did. All I could do was look at it and see all its flaws.

But, despite how awfully I perceived this essay to be, I ended up winning one of fifty-five places in this competition and I got to go to an awards ceremony in Parliament House and meet famous people and I was, out of the fifty-five people there, the only homeschooled one (a majority of them were from private Catholic schools). That was intimidating.

But anyway, that was a time that I thought a project was terrible (and maybe it was, I don’t know, I’ve never summoned enough courage to reread it) but God still used it for good 🙂

Wait for Me [Hadestown]

(A project you cared about a lot but you had to put it on hold for a little while so that you could get it just right)

Three projects come to mind. 1) the sequel to The Stars Fill Infinity and When Infinity is Empty. It’s been bothering me ever since I finished Infinity back in April, but I just can’t work out how the highly complex plot is going to pull together and tie the whole trilogy up in a neat bow. So I’ve set it aside for my NaNoWriMo novel, and until November I’ll work on editing the first book.

Another project is Red and White, which I started in May of last year and which I had to put aside after an overwhelming amount of projects swamped me. But I will come back to it. Hugh Winter and Spencer Verne own a little square of my heart which will be taken by no other (fictional) man. I will continue their stories one day.

My final book is an epic fantasy which has been nagging at me for years and years, set in a fantasy version of my own beloved country (rather than an American/European setting) and it would be awesome. But I’m not ready for it…yet. Yet.

Die unstillbare Gier [Tanz Der Vampire]

(Which of your characters has the saddest backstory?)

We’d be better off looking for the character who has the happiest backstory. They’re the rarer creature.

Well…the saddest backstory probably belongs to Zac Stoner…maybe. His got a sad backstory which I’ll try to sum up (dad who doesn’t like him much + mum who kinda doesn’t like him + expectations to become an accountant + too much alcohol + despair + doom + waaay too much alcohol + unrequited love +death = sadness).

Alfred [Tanz Der Vampire]

(A character that’s so sweet you wonder why on earth you put them through the things you do)

This is all of my characters pretty much, but I think I’ll choose Quillon from The Stars Fill Infinity. He is the sweetest thing ever and doesn’t deserve any of the things that I do to him. And I torture the poor man.

Rebecca Reprise [Rebecca]

(What’s something that one of your characters is obsessed with?)

All my characters are a little obsessed with something. Chessy=Justice, Justice=justice, Sapphire=flowers, Rain=blue hair…etc.

Overture [The Phantom of the Opera]

(What’s the most dramatic scene that you’ve written?)

My most dramatic scene?

The death at the end of When Infinity is Empty. I can’t say who because, you know, spoilers. But…dramatic it rather was.

All I Ask of You [The Phantom of the Opera] 

(what’s your favourite romantic plot/subplot that you’ve written?)

I don’t do romance, let’s be honest here. But sometimes, my characters take their lives in their own hands and they fall in love. Two characters that did this were Sapphire and Quillon and honestly, they are the only ship worth shipping ever. I love them. Chessy and Justice come nowhere near the levels of amazingness that Sapphire and Quillon have (I still don’t have a ship name for them and I feel that this is important. Any ideas? Quapphire looks and sounds way too weird for my taste).

Kalte Sterne [Ludwig²]

(Which of your characters always seems to have the best ideas?)

#NotJustice. Probably Jonas and Neva Rose (from Stars and When Infinity is Empty/The Author of Infinity). They’re the level-headed, ‘let’s-come-up-with-sensible-plans’ sort of people.

Alle tanzten mit dem Tod [Elisabeth]

(What do you think is your strongest opening scene?)

I don’t think I’ve written a strong opening scene.

Okay, that’s not true. I think this opening line is pretty cool

I think that I fall in love with him the moment I reach beyond the lake’s surface.

I also like the opening of The Stars Fill Infinity, which is Chessy narrating the ways that she is similar to Rapunzel and also the ways she’s different. I had fun writing that.

It had always struck me as unrealistic that in all the years the witch kept Rapunzel locked up in the tower, Rapunzel had never tried to escape.

Maybe Rapunzel had never been a fiery, passionate type of person, like me. Maybe Rapunzel had a better conscience than I did. Maybe Rapunzel didn’t have a street girl with blue hair as her best friend. Maybe Rapunzel hadn’t fallen in love with a revolutionary in a black jacket.

Sisi [Elisabeth]

(your most ambitious and or/stubborn character)

Justice. Or Chessy. They’re both exceedingly stubborn,  which causes disaster half of the time.

Traum groß [Schikander]

(Which of your characters work best/would work best together?)

Chessy and Jonas work very well as a team, so do Chessy and Rain. And Jonas and Justice also make a very good team. And Kendall and Waif. All my characters have someone who they work well with.

But who would work the absolute best?

I’m thinking Jonas and Justice make the best team. As Chessy notices, Jonas balances out the fire in Justice with compassion and humility, while Justice provides leadership for Jonas, who wouldn’t necessarily take leadership on himself and provides the vision and drive for their projects.

A New Life [Jekyll & Hyde]

(Which is your character is the most hopeful in the middle of really bad situations?)

Quillon, I think. He’s in general, the one who can see goodness in everything, and who holds onto hope even after everyone else has given up on it. He’s the Sam to Justice and Chessy’s Frodo. He’s the one who admires the stars for their beauty and worships the Creator of those stars. Basically, he is the epitome of hope.

What do you think? Do you love any of these musicals/songs? Do you want to steal this tag (feel free to do so! Just give credit to the creator). What are your answers to some of these questions?