characters Archives - Valette Céline

Extract of a conversation

Fantastic: There are several definitions of the word fantastic, you will find it more official and complete in a dictionary.
For my part, I would say that these are unexpected and unexplained events (strange, magical, supernatural etc.) taking place in a story. These strange events can sometimes be explained, but not always. Very often they appear singular and disturbing.

The fantastic questions its author as well as the public. Thus putting us face to face with a universal problem (our greatest fears for example) or specific (an element of society).

The characters will face them to defeat them or not.

Complexity of characters

If your first fictional characters are created with acceptable qualities and drawbacks, they are often close to a form of impossible perfection. It is only when you progress through your process that certain questions will arise for you. When writing the sequel to a novel, for example, my vision of the characters evolved. I felt able at that moment to make them more complex. It is a crucial stage in the evolution of writing.

Freedom to dream

I told you about fighting against the lack of inspiration. Here are some tips. Whenever I got stuck on an idea, I played music and drew. For example, I was making improvements to the stagecoach by representing it. This allowed me to give a certain originality to it. I listened to the training I had followed, I reviewed my notes. If nothing helped it meant that an element did not correspond to the writing of the book. This can happen if you control your characters too much. They have their own existence within the book. The story freezes when one or more characters act opposite to their personality.

This text is an extract of my masterclass

Playing with text

When I wrote Fantastic L.A, I played a lot with the characters and all the objects used to solve the riddle. For example, crosswords. While thinking about them, I did some research and discovered the origin of the first crosswords. On the original document, definitions and a grid. In the center the word : fun (joy in French).

With the definitions of the original document that you will find at the end of my post, I wrote this short poem :

What we all should be ?

A daydream, a pigeon, a part of the ship

What artists learn to do ?

Opposed to less, exchanging the plurial of this

Link : article about Arthur Wynne.

Characters creation

During the writing process of Fantastic L.A, I drew sometimes elements of the story. To create the fictional character of Hortensia Tercero, I was inspired by the first women’s fencing competitions. The action takes place in the 19th century. Hortensia decides to take a stage coach, firmly deciding to go to the place.

Paris. International women’s fencing competition, fencing foil, epee, sabre. May 29, 1880.

Internet link :

Press article (histoire et civilisations magazine).

On the road of a new book

On the night of April 10, I dreamed of the heroine of my future fiction. I had been working for several days looking for ideas and documenting myself on several subjects. I felt like my notes were deep and correct but I couldn’t visualize my main character.

Then, during a dream, she appeared, playing one of the scenes from my book as if she were participating in the writing. She showed me something I hadn’t thought of. We then discussed his suggestion without having to introduce each other. It was the first time I experienced this and I feel relieved knowing that we are definitely on the right path.