Who Are You?
Finishing the rewrites on ILLUMINATED. It was pretty amazing to me to see a new layer come to the surface. All along, I struggled with this very inner girl character. She's not like her peers, she's brilliant, but quiet, reserved. And how do you create this good girl in a Gossip Girl world and make her emotional . . . make her someone you can relate to.
All along, she has been playing hide and seek with me. I don't do those character interview techniques. I don't freewrite as a character. I just don't use some technique. I am sure they work for other writers, but it all feels forced to me. I either inhabit the character. Or I don't.
And then, in a bit of dialogue, the uncle in this story tells Calliope, "It's okay to feel happy, you know."
And it all came rushing out. This serious girl with an overbearing father who didn't really feel the right to embrace JOY. To embrace life--not with a 4.3 G.P.A. and the weight of aiming for valedictorian on her.
And so . . . three years, many thousands of words, and four rewrites later, I finally GET her. I know this girl. I know who she is.
When I talk about voice, for ME, this is a part of it. I know her intimately now, like she's written in the lines on my palm. I get her. She and I had to take this long journey together to arrive at this place.
So tell me, who is your main character? And how is it you got to know them?
And watch here on Wednesday for a little announcement.
17 comments:
"...like she's written in the lines of my palm." THAT says it all.
I"m like you -- I either get my character or I don't.
What I am finding, though, is I tend to approach my "relationship" with my characters in much the same way I do my friendships (and vice versa). We start at one level, acquaintances, and then deepen from there. It seldom happens just because I start writing. It takes time and trust. I even have a couple characters who are like leaches -- latch on to me, suck me dry, but won't let me into their inner selves. Most frustrating.
My main character used to bleed from my fingers. Now, not so much.
Big problem, few solutions to why scabs have formed. It's as if something has sealed my muse in a tomb, no resurrection in sight.
But COOL BEANS on upcoming news. I like news!
Beth:
Oddly enough, I usually get them fully formed, all at once. This one has driven me near-batty.
Kath:
It is so frustrating when that happens!!
I need to "be" with a character for a long time before I begin writing. I thought about John Graf for four years before I laid down one word of Tavernier. I've been thinking about Jimmy Fisher, my current (anti) hero, since I was in the army (I think Eisenhower was still president).
And watch here on Wednesday for a little announcement.
Tease.
Trinidad is my main character and I think I know him well, and I hope I'm portraying him so others will know him too! I've been living with him for two years and he's a dear, though frightening.
He's quiet, a watcher and a listener (though Castile draws him out). He's not so much a thinker because a lot of his world and past is painful. He's in complete emotional denial. He's honorable without examining why. Everyone who knows him is a little frightened of him. But mostly he's guilty.
Maybe one of the reasons you get her is that she has some of you in her.
I'm not saying that has to happen with every character you "get." I'm just saying, this character seems to have some qualities that you have.
Stephen:
Hmm . . . you know, even when they come to me fully formed, there are several I sit with for SOME time before ever writing, too.
Starbucks:
Those inner characters can be so tricky to pull off!
Joe:
I think so . . . it just took me a long time to realize it! LOL!
It's hard for me to write a character before I can write a story at all. Part of my motivation to sit down at all is a need to bring a happy ending to their emotional arc.
Congrats, whatever the announcement will be!
What kind of sentence is that? See? Writing non-fiction just screws me up completely.
I meant: "It's hard for me write a story at all before I know the character."
Ooohh... an annoucement?
I'm getting to know my character this week so I can start her story this weekend. And I don't like all those character exercises either. It may help, but it feels like busy work to me.
Hmm. Strange as it sounds, I've never sat down and made myself think about whether or not I "know" my characters. I don't think I've been that self-aware.
The discovery process for me is very simple. I start by asking myself concrete questions about how they look, what they wear, what their families are like, etc. That tells me enough of what I need to know to get the ball rolling.
Eventually, however, there comes a point when I try to make my character do something that doesn't fit them, something as wrong as trying to make a fish fly. The scene will fall flat on the page, but instead of wondering why it's not working, I'll know exactly how to change it.
That, I suppose, is the moment when I truly "get" my characters.
Natasha:
Me, too. Plot is secondary to who that character IS.
melanie:
I know people who swear by it, but for me, it's forced.
L.C.
See . . . that's the thing. I NEVER ask questions. They're just THERE, fully formed. Very strange!
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