Marilyn Levinson’s post yesterday about how she decides on the victims in her novels got me thinking about how I choose my characters in toto. My sleuths and their supporting cast tend to be individuals I create, although sometimes they may inherit individual traits from the people I admire, and a collection of my own and other’s insecurities, to humanize them. Some insecurities are universal—who hasn’t wished they were prettier, more handsome, had different hair, had a differently shaped body, or had a pony as a child? (Okay, I made the last one up. Neither my parents nor my husband’s parents bought either of us a pony, and we turned out okay. At least we think so.)
I have a hit list in the back of my mind I am working through. People who harmed people I love are on it. The physician who was rude to one of my dearest friends at a particularly vulnerable time is on it, too. Anyone who I’ve seen take joy in tearing someone else down is on it. I try to obey the stricture to “turn the other cheek,” but does it count when I take vengeance on someone on paper in a fictional setting? What fun to make them villains or victims!
Redemption can be a theme as well. I combined several high school nemeses into one character, put her through painful life experiences, and forced her to apologize to my sleuth for systematically bullying her in high school. Then I made them best friends.
I also live vicariously through the books I read. When I’m stressed financially, as happens to all of us from time to time, it’s a relief to read novels where the main characters never have to worry about money. When I’m scared by the madness in the real world, I sink into a good book and enter a different world. When my favorite college football team is sinking into a losing season, I pick up a “Win One for the Gipper” book—Whoops! I got carried away. I can’t erase a bad football season with a book. I have to tough it out and hope next year is better. A character flaw on my part, I’m sure.
The magic of being a writer comes in the ability to channel our pains, irritations, joys, rewards, and sorrows into fictional characters and send them on journeys that make our readers feel better. And if we knock off a few bad guys vicariously along the way, that’s a bonus.
