Amidst conversations on writing compelling characters, I had a bit of a moment. Please bear with me as I call it a Hegelian realization.
At the risk of frightening off casual readers and of revealing my own ignorance, let me brutally paraphrase a Hegelian notion so that I can misappropriate it for writing.
Hegel talks about the Absolute (crudely, God) as having created us as limited beings who learn about God (the same Absolute who created them) so that He (the Absolute) can learn about himself through their learning.
It's complicated and that's a bad summary, but here is why I talk about this now: when I write characters, they are typically drawn from limited portions of my own Psyche. When I put them through the paces, they learn how to cope with broader reality. In this process,I am therefore hoping to learn something about myself. And I am hopeful that by identifying with the characters readers can do the same thing.
I don't suppose that's earth-shattering, but it helps me better understand what I do as a writer so I thought I would share it.
Anyone else have any recent insights they'd like to share? Even if it doesn't seem grand or complicated?
.Nevets.
P.s. This post has nothing to do with Teilhard, but I could not resist the pun.
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Hi Nevets. Yes - in writing The Birds, the Bees etc I learnt a lot about myself. The novel isn't exactly autobiography, but there's a lot of my own childhood/young adulthood in it, and I think that as I was writing it, I was able to forgive myself for the very difficult young woman I was. Whatever I write in the future, and whether the novel is really any good or not, none will ever be as special to me as this one (I just wish it were as special to the reading public!).
ReplyDeleteI hope to help me and the reader find something out about themselves through my writing. It might be something small, or something larger, but I still think it would be an accomplishment if someone else learned about themselves through what I had written.
ReplyDelete@Frances - That's great that you were able to have that experience through your writing. Don't be surprised if your readers get some of that through it as well. When I finally get a chance to read it, I'll let you know!
ReplyDelete@Golden Eagle - That's a great goal! I love that you see that it need to be a huge impact to still be an impact.
That's a very interesting way to look at it. I'll have to remember the argument the next time someone insists that I write because I can't deal with reality.
ReplyDeleteActually I think some of the hardest pieces of reality I've had to face came at me first from the pages of a book. Sometimes my own. Sometimes someone else's.
@Taryn - Exactly! It's not about escape; it's about an alternate path toward understanding. Without understanding, you can't cope and you can't deal.
ReplyDeleteI draw on aspects of myself when I write my characters. Many times I put them in situations and have them react in ways I'd like to act but never do. I think I've learned a lot about myself by doing this. I've learned why I act the way I do and delved into why I act opposite of the way I'd like. Sometimes it surprises me and sometimes it just helps me accept the way I am. And I've changed a bit, grown a bit (I think) since I started writing....so maybe creating my characters has given me some insight into myself. :)
ReplyDeleteI used to think I had an answer to this, but I don't these days. What often motivates me to write is an interesting character, and by interesting, I usually mean inexplicable in some way. I write about them to feel like I understand what makes them tick. But, what I'm finding is my own limitated life experience (me being only one person) is resulting in limited explanations. It's frustrating, especially when I get to the end of a story and feel that I haven't learned much.
ReplyDeleteCool post!! This sounds very Jungian to me. The idea that there are many parts of ourselves and that when we dream, all the characters in our dreams are parts of ourself.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts. I'm not sure how I stand on this. My characters are a huge amalgamation.
ReplyDeleteWow. That's really interesting stuff, Nevets. I don't think I ever thought of it that way before - but I think there is some truth to link between author/character/reader.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to say how much I learn about myself from reading good novels and what I learn from creating my own characters, but fictional characters can teach you much about life you would never live long enough to learn in other ways.
ReplyDelete@Michelle - You're exactly right. There are lots of ways of learning about yourself and some of those inspire change, others inspire acceptance, and yet others inspire reflection.
ReplyDelete@Domey - Yeah, I definitely get where you're coming from. I think it helps that I am (a) obsessive about self-analyss, and (b) a deeply conflicted and fractured human being. More experiences that way. hahaha
@Paul - Great catch! Jung was heavily influenced by Hegel in a lot of ways, so there's definitely cross-over, especially since I'm talking about psychological suspense.
@Lois - Amalgamations are good! You run less risk of creating similar characters that way. :)
@Shannon - Always happy to give someone something new to think about. I think the relationship between author, character, and reader is very complex and well-worth any writer's time to think seriously about.
@Dorte - That's a heck of a great perspective, actually. I'm going to ponder that one for a while.