Jamie said, "the challenge is to allow the characters to develop the plot and the story, rather than make them tools of the plot."
So, what characters am I hanging out with lately? Well, there's Red-faced Rosie, a little girl who throws big tantrums. She helps me write through my pissy moods. Then there's Ryan, an ordinary kid in a special needs world trying to figure out how to get more attention when he has to compete with difficult kids. There's Hope, a chubby girl, big and different and creative. And Jimmy, inspired by a kid who lived across from me where I grew up. And there's Lillian, based on my grandmother, daughter of a wealthy and demanding father who grew up to run away and marry a poor, alcoholic Irishman.
Who are the characters running around in your brain these days?
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Oh jeez, I've got a really motley crew. Mostly characters for Afterhell stories, including a mobster who realizes he's really a homebody that misses his wife and child. Another is a snarky time traveler who cares about people a lot more than he likes to let on. A whole crew of adventurous space explorers -- I've got to find something for them to do (and how to do it). And of course there's Dorothy Amberg and the Silver Ghost; they'd comprise the overall plot of the second ep.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by that mobster.
ReplyDeleteA homless woman who ends up feeling sorry for the grocery store "assistant to the assistant maanger" who wants to take back the cart she stole.
ReplyDeleteMake that a homeless woman.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever met a character whose story eluded you?
ReplyDeleteActually I did once. It was supposed to be a hero in a swashbuckling adventure, only he was perfectly content. He didn't want to change anything. Everything was exactly where he wanted it. He was completely centered. Nothing was going to make him change. Imagine Bilbo Baggins if Gandalf had never entered his life. So rather than scour his shire, I decided to let him be happy. I shifted the focus to a character who wanted to make changes and kept the other guy in the background.
ReplyDelete