Two Times as Much Fun
We do not come into this world. We come out of the world like a leaf from a tree. I like that. We are not part of the world we are of this world. We belong.
Writing long fiction is based upon everything that might be part of what happens within our lifespan. We are born and we die, in between is life. Life is where fiction comes from.
In particular I do want to know where my characters hearts are drawn. Who do they love? What is their sex life about? At least so far I’ve wanted to account for how the main characters love.
I find the economic circumstances absolutely indispensable. Where are they? What are they doing? What forces are bearing down on them?
I want there to be some place where I can allow the characters to appear and reappear. In my first novel the place turned out to be a van that the character lived and traveled in.
Characters do have a psychological framework, but I prefer to construct my characters on the basis of what they want. What shortcomings they arrive in the story with I prefer to hold gently, it is part of the human condition, the shared humanity. They are not broken and don’t need fixing. They are thirsty, hungry, or attracted to someone and want something to eat, something to drink, someone to love. That’s enough of a fix to be in right there.
Write what you know. I like this advice. We can’t know everything about what motivates someone to act. We can guess that like us they may be happy or suffer. We may know they want or can’t have something no matter what they do.
And perhaps finally there is a lot of fun to be found in putting characters into situations that an author might imagine and finding out what they might do. How will they react to getting what they want? How will they feel about giving another character what they want? They aren’t the same thing, or are they?
A sexual farce explores reversals and revelations. Sex is next to nothing in fiction whereas seduction is nearly everything… Let that sink in.
