Last week (5):
Someone once told me that hardships, from losing (almost) everything to fighting cancer to being challenged by your superiors, builds character. Yeah, I say, but what kind of character?? Character is what you do when no one is watching.
I imagine it is like a building, the person's character is being built one brick at a time (like in olden days), or frame first, substance later, modern house or skyscraper building. It's true -- all the stories, all the people we know about, read about, watched on the TV, have gone through some sort of hardship – at least perceived as such by themselves. Someone or some thing rocking the foundation so to speak. Of course, one person’s hardship could be something another person breezes right through.
But these so-called external events, are what character building and development thrives on. What did Andy do when faced with the fact no one was looking?
Some characters need to be needed (“the needy” “dependent”) some characters want to be the one who is needed and in control of “the dependent”. Cry on my shoulder won’t you? You need me. You couldn’t survive without me. Love me. Sometimes, one can’t tell who is more pathetic to the know-it-all writer (omniscient, all-powerful, subtly prodding the charges along a specific direction or political way)… the crier or the comforter. But you gotta have both, otherwise it’s boring. The conflict keeps us going, for better or worse!
So, yes, I developed a few characters based off of real people. Heck, it is only fiction as far as we can go, somewhere there has to be a nugget of truth or something pertinent to the real world said, otherwise, I fear, no one would be interested to read it! Knowing where they came from, how their house was built, helps me write about how they keep and maintain house, and deal with things when the storms and emergencies come. How easy is it to "move house" then?
This week (6):
Long distance running drills. Just write. Not truth, beauty or whatever the third (most valuable, apparently, one of my professors always used to say this but I can’t remember what the last) thing is. Just write.
Next week (7):
Speed drills. Should be something to look forward to after this week!!
