Always. I think it has to be that way. You don’t write from the outside in, you write from the inside out. Writing is a lot like acting – you must BE the main character while you’re writing, or it doesn’t feel authentic. You can’t help but put a little bit of yourself into the character, and take some of that character with you when you’re done. I find that I’ve learned valuable lessons from the characters I’ve created.
Blogfest 2009
You are viewing posts from September 29th, 2009
Amanda Marrone on “When you’re writing a book and making up characters, do you feel like you become that character, as well as that character becomes a part of you?”
I am definitely in my character’s head and looking out through his or her eyes. I hear conversations and see scenes even when I’m not at the computer. When I start a new story, I feel like I know some of the characters immediately, but there always one or two that are a little closed to me and it takes a bit to finally get into their heads.
Lisa McMann on “When you’re writing a book and making up characters, do you feel like you become that character, as well as that character becomes a part of you?”
Absolutely. For me, it’s important to become the character when I’m writing him or her. I need to know how that character will react to things, what he’ll say, what she’d do. It takes me a little bit of time to immerse myself in a character. That’s one reason why when I write, I write for many long hours. Because once I’m in the characters’ brains, I want to stay there for a while and get the writing done.
Nina Malkin on “When you’re writing a book and making up characters, do you feel like you become that character, as well as that character becomes a part of you?”
Ever see that Wes Craven classic, The People Under The Stairs? Sometimes I wish I had people under the stairs, as opposed to inside my head. People are heavy, and I carry mine everyplace, all the time. Where they come from I don’t know; they’re just there, jabbering away, jockeying for position, clamoring for attention. They’ve all got stories and have picked me to tell them. Basically, I’m a typist.
They arrive fully formed, only some I get to know all at once, while others are more reticent. One will be in a big rush to tell his story—and his secrets. Another will wait until he’s got me reeled in, good and well seduced, so that he knows no matter how bad the secret is I’ll be a sucker for it.
My first novel was about this rock band, 6X. A four piece. Each member had a voice, his or her own version of what went down. If you’ve ever been in a rock band, you know how it is. But do you know what it’s like to have a rock band inside your head? Loud.
Swoon, the novel I have coming out in May, is a different kind of story, and it was told to me more quietly. In almost whisper. The narrator of Swoon is its heroine, but it’s the hero who took up the most headspace. He’d dictate my dreams at night, point out funny things while we walked along the street. His logic, his way of looking at the world, surprised and illuminated me. And his needs, intense and often conflicting, became my own. I’ve never known anyone like him before or since, and even though his story’s told he’s still with me—we have this bittersweet bantering thing going on.
His name is Sinclair Youngblood Powers. Call him Sin. Should you come to Swoon, should you meet him, chances are he’ll get inside your head, too. Among other places.
Truly, I shouldn’t bitch about the people inside my head, since occasionally they’re people like Sin. That beautiful, that intense, with such an incredible story. Plus, I wind up with my name on a book, and I don’t have to share the royalty check with anyone. All they want, the people inside my head, is to be told.
Terra McVoy on “When you’re writing a book and making up characters, do you feel like you become that character, as well as that character becomes a part of you?”
More it is like I am a secret cameraperson in the lives of my characters. I get to watch and hear everything they do, and can even get into their brains and listen to what they are thinking—things they don’t even know they’re thinking themselves. Then it’s my job to go back and record everything properly. I’m more of a stenographer than anything else.
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