From the odd mind of us writers…
Our Characters are some of the people we know best in this world
Today I spoke to a friend of mine, (also named Chris) he runs a film festival in England, and is a stage and screen writer himself.
Chris’ festival, The Satisfied Eye International Film Festival is where I got one of my awards when Headcase was a screenplay, before it became a novel.
““I’ve been married to my wife for over 20 years, yet I know some of my characters far more than I do her.”
This is so true, I can tell you everything about my characters, not just the protagonist and the antagonist, but every major and minor character. I know where they are from, their childhood, what motivates them, what their biggest fears are, I can speak about them in a way that you would never know they were completely from my imagination.
As well, when I was writing Headcase: Shock & Denial, there were days, especially after writing very emotional scenes where I was so caught up in the characters and feeling what they were feeling that I had to stop and I remember saying to myself, “I need to see a real human being.” 😅
I do love living in my imagination, coming up with characters, and bringing them to life. But it is kind of a weird thing to have all these conversations with people who aren’t real, but make me feel real emotions. 🤫
As a Buddhist, we study the mind and our emotions, knowing how they change and can be unruly. We meditate to embrace, understand, and then let go of our discursive emotions so we can have a peaceful mind. 🧘🏻♂️
Yet, despite over 30 years of Buddhist and martial arts training in keeping the mind calm, I love the challenge of writing and putting powerful emotions into my writing so the reader feels what my characters are feeling. I want the reader to join the hero’s journey of my characters, and who knows, maybe what my characters struggle and suffer with is also what my readers are going through in their lives and this way maybe they won’t feel alone in their suffering. 🙏🏼😌
