Characters Are Onions

I've recently re-joined my local writer's group and have been inspired by how motivated and encouraging the members are. Some write the most amazing poetry, others are attempting novels and many contribute to magazines.  See www.taurangawriters.org.nz

The meeting has motivated me in many ways, not least of which in my attempt to write fiction every day.  However this week I've been sick with an icky bug and in an attempt to at least appear busy, I've been reading instead.

Not being in the mood for anything too heavy, I started off with the latest Marian Keyes novel, The Brightest Star in the Sky. 

Using a somewhat mystic narrator, the plot takes us deep undercover in to the interwoven lives of the inhabitants of a Dublin apartment building.   

The variety of characters keeps the reader’s constant interest; a PR music industry executive who meets a cut throat financial whizz, a spiky, desperate taxi driver flying by the seat of her pants.  Then there’s the comical Polish duo, the up and coming television garden show star, and the pair at the centre of all these antics, an ordinary married couple struggling to make sense of life.

What impressed me most about this work is the efficient and manipulative way Keyes drip feeds information to the reader.  She is so skilful at developing characters that even when you are aware of her talent and looking for clues, she still manages to surprise you.  Layer upon layer, the characters develop, grow and connect in the haphazard manner of all big city neighbours who know each other – but don’t really know each other.

Bringing all these lives together in a non-cliché and credible way, Keyes somehow manages to sum it all up without a cringe factor, while still imparting some fairly important information about the nature of depression and human relationships.

What has this book taught me about my own writing? 

To invest in the back stories of my characters.

Know what happened to your character before they enter the world you've created.  Way before.  

Know how their present state of mind has come to be.  What sort of people have they met and trusted or distrusted?  What experiences, good or bad, have brought them to view the world the way they do? How has their family influenced them?  Has a traumatic event changed their outlook on life?  Or have their attitudes been formed over time, layer upon layer.

We may not use every little detail we create with this process, but knowing the back story adds a depth and insight which enriches the reading experience.

For more information about Marian Keyes visit www.mariankeyes.com

Stray Thoughts and Chance Meetings

It’s funny how stray thoughts and serendipitous meetings can inspire creative ideas.

Recently I bumped in to an acquaintance of mine and had a brief chat. He is a quietly spoken American man with one of those faces that just ask to be photographed in black and white.

Everything about the lines in his forehead and the concern in his eyes makes you want to freeze frame his features so you can take a better look and wonder at the meaning behind it.

The depth of my reaction to this isolated, brief moment inspired me to write a short story, which I have been working on all this week.

Although the original inspiration has been abandoned by the story in favour of a character and plot far beyond that brief encounter, the essence of the man I met is still there.

If at any time I lose the thread of what I am trying to communicate, I can bring to mind the man’s face to keep me on track.

Experiences like this argue in favour of writers getting out from behind their lap tops. How can you write about this world, or any world, if you don’t have a reservoir of interesting situations to draw upon?

Meet new people, get to know people who you wouldn’t ordinarily have anything in common with. Observe the way they react, respond and hold back.

Who knows what tiny details or strange thoughts were the starting point for many a great work of art, but they had to originate somewhere.