Characters are people too...

Hello there,

Last time I wrote about how I am a “bit” of a control freak, meaning, I am a control freak.

On the exterior, people see a calm demeanor, a relaxed, mellow Ellie, but on the inside, I am a churning volcano, ready to blow!

Okay, maybe that’s not the most accurate image, but sometimes it feels that way. 

Characters are people and I confess I don’t particularly like people. I mean, I do and I don’t.  People have expectations. We’re insecure and fearful and our behavior and actions come from these places. (I thought when I graduated high school, I was done with that nonsense, until I started working in an office – “Holy Moly” as Grumpy Old Man, Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) would say.) 

And so, part of my desire to control my characters came from the fact that I can’t control the characters around me.  I was thinking, how wonderful, I have some people I’ve created that I can control, but lo and behold, they are uncontrollable too.

My question is this:  If a writer isn’t so fond of people, can that person be a good writer?  My fellow writers, are you fond of people?

Honesty and vulnerability are important qualities or characteristics needed in any human being.  Maybe I’ve stumbled on the answer.

If I feel somewhat distraught by humanity – our flaws, our propensity to continue to get it wrong – repeat history – make the same mistakes – repeat the same errors – then I need to lean into this feeling as a writer and embrace it in my writing; otherwise, the reader will know I am a fraud and toss my novel, poetry, etc. aside.

Fortunately, I have hope and faith that in the end, it will turn out well.  Isn’t that what Woody Allan had Gertrude Stein say in Midnight in Paris? 

“We all fear death and question our place in the universe. The artist's job is not to succumb to despair, but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence.”

If you need a break and a good laugh at the struggles a writer has with character, The Man Who Invented Christmas is a good movie.   Charles Dickens and Scrooge – one of the most unforgettable characters in literature. But, do I mean Scrooge or Dickens?  We’ll never know.

Until next time,

Ellie

What a character!

Hello there,

Writer friends, I am sure you’ve realized this truth long before I did.

• Characters never do what you want them to do. 

For some reason, I was of the belief that since I had created these characters, I could control them.  (I am a bit of a control freak. I like things to be structured, predictable, you know controlled.) 

You know that old saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword”? Well, it is wrong! These characters refuse to yield to my mighty pen.

For instance, in my current project, I have “created” a main character who is quiet.  I really wanted to explore or highlight the quiet type. (By the way, if you’re an introvert, the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking is wonderful.) 

What I found while writing the story is that the “stronger” characters, which is just a way of saying the louder characters, overtook and overshadowed my main character. How dare they!

It began to feel like I needed to elbow these loud characters out of the way to make room for my quiet character. Or, to give them a good body check into the boards in good old-fashioned Canadian style. 

My character needed room or space to grow.  I may have threatened to kill them off if they didn’t behave!

But, I knew in my heart that killing them off wouldn’t help the situation.  My job was to somehow, without murdering everyone else in the story, was to make sure my main character gets the space he needs to grow.

So, I went back and began to create some solitary space for him. My task now is to really focus on his inner dialogue. Maybe the other characters in his day to day life don’t see his value, but darn it all, the reader will.

I’ve also brought in a character or two, who can see beyond the skin’s surface. 

All in all, I’ve learned three important lessons in literature and in life:

1. I am not God,

2. I am not in control, and

3. I need to trust the characters, that they know the story that needs to be told

I think I am on the right path now, but like my novel, I am a work in progress.

Please feel free to share your thoughts, lessons learned. I would love to hear them!

Until next time,

Ellie