No matter how many beautiful, brilliant words I give her, Melody never fails to say whatever she wants anyway. And it’s not just the her own dialogue she commandeers. She takes over the plot and even the theme.
Seriously. The theme? She can’t even leave me the theme? I think this might be the first time one of my characters actually usurped my theme power. It’s been a wonderful surprise. You see, Melody’s fate is set by her family’s legacy, societal expectations, and men. Her personality, her goals, her actions, even her life philosophy is painted by someone else’s brushstrokes. My original idea for her was to introduce her to this wonderfully flawed hunky hero who opens her mind and heart to the possibilities of choosing differently. The problem is, that’s not what Melody wants. I’ve rewritten chapter one four times and chapter two twice. I quit counting how many replots I’ve done. Melody just would not cooperate. It seems she doesn’t want to be shown a world of possibilities by a hunky hero or anyone else. And when I say hunky, I mean hunky. I modeled this guy after every sexy athlete, every hot nerd, every scruffy-jawed, chiseled-chested underwear model all wrapped up in my sweetheart of manly-man real-life hero. How could she resist? Still, she persisted. Melody is her own woman. She will discover her own path and use her own compass and create her own happiness. Her happily-ever-after is not written by the pen of her family’s legacy, society’s commands. The writing gurus tell us that we must know and communicate our characters’ most ardent desires. All I have to say is that it would have been nice if Melody would have revealed hers to me before I wrote four first chapters and two second chapters. She didn’t, so I finally forced her to create a bucket list. After I wrote ten entries, I thought I was done, but she wasn’t. Her voice whispered one more item--to live free. That’s it. That’s what she wants--to live free. Having a man show her a world of possibilities still forces her to choose from his possibilities. It's this unflinching desire in her that not only makes her a more interesting character than what I had originally created, but also tweaks the theme. True happiness is found not when you find the right soul mate, but when you are true to yourself. At the end of her obligation to live as others would have her live lies her one chance to live free. And so it is with us. So now I’m 10,000 words (but no usable chapters) in and I already know this story is going to be an adventure. If I know Melody at all, I am sure the adventure will be all hers. I’m just happy to be along for the ride. So while I’m off to replot again, I’d like to know what other writers do when their characters take over. There are a million character interviews out there, but none of them helped me understand Melody like the bucket list. GIve it go and see where it leads.
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This morning my local radio station let the listeners vote to decide when they would start playing Christmas music. The Hallmark Movie Channel started showing Christmas movies last week. Facebook is full of posts calling for the start of Christmas season ASAP!
What happened to the loud calls to boycott any store displaying ornaments and wreaths and Santas before Thanksgiving, let alone November 1st? So why are we so ready for Christmas? The answer isn’t that complicated. In 2001, on September 11th, terrorists hijacked four civilian airplanes and crashed them into strategic targets. The killed thousands of Americans. They shattered our naivety. They crushed our trust. They broke our hearts. They cracked our foundation. Not long after, that same local radio station that took the poll this morning, decided to start Christmas music early. With hurricanes wrecking our coastal communities and crazy men shooting concert goers and Isis devotees running down bicyclists, is it any wonder that we once again need healing? Maybe Christmas can have the magic power to heal us. Maybe we’ll remember Ebeneezer Scrooge and the Grinch and Mama kissing Santa Claus and Baby Jesus and understand that love really does conquer all. Longfellow’s famous Christmas hymn tells the story a man in despair who hears the Christmas bells and hangs his head because “there is no peace on earth”. Hate prevails and mocks the idea that love could conquer anything. Longfellow wrote the words when with an empty heart. His wife had recently died from burns sustained in a house fire. Flames had permanently scarred his face, a reminder of his failure to save her. In addition, his beloved America was torn in war. Christmas to him was now meaningless. Yet the man in the hymn listens more closely. Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor does He sleep, For Christ is here; His Spirit near Brings peace on earth, good will to men.” In his wretched sadness, Longfellow found peace. He believed in it. He wrote his belief into the most beautiful hymn so that more than a hundred years later, we could find it, too. So, yes, we are more than ready for Christmas. If it takes holly and mistletoe and Hallmark movies and gingerbread carbs and even those ugly giant inflatables people stake to their yards to remind us that peace is possible, then bring it on. Bring it on through April if you have to. Let’s hope America’s heart grows three sizes. Let’s hope we all shout to the rooftops, “God Bless Us Everyone.” And let’s hope and pray the Christmas spirit does, indeed, last all year. |
AuthorDee Linn loves words. When she was in the third grade, her exasperated teacher told her she'd probably talk to a pole, if she happen to be sitting beside it. Not much has changed except that now she says it in writing. She is a single mom of four, a teacher of teens, a cheater at board games, and a lover of life. She's a Kansas girl, but travels to all kinds of places in her head with characters living there, some of which she's sure she's created. Some, she's not sure how they got there. But they are way more interesting to talk to than a pole. Archives
November 2017
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