I met one of my characters on Saturday. Yes, I do write fiction, but as I sat in the lobby of the Library of Virginia, one of my characters wandered in. An older man – he appeared homeless – walked into the grandiose lobby, ranting on subjects no one near him believed. I humored him momentarily, but as he raged on, I too disregarded him, with emotions mixed between pity and annoyance. Sure, my character is blind, and this man was not. This man, unlike my Felix, had his clear eyes open, searching for heaven.
Have you ever happened upon your characters? This is, I believe, the third time someone has suddenly reminded me so closely of a character I created on the page.
On another note, the James River Writers Conference ’09 was a smashing success. Inspired and armed with advice and new connections, we walked out with minds brewing and fingers twitching for pens and keyboards.
My sudden revelation of the weekend (with due credit being given to another): If I’m writing a fictional story surrounding events so scandalous in American history, yet still so unknown; if I found institutionalized secrets forgotten by even those who live around them; if I found a topic so unknown that Wikipedia does not even yet have an entry for it; if I teach research writing and enjoy writing the occasional non-fiction piece… why on earth am I limiting myself purely to fiction and not also working on a non-fiction manuscript? The idea seems obvious now that I consider it. Why didn’t I think of that?
uhm, rather like me that has a few ideas sketched out, that if really true might not be well received? That there might be a reason Why they've not been written about? Just a thought?
ReplyDeleteEgads, no I've not come across any of my characters!
Outside my head anyway. Thank goodness!