Over
the past few weeks, I’ve had some experiences that made me realize that reality
is tough. Making it through everyday can sometimes be more difficult than
making it through a fictional story where the world might end. It makes me a
little jealous of my characters.
Sometimes
I sit and think . . .
I
wish I had Tabitha’s determination.
I
wish I had Caleb’s loyalty.
I
wish I had Jessa’s compassion.
I
wish I had Vale’s valor.
I
wish I had Ari’s gall.
I
wish I had Kon’s sense of humor.
I
wish I had Reid’s devotion.
I
wish I had so many things that I don’t. At the end of the day, all I think is
that my characters have so much more strength than I ever could. I think that
sometimes when I’m writing I’m not even sure where their goodness comes from,
but somehow it comes out. Somehow they find the strength within themselves, and
I get a little jealous. It’s not always easy to do in reality.
I
get jealous of their problems. An evil demon seems easier to deal with than a
random grumpy mood that you can’t really trace back to anything in particular.
At least if a character is grumpy, it’s strongly motivated. Or at least, we
hope it is. Sometimes when I’m in a bad mood, I think, it would be nice to know
why I’m feeling this way. But at the same time, in my upcoming release, Tabitha is training to be a
Warrior and is constantly denied because of her gender. That woman has real
problems. Me? Not so much.
What
do you think? Is it easier to escape into a high stakes world than deal with
the issues that plague us in reality?
Oh I definitely think our characters are much "bigger" than we are... I mean who would want to read a book about a working Mom who writes at night? Boring! LOL
ReplyDeleteBut add in that she's in love with a shapeshifter, or has a psychotic fantacial monk staling her and suddenly, we've got a page-turner! LOL
Great blog Kinley!
Lisa :)
Enjoyed your post, Kinley. When I traveled for a living as a corporate road-warrior, I read fiction to deal with stress. Definitely escapism.
ReplyDeleteHave a happy day!
Love your post, Kinley. I think it's easier to escape into fiction because we know the outcome. At least, we know the end will be some kind of feel-good and that the problems of the character's world will be solved. Obviously, this is so unlike real life, where we have no answers on a daily basis and there is no guarantee our problems will be solved to our greatest advantage.
ReplyDeleteWith this in mind, I say it's okay to be jealous of our characters. Maybe they can keep us persevering in our own adversities. :)