Those of you who’ve read this blog for
any amount of time know I value authenticity above almost everything. We’re all
insecure about something. We all have issues. What’s the point in pretending we
have it all together when none of us do? Any one of us can get that filter and
make ourselves look that fabulous. But what happens when we’re out in public
without the cameras and people really see us for who we are, giant pimples and
all? No thank you. I’d rather you knew the real me right from the start.
I think that desire for authenticity
is why I write the way I do. My characters are real to me. They have flaws,
real ones, ones I don’t mind displaying to the world. They make mistakes and
suffer the consequences for those mistakes. I hate books where the characters
are beautiful and perfect—with flawlessly glowing skin, perfect make-up and
shining eyes. Completely fake. Completely filtered. Who wants to be around someone
like that? Because that’s what you’re doing when you’re reading a book—you’re spending
time in that world, with those people.
With all that in mind, the writing
lesson for today is this: How to develop authentic characters.
For me, it's watching people. Real
people. Truly see them without any filters. I always keep a journal nearby and
jot down things people say, expressions on their faces, positions of their
bodies. What are they feeling, and how is that displayed? How are they
interacting with each other? This has been especially beneficial when I’m in an
environment I’m not used to. I worked in a jail once, mainly for this exercise.
It worked. Marcus (one of the characters from the Newstead books) has so much more depth than he would’ve
had otherwise. Now, I’m not recommending that to everyone, but there has to be
someplace you can go that’s out of your element and watch people, pen and paper
in hand. Forget Facebook. Where can you
go to get the inspiration you need to make your characters real to you and to
me?
