Called
No, not "the" call. But a personal call. A soul call.
When I lived in Florida, I worked as a mentor with unwed teen mothers, some as young as 12. And once, when I was hugely preggers, I ended up going to dinner in some notorious public housing. Thugs lingered in the parking lot as I parked my car and waddled (and I do mean waddled) to the front door of the apartment I was visiting. And I wondered, as I sometimes did, why the hell I was risking so much for unpaid work with society's throwaways. And the answer, of course, was that it wasn't a job, but a calling. I've done similar work since I was 17 . . . and work like that either calls you or it doesn't, but there is never any public award for it, no money, no title, no prestige. You come home some nights and cry--alone--since no one particulary wants to hear that you are crying for something you do as a volunteer. Why not just quit?
I'm turning in a book to my editor tomorrow. And one of the major changes I've been working on these last months is a big fat WHY. When my characters have a challenge (they are on the hunt for the origins of an ancient manuscript and are threatened), why not quit? They won't gain money. Or even fame, since the world of antiquarians is very insular. So I had to build in a personal calling on nearly every page. A believable motivation. Both of them, now, feel a strange emotional connection to the unseen author of the ancient manuscript. The writings speak to them in the way that some people will pick of "Leaves of Grass" or Maya Angelou and find the poetry strikes some resonant chord. They long to help this unseen author of centuries before tell his story to a wider audience. They feel as if they know him. As if they have to help him. They have a calling.
I think most of us like reading about characters to have a calling. Even great legal thrillers are never about winning the big payout for personal enrichment. The lawyer may start out as mercenary . . . but sooner or later, it becomes a calling. A quest.
So does your character have a calling? What is it? What does he or she risk? And what about you?
[Added . . . I'm up at Lurker Monkey's Storytellers Flash Fiction today . . . .]
18 comments:
Right now the calling is undefined. Save his home, maybe.
It's nice the kids are in school. How you manage to meet a deadline with snow days looming over you, I'm impressed.
Richmond:
Yeah, but Chesterfield only has a half-day today, so they'll all be back by noon!
LOL!
Huh. Thanks for the insight into my own character's calling. Yes, Derek Stillwater has a calling. Fighting terrorism. And for him it is a calling.
Mark:
To me, a calling is one you can choose, as a practical matter, to walk away from, whether it's a paying job or not, but as a soul-matter, a purpose matter . . . as a matter of who you are a a human being, you can't really walk away. It always sounds to me like Stillwater can't walk away because he knows he's the best guy for the job and HAS to. Like Jack Bauer.
E
My MC in my Mexican story definitely has a calling -- get to the US. I had one reader question why he didn't just give up and go home (in an earlier draft) so I had to build in his motivations. Now I understand that needs to be more obvious.
I'm working out the motivation in my new idea and it's a biggun. :D
Melanie:
I think without a deep motivation, the obvious question, when facing obstacles, is why not just quit. I didn't "see" that in the first draft of the manuscript, but now that the "calling" is there for them, it lends a more palpable sence to why they are bound together (romantic interests) and won't stop searching.
I think I tend to overthink the motivation. Something like what you describe -- a calling -- seems to obvious to me that as a writer I worry it isn't enough. Hearing you describe it, I feel like it is, but when I'm in the driver's seat I worry that it's too easy.
This is a great blog. My heroine's mother was abused by her stepfather. This gave my heroine a calling to wipe out abusers.
Edie:
That's a very compelling calling--and very believable!
Oh gosh, I hear you. I try not to talk about it, either. The hatred I hear will just send me into week-long depressions. A few weeks ago, I hiked past a sign that used to read, "Humanitarian Aid is Never a Crime," and someone had altered it to say, "Humanitarian Aid is a Crime." I don't know why that in particular got to me, but I must have cried for two days straight. If it were just a prank, cool, but I knew the people who altered it meant it with all their hatred-filled heart. And that just demoralizes me, because compassion or understanding or even common sense will never sway them.
Natasha:
I have a family member I need to "un-friend" (2nd or 3rd cousin) who is ALWAYS spouting HATE on FB and I just loathe it, but I know it will start ripples of family crap if I unfriend him. ANYHOO, I hear you. I really do.
The whole point of Firefly(I finally have a title for Pearl!) is the the main character is just about the only one in the world without a calling. Her only calling is the little voice inside that says "Go out on a limb, leave, go somewhere else, things are waiting for you". And in truth that's all she needs, just like the rest of us. We can't wait for the universe to point us in the right direction, we must do it ourselves.
Boy, that sounded a lot deeper than I thought.
Next time he makes a status update, or even a game update, just hover over the upper right corner. A "Hide" will appear. When you click it, it will let you hide him.
You'll never have to read him again, and he and your family will never know the difference!
JT:
That is SO beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Natasha:
[bows to you my tech guru].
xo
E
Trinidad has a very definite calling, which is to protect people. It's rooted in his surviving his parents' suicide bombing.
So far Castile's only calling is to love Trinidad, but I feel another brewing. No idea exactly what it is yet...
Starbucks:
You know, in my flash fiction story, I think in her mind her only purpose was loving him. I think that's an okay calling. Not functional perhaps, but I have met many MANY people whose calling existed as that.
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