I only have one thought on this subject. I hope I don't ever bring any gender-based biases I might have into my writing. I don't want to be one of those people who portrays one gender or the other unrealistically within the story world.

It's actually pretty helpful.  Most of my music is from soundtracks, so sometime it can be pretty easy to put together a playlist.  One of the ones I have is battles, and some of the tracks in that are Battle of Yavin(Star Wars), the music from the beginning battle in Gladiator and the music from the first Roman stadium battle, the battle from Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, and so forth.

Cool. My CD collection is not quite as big as that to include many movie soundtrack CDs, but maybe that will change... I sure hope so. I will be putting together playlists from what I do have on my comp and see how that works for me. I can't wait to see how it affects my writing.

Hm, I've never actually tried putting together playlists for writing moods. Sounds like it would be cool to help you get in the mood to write. Like, hard guitar for fights, easy ballads for romantic scenes, epic overtures for dramatic, plot-twisting goodness. You guys make me so hyped up to write.

Aw, you're welcome! =^.^=

I third that. I found that the more I was simply talking to other people, and for me it could be online or otherwise, the more I felt connected to the characters I was writing for and things that were happening to them. In my case, that's as simple as going to church, logging onto a forum, like this one, where you're part of a conversation, or just spending an afternoon with a friend playing hours of Call of Duty 4 online or similair.

On a side note, for ideas, I found that when I'm reading an article in a magazine, say Reader's Digest for instance, I am shown an aspect of part of the universe I've already constructed that I hadn't thought of before. An example would be when I read an article on random crime and how to be prepared for them in your everyday life, I found that the fight scenes I tend to write for could gain a new dimension by having inexperienced fighters rely on regular everyday motions, drawn from their "muscle memory" (think of how you draw your seatbelt from behind your back and then realize that movement is perfect as an elbow strike).

Also, I roleplay in a forum online, and I found that roleplaying online is alot like writing your character's novel, except you exert control over a much smaller portion of the world. For me, it helps just to move away from the place I'm even just a little stressed about and have fun with a different character, no stress and no strings. For me, that roleplaying is in the same universe, so I only kind of take a break from writing in that way.

Finally, something I haven't tried yet but am eager to, you might try writing a separate scene in the universe and just having some fun with it. Whether you're making a joke at your hero's expense, or pointing out some small flaw in your writing that only you notice, as long as that's in writing, it might free up your thinking and allow you to see the scene you're writing with new eyes.

Oh, and on a last note, I think interacting on a forum is a fine way to destress and aid your writing. Why else would Jim himself spend so much time here?

@Darwinist, I didn't think you were rude. I was quite glad you asked the question before I logged off for the day. I would have felt quite dumb posting a thread like this with no well-defined purpose.

@belial, I agree, those pop-culture terms make me cringe. For my fantasy series, I came up with different names for psychic abilities. I found it was a small step to developing the world as a whole, and it made me feel more original to boot.

Thanks to neuro and jtaylor for inspiring me to look up alternates to the Native American stereotype. The character I wanted the shaman powers for is Irish, so that made me feel better about that aspect of the character.

BTW, lol @ roflstomp.

I'm looking for info about tradtional vampires, (i.e. non-Buffy/Dresden) as well as shamans.

What I have a grasp on so far is that vampires universally crave blood, have a pigment thing going on, and have some measure of immortality.

For shamans, I get that they are a medicine man type thing for Native American tribes, as well as a position of some authority in a village. I also base most of my stuff for them on the fact that in one way or another, they deal with the spirits of the dead.

What do y'all have for me?