Writing is an interesting business. It isn't just storytelling. It's creating a story, characters, situations that are believable. You must give characters personalities, creating some good in the anti-hero, or finding flaws in the heroine. It's putting the words together in a sequence that draws the reader in, fills them with a desire to know more, to follow this path to the end.
So, how is that done? How do I get you to feel sympathy for the bad guy or create a situation that you can identify with? Can I surprise you? It isn't easy, but I like a challenge.
First off, write what you know. Describing things that are familiar to me, whether it's a place, a person, or a circumstance, is building a world that you can see. My characters can and will do things I always dreamed of, and they can speak words I always wanted to say but never had the courage. But I can go beyond that. They can experience things that fulfill my dreams or terrify me. They, after all, are make believe.
When I began writing, I would "borrow" a line here and there because it was interesting, poetic, or said what I couldn't express, only to find that none of those things worked in my manuscript because it was someone else's voice, not mine. I wish I sounded like Hemmingway or Austen, but I don't. Writing is like a fingerprint; each one has their own voice or style, and it can't be duplicated. I have learned that it is okay to sound like me.
All characters, whether you love them or hate them, have been created in the mind of the author. We take our good, bad, or even wishful thinking and thrust it upon our character who can give voice to our deepest desires or feelings. That, in and of itself, is a little frightening.
As we speak, "Sometimes God Whispers" is being formatted. I can actually see what the pages look like, all 370 plus. Of course there is tweaking to be done, THERE IS ALWAYS TWEAKING TO BE DONE! I will be tweaking from my coffin.
Many of you will recognize the photo of the mighty Missouri. You will see more of it in "Sometimes God Whispers".
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