When writing, I've come to realize that it's incredibly important to get to know your characters - your main character especially. I'd even go so far as to say that it's probably the single most important aspect of writing any story. The rest is what editors are for, really.
It's almost funny, really, because your characters are people you've created - assuming you're writing fiction. And so it just seems like you would automatically know all the little intimate details about each one. But it's really not like that at all. You have to take the time to get to know them. Once you've thought them up, it's your job to let them grow and develop. If you don't, you end up with empty, lifeless characters. And nobody wants to read that.
It's a strange feeling, really. You decide who lives and who dies. I've heard interviews with writers who've said that they were sobbing as they killed off a certain character in a book. I think that's how close you need to be with your characters in order to create a great story.
Courting your characters.
Yeah, it's that important.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
ha ha. I'm glad that I'm not the only one, although my emotions tend to lean towards established characters of stuff I am a fan of, it drives me crazy sometimes how real a character can seem even though you know they aren't. I also tend to write fanfics if a producer/company does something with the character that i don't like. Weird eh?
It probably has something to do with us being created in God's image and since he loves to create, and becomes attached to his creations we honor him when we do the same(minus the obvious over obsessions). I still think that at some point we should do a joint project because I have awesome story ideas, just no patience to write them out.
Post a Comment