Who Are You?

Photo Credit: Jeroen van Oostrom

No I'm not referring to the catchy song by The Who, or the popular TV drama CSI. I'm talking writing, what else?

The most successful writers know that writing convincing characters is the key to successful novels. Think back to your favorites...go on, I'll wait......Ready? Okay good!

I bet it's the characters you fell in love with, am I right? Huh, HUH? Yeah it was, and why is this? Because they feel real. So real, that it's as if you know them, or at the very least wish you did. Or maybe they were jerks and got you all angry but hey, it still worked right? They became 'real' enough to hate.

It's why developing our characters is so important. So how do we develop them? Same way we would get to know people in 'real life', you ask them, who are you? If we don't know them, how can we expect our readers to know them?

I'm working/reading my way through a really interesting and informative writing book called The Creative Writing Coursebook. In essence, it's a collection of writing advice and exercises written by forty authors, all wrapped into one neat little package. Pretty awesome!  One of the exercises is to list 10 items, off the top of your head, then create a character based on these items. It's what they carry with them that tells the story of who they are. Are you with me? Good!

I'm making a conscious effort to implement this technique with my writing. When they reveal something about themselves to me, I make sure to write it down. I'm accumulating cheat sheets for future reference. It also helps me keep all those details straight. It's more than just their hair and eye colour, important as these details are, it's the small things that define their personality that I'm focused on. If my villain is the kind of guy that can't live without a picture of his dead puppy, well, I better keep that in mind.

Now I'm not saying I would do this for every  character that pops up and says hello  in my novel - though it would probably help me understand them all better - but I think my main characters deserve a chance to tell me who they are. 

My heroine has a necklace that she always wears. It was her mother's and it ties her to the woman she never knew. See? That's a pretty important detail! She carries it with her, and it tells her story.

We all carry things with us. It's what makes us, well, us. Below is a list of what I currently have in my bag. I've learned that a normal purse just isn't enough space to carry my personality. That, or I'm just a pack horse (or worse... a hoarder *shudder*). Whatever my *cough* excuse is, here's my list:

* 2 Books - A Games of Thrones by George R.R. Martin & Little, Big by John Crowley
* Writing notebook (which is held together with duct tape now)
* Excel peppermint gum
* Wallet
* Receipt for an editing course I registered for
* Bus pass for January
* House/car keys
* 1 Red pen
* 1 Blue pen
* 3 Tubes of Blistex (apparently I have VERY chapped lips)
* Security pass for my office
* iPod
* 1 Black pen (I guess I need one of each colour?)
* 1 Bobby pin
* Spearmint lip gloss (in case the 3 Blistex run out?!?)
* Hair elastic
* Cell phone
* Newspaper article on Diana Gabaldon's newest book The Scottish Prisoner (The review wasn't all that great, but I'm still going to read the book because she is AWESOME!)

And now, what you really came here for....THE WHO!

I'm just the scribe here.

I tell the stories, I'm told to tell. I carefully write each detail down with impartiality.  I am a scribe, recording the thoughts and words of others. These stories are not my own, but the memories of those that live inside my head. I do my best to honor them, to remain true to their words.

Photo Credit: Metaphysics-for-life.com

That's how writing is for me. It's an out-of-body experience, a journey, a surprise. It's not always like this, of course. Sometimes it's a struggle to hear or feel my characters. But when it clicks, it's magically! I love when I'm so in the zone, that I stop and think Huh, where did THAT come from? It's when I know the story I'm telling is pure, untainted by my inner critic. I'm addicted to that feeling.

I've tried explaining it to my non-writing friends. I painfully stumble over my words, trying to express a feeling. It's not easy to do, at least not for me.

Recently I was discussing my NaNoWriMo novel with a friend. I was complaining that one of my characters refused to commit suicide. I had it all planned out and yet when the time came, he wouldn't do it. If he was going to die, which he had to (well in my opinion anyway), he was determined to do it his way. There would be no suicide for him. He wanted to greet death with his lover and so he did. After I finished my complaining, my friend looked at me and said, You sound psycho.

I had to laugh because yes, I did. She didn't understand how I couldn't just write the suicide. After all, I was  writing the damn thing.  But you see, it isn't always about what I want. Sometimes, I'm just a scribe. I write what my characters want me to write. They take on a life of their own and who am I to interfere?

Another time I wrote a rather gruesome, passion-driven murder and shared it with my husband. He took one look at me and said, Uh, should I be worried about going to sleep tonight?

After I reassured him there was nothing to fear, that I didn't plan on re-enacting the scene, he asked how I'd thought of it. I couldn't place my finger on one event. At a basic level I know it's a combination of books I've read, stories I've heard and TV/movies I've watched, all combined to create a gruesome scene. Yet at some level, I feel it was my character leading me on. Telling me his story. Trying to explain his thoughts.

Photo Credit: Digitalart

I've learned not to question my writing too much. I take it as it comes. When a character pops up that I wasn't expecting, my first reaction is usually, Who are you? Or more often, Damn it! Where did YOU come from?

They all have their place in my novels, even if I'm not sure where that is. After the initial shock passes, I do what every good hostess should, I welcome them and invite them to tell their story. Everyone has one!

I love writing (which I'm fairly certain is obvious given this blog) and I don't mine acting as a scribe, it's all part and parcel of being a writer.