Continuing with my endless quest for character:Last night, while idly searching around for information about the Twilight books (Who doesn't love a good romance? Except some people.), I came across Stephenie Meyer's website. Like many authors who have websites, she has some advice for aspiring writers. Her FAQ is worth looking at in full, but I especially appreciated her advice on character. I think one of her greatest strengths as a writer is her ability to create real, believable human moments for her characters - it's what makes her series worth reading, in my opinion...even if Edward's eyes do "smolder" a little too often for my personal tastes. She has this to say:
My focus is the characters--that's the part of the story that is most important to me. I feel the best way to write believable characters is to really believe in them yourself. When you hear a song on the radio, you should know how your character feels about it--which songs your character would relate to, which songs she hates. Hear the conversations that your characters would have when they're not doing anything exciting; let them talk in your head, get to know them. Know their favorite colors and their opinions on current events, their birthdays and their flaws. None of this goes in the book, it's just to help you get a rounded feel to them.
This is what Jillian always advises as well. I find it difficult to talk with my characters about unimportant things. When you're dealing with medieval people, it gets frustrating that you have never tasted their favorite foods or seen the world exactly as they see it. Still, when I do try, I find it worth doing.
I think it also helps that Stephenie Meyer's has a crush on most of her characters. . .
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure if you have ever heard of National Novel Writing Month, but it starts November 1st and it seems like the type of thing you would be intersted in, if grad school apps leave you with any time for such things. http://www.nanowrimo.org/
Yeah, you do get that sense from her, don't you? I have a fair amount of sympathy for that, though. It's occurred to me that in order to write an "attractive" character, the writer must be convinced of their attractiveness at least to some degree. Unfortunately, this leaves the writer open to ridicule because it makes them seem silly for "liking" a fictional character of his or her own creation. It's quite a risk, and one I feel very leary of taking, though I probably will have to at some point if I ever want to write any romance into any of my stories...
ReplyDeleteI've also noticed that there's a bit of a double standard when it comes to male v. female writers. We think it's oh, so romantic when we read that Tolstoy was in love with Anna Karenina, but we laugh at Dorothy Sayers for having her detective marry a mystery writer.
I have heard of National Novel Writing Month, and I'd love to try it, but I think this is not the year for me - already drowning under obligations, don't you know. A couple people in a critique group I'm joining are doing it, though...
This makes me appreciate Stephanie Meyer a little more. I am almost finished reading through Twilight for a second time... seeing more humanity shine up through it. It is a difficult thing to stop my overly judgmental self from sighing in frustration at the teen-passion elements. It's better the second time around... looking for threads and realizing that what she is writing is different from the expectation.
ReplyDeleteOkay... I think I am making sense, but I am not certain.
(Michie: how do you feel about the fact that Twilight is being released as a film next month. I have to admit... yes, I watched the trailer. Why am I feeling sort of excited? Gah!)
I really don't have a problem with authors falling in love with their characters-I have had my fair share of crushes on book characters so I completely understand. I think the difference comes from writing a very human and flawed character and falling in love with them over the course of the writing process and writing from the very outset your version of a perfect significant other.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I need to read Twilight again like Jillian did, but I got the impression the Stephanie, like Bella, thought Edward was perfect. Even after reading Midnight Sun (yes I am admitting to reading Midnight Sun) I got the impression that the only person who did not think Edward was perfect was Edward. My frustration here might stem from the fact that Stephanie never really explored the downside to being a vampire; she just stated that all of the Cullens would give anything to go back to being human, all the while making being a vampire seem like the most amazing thing ever. Stepahine can write really believable characters-- all of her werewolves are, beside the werewolf aspect, people I would not be surprised to meet. But it is Edward who is the love interest, and since she was trying to write a perfect boyfriend and a great character, I think he ended up being very underdeveloped. But that also seems to be par for the course in teen lit where most of the male love interests seem like stock characters.
You make a lot of really good points, robert owen hood. I really can't disagree with you that Edward does have quite a few qualities of teen fantasy. I think you do start to see Meyer adding more actual color to the character in Breaking Dawn, and probably Midnight Sun would have been a welcome development as well...too bad it got leaked early. I also read the section she posted and enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree that it would have been interesting for her to explore some of the darker avenues of being a vampire more, rather than simply relying on Edward's constant insistence. You get lots and lots of dark references, and of course there's the horror of the Volturi and various other "bad vampires" - but it would have been interesting to dwell more on some of the implications of the Cullens' darker choices - Edward's "rebel" phase, Rosalie's revenge, Carlisle's tacit acceptance of that revenge. I don't mean dwelling on the bloodiness, but on the horror and moral complexity of that. Still, it IS still supposed to be a young adult book, and the insoluble problem of vampire-human love is probably quite enough to keep the intended audience busy, without adding great moral complexity.
They're such surprising books, because they're normally the sort of thing I'm much too snobby for (to my own loss!), but they've really drawn me in, and I'm only vaguely sure of why. That seems to be the experience of a lot of people (present company included?). But like you, Jillian, I'm quite excited about the movie, and I did read Midnight Sun with fangirlish pleasure. And when I'm reading one of the books, I really have trouble putting them down. I think that this must mean that Stephenie Meyer really does have quite formidable gifts, even if certain characters - like Edward - are a little, I don't know...self-indulgent, perhaps? Anyway, it's good for me to be taken down a notch and utterly enjoy such unabashed romance.
And I do think that their excellence has much to do with the contrast between them and the usual YA fare. They are, as you say, Jillian, "not what is expected." As teen romance, they are above and beyond the usual fodder. The characters are quite well-drawn for the most part, even if there are slips like Edward's too-perfecftness, and Meyer is definitely not without her sense of humor...like having Bella faint at the sight of blood. Something about the books just WORKS, doesn't it, even if you can think of criticisms.
Gad, this is long. I apologize. I think I'm just trying to figure out what it is that works. I don't think I've hit on it yet, so let me know if you know. :)
I believe I will investing soon in the sequels to "Twlight." Stephanie has me wondering how this story carries on!
ReplyDelete(Too bad we live in vastly different parts of the US, MIchelle. Otherwise we could see that movie together and make chatter!)
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteYou are very right, there is something about them that makes them so captivating. When not reading them it is so easy to pick apart Stephanie Meyer's prose and plot, and (mis)use of the elements of style. But while reading them I also could not put them down. I read the four books in 4 consecutive nights and once finished scoured Stephanie's website for the deleted scenes and back information. She really did stumble upon so x-factor, some magic element that makes the books go beyond just working as stories. I also am usually too snobby to read such things (although working in a high school library has put me in the path of a lot of teen lit). But I have yet to come across anything else as enthralling as this, and based off the number and variety of students who come in for this book, a lot of people have the same reaction.