Writing teaches me new things every day.
Hard
at work on the new book, I find that sometimes I have to take time to “feel
out” my characters, to get them a hundred percent in my head before I start forming
them with words. The second story is about walking the earth element, and so
far my earth hero is all there, but this time I need some help stepping into
the fancy shoes of my earth girl.
A
Virgo lady, she and I have a lot in common, however for reasons I’ll disclose
later, there’s an equal list of dissimilarities between us.
Not that a character has to be a cardboard cut-out of the author, absolutely
not. I prefer the separation, where I can explore different point of views, and
learn from the people I create. The challenge is that there is a line between
her disposition and her lifestyle; one being an area I understand personally,
the other is a place I’ve never been before….
It
reminds me of when I was in the middle of drafting THE FIRE WALKERS and I’d run
into an interesting issue with my fire hero, Aidan. Once I got him to open up
about his back story, Aidan’s personality shone brightly; a fiery, non-nonsense
type of guy. A determined arson cop, his mind is committed to his duty of catching
the bad guys.
That was the problem. He was always on duty.
That was the problem. He was always on duty.
While drafting
Aidan, I included all the important events he had going on at the time: the murder
of his partner, a budding romance, the need to catch the Dove group— What I
overlooked was the fact that he didn’t have a life outside of his work. I mean,
I knew what he liked to do, but the
reader hadn’t seen that.
That obstacle resonated
with a writing tip that I’d learned long ago:
Give
your characters hobbies.
Looking back, the
addition of Aidan’s extra-curricular activities went a long way to flesh out
his personality.
The result is one of my
favorite exchanges in THE FIRE WALKERS:
“What
do you do for fun?”
Hmm. That took him a minute. Fun?
Convicting drug-dealing murderers and
cursing.
No. Yeah.
Well, anti-social should be in there
somewhere. He pushed himself to
think. He
had hobbies. Three years ago.
Where the
hell did his life go?
“I used to
run. I might get back into it.” The wistful note in his voice
echoed.
Outside interests are important. It’s
the things people like to do in their spare time that define them. What makes a
person happy says a lot.
A few days ago I
visited a country store that I like, a fantastic local place that sells beautiful linens and decorations, my goal to create a care package for my mom. As I walked around the owner kindly checked in on me, offering to take the load of items I
was carrying to the counter so I could continue to browse in comfort. I’d met her
when I’d frequented the store before. Her manner friendly and attentive she
embodied the quintessential small town shopkeeper, all smiles and helpfulness.
When I finished
shopping and walked up to the register to check out, I found her working a
stretch of ribbon into an intricate bow, one of several laying on the
countertop. Her hands moved with skill, going through each step with speed as
if she’d honed the talent over many years. When I approached, she attached the
last cluster of looped satin to a long, cotton string, festooning the scallop
of harvest colors across the tall bookcase behind her.
“Those are lovely,” I
commented, imagining the pumpkin hued one she’d just finished adorned on a
pretty, autumn themed wreath. “You have a gift.”
She modestly accepted the compliment saying, “It calms me. I can just sit and make bows for hours.”
A beautiful art, I thought of my photography and scrap books. How taking the pictures, cutting them out, and assembling them on paper gives me hours of restful, creative expression. The activity preserving moments on the page, the same way words capture a story.
I returned home that
evening with a new perspective. I needed to learn about my earth heroine, to
get to know her.
How does she spend her
days? What does she do to unwind?
It’s the little things that
give life to characters.
And so now I’m
curious. Do you have a hobby? J
Do you knit? Crochet?
Sew? Create something neat?
Collect sea glass while
walking on the beach?
What soothes
your soul?
Furniture painting or refinishing. I can clear my head and concentrate just on the project I'm working on, and I get a huge sense of accomplishment when it's complete or comes out just the way I want it.
ReplyDeleteI think the technique in that takes a lot of skill. The way you paint to get a distressed look is an art. That's really cool. :)
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