Giulia Napoli's Blog - Posts Tagged "characters"
When Books Leave the Author's Nest
I just read a quote from the clever, innovative folk/pop singer, Melanie. She was writing about a cute, quirky song my Daddy used to play, "Brand New Key." Must have been from the early 1970s, I'd guess.
Anyway, she said, "My idea about songs is that once you write them, you have very little say in their life afterward."
Wow! That really hit home to me. I'll paraphrase, based on my experiences with my books:
My idea about novels is that once you write them, you have very little say in their life afterward.
An author often spends so much time with her novel and characters that she comes to realize the characters are, indeed, controlling her. If you're totally into your writing, as I am, it takes you places, not the other way around.
In a very real sense, an author has only a little say in the life of the novel and its characters before publication.
As readers, you see the results of our (author's) struggles. Then you take the book and love it or hate it, let it influence your thinking, or forget it entirely.
Such is the life of a novel, and the people who write and read it. That's what makes books live for each of us. Their reality is as real as our own. It's simply elsewhere in the multiverse.
Anyway, she said, "My idea about songs is that once you write them, you have very little say in their life afterward."
Wow! That really hit home to me. I'll paraphrase, based on my experiences with my books:
My idea about novels is that once you write them, you have very little say in their life afterward.
An author often spends so much time with her novel and characters that she comes to realize the characters are, indeed, controlling her. If you're totally into your writing, as I am, it takes you places, not the other way around.
In a very real sense, an author has only a little say in the life of the novel and its characters before publication.
As readers, you see the results of our (author's) struggles. Then you take the book and love it or hate it, let it influence your thinking, or forget it entirely.
Such is the life of a novel, and the people who write and read it. That's what makes books live for each of us. Their reality is as real as our own. It's simply elsewhere in the multiverse.
