The best books always have characters that go through a transformation during the course of the story, but most books today seem to have static characters. The authors tell us a lot about the characters and their myriad relationships but the characters do not really transform. Perhaps because the writer isn’t asking the right questions.
In Worlds of Wonder, David Gerrold wrote, “Ask your character these two questions: Who are you? Who do you want to be?
“Ask them of yourself as well.”
Perhaps the key to writing well is knowing who we are and what we want to be in relation to the book we are writing. Maybe the way to get inside it and to create a vivid and compelling world is to make the character’s transformation our own. And we do this by having a clear idea of what we want to say and choosing the right words to say it.
The realization that the words we write can change us as writers as well as affect our readers is making me rethink my own mythic journey as a writer. If words are so powerful that they can change readers and writers both, then they deserve my best. I don’t think I’ve achieved my best. At least, I hope I haven’t.
Writing is changing me in ways I could not even fathom several years ago, and I have a hunch I am at still at the beginning of my journey, so I have no idea how I will be transformed. I’m hoping I am a hero in my own journey, and that I will become a powerful writer. I now can see that writing will never get easier for me, because with each book I will pick something to challenge me, to help me get closer to that being that author I need to become. Published or unpublished.
It’s the journey that counts. The process of transformation.
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June 6, 2008 at 12:12 pm
“The authors tell us a lot about the characters and their myriad relationships but the characters do not really transform.”
Most writers, nowadays, create their characters based on typical stereotypes. It’s a bit lazy on their part.
June 7, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Interesting that you’re blogging about the author’s journey just as I finish one leg of mine, and start a new one.
No Man an Island is finished as of today. It’s ten years of work are finally over. (So, if you’re still checking it out, now it will be easier to catch up) 😉
Now it’s time to start something new…
June 8, 2008 at 8:20 am
Congratulations! Good luck on your new journey.
June 8, 2008 at 8:22 am
Leafless: You’re right about the laziness. I wouldn’t mind the stereotypical characters so much if the stories were interesting, but they seem stereotypical, too.