Characters

We’ve all done it. Had a one-sided conversation with an unseen someone, most often a rehash of an argument or a replay of the things we wish we’d said but didn’t think of at the time. For some of us, it’s in the shower where we can sob without anyone interfering. For others, it’s in the car or the classic – during a phone call with a trusted friend we know will take our side no matter what.

     I eavesdrop. Not on people but on my characters. Not too long ago, I was thinking about the trail Angelina and Katie would be taking when I “saw” them start up the hill. The voice in my head said, “They’re leaving. I’d better catch up.” I “tagged” along and overheard an entire conversation. They were arguing. It was more like exchanging points of view. Angelina was groaning about the task she’d been given, and Katie was expressing her exhaustion at listening to Angelina whine all the time. It was the perfect one-sided conversation, listening to them without stepping in to resolve the argument.

This method is kind of like wearing those 3-D Oculus goggles. I “turned” to see who was with them and met a group of young people, a couple of teenagers, and a few younger children. I wonder what they think of this trek they are on. So I eavesdropped on them, too.

     As a practicing interior designer, I hesitated to tell clients, especially their husbands, that I “hear” musical instruments in a room. A big, overstuffed chair might “sound” like a tuba, while a pair of delicate French tables might “sound” like piccolos. My first language of art emerged when I was about eight, and my mother got us season tickets to the symphony. I was bored to tears, so I would sit in the dark with my eyes closed and try to identify the instruments as the orchestra warmed up before the performance. As a designer, I started with an art I knew and translated sounds into furniture. Now, as an author, I eavesdrop. I don’t talk about it much. I don’t want my readers to think I’m crazy.

     If I write words as they come to me in my head, they sound like me. For instance, I type in whole words but talk in contractions. If I listen to my characters speak to each other, I hear their voices. I hope you do, too. The fascinating result is that the voice I hear isn’t going to be the same as the voice you hear. You become a party to a one-sided conversation. The surroundings I describe will give you a glimpse, but you will fill in the details as you see them. That is what makes reading so amazing. And I have to tell you, as a writer, I am thrilled when you see something I didn’t see.

There is a scene in Jewels Of Kidron that calls for water. I “turned around” and saw something that would be a solution. One of my readers said she saw using that same solution as a brave act of defiance. When I thought about it, she was right. She showed me an element in my story, the one I wrote, that I wasn’t aware of. I’d love to hear what you think when you get to it.

     The best stories are ones where the writer and the reader are each a party in the conversation. I listen to hear your version while I write.

Susan