By now you know I have bonded with Eve Dallas, Anna Pigeon, and Kinsey Millhone, characters created by J.D. Robb, Nevada Barr, and Sue Grafton, respectively. You know how they’ve touched me and you know how they irritate me.
It’s odd, even to me, that these characters could resonate with me and yet if I knew them in “real life,” I probably wouldn’t develop a close friendship with them. If I probe a bit into human nature, I think I get my answer.
We each have personalities, quirks, and core values. Other people’s personality traits can either draw us or repel us. Some quirks in others we can put up with or overlook, while others drive us insane. Core values are the deep waters running within us, directing our decisions, pinpointing our priorities, guiding us in judgments. In other words, core values spring from our worldview.
In each of these characters I see a part of me. And something in them that I desire is lacking in me. This is what draws me to them—their personalities. Their quirks don’t bother me. Eve hides her chocolate so no one can get to it (but there seems to be a chocolate thief in her office who finds her hiding places). I have my stash of chocolate, too. Kinsey couldn’t care less about her looks. She cuts her hair with manicure scissors, and her wardrobe is jeans, turtlenecks, and one outdated black dress.
But what limits the would-be “friendship” is the conflict in our core values. The characters each have an animosity toward God, and at the center of my life is God. We have different worldviews. And please notice that I said the opposing core values “limits” the friendship. It does not prohibit friendship. A friendship is based on what two people have in common. If the worldviews are different, the foundations of their lives are different, so the relationship can go only so deep, though both parties can appreciate the other and they can learn from each other.
The question you may ask is What difference does all this make? These characters are not even real! Good question. Let’s talk about that next week.
Leave your thoughts about your favorite character(s). I’d love to hear from you.
Let me share one last fictional character I relate to: Anna Pigeon, created by Nevada Barr. A forty-something National Park Ranger, Anna is gutsy, feisty, and lonely. Also like Eve Dallas and Kinsey Millhone, Anna is tenacious. Once she’s on the scent, she won’t stop until she finds the criminal and brings him or her to justice—typically getting into physical scrapes along the way.
Now, let me tell you what I don’t like about these characters, particularly Eve Dallas: foul mouths. It could be that Ms. Robb uses foul language to give her character with grit, or a kind of hardness. Ms. Grafton and Ms. Barr don’t use this device to the degree Ms. Robb does.
In my opinion, if one has to resort to foul language to create a character trait or strength, the author have not done his or her job well. Pretty harsh statement, yes? Maybe, but think of all the bad words you can (you can wash your head out with soap later!). Now tell me, what picture do you get in your mind? Do you see strength? Honor? Loyalty? Sorrow? Love? Hate? Contemplation? Resolve? Truly, such language is empty.
If you can remember your English Composition classes, you were probably taught to use vivid nouns and verbs. Use the words that give you the most mileage and don’t clutter your writing with vague words. This truth still stands. But authors fall short when they fall to using foul language.
Even with this, I appreciate the characters these great authors have created. Kinsey, Eve, and Anna resonate with me.
Next week, I’ll end this thread with one more area where my favorite characters and I are in direct opposition.
Tell me about your favorite characters. What makes them special to you?
Last week I talked about what kind of book characters touch me: “I want characters who feel deeply. I want to feel what the characters feel, see what they see, smell what they smell. I want them to take risks, to go to the edge—and over. I want to go over the edge with them, to experience everything the main characters experience—except sweating. (I hate sweat—that’s why I don’t read or watch Westerns.)”
Some characters who attach themselves to me are those who, if they were real people, I probably wouldn’t be friends with because we don’t share a vital core value. But some characteristics, skills, or talents they have resonate within me. These characters make me think about how I react to life, to others, and to situations.
Character number 1: Lieutenant Eve Dallas, homicide detective in futuristic NYC, created by J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts). Eve is a complex person. She comes across as tough, confident, and totally lacking in people skills. And when it comes to her work, she is. She examines the crime scene, analyzes the evidence, and interrogates with finesse—doesn’t mess with the good cop, bad cop routine. She’s tenacious, going against all odds to solve the murder.
Though she struggles with relating to people—even those she considers friends—she knows how to read criminals; she understands their baseness, which feeds her cop instincts and lets her always get her man, or woman. It is in her struggle with relations that we see her weakness, her curiosity of relationships between family members, friends, and lovers. She is always surprised when someone loves her for who she is—warts and all—and doesn’t always know what to do with the affection.
Character number 2: Kinsey Millhone, private detective, created by Sue Grafton. Kinsey is a loner—independent and self-sufficient. We can count on one hand those she considers friends. When she’s on a case, like Lt. Dallas, she doesn’t let go. She will not give up until she solves the case. Also like Lt. Dallas, she struggles with relationships. She holds back part of her heart, doesn’t trust others with it. Yeah, she’s been burned a few times, but even before that she never felt secure enough to open herself up to others. Her parents died when she was a young girl, and she lived with an aunt, estranged from the family, who didn’t really want the responsibility of raising a child. This contributes to her holding back, but she never (so far) learns to let herself fully love.
I’ll continue next week with more examples and a wrap-up of what I’ve learned from these characters and what I don’t like about them.
I’ve violated that rule because life interfered with my blogging routine—jury duty, looming editing deadlines, houseguests, vacation—had to take work with me! Sorry about that, folks.
So let’s pick up not where we left off, with self-editing tips, but on a new thread. My editing and writing strength is nonfiction, but I love to read fiction. I’m not bound by any one or two genres. I enjoy literary, mysteries, suspense, contemporary, historical, chic lit, crime, detective, and various combinations of these.
What do I look for when reading fiction? I don’t think I’m much different from anyone else when I say I want strong characterizations, a good plot with subplots interwoven, the main character using intellect when finding his or her way out of trouble and accomplishing the goal.
Ho hum.
Any third-grader would give that answer.
I want characters who feel deeply. I want to feel what the characters feel, see what they see, smell what they smell. I want them to take risks, to go to the edge—and over. I want to go over the edge with them, to experience everything the main characters experience—except sweating. (I hate sweat—that’s why I don’t read or watch Westerns.)
Depth.
Empathy.
Intimacy.
This is how I want to experience main characters in the books I read.
Don’t want much, do I?
C’mon, I know you feel the same way. Else why invest time in reading?
Now the question is who are some main characters I partner with?
You’ll have to wait until the next installment, but I’ll give you a hint: These characters are those whom, if they were real people, I probably wouldn’t be friends with because our values are very different.
