today's been kind of weird for me. i'm not talking fellini weird, but more of an emotional offness due to job-related changes. funny how closely we identify with what we do for a living. hm. and how much it can affect us without warning or explanation.
but this post isn't about jobs. or fellini. (too bad.) or even really about weird emotional upheaval.
it's about how we can use these moments to help us write. you've seen those scenes in movies where an actor is instructed to use their personal experiences to enhance their connection to their role? this is what i'm talking about. characterization, whether on stage or on the page, is all about details. we learn who this person is by piecing together moments we're given throughout the performance; we form a cohesive portrait. just like in life.
when we meet someone, we don't know who they are within the first few minutes. we come to understand them over time, through observing how they react to and feel about various influences, how they dress and carry themselves, how life interacts with them to bring out who they are. writing is just like this.
which brings me back to the emotional weirdness. we all seek truth in our writing. we create characters who ring true for us, no matter how peculiar they are to someone else. they each hold an internal integrity which makes them real. the key is not to aim for the easy and predictable, but for what's true. not every good guy wears a white hat. not every hooker has a heart of gold. if we want our characters to hit with power, we have to break through those stereotypes which only fog up reader's attention spans. maybe our hooker has a bad latex allergy. well, first, she's in the wrong profession, we think. but then, she surprises us by developing a no-touchie clientele. kinky. and she overcharges. demand versus supply, baby.
go for the emotional weirdness. remember those moments in your own life which forced an unexpected reaction from you--pick apart the how and why. store those moments, retaining the feel and intensity of the emotion, the tics. reconfigure those minor truths to create a unique and solid character when you need him.
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You can also take tips of characterization from Stephen King. I mean, he does not give random personalities to his characters, am I right?
ReplyDeleteGot your message on Scribophile and am just saying hello back :)
ReplyDeleteLaurie, you just invited me over here from my main blog (How Publishing Really Works) and I'm so glad I came. Emotional weirdness. Yes!
ReplyDeleteYou could always take a look at my other blog, Greyling Bay, where I post flash fiction--it's a collaborative effort and I welcome submissions, particularly those full of emotional weirdness. I hate to suggest that you might well fit right in there, but you know what I mean!
Wow, you're spending a lot of time thinking about hookers lately. Almost as much as me. They may not all have a gold heart, but the ones round here have all certainly got a gold watch. It costs me a fortune to keep replacing the bloody thing.
ReplyDeleteI did hear you mention this blog a while ago, but I thought what with following you to B'rix and then S'phile - I didn't want to look like a cyber-stalker.
I struggle with characterisation past my own spiked emotional spectrum - I'm like a firework with its stake cut off, that's been lit and thrown to the ground.
That's probably why I struggle for substance, as I've got no real depth myself.
and yet, your comment is deeply insightful. you're a complicated man, paul.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, reading that back, it sounds as if I'm in a fit of depression. What I meant, in my abstract little way, is that I can't take anything seriously - not even my characters.
ReplyDeleteThey're just like me and full of crap jokes!
Great advice! I never seem to think of these things while actually writing, or building my characters, and as a result, I think too many of them are shallow. *sigh* Just something else to work on, right?
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