Laura Gilfillan's Blog - Posts Tagged "ya"

This poem is a humorous reminder that after all is said and done, we're still just people.
































View more on Laura Gilfillan's website

A good friend won't lie to you. They'll give you an honest answer. Nicely, of course. You can depend on them to let you know when you have a spot of dinner on your face, or if your dress doesn't look that good on you, or whatever else you need an honest opinion for. They give you a chance to fix what is wrong with you, so you can put your best foot forward.

Writer's block can be like that friend. Maybe you've been writing along and the story has been unfolding nicely, and then suddenly you just don't know what to write next. The story dries up, and you find yourself stuck. Then maybe you try a few writing exercises, or a few other tricks to get the juices flowing again, but nothing seems to help. You're stuck, and you can't make any further progress on your story.

When this happens to me, I take it as a sign that the story has taken a wrong turn somewhere. Every time you have your character say or do something, you make a decision. Everything that happens in the story after that is a consequence of that action. Sort of like life. But unlike life, you can back up and have the character do or say something else. And then that changes the story.

So maybe your story has reached a dead end. The action isn't interesting anymore, or maybe it doesn't make sense. Or maybe if you keep going in that direction, you won't be able to reach that nice resolution you were hoping for by the time you got to the end of your story. So, like a good friend, writer's block pops up, letting you know it's time to turn around and re-find your direction.

When that happens what I usually do is back up to where the trouble seems to have begun. Usually for me it's a few pages back. A couple of days work. Oh well. Then I think of what else the character could have said or done. The possibilities are endless. I pick one and see if that gets the story going again. Usually it does, but if not, I can always try something else.

And that is why, even though it's kind of hard, because it isn't always easy when our friend has had to share a hard truth with us, but that is why I kind of thank my friend, writer's block. For helping me find a more interesting story.

I think we tend to run into blocks no matter what creative endeavors we participate in. I would love to hear what sort of creative things you like to do, and what you do when you run into a block.

View more on Laura Gilfillan's website

One surprising thing about writing a story, which I’ve heard other writers talk about too, is the way some characters insist on having their own personality. I encountered this with Haley, the main character of Marinian Pearls. I had a certain concept of what kind of person she would be and really tried to stick with that idea. As a result, I had to re-write the entire 95,000 word novel several times until I finally gave up on what I thought she should be, and let her be the character she needed to be for the story. Only then did the story finally come together.

Which meant that she just wasn’t as nice as I was comfortable with. She was a really hard character for me to write, actually. I kept wanting her to say something reassuring to the people around her, or be more considerate, but that just wasn’t who she was. Instead she was a strong, resilient character who was entirely focused on her own goals. As Bill, another character from Marinian Pearls, said of her, “She would be his as much as the beauty of the sea was his, or the wind, the waves, the tide could ever be his. His to love. His to cherish. But never his to control.”

Talking about Bill, he was another unruly character. I never intended for him to be a primary character. He was just supposed to be one of her friends. But as it turned out, he loved her, and he would not go away. Neither would he do anything but think about her. So he ended up being an integral part of the story.

Some people have told me Haley is one of their favorite characters. But I know that some people have reacted more negatively to her. Especially one reviewer who said that Marinian Pearls was a unique and exciting read and that they liked it, but that Haley was the worst lead ever. They thought Haley was “self-righteous, stuck up, and selfish.” They then went on to specify in detail everything they hated about Haley. I was surprised by how passionate they got about this character from my book. I also felt a bit defensive. Like, I can’t help what kind of character Haley was. What do you think, that I’m in control? Just because I’m the writer?

My husband, the sweetie, got upset by that review. He didn’t think it had been fair to Haley. But you know, I can kind of see the reviewer’s point of view. It is quite true that Haley had her problems. But then, that’s kind of what made the story.

View more on Laura Gilfillan's website