Wednesday 2 October 2013

The Artist Unleashed: WHEN CHARACTERS INVADE YOUR LIFE by Helen Hollick

The Artist Unleashed posts have moved to a new domain. Please click HERE to read the rest of this post and for the opportunity to comment. Just search for the title of the post in the search bar on the new site.

11 comments:

  1. I guess i've never been in that headspace before. There are lines here and there i don't remember writing, but certainly not big chunks or anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the 'non-remembering' comes because I get absorbed in the writing - as if 'play' is pressed but not 'record'. Thanks for leaving a comment - much appreciated!

      Delete
  2. There are big chunks I don't remember writing. I started with one character and multiple ones wanted their story told, which is how it became a series of five.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *laugh* and the other characters can be so demanding can't they? Thank you so much for dropping by

      Delete
  3. Thank you Jessica for inviting me onto your Blog - thoroughly enjoyed myself.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So far no one has invaded me although I have stuck to one character when writing my books.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Helen, I kind of understand what you mean, I think. You said it better than I could, but what I've found with my favorite stories is that I often start out with an idea -- a good plot or a twist or a neat monster or something -- and then the characters in the story become what I'm really interested in. Just plot devices at first, they become more real as the story goes on.

    This is particularly hard when you write horror: When I wrote "Mr Suitcase," I found myself eerily fascinated with him, as the story went on. Which is creepy when the character is a monster with razorblade teeth and a suitcase full of horrible tricks.

    Your books sound awesome. I loved King Arthur as a young guy. Maybe it's time I checked him out again!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Helen,

    I know exactly what you mean. There is a young man called Damian, who lived in Queen Anne Stuart's reign, 1702 - 1714, who woke me up at night asking me to take him shopping at The Royal Exchange. I'm busy with other characters at the moment, but he's nagging me to pay attention to him.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I understand, too! I feel the moody, whiny moments of my Evangeline, who struggles to get through her days, with my hands on my hips. She really must buck up a bit. I can't help it that she is a little pathetic- she just is. It is hard to find time to get her story finished, and I think she is a little miffed about that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Helen, thank goodness I am not mad! My characters too shadow me, talk to me and pester me to write even when I can not! My latest character for my next book is called Kitty and she does not stop reminding me to write her story.....! A great post, thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Helen, readers become attached to character, as well. You remember what I said when I finished the Arthurian stories--I started over and re-read them again. I just couldn't let Arthur go. I get the urge to bring him back by reading them again. My problem: I lent the books to a good friend and she has returned them. I still think about particular scenes that reoccur out of the blue in my mind. Arthur is my all-time favorite character, thanks to you.

    ReplyDelete

“I'm using my art to comment on what I see. You don't have to agree with it.” ~John Mellencamp

“Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace” ~Judith S. Marin

“I don't ever try to make a serious social comment.” ~Paul McCartney

“I'd make a comment at a meeting and nobody would even acknowledge me. Then some man would say the same thing and they'd all nod.” ~Charlotte Bunch

“Probably what my comment meant was that I don't care about the circumstances if I can tell the truth.” ~Sally Kirkland

“We're not going to pay attention to the silliness and the petty comments. And quite frankly, women have joined me in this effort, and so it's not about appearances. It's about effectiveness.” ~Katherine Harris