DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTERS

It's interesting about writing. The longer I write, the less I feel I know. I'm like a sponge, soaking up knowledge. I'm teachable, which, I think, is an attribute all authors should have, if they want to see success.

I'm writing Heart of the Matter, and it's due next week. Working Blurb: A woman with a problem, a man with a prejudice, a child with the answer. It's a sort of reverse prejudice story based on the scripture, "Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart." The heroine doesn't want a handsome man because her late husband of three years (she married at 20 and she's now 32) was a handsome man who ridiculed her for her plain Jane appearance which propelled her into her profession of psychologist; and she shies away from handsome men erroneously believing they're shallow and egotistical. The hero doesn't want a plain Jane because his late wife was a stylish, elegant beauty. But God works on both of their hearts, and true love wins out.

But in writing the story, I was hitting roadblocks. I couldn't seem to bring them to life. They both appeared slightly shallow, and I didn't want that. I wanted readers to love them, despite their faults. So I talked it out with my daughter. Then, I had another session with my husband and other daughter, and through brainstorming, I was able to flesh out these characters. I finally came to "see" them.

As I write, I try to crawl into my character's skin so I can feel what they're feeling. I ask the Lord to help me accomplish this. Another word for this is empathy. My heroine in Sweet Liberty (a Barbour 4-in-1) is a just-released slave in Charleston in 1859 who's embittered over the way white men treated her and her people. I asked the Lord to let me crawl into Winkie's skin as I wrote her story, and really feel what she was feeling. I believe I achieved that. A reader said, "Are you black, or do you have a special gift of empathy?" I cried when I read that!