So I’ve had this new character crashing on the couch that is my mind.
She kinda just wandered in when I wasn’t expecting her, and since I’d been focusing on other characters for new story ideas, I was pleasantly surprised. I pretty much dropped everything I was doing at the moment to rush over and say:
“Welcome! Make yourself at home! Can I get you anything to drink? Water? Tea? No? Maybe a foot rub, then. Or my favorite Snuggie. Just relax and get comfortable and tell me everything about you so we can become best friends forever, okay???”
I know, I know. I came on a bit strong.
I’m lucky she didn’t dash out the door. Instead she sat down, crossed her arms, and refused to talk to me. For the next few days I tip-toed around her. I kept her in the corner of my gaze. Anytime she moved, or breathed a little loud, I rushed over to her side, pen in hand, ready to take notes on her deepest, darkest secrets. She’d take a breath, open her mouth…and shut it.
The girl. Mocked me.
Eventually I got tired and started focusing on other things. I mean, I can’t wait for her mood to swing my way forever. So I worked on other pieces of writing, and I went to the gym, and I devoured a couple of books in a couple of weeks, and then on Sunday, just as I was stepping into the shower, she came over and said,
“I’m ready to talk now.”
Characters. Don’t you just love their timing?
This time, I decided to play it cool. “I’m listening,” I said as I reached for the shampoo. She told me what was troubling her. She told me her fears. She told me her secrets and her hopes and even the mundane things that aren’t secrets but are still things nobody else knows about her. When she got tired from unloading her baggage on me, she took a nap to recharge for the next time we have a heart-to-heart.
Because we both know she’s not done yet. We both know we’re just getting started figuring out what’s her deal. But she finally looks pretty comfortable, and I’m hoping that means she’ll stick around.
How do you create windows into your characters’ psyches? Is all your writing done when you’ve got your “butt in the chair” or do you think it’s possible to keep writing when you’re not writing?
photo credit: _tar0_
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I love your personification of your characters. I envy being able to relate to them that closely. I think that's a weak area of mine and I'd like to get there someday. Good luck on whatever project you're working on!
My recent post We used to wait-
Thanks, Valerie! I think all writers struggle with relating to their characters at some point, especially when they're new and we haven't found an "in" yet. Sometimes obsessing about them (like I was doing at first) puts too much pressure on both the writer and the character.
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here
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Oh, I totally write when I'm not at my desk. Some of the best ideas come in the shower, or while washing dishes, or driving to a client's house. It's frustrating because when I'm working I can't drop everything and go home and write. But I keep notebooks everywhere. In my briefcase, my car, on my nightstand, so I just take a moment to jot down a few details to jumpstart the writing when I can steal away to write.
It sounds like your characters 'haunt' you much like mine do, Natalia.
Good post
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I love notebooks. I have several notebooks on me, of different sizes, at any one time (so I can take one in my purse, another in a larger bag, etc). When I go through a notebook it feels like the end of a mini-era!
I agree that the characters haunt me…or, do we haunt them?
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here
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I love the description of the character coming and talking to you like that. For me, it's more like impressions and feelings and maybe short little scenes in my head that help define a character's personality. I started writing little origin vignettes for my current work. And the ideas hit me all the time; before bed, on a walk, shower, everywhere!
Sounds like you're being super-creative, though, which is wonderful!!
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Origin vignettes sound like a great idea! It's nice to get on paper the details that help develop your characters, even if you know they might not all end up on the final draft.
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here
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I think our best "writing" may take place when we're NOT writing .. when we've taken the pressure off ourselves to create "something," to get words on the page. " That seems to be (for me) the time that creativity is at its strongest. I love that you gave yourself that space – that time – to let the character reveal herself. I've been doing that with some of my secondary characters – not forcing them out into the open, letting them come to me in bits and pieces. I think that's the only way to get their genuine voices. And I LOVED your analogy, loved how you spoke about this gal as a real person – because, after all, when your readers get to know her, she's going to need to BE real to them as well. Great post as always!
My recent post Metaphor for Writing-
Thanks, Melissa! I think what you mentioned is key: getting to their "genuine" voices. Sometimes I try to force a character out, but I know if they don't feel real to me, they won't feel real to readers. Taking the pressure off is so important.
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here
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Very cool, creative post! I agree with Melissa and Cynthia that some of my best writing moments are when I'm away form my computer. However, that also poses the problem of collecting and remembering information….I recently had "THE BEST IDEA EVER" while I was driving in traffic, based on a sign on the back of a truck. I haven't learned how to use my new iphone for dictation. So this morning when I sat down to write about it, do you think I could remember the vivid details? Of course not. So I guess I have a question for you…. when this happens at inconvenient times, how do you remember the details you've discovered?
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Oh, that's a tough one! This happens to me while driving all the time. My phone has a voice recorder, so I've used that a couple of times. Other times, when I'm really, really nervous I'll forget something but I can't write it down, I'll just repeat it over and over in my mind so it sticks. But truthfully, usually if something's really compelling to me, it's hard for me to forget it. I wonder if any other writers have better tips? (I'm afraid mine aren't too helpful!)
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here
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This makes me think of something I heard Toni Morrison say after she won the Nobel Prize. She sometimes has her best inspiration when she's doing something mundane like walking through the grocery store shopping for dinner.
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Hi Helen, that's a really good point. I think we underestimate the importance of mundane activities in our lives. We don't have to be doing extraordinary things for ideas to strike us. Sometimes, when we give our minds a rest, that's when the thoughts really start to play.
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here
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This is just a test comment. But I also read the entry earlier, and I loved the description of this girl. I could SO clearly see her! If all your characters are that clear, I will love your books
(Antof9/GUM_411)
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Yes!!! I have 100% been there. Sometimes I abandon good potential characters early. I need to learn to wait a little longer. Great post!
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I don't always know exactly what my characters look like–they're often quite vague around the face, kind of like in a dream, so I have to work extra hard to define their features.
I think we all need to learn patience in the writing process
Thanks for stopping by!
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here -
This was a great post, Natalia! You are so clever.
Through NaNoWriMo, I discovered I can be productive when writing out the structure of my story, but I kid you not (and obviously I'm not alone), almost everything about my characters has since come to me when I was away from my computer. It's like I got to know the shell of my two MCs through the disciplined, butt-in-chair month of NaNo, but just like with real life friendship, I didn't begin to love them, and understand them deeply, until after weeks and weeks where snippets of personality came to me. Thank goodness for post it notes and index cards, that's all I gotta say.
My recent post The Young Poet-
Thanks, Barb! I like how you compare it to a friendship, because that's definitely how it feels like for me. We can't expect new friends to open up to us right away. We have to earn their trust first, and be patient. Likewise, we can't expect we'll love all our friends right away until the relationship grows more meaningful over time.
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here
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I can't say I have yet experienced a situation with character like the one you describe here. About them not wanting to reveal anything about themselves and such.
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I can't say I have yet experienced a situation with character like the one you describe here. About them not wanting to reveal anything about themselves and such.
I can however relate to the idea that writing takes place all over. In fact by the time I am actually in front of a computer, quite a bit of thought has gone into what I am writing. That doesn't mean I leave no room for change, because I must.
But more on point, a lot of the preparation for that moment comes from ideas, scenes, lines, or plot developments that present themselves when I am doing other things. I certainly relate to that aspect of it wholeheartedly.
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It's almost like our mind keeps working even after we've stopped, right? It's constantly preparing for the next time we sit down to write.
My recent post Dear Characters- Please Leave Your Baggage Here
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Had to tell you that I really liked your description here. I could almost see your character. Lovely approach.
I also have a character who sometimes whispers to me. She may visit when I'm driving or shopping but we haven't *really* talked yet. I'm not totally sure where she's going or where she's been…but I'm really hoping to find out soon.
My recent post The Shoes Every Driver Should Have -
Great post.
As for me, my writing is done when my hiney's in the chair, but the feeling comes at random times when I least expect it.
My recent post A Metaphor for the Writing Process -
I think part of my brain is always working on some story, even if I'm doing something else.
The thing that always surprises me most is when characters name themselves (mostly I name them, which gives me some feeling of control at least).
I've been writing for 40 years about a woman named "starling." By now I know her real name and where she came from and when she went crazy and when she started to go sane again, but I still have no idea why she's named starling or why it always has to be lower case. But it does, even at the beginning of a sentence.
Much more recently, a young girl named Ron burst into a scene, yelling at the top of her lungs, delivered a vital piece of mail, and then left, stomping on somebody's toes as she went. By the end of the next story, she'd adopted two major characters as her parents and now they're a family. Surprise to me, I can tell you. And I have no idea why she calls herself Ron.
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Ron's first appearance (a cameo, really, though I knew already that she'd play a major role in the next story) is here: http://utownwriting.com/2008/stories/the-vampire-…
She's delivering a key piece of evidence to the detective.The next story, where she really starts to become a major character, is here: http://u-town.com/collins/?page_id=1176
Her "arc" is going to be a long one. She's had a lot happen to her in her twelve years, most of which will only come out gradually and some perhaps not at all. As it is in life. I'm always wary of quick and easy resolutions of complex problems.
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About Me:
I’m a writer represented by Brandi Bowles of Foundry Literary + Media. My idea of bliss is a good book, a Snuggie and a hot cup of Chai latte. Born in Lima, Peru, and raised in Miami, I now live in Austin with my husband and our two pups, Maggie and Pita. My articles have appeared in Latina, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer magazines.
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