Truth IS Stranger than Fiction

In real life, when we hear of someone doing something bizarre or out of character, we often wonder, “What on earth possessed him to do that?” And, if we know the person, we might even think “That’s not like him.” But, since we know that he did it, we have no choice but to shrug our shoulders, shake our heads, accept it and move on. It happened; it’s a fact. In real life.

In fiction, writers don’t have that luxury. If one of our characters behaves in what would be considered an irrational manner, our readers aren’t going to accept it unless they know what motivated our character to do it. We have to keep each of our characters “in character.” We want our readers to identify with them or, at the very least, to see them as believable, fallible human beings and we know that readers will tend to judge our characters based on their own perceptions of what their behavior should be. I’ll use Ann, the main character in Mixed Messages, as an example.

Ann is married to David and they have two young children. David is an alcoholic who is drinking heavily, gambling and staying out all night. Ann has had to assume all of the responsibility for raising their children because David is physically and emotionally unavailable most of the time. In spite of Ann’s best efforts, the marriage continues to deteriorate. David is often verbally abusive and every conversation turns into an argument. They haven’t been intimate for awhile; the only time he seems to want her is when he’s drunk. She finally builds up the courage and attempts to seduce him but he rejects her, leaving her feeling undesirable and humiliated.

When you read that paragraph, what did you think? Did you wonder why Ann doesn’t leave David? Did you lose respect for her because, obviously, she lacks the gumption to get out of an unhealthy relationship? Did you project your own feelings onto Ann, thinking I would never tolerate that? That you would take the children and leave?

But what if you knew what motivates Ann to do whatever she can to “fix” her marriage and preserve her family? What if you knew that she lost both of her parents when she was nine years old and her grandmother raised her and her sister, Marnie? That, Nana passed away when Ann was eighteen and Marnie moved out of state to go to law school, leaving Ann alone? And that, when Ann met and fell in love with David and for most of their marriage, he was a sweet, kind man, a wonderful husband and father? Does Ann’s behavior make sense now? Do you understand why her family is so important to her? Are you pulling for her? Do you hope that, somehow, everything works out?

And then there’s David and the other characters in the novel. What motivates them to behave the way they do? Well, you’ll have to read Mixed Messages to find out.

Creating Characters

The process of creating a character is like conceiving, carrying and giving birth to a baby who will, no doubt, have Mom’s nose or Grandpa’s ears. While I didn’t consciously model the characters in Mixed Messages or the subsequent novels in my Malone mystery series after myself or anyone else, there are bits and pieces of me and people I know in each of them: a physical characteristic, a personality trait or a life experience that contributed significantly to who they are. For example:

Ann is the main character in Mixed Messages. She’s living with someone who suffers from the disease of alcoholism (I did too) and even though Ann and I are totally different people, I can relate. Personality wise, she reminds me of a good friend of mine who values her family and friends above all else and goes to great lengths to help and protect them. Ann even has some of my friend’s physical characteristics but she doesn’t look like her.

Marnie, Ann’s older sister, is five foot five (so am I) and she’s outspoken, a trait we share and one we’re both trying to learn how to temper. She’s a family law attorney, as is another good friend of mine, but that’s where the similarity between the two women ends.

David, Ann’s husband, is a composite of some truly wonderful men I’ve known who happened to be alcoholics. He exhibits similar behaviors and he experiences many of the same emotions as his real life counterparts.

Olivia, Ann’s landlady, loves to tell stories about the past. Some of her tales of growing up in Cincinnati are modified versions of stories that my mother, who is the same age as Olivia, has told me. But Olivia and my mom are completely different in every other way.

Lawrence, Olivia’s son, is a few years older than me but, as children, we watched the same shows on TV. He’s a baby boomer too so he didn’t grow up with computers and all of today’s technology; he’s had to learn it and embrace it in order to function in today’s world.

Louise, Ann’s mother-in-law, believes in a place for everything and everything in its place and, although my home wouldn’t pass Louise’s white glove test, I am, like her, a stickler for order.

Do you see parts of yourself or someone you know in any of your characters?