Ellie Lieberman's Blog: Dusty Shelves - Posts Tagged "characters"
How I Met My Characters
I tend to meet my characters the way you would meet a stranger on the streets. There are things you can tell just by looking. And these features in their own right tell you a bit about a person. There is evidence of where they came from and who they are in the way they speak, the way they look, the way they hold themselves. Peeking through the cracks of the masks we show the world, you can start to see the true person who lies beneath.
Then, you get to know them and you become their friend and confidante. They let you into their own little world and little by little the mask starts to ease off, until they are as comfortable with you as they would be with someone they’ve known their whole life. Here is where you learn of their past, confirm or rethink what you assumed when they first showed up, and discover interests, idiosyncrasies, habits, and sometimes, but not always, their secrets.
Writing characters for me is not the act of playing god, but more the role of a scribe. I listen, I watch them in my mind, and I take dictation. Hopefully it is a well enough job to do them justice, because otherwise they won’t let me get some sleep.
There are certainly elements that are borrowed or inspired by other things, whether it’s real people or other fictional characters in other stories and forms of storytelling. However, the characters are no more planned than the plot. They are not built upon like legos, though connections can be made. They appear as they are and then they leave with each new reader.
Then, you get to know them and you become their friend and confidante. They let you into their own little world and little by little the mask starts to ease off, until they are as comfortable with you as they would be with someone they’ve known their whole life. Here is where you learn of their past, confirm or rethink what you assumed when they first showed up, and discover interests, idiosyncrasies, habits, and sometimes, but not always, their secrets.
Writing characters for me is not the act of playing god, but more the role of a scribe. I listen, I watch them in my mind, and I take dictation. Hopefully it is a well enough job to do them justice, because otherwise they won’t let me get some sleep.
There are certainly elements that are borrowed or inspired by other things, whether it’s real people or other fictional characters in other stories and forms of storytelling. However, the characters are no more planned than the plot. They are not built upon like legos, though connections can be made. They appear as they are and then they leave with each new reader.
A Hike In The Forest
Writing a book is like taking a hike in a forest. You might have a map, a clearly marked trail, and even signs to point you in the right direction. However, I’ve never been good at reading maps. My curiosity tends to lead me off the trail. And if, by some miracle, I can find or don’t miss the signs, I don’t always want to follow what it says.
If you ask my boyfriend or my mother, they’d probably smirk and remark about how I always have to be the rebel. And there’s a truth to that. From the time I was in kindergarten, I colored outside the lines. Not because I couldn’t stay within them, but because I didn’t like to and I didn’t think I should have to. To this day my socks cannot match.
I do not like to be confined by the rules and the maps and the signs. Even if I am the one creating them. And neither do my characters. They want the same freedom, and quite honestly, are part of what leads me off the path.
Nobody should hike alone, and when you’re writing, you are joined by many companions. For me, they tend to be the leaders in this journey, because muses help me if I deny them that. Marshmallows go missing, as do the chocolate, and graham crackers are too bland to eat alone. Equipment disappears, rocks start flying, and they will not let me rest until I follow along.
Flying by the seat of my pants, or where the characters drag me, is not only simply part of my personality as a whole, but self preservation.
That being said, I’ve started on a new adventure. There are certain requirements to follow, such as word count and deadlines, and I am starting to dabble in some forms of planning. While the characters are taking the lead, they seem as lost as I am. I can’t seem to make sense of the map yet (am I holding it upside down), and it doesn’t help I’m dragging a two ton dragon along.
In short, you should probably never choose me as your hiking buddy.
If you ask my boyfriend or my mother, they’d probably smirk and remark about how I always have to be the rebel. And there’s a truth to that. From the time I was in kindergarten, I colored outside the lines. Not because I couldn’t stay within them, but because I didn’t like to and I didn’t think I should have to. To this day my socks cannot match.
I do not like to be confined by the rules and the maps and the signs. Even if I am the one creating them. And neither do my characters. They want the same freedom, and quite honestly, are part of what leads me off the path.
Nobody should hike alone, and when you’re writing, you are joined by many companions. For me, they tend to be the leaders in this journey, because muses help me if I deny them that. Marshmallows go missing, as do the chocolate, and graham crackers are too bland to eat alone. Equipment disappears, rocks start flying, and they will not let me rest until I follow along.
Flying by the seat of my pants, or where the characters drag me, is not only simply part of my personality as a whole, but self preservation.
That being said, I’ve started on a new adventure. There are certain requirements to follow, such as word count and deadlines, and I am starting to dabble in some forms of planning. While the characters are taking the lead, they seem as lost as I am. I can’t seem to make sense of the map yet (am I holding it upside down), and it doesn’t help I’m dragging a two ton dragon along.
In short, you should probably never choose me as your hiking buddy.
How Much Can You Change About Your Characters
How much can you change about your characters and still stay true to them?
A common exercise suggested to writers is to take their character and drop them into a different setting. This exercise is said to give a writer a better understanding for their character. If you know your characters well enough outside their story, how they would react and what they would say and do to something completely different then what they would normally encounter, it will help you write them in the setting they belong. But, how much of their environment affects who the characters are?
What if you changed their back story? And, how much of their back story would change them? Take for instance, Barbara Lieberman’s Ellen Price from Message on the Wind. If you change her wealth, you still have Ellen Price. She would still stick her nose in other people’s business and run into situations without looking. Compare this to her male counterpart, Alexander McEwen. If you changed, for instance, his culture and heritage, the fact he’s Native American, you change a huge aspect of the character as a whole. Why? Because, this is such a huge part of who he is, how he sees the world and himself, and effects even the smaller details, such as how he wears his hair.
Or is it? This brings up the whole nature versus nurture debate. How much of the characteristics of your characters are innate, would never change and are simply part of who they are regardless. And how much is dependent on the world around them, including their families, upbringing, and etc.
In Society's Foundlings, how much would be different if one thing changed? If Math and Sampson’s mother was still in the picture? If Clem came from money? If Carver went to college or invited Math to live with him instead of Sampson? Some might argue very little, while others would suggest a lot.
And how much is open to interpretation? How much could be open to debate?
How much can you change about your characters and still stay true to them?
A common exercise suggested to writers is to take their character and drop them into a different setting. This exercise is said to give a writer a better understanding for their character. If you know your characters well enough outside their story, how they would react and what they would say and do to something completely different then what they would normally encounter, it will help you write them in the setting they belong. But, how much of their environment affects who the characters are?
What if you changed their back story? And, how much of their back story would change them? Take for instance, Barbara Lieberman’s Ellen Price from Message on the Wind. If you change her wealth, you still have Ellen Price. She would still stick her nose in other people’s business and run into situations without looking. Compare this to her male counterpart, Alexander McEwen. If you changed, for instance, his culture and heritage, the fact he’s Native American, you change a huge aspect of the character as a whole. Why? Because, this is such a huge part of who he is, how he sees the world and himself, and effects even the smaller details, such as how he wears his hair.
Or is it? This brings up the whole nature versus nurture debate. How much of the characteristics of your characters are innate, would never change and are simply part of who they are regardless. And how much is dependent on the world around them, including their families, upbringing, and etc.
In Society's Foundlings, how much would be different if one thing changed? If Math and Sampson’s mother was still in the picture? If Clem came from money? If Carver went to college or invited Math to live with him instead of Sampson? Some might argue very little, while others would suggest a lot.
And how much is open to interpretation? How much could be open to debate?
How much can you change about your characters and still stay true to them?
Character Interview: Carver
Using the questions asked in Inside the Actor's Studio, I will be interviewing characters from my books. I'm starting with Carver from Society's Foundlings.
1. What is your favorite word?
Redemption.
2. What is your least favorite word?
Can’t. I don’t like limitations.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
A well written book and any conversation about books in general.
4. What turns you off?
Little princess-bitches in platform five-inch heels who shrills in a voice equivalent to nails on a chalkboard and a dying cat and whose favorite book is about sparkly vampires, whose favorite show is a tie between some soap and a reality, and who owns more shoes than books. My friend, Ophelia, tells me I’m a stuck up bastard and a snob. It’s mostly the righteous attitude, like a parent who gets pissed off that I’m cursing when they’re at a sleazy fast food joint at midnight and buying their kid caffeine. If a few curse words is the worst thing a kid experiences, than I’d call it good.
5. What is your favorite curse word?
Pardon the French, but Fuck.
6. What sound or noise do you love?
A page being turned.
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
Gunshots. Police sirens.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Travel writer. As Jack Kerouac said, “The road is life.” Anything to find whatever “more” I can.To go places and meet people, with “nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever on the road.”
9. What profession would you not like to do?
Any of the jobs I am currently doing. Laundromat, stocking shelves, cashier, etc.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
I’m surprised to see you here.
1. What is your favorite word?
Redemption.
2. What is your least favorite word?
Can’t. I don’t like limitations.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
A well written book and any conversation about books in general.
4. What turns you off?
Little princess-bitches in platform five-inch heels who shrills in a voice equivalent to nails on a chalkboard and a dying cat and whose favorite book is about sparkly vampires, whose favorite show is a tie between some soap and a reality, and who owns more shoes than books. My friend, Ophelia, tells me I’m a stuck up bastard and a snob. It’s mostly the righteous attitude, like a parent who gets pissed off that I’m cursing when they’re at a sleazy fast food joint at midnight and buying their kid caffeine. If a few curse words is the worst thing a kid experiences, than I’d call it good.
5. What is your favorite curse word?
Pardon the French, but Fuck.
6. What sound or noise do you love?
A page being turned.
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
Gunshots. Police sirens.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Travel writer. As Jack Kerouac said, “The road is life.” Anything to find whatever “more” I can.To go places and meet people, with “nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever on the road.”
9. What profession would you not like to do?
Any of the jobs I am currently doing. Laundromat, stocking shelves, cashier, etc.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
I’m surprised to see you here.
Character's Choice
Perhaps you've heard an author joke about their character's having a mind of their own. Anyone who is a writer knows there is a truth to this. They do what they want to do. We're merely there to write it.
Barbara Lieberman has mentioned many times how she tried to soften Bridget from To Reap a Whirlwind. Every time she would come close, this character would just dash any chance at redemption.
For me and my writing, it's even when the creations themselves are faced with the situations they are thrown into. That is to say, my books tend to have characters exercising free will more than being pushed into a fate.
They make decisions and these choices lead to consequences. The characters in Society's Foundlings feel abandoned by each other and society, not because it is fate, but because of their own choices, as well as the choices of those around them. Garrett makes a choice at the end of Solving for X, same as Jenna, and these decisions are made based on their experiences. In one of my WIPs, a character decides his own fate, as well, in a pivotal moment: "This, here, was the moment of truth. Before him laid two options, and while one stung, more from the man who suggested it than the suggestion itself, the other was one with which he could not live."
Though there may be literary techniques utilized, such as foreshadowing, whether purposeful or merely unintentional (and don't you just love when that happens?), the decision still remains solely in the hands of the characters. Think of it also as looking back on your own personal story. Was there not foreshadowing in your own life that you missed at the time, whether it be "hindsight is 20/20" or just weird coincidences?
My characters have always been a driving force in writing the story, but they have always been the "masters of their fate" within their stories, as well.
Barbara Lieberman has mentioned many times how she tried to soften Bridget from To Reap a Whirlwind. Every time she would come close, this character would just dash any chance at redemption.
For me and my writing, it's even when the creations themselves are faced with the situations they are thrown into. That is to say, my books tend to have characters exercising free will more than being pushed into a fate.
They make decisions and these choices lead to consequences. The characters in Society's Foundlings feel abandoned by each other and society, not because it is fate, but because of their own choices, as well as the choices of those around them. Garrett makes a choice at the end of Solving for X, same as Jenna, and these decisions are made based on their experiences. In one of my WIPs, a character decides his own fate, as well, in a pivotal moment: "This, here, was the moment of truth. Before him laid two options, and while one stung, more from the man who suggested it than the suggestion itself, the other was one with which he could not live."
Though there may be literary techniques utilized, such as foreshadowing, whether purposeful or merely unintentional (and don't you just love when that happens?), the decision still remains solely in the hands of the characters. Think of it also as looking back on your own personal story. Was there not foreshadowing in your own life that you missed at the time, whether it be "hindsight is 20/20" or just weird coincidences?
My characters have always been a driving force in writing the story, but they have always been the "masters of their fate" within their stories, as well.
