Good Morning, on Food for Thought thursday I'd like to talk about how much of you goes into your novels.
For those of us who write fiction, how much fact do you think creeps into your books? It could be in the guise of a characters actions, or the fact they start to resemble someone you know. An opportunity that was missed for one of your characters, is it really emphasising what you missed? 
Picture this scene. You have had a huge argument with someone and now you are at your computer writing a scene with your character. Suddenly your calm, reasonable hero turns into the man from hell. All your anger had suddenly gone into your character and you can make him do what really you would like to do. lol
Has this ever happened to anyone and didi you have to rewrite or didi you leave it in?
Looking back at my novels see a lot of myself and people I know in them. Did I do this purpose? God, no! It’s an unconscious action, but it just goes to show how our perception of things can be altered by our emotions. Our imagination can be manipulated folks, and the culprit is ourselves.So today, I’d like to know who has written a manuscript/published novel and suddenly realised that you know your villain, hero or heroine?
The best comment wins a prize from me.
Thanks for the article. Very VERY interesting.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder how much of the author is in the books they write. I'll stick around and find out lol
ReplyDeleteGod - I'd never put me in one of my books - I'm simply not interesting enough. It's why I would never write chicklit. I hope that I don't put people i know in, even maliciously, which I see some people do!
ReplyDeleteOh dear. Yes, I'm afraid parts of myself did sneak into Madeline, the heroine of up upcoming release, Finding Felicity. I'm always forgetting my glasses, too! That's the only trait I'll own up to, though :)
ReplyDeleteI do look for traits about people in my life to add to characterization. Little things like a co-worker I know doesn't put ice in her water. Another friend starts almost every sentence with, "So ..."
Great topic, Margaret!
But do you think it can happen by accident Erastes. If a situation came up in your book, would you unconsciously have your character handle it your way, rather than theirs?
ReplyDeleteI never put myself in per-se but many of my characters copy my habits, my facial expressions, my delight in the drinking of tea...We are English, after all (that's 'we' as in, the characters and me, not the royal 'we').
ReplyDeleteThere's a particularly untalanted, bossy woman who runs the Bowling club in Laverstone. She really is a character from my past, though names and appearances have been changed.
LOL monica, I know I could not be the only one who does this. lets see how many more authors fess up, lol
ReplyDeleteI think as writing is such a huge part of the author it is only natural that slants from them will come out in their characters.
ReplyDeleteI think you are not alone Rachel, lol I wonder where authors of horror collect their data from lol
ReplyDeleteI think stephan king must have a deep hatred of clowns to write some of his books.lol IT was terrifying. I can never see a clown the same way again lol or it could be he had no sense of humour!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good topic. I'm writing a fictional story based on the events that happened to me during my life, a fictional autobiography I guess. I'm writing it as a fiction because a lot of things I've done or been in would either not bebelieved or get me sued by former friends or wives. It is (to me at least) easier to write as fiction and not worry about being exact on things that were said 20 yrs ago. I also have a story about a man married to a woman who uses and she files for divorce whenhe loses both of his legs in a car accident. The wife & her lawyer are found naked, ina comprimising position, dead, in her lawyer's office, the day after he agrees to a multi-million dollar settlement.
ReplyDeleteI know that if my wife read this story she would swear that I was using her as model for the wheelchair wife. I really didn't FYI.
I have used some events or eperiences from my life, in my books.I feel it is only natural that we as authors do this. It is what gives each writer his own uniquie spin on things.
GW Pickle
Great post GW. I think we all bring up a deep part of ourselves in our writing. It is whether we are consciously aware we are doing it that is interesting.
ReplyDeleteI tend to put something of myself into some of my characters. One character has a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Puns are my favorite type of humor. Another character went through a shattering experience. The event wasn't planned for the story but it hit the vulnerability in the heroine I was looking for. I believe we all, at some point, draw on our own life experiences, if not for the events themselves but for the emotional states they bring out. It kind of gives a different aspect to 'writing what you know.'
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for a great, thought-provoking post, Margaret.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to remind everyone, that by commenting on this and throughout the week of July 25th,you will be entered to win to win a weekend spot on the APA Blog.
I've realized often after the fact that a character of mine resembles someone I know. I also found in looking back at some of my short stories that they reflected certain uncomfortable times in my life, people who were affecting me appearing in an entirely different form, but recognizable to me after I've had some distance. In those cases, it works; it was cathartic most likely.
ReplyDeleteBut, in your example of a character taking a different turn based on an argument in the writer's life, etc., oh yes, I've had that happen. I usually have to delete those scenes, realizing later that it might not quite fit the story or tension needed at that point. It's funny. It can happen when I listen to music while writing as well. The mood of a song can influence a scene in a way that might not be right for that place in the novel.
Sometimes the turn might be good, add an energy that I didn't expect, or a path that's more interesting. The writing process is fascinating, that subconscious dimension that runs more than we'd often like to think!
I love writing emotional (angry, sad,extremely happy) scenes when I'm in that mood. They are often not at the place in the novel, but I write them and insert them later where appropriate. Are they me, they're my feelings and thoughts at the time. How my character reacts to them is not necessarily me or anyone I know.
ReplyDeleteActually I do, especially in scenes where there is a lot of comedy. I am a - shall I admit - practical joker and I love to laugh and I use incidents/thoughts/feelings about what I think is funny in my books.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t realize for a long time how much of myself I have been putting in my novels. When my wife was about half way through reading my first book, she asked why I was writing about me. I thought about it awhile, but couldn’t answer her. It just happened that way.
ReplyDeleteMy hero is me. He voices my likes and dislikes about politics, the nonsensical spelling of our English language, my interests in technology, my fantasies and nightmares, my dissatisfaction and curiosity of religion . . . it’s all there. And I do all that while flitting between our present day, the distant past and the far future as an adventuresome time traveler.
I never knew I was so good. ;^)