Characters

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to writing processes lately and asking around, trying to get a feel for how others do it and I’ve discovered something about myself and my writing. I am very character based. I see the characters first, then I see their story, or rather they tell me their story.

Today a critique partner suggested I write a character a different way and I realized something. I can’t change a characters personality after I start writing them. I’m not talking abut their evolution throughout the story…that always happens. But to change them is to start over from scratch, because they are no longer the same people they’ve come to be in my head and they have different stories to tell.

I’ve often been told my characters are so real, and I have to wonder if it’s because of the process of how I create them and how they reveal themselves to me. When I start writing, even when I’ve plotted, my best stuff comes from my characters just telling me something. I’ll write it and go, “wow! I did not know that about him.” Those are some of the very best moments in writing. :-) My cp’s and I often write emails that start like this: OMG! You will never believe what “insert character name” did! I had no idea!

One of my CP’s wrote just disgusted with her character. She says to the group, he wants the be written in 1st person and I hate writing in first person. My (actually all of the group’s) advice was, “Don’t fight the character. You are going to argue with him until he clams up and stops talking, do it his way. He knows best.” I know if you aren’t a writer you’re sitting there reading this going “coo coo! JL’s is a nutcase.” But bear with me, I’ll try to explain it.

A lot of the creative process happens subconsciously. For instance, I just took a course about using Tarot cards for plotting. Some people are rolling their eyes about now, but it’s actually a decent method, especially to overcome writer’s block. Why? Because you are digging into your subconscious, you know deep down what that character wants to do and how that story needs to be told, but for some reason or another you are arguing with your subconscious. So when you look at those cards and interpret them, it’s your subconscious talking to you.

I get the occasional email from writers asking, “How do you do it? Give me advice to get me published, etc.” It always amazes me…I mean who am I to give advice? But let me go out on a limb and give it a shot.

The more I think about it the more I think writers are born not made. Don’t get me wrong you can and will learn and fine tune your craft, but you have to have a certain instinct to be a good writer, I think. I look around at my cp’s who are incredibly talented authors and it’s the common thread that I see. They all have an innate storytelling ability in them. They don’t have to use charts and grids, they just KNOW. Not to say they don’t use charts and grids to help out on occasion. Plot grids and charts are a great way to organize and to second check yourself, but they are a tool, not an end all be all.

If writing is something you truly want to do, you have to trust yourself and your instincts, if you’ve got that “gift” your instinct is more often than not going to be right on and it will eventually get you where you want to be. That also doesn’t mean stop listening to advice. you may or may not agree with advice given, but just the advice itself may spawn another/better idea. Now that said, don’t stop learning. Always question everything and don’t give up. Sometimes it takes a while to find that right editor in the right mood, when the phase of the moon is just right and the stars are in your favor… You get the point. Just because you are good and have that ability, it does not guarantee you a book contract. You have to work at it and as I said, “fine tune your ability”.

Written by JL Langley

JL is a full-time writer, with over ten novels to her credit. Among her hobbies she includes reading, practicing her marksmanship (she happens to be a great shot), gardening, working out (although she despises cardio), searching for the perfect chocolate dessert (so far as she can tell ALL chocolate is perfect, but it requires more research)
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