Are characters the most important part of a fiction piece? Do they control the action? Here is Elizabeth Kirschner, author of Because the Sky is a Thousand Soft Hurts, discussing the supremacy of the characters in our stories. Please welcome Elizabeth to Choices while she's on her WOW! Women on Writing virtual book tour. The Invention and Supremacy of Character by Elizabeth Kirschner How are characters invented and why do I balk at the word “supremacy?” Yes, I put it in the title, meaning, I suppose, that the characters in our stories are the ones who dictate what may or may not happen in any given situation. There’s a myth that I’d like to debunk. Namely, the writer doesn’t have full agency over what transpires in the story. We, at best, attempt to infuse our characters, let them, how odd, be the ones who choose the scent trail of their own fates. Was it John Updike who likened the writing of stories to a game of baseball? The analogy being that we put our characters, like … [Read more...]
Using educator skills to build fictional characters
Cheryl Carpinello, our Choices WOW! Women on Writing book tour guest today has used her years as an educator and observation skills to create characters her young readers can relate to. Author of Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend, Cheryl shares how using the traits of her students helped her build believable characters for her award-winning fiction. Being an Educator Helps Me Build Believable Characters By Cheryl Carpinello Writing characters that readers can identify and bond with is difficult at the best of times. When writing for young readers, I transport myself back to my classroom where I watch my students working and discussing. I wander the school hallways and observe students’ interactions with each other and with other teachers. Doing these exercises helps me develop characters that my readers can relate to and see pieces of themselves. As an adult writing for ages 9-15, it is important that my characters come across true. Kids are really amazing and at … [Read more...]
Proust’s Thirty-Five Questions to Ask Your Characters
I've been reading the Write Practice for several months and always find the posts informational and provocative. I was particularly taken with today's post about delving into the lives of your novel's characters. I'm in the midst of the first revision of my novel and I'm looking for ways to round them out. Marcel Proust's Thirty-five Questions to Ask Your Characters will definitely help. Here's his list, written in the late nineteenth century. By the way, his answers sold in auction for €102,000 in 2003. 1. What is your idea of perfect happiness? 2. What is your greatest fear? 3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? 4. What is the trait you most deplore in others? 5. Which living person do you most admire? 6. What is your greatest extravagance? 7. What is your current state of mind? 8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? 9. On what occasion do you lie? 10. What do you most dislike about your appearance? 11. Which living person … [Read more...]
