"What Ifs" and Control in Writing and Life
One of the difficult things about writing, at least for me, is how much of myself I put into my characters. That's not to say that all my characters are the same, although undoubtedly they have some commonality. Rather my characters are expansions on aspects of myself. Or even a sort of experiment on an emotion that I experienced but didn't dwell on. They're "what ifs". What if I had a different background? What if my temperament was completely different? What if I was someone else? Now obviously, you have to build on the foundation of that "what if" concept and by the time you're finished you'll hopefully have a decent character. It's a rather interesting and often surprisingly introspective exercise in imagination. The dangerous part is how vulnerable it makes you feel. Not only are your characters your brain children, they're reflections of yourself. You love them and you want other people to love them and see them as you d...