The destruction of Gallifrey

There is a lot to do with this blog, and lots to come, but let's begin with a writing advice quote. I always like finding nuggets of writing wisdom, and this one is particularly appropriate for this writing group, as it touches on the destruction of a world.

You should never mark out a character so formally that their reactions are fully defined, because none of us is like that; we're slightly different every day, with different people, with each different mood. You have to keep turning characters in the light. One of my favourite Doctor moments ever is the opening of Gridlock, where he lies about Gallifrey having been destroyed. It's a tiny lie. He omits the fact that his home world is gone. But, for the Doctor, that's seismic. I had nothing interesting in that scene until I discovered that. I found a completely new way of understanding the Doctor, a new way of revealing his history, and better still a tiny piece of narrative that sustains the Doctor/Martha relationship throughout that episode. If characters keep turning, moving, thinking, shifting, if they aren't fixed, then they can do anything. Just like real people.

-Russell T Davies, Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter

 So this is the first thing you, the blog reader, learn about me, Erik, the not-actually-published-yet writer. I like Doctor Who.

I like it a lot.