Characters asserting themselves!

I was reading a comment on a writing community group page on Facebook recently. Someone asked if anyone had every created a blog for any of their characters. Wow! Now there's an idea. I've been thinking about this and not sure how it would work but I rather like this.

Anyway, while I'm not currently doing any novel writing or editing my old characters still buzz around inside my head sometimes. I wonder what they are up to now and whether I will ever revisit them, give them other stories.

One I want to return to at some time is Ashington (though I've never tried conventional publication, and to be honest I just love writing it. I adore the characters and thinking of new situations for the villagers to cope with). I have a few ideas for a next book but no overall running thread through a revisit. However, last night I wrote what you see below - a letter from one of the characters to me, the author. I thought I'd share it with you. It was fun to write and that's what this business of writing is about in the end. Of course it may stir your interest as to what I did to these people and want to read it should it ever gets into publication!

Dear author of Ashington,
 There is a rumour going around that you have made some notes about the village and are bringing in a new family. You do know you still have some loose ends to tie up after your last visit? I mean, really. How could you do that? And what’s this I hear that you are writing those flashy fiction things. They’ll never get you anywhere. You need our story and if you don’t get back here soon some of the villagers are threatening to write their own parts. Just imagine if Kev does that. No one will be safe.
 I’ve had Ted out keeping the garden nice for when you come back, though why after your treachery, I do not know. Jason is now doing the morning papers. Pru’s only gone and given him his own set of keys for the shop. Oh you knew that. I don’t know why you allowed that to happen. It has disaster written all over it.
 And I really think you should put a stop to Ivy and that Italian man. They slobber over one another like teenagers and now you’ve given him the café next door. If you think I’m going in there you are mistaken. And what did you do to our poor vicar? He was a nice peaceful man before you brought his wayward brother back into his life. I still don’t know what that was all about. I don’t like it that you don’t tell me anything and Ted’s no use. He’d never make a spy. Maybe you should just stay away. But if you have to write about us all I’m telling you now, I want a bigger part – bigger than Pru’s, and I want another term on the PCC so I can stop these modern ideas taking hold. We are a traditional church here in Ashington and don’t you forget it!
 Your truly,
 Audrey Harris (Mrs)

Character profiling again!

How I long for a room with a huge pin board right now. I've returned to my novel and immediately realised I'd forgotten the name of a character! Flicked through my few pages of notes on my characters to find it and wondered how I could forget such a name......it was my dad's name!

Decided some proper profiling was needed and boy have a got myself into a muddle but I'm getting there. One thing to come out of this is how certain things link together to make the story better (hopefully) and I'm finding that the characters are coming to life more and I'm beginning to understand where they are coming from. Found some good tension spots between two characters which will be useful. I've had to expand on my characters' family trees and I have been going through the first part of the story and editing a little. I need to get a feel for the story again and add more detail before I continue with it.This seems essential at this point, especially now I'm putting flesh on my characters. Of course further edits will be needed but this will be  a better draft.

Another thing that's come out of looking at the novel again is the similarities to my 'soap' style story. I realised that both are mainly set in villages (one not exclusively) and the names of the villages are similar! Not only that but two names appear in both stories. None of this was intentional and I am wondering whether I just don't have much imagination, whether it was subconscious or I like writing things based on similar ideas. Probably it's down to not profiling characters properly first! Well, Victoria Hislop writes similar things - all her books have two timelines (with back story dominating) and look how successful she is! Oh well, I think it's time for a break - my head is overloaded with dates, names and places. I'm off to wash up and then watch the footie - come on Costa Rica!

Book Review - The Red House (Mark Haddon).... and looking at writing characters

I've just finished reading The Red House by Mark Haddon and again I am writing my review here because it has made me think about the writing process.

I have to say that when I started the book I struggled to get a handle on it because Haddon flicks from character to character so quickly - in this case a family get together for a holiday in a country house - a brother and sister, their respective spouses and their children. Haddon writes from each person's view point. I decided that I need a longer period of time reading to get into the book,. This is what I did and then things began to make more sense and the characters came alive with all their hang-ups, secrets and prejudices. What I liked about the book was how Haddon got into the mind of each character, what they did, what they thought, even down to the basic everyday stuff. The characters ranged from an eight year old boy, three teenagers and their parents who are in their forties. He understood how each ticked and how each came to terms with different aspects of their own lives and those around them.

In week five of Start Writing Fiction we are looking at how to develop our characters. This has come at the right time coinciding with having read Mark Haddon's book and my own attempts in characterisation in my novel. I've realised that my main character has much more there that I can use to bring her alive. I don't know why it's just dawned on me because I've read loads of books in the past that delve deeply into the mind of characters but Haddon's book was a light bulb  moment. I've found his book really helpful and this week on the course should also get me thinking more about what I can do to flesh out a character. I am looking forward to it.

In The Red House, Haddon doesn't neatly wrap everything up at the end of the story but you have a sense that the week spent together as a family has changed each person. They themselves have developed and for some they have come to an understanding about themself for the first time. The family domestic scenario is an interesting one, specially when you add a second marriage, an affair, religion, sex and questions about sexuality. There's a lot in this novel to unpick and to question.