July 10, 2007
-
Wake of the Raven: Zorn: Characters
When I’m writing a novel, I find that I don’t so much decide what my characters do, as that I find out.
Obviously I base the novel or story around an event or situation that I wish to dramatise or examine, and I will have an image in my mind of the characteristics of the main character, and probably a rough story line, but I certainly don’t know what he or she is going to actually do or say on the journey through the novel’s situation towards the final result.
This, I think, is impossible with tens of thousands of words to be written, and the writing of a novel is not so much the physical writing down of what is already known – meaning that it has already been invented or worked out – as the writing down and altering of comments and ideas, until I find I am able to seize on one as it suddenly ripens into a flow of action or dialogue.
So in fact when I start don’t have a clue as to ninety-percent of what the character will do. So set him down in a place, apply some stimuli – such as that it starts to rain – and see what he does. I may do the writing, but I think it is the existence of the character in my mind that produces the novel. I do not so much create as report.
How do you feel about this?
Comments (10)
I’ve never really sat down to write a full-on story, but I think you describe how it should be done.
I think that’s my problem when it comes to writing fiction. I try to control the character way too much, and it ends up coming apart. I really should let the character be who he/she wants to be and let them do their thang-thang.
Very interesting. I was reading an interview with Joyce Carol Oates this morning. One thing she
says is that things like eating and sleeping seem like distractions to her from her writing.
You know, I wish I had a set answer to that. Because it really depends. Most times, I start with characters and an idea of where I want the story to go and then throw things at them as they go from point a to point z. Sometimes I let them progress. Sometimes I make them progress. It just depends on what I’m writing and how that story dictates to me.
I think that is an interesting approach and if it works for you then, that’s what works for you… so was it the girl or Stuart who came to you first in the Raven?
I have heard that Stephen King gets the entire novel almost like a snap. I think he said he got the idea for The Shining after he passed a road sign in Colorado. See that never happens to me. I don’t even have characters to write around, so maybe I will never write a novel.
I used to dream about it, of course I also dreamt of great painting, that I could visualize in my head, but never re-create on paper.
Hope you are having a great and productive week…, mine has been busy, but I am reading a lot, so I enjoy that.
Hugs, Tricia
i think writing and not knowing what will be the ending is a great way to allow yourself flexibility
That is an interesting approach. It is great to see what a writer is thinking on the inside.
RYC: No issue can really be developed without asking, how does this impact Paris?
I feel the same way about my characters. I feel like sometimes it’s some sort of literary ghost and once I get their story correct they’ll keep telling. Do you string along alot of bits of moments or begin with one moment to dramatize on and continue only with that?
I am in the states. I will see if my local libraries have your book or else I’ll request it (they do do that here.) I have cards in my suburb, two in the city, at my old college city, in my mother’s city (which thankfully is the same card for all the libraries), and two in my grandmother’s city all of which I will be stopping by before the summers over. I’ll put in eight requests if you aren’t already in there.
Gosh, I don’t know. I find that I’m not as attached to my characters per se as most writers seem to be. Certain scenes just seem to really flow, and unexpected things happen as I write. And that feels like a kind of magic – when at the end of a writing session all these things just happened in the scene that I hadn’t really clearly forethought, but end up fitting really well, and transitioning smooth to the next scene. I love it when that happens.
I’ve got about 55,000 words – I’ve finished the entire novel in basic form, but just need to really to plump it up and make it flow well. I’m writing for a YA audience, and 70,000 words is kind of my target. But it’s been going well, and I’m meeting with my little writer’s group each week, so they’re helping me edit and keep me motivated!
The only thing my characters surprise me on is their dialogue. I let my people talk to each other quite often. One sentence leads to another, and before I know it I’m writing in a part I didn’t plan out, but it fits really well.
It’s nice when your characters surprise you.