Lessons Learned ~ Part Two
In Lessons Learned from Writing Part One I wrote about becoming more compassionate as a result of my writing experience. And now that I’m kinder and gentler in real life, I’ve given myself permission to be wicked in my writer’s mind.
I’ve always been a people watcher, but becoming a writer forced me to take those observation skills to a much higher level. But merely observing people doesn’t provide the depths of a personality required to create a character. So I also needed to intensify my research skills.
Aside from stretching our imaginative and creative muscles, most readers would be surprised by the vast amount of research that goes into writing a novel. There’s geographical research, demographic research. Dialects and accents. Colloquial phrasing. Law enforcement and legal procedures. Medical and pharmacological details. Delving into the criminal or psychologically troubled mind. Investigating different time eras, unusual professions. Finding the voice for someone not your own age or sex or nationality. Understanding motivations. I could go on. The point is, if you’re going to create a devious, disturbed or deadly character, you have to build a foundation for his or her persona.
But once the research is completed? Then the party begins! To crawl into another character and live vicariously through them for a while, acting in ways and saying things we wouldn’t dare in real life? To actually be the one who’s creating their fantasy life and determining how they live and what choices they make, for the good or for evil? Now that is really fun!