Purpose: To share and
encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can
offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of
all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day.
Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the
fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a
word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the
group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people
each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be
sure to link to the IWSG page and display the badge in your post. And
please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! If it links to
Google+, be sure your blog is listed there. Otherwise, when you leave a
comment, people can't find you to comment back.
Every month, we announce a question that
members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you
to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your
answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if
you are struggling with something to say.
Remember, the question is optional!
July 3 question: What personal traits have you written into your character(s)?
Remember, the question is optional!
July 3 question: What personal traits have you written into your character(s)?
The awesome co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre, Jennifer Lane, MJ Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!
***
Before I get into the fun of answering the question--which is a great one--just a quick note on my writing status. Moving has taken a lot more time and a lot more out of me than anticipated, so I'm still hovering just on the brink of working on the edits for Death By Library. But I *am* getting back to work on being a writer. I succeeded in writing a story for the WEP, and (insert triumphal trumpet blast) I managed to read all the stories! Incidentally, it's a great bunch of tales, as always, so take a look.
What's more, I've begun working on my entry for the IWSG anthology contest, and have some hope it will be a decent entry (though I'll admit it's a little early to tell).
Since our house is starting to look a little more like a home and less like a storage unit, or the aftermath of a disaster, I have hopes that my creative energy will be returning and I'll soon be up and running!
Now, for the question...
What personal traits have I written into my character(s)? Certainly people who know me and read my books see me in both my female main characters (Big Al of the Ninja Libarian series, and JJ McGregor of the Pismawallops PTA Mysteries). I have given both characters a certain sense of independence and self-reliance that I aspire to, and maybe I share the bristly personality that shows up in each of them, too!
While Al shares my tomboy tendencies--carried farther than I have ever done--JJ reflects more of my "community rabble-rouser" self. And that aspect of her is also much more pronounced than in me (she may have more in common with my aunt than with me; I wasn't much at that kind of involvement until dragged kicking and screaming into it). That she shares my love of coffee and chocolate is more a stereotype than a reflection of me in her!
While a superficial look might make one think I've just written them like myself, my characters are wholly alive and independent in my mind. Neither Al nor JJ is me. On the other hand, every character carries some aspect of the author,* and even Halitor, the hapless hero of my eponymous tale, shares some of my traits and feelings.
*While I might want to deny that this is true of my villains, I have to figure that some parts of their personalities come from me. If I think about it, I can probably figure out which parts.
So how about you? Do your characters resemble you in obvious ways, or in more subtle ones? Do you agree that all the characters we create carry some germ of ourselves?
*While I might want to deny that this is true of my villains, I have to figure that some parts of their personalities come from me. If I think about it, I can probably figure out which parts.
So how about you? Do your characters resemble you in obvious ways, or in more subtle ones? Do you agree that all the characters we create carry some germ of ourselves?
Yes, I think our characters have some of us in each of them, good and bad. I like to look for unique characteristics in other's writing to see if perhaps that uniqueness came from them or just a great imagination. Happy 4th!
ReplyDeleteI have definitely met characters who I really hope have nothing of the writer in them! But it's there, even if only as an indicator of what the author considers truly awful.
DeleteMoving house always takes more time and effort than we plan for. Hang in there and good luck with getting that creative energy back!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Our process is proving harder than the usual approach, but we are getting there.
DeleteMoving is a big job so I'm impressed that you have accomplished any writing. Glad your new house is starting to feel like home.
ReplyDeleteVery, very little writing! But I'll hang onto your comment as a reminder that *any* writing is a triumph.
DeleteInteresting - I wondered how much of you was in JJ :) I'll have to look at my more unlikable characters. I bet there are some aspects of me in them even if they're not aspects that I really like about myself.
ReplyDeleteOh, I know there are bits of me in the obnoxious people I've written. Maybe it's a good way to look clearly at our less attractive characteristics, by giving them form and flesh!
DeleteWhenever I move, it does kill my writing time and creativity for a while until things settle down and I am settled.
ReplyDeleteWay to go for writing a WEP entry!
Thanks--it's helpful to hear that I'm not the only one who struggles with this. We hadn't really moved for over 20 years, and I'm realizing that our summer relocations were nothing by comparison!
DeleteI think most of our characters either come from our imaginations or some part of us - I have created characters based on other people and from newspaper articles, but getting into their skin is tough.
ReplyDeleteI do find that characters truly alien to me have a tendency to become a bit cartoonish, so I get what you mean!
DeleteMoving is exhausting and it's always such a relief when it's all done.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that!
DeleteMy mother always considered a move as akin to a natural disaster. No surprise your muse hankers down.
ReplyDeleteTrying to remember what I've been told... one fire equals three moves? Something like that.
DeleteCongrats on finishing up your moving! I moved alot in my twenties, so much that you would think I would have gotten better at it, but not so much. It's still the most loathsome thing I can imagine. :-(
ReplyDeleteNowhere near finished yet. But we are getting there. At this point I'm just hoping we can have it substantially finished before we take off again in August. Which isn't so far off, making that seem less and less likely.
DeleteI've moved so much over the years, that now the next move seems like an adventure -- and a chance to downsize! Luckily, in the last several decades, my writing space is honored early. Sometimes those little changes throw you -- like the fridge door opening from the opposite side or truly and different views out the thinking window. But these changes offer you new insights into what is truly important, and your own creative space will emerge, at home.
ReplyDeleteI think that moving more often would be easier than moving every 20 years! You'd never have the chance to accumulate so much stuff :D
DeleteAgree that our characters have something of ourselves in them whether we want them to or not. And moving? It Always takes more out of you than you anticipate! You have a beautiful blog! Thanks for dropping by mine...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa!
DeleteMy villains scare me sometimes exactly because I know they have traits in common with me... Good luck with your writing :-)
ReplyDeleteMoving is so hard. It definitely takes a lot out of you. I know most our characters will carry aspects if its only pondering on possibilities that is still part of us. Happy IWSG!
ReplyDelete