Current Project: Improper Pinkerton
Status: Downhill slide
How deep is your love for your hero and heroine? Is it the same for every one of them or do you struggle to feel as much love for some characters?
I hadn’t really thought about this - believing I love them all equally, after all, why else would I write their stories?
However, a close friend bought Outlaw in Petticoats, usually she calls me up the next day after purchasing one of my books and gushes over it. This time I didn’t hear from her for a couple of weeks. We had lunch this past week, and I finally brought up the subject saying my oldest thought it wasn’t as good as earlier books, but it was okay. My friend sat there a minute, then asked, “Did she say why she felt that way?” To which I responded, “No, just she liked Nanny and Gambling better.” My friend said, “It felt to me like you didn’t really love these two characters.” That took me back a second. I LOVE Zeke, writing him and getting to know him better and unfolding his character and emotions, I admit at times I struggled with Maeve. Not because I didn’t love her, because I made her too much like me and over thought her reactions to things too much as I wrote. Now while my close friend and daughter wasn’t enamored of this book, I’ve received 4’s-5’s for this book in reviews and several fan e-mails saying they loved it. But I wonder do the people closest to me and know me know my writing better than me?
So now, I sit here wondering- Did I love the characters in the ms I sent off to Harlequin enough? I used an actor I love to watch for the model for Holt in Cowboy Up and my mom sort of for the heroine in the story- so yes, if not lust (the actor) there was definitely love for the characters.
The WIP I’m working on, do I love them enough? The hero is fashioned after a football player in looks and my ideal of a straight laced U.S. Marshal and while I don’t lust after him(the heroine does) I do love a lot of his characteristics. And the heroine- I can’t help but love her do or die attitude, spontaneity, and spunk.
But am I showing them the best I can and pulling in the reader? Am I loving them enough? Just when I think I’m getting some things figured out another question/problem rears up.
10 comments:
Paty, as much as I love a good metaphor, characters in books aren't exactly children to me and thus aren't covered by the "I must love them all the same" rule. This book simply wasn't your friend's favorite. It happens and it doesn't mean you did anything wrong, it just means it wasn't her favorite.
If you think of the backlist of any of your favorite authors, you will inevitably think of a book that left you cold. And while I think it's productive to ponder negative comments and challenge yourself to fix a recurring problem or use them to challenge yourself to do better, the truth is there are always going to be books that grab some readers and leave others unmoved. Your friend used a catchy turn of phrase that has stuck in your head but that doesn't mean it's true, it just means this wasn't her favorite book of yours.
My advice, use her comment to do an internal search to see if you think there was a way you let your characters down and how you could change that with future characters. And then let it go because if you don't, you're just going to add another editor to the gallery inside your head who already drive you nuts with their taunts and jeers (we all have this peanut gallery...)
I don't love all my characters the same. And one or two I really empathized with and adored, critics didn't like. It didn't make me happy, but there's nothing I can do about a reader's reaction.
Don't be too hard on yourself!
And oh, man, that silent period when a friend doesn't mention your book and you know they are reading it just sucks, doesn't it?
I agree with Alice, Paty. Your friend may not have loved your characters enough, but that's no reflection on you. As you said, you loved them enough to write their stories. That's what's important.
I love my characters in my novels, but I admit to not loving them as much in my shorter works. In novellas and short stories, I don't spend enough time with them to love them the way I'd like to.
I think I love my deeply flawed characters the most, and I imagine that could be the same for my readers. The main character I'm writing in my WIP is the most different from any other I've written in the past, and I'd truly love to have this guy as my best friend. He embodies all the traits of a true best friend you know you can depend on. He's not sexy, and he's not supposed to be, but one word sums him up for me: wonderful.
Thanks Alice! I am ingrained in my characters when I'm writing a book and to not love/like them is to not like myself. And yes, the waiting is the hardest to take! Part of me thinks because I discuss my books with my friend as I'm writing them, she "expects" more.
Karen, I agree- if you the writer don't love your characters how can you build their story and make it real to the reader. I've let my friend's comment sink in enough to be more careful of showing the characters better.
You said Maive is a lot like you. It could also be that both your best friend and your daughter see too much of you in your character - and maybe it's hard for them to separate you from the character, though maybe even they don't realize that's the problem. And that doesn't mean there's a PROBLEM with the book, just that they're reading it from a different perspective than a stranger because they know you personally.
Sorry this has caused you angst. Like Alice said, you can't please every reader with every book. Don't over think this one. (And please remind me of this in a few months. Or...gulp...lless than a month.)
Eli, One thing I've learned since getting published- Every book brings it's own angst! LOL I'm sure your debut will be a hit and you'll have worried before the release for nothing. I hope I can make the release party but it will depend on my company and the weather.
Wow, Paty, this is an interesting question. Kinda like which of your children do you love the most. Well, you love them all (hopefully!) but in different ways.
Warning: philosophical thought coming up! Part of my own character growth has been that people (and doggies and situations) that come into my life are a reflection of parts of me. If a person comes into my life who tends to be quick to judge and slow to admit she was wrong, I don't like her very well. But guess what? Those are two of the characteristics of my personality that I don't like much and have worked to change.
Perhaps the same could be said about the characters in our books. They may reflect parts of our personalities that we really like or don't like so much. It's not right or wrong. Not do we love 'em enough. It just is. And we can choose to do what we want to with that.
Alice and Eli bring up another good point: your daughter and your close friend know you well--or know the person they think you are. But they probably have different ideas of who your "really" are. My mother has a different image of who I than my sister does or my sons do. And they definitely don't see me as I see myself.
So, yeah, use this as a way to gauge if you've told your characters' stories as they deserve to be told and then let it go. You are obviously reaching readers who love your stories!
Why do we, as writers, have to be riddled with self doubt? It's not right. It's not fair. And I don't like it.
If your friend is very honest with you about your books, give her a hug and say, "thank you for your honesty now go away." Kidding about the go away part. Just thank her, and like others said here, take it as her personal opinion, nothing more and keep on writing your next great book.
Blog looks great! First time I've popped in for quite awhile. Sorry!
Thanks Genene! I can always count on this group to m ke me put things in perspective!
Danita, about time you checked this blog out! LOL Thanks for commenting everyone!
I'm really surprised to hear this because Outlaw is my personal fave in the series so far. I loved Zeke and Maeve!
But I think with books by any author, sometimes some speak to us more than others. I've read all of Johanna Lindsay's books; some only once, others so many times they're falling apart.
And as an author, I definitely think the mom rule applies with our characters. We love them all--but we also appreciate their differences.
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