So, it was suggested to me by a dear friend that I write more about writing (thanks, Alan!)… and upon further thought I’ve realized that it’s a very good idea, since I write all the time and therefore have a lot to say. Whether or not it’s worth listening to… well I’ll let you be the judge of that. So. Today, I’m working on a new book that I’ve started to develop around a first person POV (for those of you who don’t read a lot of books, it means Point of View) from a female main character. A little back story: I was driving in my car the other day on my way to work, and I started thinking. Shocking, I know. I had a thought and I went with it, I flipped my stereo off (No, I was not listening to Britney Spears’ new c.d.… okay, well perhaps I was singing my heart out to song number 5 when the idea hit…don’t judge) Anyway, I was on my way to work and had no way of writing the idea down, or recording it (although I do have a recorder that I’ve never used… note to self: learn how to use recorder) so I only had my memory. I am forgetful. There are few things that I will actually remember to do if they are outside of my usual routine, so I had to think really, really hard in order to remember the five characteristics that came to my mind about a main female character. In the silence of my car, I held my right hand up in the air and used my fingers to keep track of each characteristic. Pointer finger: Freak about time (can’t be late!!!). Middle finger: Easily irritated. Ring finger: Falls for the wrong guy every time. Pinky finger: Hates it when people do things for her. Thumb: Named Shae. I don’t know why my thumb came last, but it’s just the way it happened.
At this point, I still had about eight minutes before I would arrive at work and I had to keep those five characteristics in my mind. Might seem easy… actually very difficult. So what do I do when I’m trying to remember something for eight whole minutes? I repeat it to myself out loud over and over and over until I see the shiny green sign of my work and I can rush inside to rip a piece of paper out of the printer to write it all down. Ya. That’s how I roll. I barely acknowledged my friends as I burst inside and bolted to the back room, rude, but whatever, I had an idea and I couldn’t lose it. It’s amazing, really, the fact that five simple things can shape an entire person. Soon, her personality was completely developed, and her other qualities started to swim to the forefront of my mind. She’s Irish, but has lived in America most of her life, so she doesn’t have an accent. She’s a red head (duh, hence Irish) her perfectly straight hair never curls, so she doesn’t bother doing anything nice to it, and she’s rude. Or, rather, I like to think that she’s more a verbally accurate female who doesn’t mind telling it how it is, even if it might be deemed inappropriate by others. And by inappropriate, I mean socially unacceptable in any public situation, but whatever, she’s got a ‘tude and she knows it. This might seem like every other female character in an urban fantasy book, but I’m working on the things that make her herself and not someone else. (That makes sense in my head.)
Anyway, so as the character is developed, the plot starts to bubble around in my brain. But, as it slowly comes together, I can’t help but think that this has been a plot line in a book I’ve read before. That happens sometimes where you think you might have an original idea, and then NOPE, it’s been done before. So, I must research the plot more…. even the name Shae sounds familiar to me, and I don’t know why. Perhaps I should Google it…
Alright, Google search came up with nothing on character named Shae, but a Shane was found… not similar in anyway. Good to go. The plot line also researched… found nothing on what I’m talking about, except for a few movies about a small town surrounded by a mysterious fog that hides a hideous monster, something about religion, and a curse on the local something or other. Definitely not what I’m thinking about, so I might go with the plot that I’m thinking about. Unless the niggle in the back of my mind persists and I find that I was actually wrong, don’t be so shocked it does happen, and then I will have to rewrite my entire plot and story outline to come up with something original, fresh, and interesting. It’s a lot more difficult than it seems, this idea of originality. There are many instances where I’ve come up with something only to find that I actually heard of it somewhere else and that I have to change what I’ve thought of… or not thought of in that case. It’s rather difficult. And frustrating.
This might be a completely random and psychotic way to go about writing a story and developing a character, but it’s the way that I do things. I would actually love to hear what other writers have to say about what works for them. I went to school for this shit, and I still don’t have it perfect. No matter how many classes I took (and might take in the future) they never taught a class on how to start a story, only classes on what you do when your story is finished, or how to develop characters so they aren’t one-dimensional boring words on the page. Nope, can’t remember a single class (and I took two straight years of creative writing and English at a University) that I can remember learning how to take what’s in your head and make sense of it.
Oh the journey of writing… It’s just as crazy and random as us writers. I will be the first to admit that my mind jumps to ten topics at once and sometimes (most of the time) my line of thought is so random that I’m the only one that can make sense of it. But, I love the chaos.
Bring it on, chaos, bring it on.
(Looking back on the post, I believe that I'm completely mental. Note to self: Try to curb the tangents. Another note to self: Might not be possible.)
No comments:
Post a Comment