posted
I'm currently writing a story in which the main character does things that I would never do. THe problem is, I feel guilty for writing about that- every time I write a story, the main character is always infused with parts of my character, and normally believes the same things I do. So now that I'm writing something about a situation I would never put myself in, I find it hard not to twist the story to accomodate my beliefs and practices. WHat should I do about this?
Question number two: How do you go about writing about experiences that you yourself have never experienced? Example: If I want to write about the feeling of a character on her wedding day- I've never been married, so I don't really know. Obviously, I can't exactly look up "feeling on a wedding day" in the dictionary- so how do I incorporate that into my story, while making it seem "Real" and not like the writer has no idea what she's talking about(even though I really have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm quite ignorant about a lot of things like that)?
I would really appreciate some input. Thanks, Hatrack!
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I suggest trying to make your characters as round as possible before you start writing. Give them personality, likes, dislikes, hobbies, quirks, relatives, favorite getaway spot, etc. Write a page on what this person is like. Think about how they're different and the same from you and other people you know.
I think that when you make your characters real on paper, they are more than just fuzzy people that are kind of like you. When you have real characters, put them in different situations, and let them react naturally. Since you know who they really are now, it should be a lot easier to figure out how they're acting and feeling.
Does that make sense?
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
All my POV characters are me. Although sometimes it's "me if I were a strung-out cocaine addict" or "me if I were a doting grandmother."
I write about things I haven't experienced all the time. Sometimes it's hard, because, for example, since I've never been a sailor, I don't know what's on the bridge of a ship or what you do when you're there. But if I can get the facts straigh, surely I can imagine how it would feel. For example, your bride character: she might be excited, scared, and anticipating. How do you feel when you're excited, scared, and anticipating? I'd think that would work.
Posts: 1877 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Your character is not you. He's created by you, and yes, he is infused with many qualities you share, but he's not you.
If you've done your job with character creation they will take on a life of their own, to use a tired cliche. They will think and react differently than you do and that's a good thing.
Katarain is right, let your characters react naturally. By naturally, I mean what's natural for them which may or may not be what's natural for you. My main character in my current project is 11 years old, and she runs away from home. I would not have done what she did. I couldn't even fathom it. But it was the natural response for her when the situation came up.
As to the other, unless you don't write anything but your life story you'll always have to write about things you haven't experienced. Heh, especially in fantasy. I've never ridden on the back of a griffin flying through the air, have you? So, I imagine what it's like. Her stomach most likely feels like it's going to drop out of her. She's terrified at first, then she's exhilirated. The rushing air makes her throat dry and her eyes sting. I don't know these things from the exact experience, but I'm putting it together from other ones, like riding roller coasters or riding on the back of a motorcycle - things that I have done that I can draw from.
You haven't been married but surely you've had important days, times when you were extremely nervous and yet excited and happy at the same time. You can do it.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I would examine why you feel guilty. Fiction in general implies that it isn't true. So why be upset to have a character that is made up?
If you can't write characters that differ from yourself, your stories will all sound the same and lack interest, i.e. the villain won't be very different from the hero, or whatever. I always put myself into the mind of my main character, but that character can have very little in common with me at times. I think of it like acting.
As far as the second question, do a combination of things: draw on your own experiences that have things in common with what you are trying to write, and do research. Research doesn't have to be awful and time consuming and boring. It can be very easy and fascinating. Here on Hatrack for example, there are a ton of women who have been married. Ask them what it was like. Or if you are researching spaceships, maybe talk to someone who has been on a submarine. There's always a way to inform yourself. The key is to be creative.
Posts: 180 | Registered: Jun 2005
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There's some great advice given above, and to it I'd add that in my experience (I've been a full time writer for going on ten years now, and in that time have done a lot of travelling on the speaking circuit, and have met a *lot* of other writers) every single writer has their own approach and style when it comes to research and story planning. It's important to really experiment and work out exactly what approach works best for you, because obviously what someone else finds useful might not help you in the slightest in your writing.
From my own POV, once I have a story locked down in 'idea' form, I actively prevent myself from writing it until such time as the story has had what I think of as a suitable 'gestation' period in my head and journal. During this time I map out the characters in detail (including sketching them, or finding pics of people who look like I think they should look) mapping their relationships to each other, brief sumaries of their histories, all that kinda stuff.
Also during this period I research setting in the same way - photos, painting, library and musem research, and of course getting 'on the ground' wherever I'll be setting the novel and just walking around and talking to people.
This 'gestation' period can take anything up to two or three years, but by the end of it, the story and characters are living in my mind in such distinct detail that when I begin the actual writing process, it's not difficult to separate my own reality from that of my characters.
I find that when I have a great idea and I try to start writing it too soon, without giving it time to grow, this separation is much more difficult, and the story tends to come to a grinding halt relatively quickly. Once that happens, that idea is pretty much ruined for me, as I find it hard to get away from what I've already written.
Don't know if that's any use to you. Feel free to shoot me an email (addy in profile) if you want to ask anything more specific.
Posts: 466 | Registered: Sep 2003
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So, I imagine what it's like. Her stomach most likely feels like it's going to drop out of her. She's terrified at first, then she's exhilirated. The rushing air makes her throat dry and her eyes sting. I don't know these things from the exact experience, but I'm putting it together from other ones, like riding roller coasters or riding on the back of a motorcycle - things that I have done that I can draw from. 
