Life's not Linear: Day Job FTW

I was up so late last night helping one of my newbie students with her writing. The session started with some sad reality: Her source refused to give her a phone number for followup questions, and the same source said not to bother with the email because she never checks it.So my student was feeling a little dejected.And at first, I tought, yeah, there's not going to be a whole lot we can do with this, but instead I said, "just read me what you've got so far."What she had was that timeless new kid story. The one where the day before you start a new school you're worried if anyone will like you and that people will be mean. AND she had those first moments walking in the new place with its giant ceilings and long empty nightmarish flourescent lighted hall and the smell of burnt toast coming from the cafeteria. And then she had the story of these kids who reached out immmediately to welcome her. And then she had the story of how all those kids had been hurt by others in school because maybe they dressed differently or loved aliens or were gay or thought maybe they were but they weren't sure but the boys in class wanted to torment them anyway. All students marginalized by others but instead of letting it destroy them, they'd bonded.Now, three years later, they're all still friends. And while the friendships go through some tough times it remains strong. AND now they're all headed in different directions, but they want their friendship to remain strong.So yeah, my student had a great story. BUT she didn't necessarily realize it until we started talking and I read a quote and said "What else did she say about this?" or "Did she say anything else about this?"And my student would go through her notebook scouring for the words she remembered until she found those big moments that added more.The take-away: my student learned if you just talk to people, have a conversation with them, they'll tell you a lot. Sometimes you won't even realize how much they're telling you because conversations aren't like "interviews." They're not always linear.They ebb and flow, kind of like the friendship she was writing about.The take-away for me: I like working with my students like this, but I also like that I can use this technique in my fiction. My characters have so much to say. For the book to be successful, the characters need to feel like real people, and for that to happen, I need to do something more than a cursory, linear character interview. Life's not linear.Day job FTW! #


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