Silvercatcher

December 22

Posted by Madeline on Dec 22 2009

Listening to: Beethoven Symphonies

Reading: Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot [again...]

What goes into determining a character? With a new book idea tugging at the back of my mind recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about this. I recently StumbledUpon this website about character characteristics- a page titled something like 1001 character traits- and I saw that, of the few traits I looked at, they had a range from favorite foods to core issues about personalities, such as phobias and insecurities, etc. And so that got me to thinking much more consciously about my character development.

Where do I start when I try to find a new character? Often either with a name or an important reaction to another person- even though those are two distinctly different approaches. The first is a straightforward fact; the second considers not the character’s basic personality but rather the more complex aspect of their reactions to others. For a while, that can be all I know about the character- one or the other- though rarely both at the very beginning. I can tell you exactly the way one of my new characters feels about the people around her- but I’m at a complete loss for her name. With Nyla Godard, however, I knew her name weeks before I found the basic plot— and it wasn’t until I was finished with the first chapter that I even had a taste of what her personality was like. On the other hand, I called Pontus Savarik ‘Smidge’ for weeks, just because I couldn’t find an appropriate name for the little smidgers who occupied my thoughts– and because I used the nickname for so long, I couldn’t just let it go, and now it’s his nickname all through his books.

Where to go for there? Lately it’s been songs that spark ideas, and once I have the smallest inkling of a personality, logic tends to build on it- especially once I have a plot line from which to base their reactions, background, etc. But right now I’m most interested in those first few weeks- or more often now months- where I have just one tiny detail to tag the nameless phantom in my thoughts. There’s something pleasant about that time, knowing this phantom has a complete personality somewhere– and it just takes a little digging and a whole lot of patience for the rest of the personality to unravel. And what’s even more rewarding is knowing that this person is a completely round and whole character, and no matter how much you think you know, there’s always more to learn, and there’s always more to surprise you. That’s when I think characters are most fun- when you can finally learn that you have no say on their actions or traits; they dictate when and how much they will reveal their personality to you.

But for now, while I’m waiting for this nameless woman to shed a light on just another little trait of hers- maybe her name??- I am very much content now to continue exploring Sava and his friends. And maybe, sometime over the holidays, something will spark, and a name, or a favorite food, or a plot will uncover itself. All the same– Happy Holidays to everyone, and one last thought from T.S. Eliot:

“So here I am…/Trying to use words…/And each venture/ is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate/ With shabby equipment always deteriorating/ In the general mess of imprecision of feeling, / Undisciplined squads of emotion.” V. from East Coker, Four Quartets.

Not exactly cheerful…but I love it =] Happy Holidays!
N”