Patrick’s answer to “I have been chatting with another author about our fictional characters having more control on thei…” > Likes and Comments
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So very true. You must post this in a Blog, Patrick, as all aspiring writers need to know this.
Lissa, you too must have characters in your novels that just about wrote themselves. Why don't you share these with us and also tell of the wooden ones that didn't work. Are there other writers out there who have characters that elbowed you out of the way and wrote themselves? Please join in and tell us about them as we can all learn from each other. Patrick.
All of the characters come to me, rather than me looking for them, and they'll usually wait quietly and patiently for me to finish the current book before elbowing me for theirs. Except Dominic, in Sainte Bastien. He was always there, prodding and urgent, even during my second novel (and Sainte Bastien was novel number four). I had no novel for him, but knew him well enough to just mention him in passing in the novel Gala Day, which shows how much he was haunting me, even then. So when his turn came, as you say, he wrote himself.
Marcel in Chantilly Dawns, too. They all lead and I follow, recording what they do with my pen. I've had no wooden characters, because they introduce themselves to me first and if they're not strong enough to
give me an impression of their whole life (school, parents etc) then I'm not interested. Do I sound totally mad, or am I just an author?!
But, yes, they write themselves first, before I ever need to.
In Gala Day, in particular, was a "plot tool", Danny Western, who was simply popped in to a single scene in order to move hero Pete from one place to another, in my head Western's sole purpose. But Westy had
other ideas! Thinking about it, he really is pushy! And he was pushy with me. I knew he was here to stay, and in a major way, and he really helped the whole plot. Had I not needed some passing interest to get Pete from yet another weighing room to car park, Westy might not have been born - but, then again, maybe he would have always found a way in somehow.
A good writer just can't have wooden characters. Every character does something, or they wouldn't be there, and in books as in reality, no one does anything without a reason. In life, we don't have the privilege of always knowing that reason, but as authors of course we
always do. Knowing the motivation creates the personality.
Writing is a solitary pursuit, but it's not a lonely one, as we are always surrounded by so many intimate, imaginary friends. Who actually are NOT imaginary when they hit the paper; and the more people read
them, the more they exist.
Dear Lissa: I note your comment that you never run into wooden characters. That is a blessing. Years ago I attended a creative writing course in America. The professor running the course told us of a writer who after 400 pages of a novel realized that one character was wooden and not contributing to the story. Rather than go through the 400 pages and weed him out the author simply had him enter a room and close the door. And no more mention was made of the character for the rest of the book. An approach not to be recommended for real writers. Patrick.
You'd hope to notice the blockhead/woodentop earlier than 400 pages in! But that's one solution, anyway!
Are there other writers out there who have experienced characters in their own novels that just about wrote themselves?
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Lissa
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Feb 12, 2018 04:38AM
So very true. You must post this in a Blog, Patrick, as all aspiring writers need to know this.
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Lissa, you too must have characters in your novels that just about wrote themselves. Why don't you share these with us and also tell of the wooden ones that didn't work. Are there other writers out there who have characters that elbowed you out of the way and wrote themselves? Please join in and tell us about them as we can all learn from each other. Patrick.
All of the characters come to me, rather than me looking for them, and they'll usually wait quietly and patiently for me to finish the current book before elbowing me for theirs. Except Dominic, in Sainte Bastien. He was always there, prodding and urgent, even during my second novel (and Sainte Bastien was novel number four). I had no novel for him, but knew him well enough to just mention him in passing in the novel Gala Day, which shows how much he was haunting me, even then. So when his turn came, as you say, he wrote himself.Marcel in Chantilly Dawns, too. They all lead and I follow, recording what they do with my pen. I've had no wooden characters, because they introduce themselves to me first and if they're not strong enough to
give me an impression of their whole life (school, parents etc) then I'm not interested. Do I sound totally mad, or am I just an author?!
But, yes, they write themselves first, before I ever need to.
In Gala Day, in particular, was a "plot tool", Danny Western, who was simply popped in to a single scene in order to move hero Pete from one place to another, in my head Western's sole purpose. But Westy had
other ideas! Thinking about it, he really is pushy! And he was pushy with me. I knew he was here to stay, and in a major way, and he really helped the whole plot. Had I not needed some passing interest to get Pete from yet another weighing room to car park, Westy might not have been born - but, then again, maybe he would have always found a way in somehow.
A good writer just can't have wooden characters. Every character does something, or they wouldn't be there, and in books as in reality, no one does anything without a reason. In life, we don't have the privilege of always knowing that reason, but as authors of course we
always do. Knowing the motivation creates the personality.
Writing is a solitary pursuit, but it's not a lonely one, as we are always surrounded by so many intimate, imaginary friends. Who actually are NOT imaginary when they hit the paper; and the more people read
them, the more they exist.
Dear Lissa: I note your comment that you never run into wooden characters. That is a blessing. Years ago I attended a creative writing course in America. The professor running the course told us of a writer who after 400 pages of a novel realized that one character was wooden and not contributing to the story. Rather than go through the 400 pages and weed him out the author simply had him enter a room and close the door. And no more mention was made of the character for the rest of the book. An approach not to be recommended for real writers. Patrick.
You'd hope to notice the blockhead/woodentop earlier than 400 pages in! But that's one solution, anyway!
Are there other writers out there who have experienced characters in their own novels that just about wrote themselves?
