Playing God

There is a certain group of people that play God every day. Doctors may think they are God, but fiction writers play God, daily.

They may never admit it, but fiction writers think they are God, I know this because I recently joined their ranks when I started writing my first spec script. It doesn’t matter if it’s a novel or screenplay, Sci Fi or historical fiction, all fiction writers play God. I realized this as I was headed to a local Home-Expo with another author.

I was blabbing about the backstories of the first three characters I created for my new screenplay, and how the details slowly but surely brought the characters to life. When you build a complete character you have to know why he’s a hypochondriac, or how her parents’ beliefs influenced her choices. In building one character you may be creating countless interactions and events that no one ever sees, but are needed to substantiate your new character’s reality.

I had gotten to the point where I asked my fellow scribe, “Where do you draw the line?” Like a true Socratic disciple he replied, “How much do you need?” From our discussion we eventually dropped the subject at, “You have to eventually let them go.”

If you have created complete characters, given them a world to reside in and a goal to pursue, eventually you have to let the characters dictate the action of the story. Metaphorically a fiction writer plays God with the characters he pulls from the depths of his gray matter. The fiction writer breaths life into characters and determines the point of their demise.

So what do you do when you become omnipotent? Do you force the character to bend to your will, or do you take a step back and give your characters the freedom to express his or her freewill? Seeing yourself in a position of limitless power after creating a world is interesting. You start asking questions like “Why would I give someone freewill if it leads to atrocities?” or “Can good really exist if evil does not?” I think everyone should play God from time to time, if only to contemplate the more profound questions in life.

 

 © Christopher L. Hedges and AverageJoesStory.com, 2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Christopher L. Hedges and AverageJoesStory.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.