Moving toward the tipping point

From work:

At a recent trip to the bookstore, I picked up List Your Self: Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery, by Ilene Segalove and Paul Bob Velick.
I note that the authors have another one out, too, called List Your Creative Self: Listmaking As the Way to Unleash Your Creativity, which I might check out in the future.

I bought the first book because thought it might prove useful if I ever have trouble thinking of something to write in my journal or LiveJournal. But it occurs to me that this might also be a very useful tool for creating characters. Sample questions:

List the brand names you by and swear by
List the tools you can’t live without
List the most exhilarating experiences you’ve ever had
List the things you’ve done to get noticed
List the things you will not tolerate, no matter what the cost

and dozens and dozens of others.

How might Solveig answer these questions, or Agnes, or Rolf or Jack? I think this might be an excellent break-block tool whenever I need it. Certainly, my characters are beginning to feel like real people to me, so I can imagine answers to some of these questions, even if they aren’t necessarily germane to the plot. This is a promising sign that I’m getting ready to start writing.

( Moving towards the tipping point to write. )

One other realization: I recognized another gravitational pull today: Agnes reminds me quite a bit of Martha Macnamara in R.A. Macavoy’s Tea with the Black Dragon. And Solveig, don’t you know, reminds me of Elizabeth, her daughter.

Peg

I have been humming

"Mr. Beveridge's Maggot" all day long, which is what I get from watching so many Jane Austen movies. It was used for dance scenes in both "Pride and Prejudice" and the Gwyneth Paltrow "Emma," which we watched last night. (The link above both explains the dance steps and offers a link to play the tune--so you can have it stuck in your head as well.)

P.