Characters evolve after the idea for the
story has been established. Main
characters tend to be protagonist-narrators in pursuit of truth as they
understand it or as plot and theme define it. Providing them with creditable
motivation is essential. Observation of real people in real life exchanges will
give birth to characters whose voices demand to be heard. Imagination informs
them with a personal history, with particular traits, with relevant choices.
The character I want the reader to identify with may not be lovable at all. As
long as he or she is interesting, has a voice worth listening to, and is
capable of reflecting authentic human instincts, naughty or nice.
My heroines often play the role of muse
in the imagination, aspiration, or actual life of the protagonist: together they
work towards a common goal. Idealized? Possibly, but nonetheless intelligent
and forceful. Plausible heroines I find a challenge to create but most
rewarding when firmly established in the plot.
The term villain
is too black and white for me. I prefer the term antagonist. Antagonists in my
fiction can be born out of the observation that people, despicable politicians,
for instance, lie repeatedly. Antagonist can be well-meaning in their
contrariness or destructiveness. They can have malicious intent in their
apparent goodness. Plausible personal histories go a long way towards giving
them standing. They help move the action along from crisis to crisis. I favour
antagonists that arise from within main characters and shadow their every move.
Séjour Saint-Louis is my latest release. Though the narrator plays a major role in the
development of the narrative, his story, really, and that of his recalcitrant
son, the hero of the piece is a dead poet whose story proves essential to plot
resolution.
[“Stirling does it again, entertaining the
reader with a parade of engrossing characters. Through a complexity of allusion
simple truths are revealed. Contemporary, relevant, challenging, Séjour Saint-Louis is fused with
ambiguity and subtle humour.”]
I am presently
working on a murder mystery set in Bruges and Paris.
Find me at the following:
reedstirlingwrites.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bookswelove
Amazon Author central: https://authorcentral.amazon.comgp/home
Favourite authors, book:
Over time my “favourite” authors have included Joyce, Woolf,
Camus, Fowles, Hemingway, and Lawrence Durrell.
In recent years Ian McEwan has a place of prominence.
However, the most significant author in my reading world now
is John Banville; his The
Sea I rate very highly on my list of favourite novels, displacing
Durrell’s The Alexandria Quartet.
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