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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Courage- The Pirate Way.
How does one follow the great Anna Campbell? By requesting another round of rum in her honor… Of course!
After a wonderful blog and response yesterday, I thought about everything she talked about. One thing that stuck with me was courage. Anna’s first novel “Claiming the Courtesan” was about a woman who under extreme circumstances always had courage. She kept her head held high. No matter what happened she kept putting one foot in front of the other. She did what she had to do and suffered the consequences (severe ones). And eventually she persevered (with a wonderful HEA at the end, might I add). Anna Campbell’s heroine, Verity/Soraya, not only had the courage but the determination that made the reader fall in love with a character. But to write a character like that, the writer must have the same type of courage. The same infallible characteristic to take risks and go ahead no matter what anyone says to you. And I admire that in characters and in writers.
Writer’s take chances every day while they are writing. For me it’s the ability to get a rush from doing something in fiction I can’t do in everyday life. It’s the ability to wield a gun and chase down the bad guys. The ability to be in a high speed car chase and come out without a scratch. And it’s the ability to have the courage to have my main character do the things that would take extreme amounts of courage to even consider doing, but in her personality it’s just something she does and thinks about later. But it takes courage to put thoughts and words on paper (or a Word document) and it takes even more courage to let that baby fly and hand it off for someone else’s eyes. It takes courage to write scenes that are considered taboo and stand your ground when asked to change it for the sake of reader sensibilities. And it takes courage to stand by your written word no matter what the outcome. And that’s what I love about writers. The passion for what they are doing. Writing is a constant learning process where no matter how close you get to perfection, you’re still not there. It takes courage to face up to that day after day, time after time; and grin and bear it through the rough times and keep believing that the sunshine is just around the corner.
There have been times when I’m writing a particular scene and thought to myself, I would’ve never been able to do this myself. I could’ve never told him that I loved him. I could’ve never told him not to go and I’ll worry about the consequences in dawn’s early light. Never could’ve watched him walk out that door and not even look back. Or held the tears back as I walked back inside and pretended like my world wasn’t falling apart.
So my question to you is, have you written a scene where you felt that real life emotion come back to haunt you? Righted a past wrong by fictionalizing it? And if you haven’t, have you ever thought about it?
After a wonderful blog and response yesterday, I thought about everything she talked about. One thing that stuck with me was courage. Anna’s first novel “Claiming the Courtesan” was about a woman who under extreme circumstances always had courage. She kept her head held high. No matter what happened she kept putting one foot in front of the other. She did what she had to do and suffered the consequences (severe ones). And eventually she persevered (with a wonderful HEA at the end, might I add). Anna Campbell’s heroine, Verity/Soraya, not only had the courage but the determination that made the reader fall in love with a character. But to write a character like that, the writer must have the same type of courage. The same infallible characteristic to take risks and go ahead no matter what anyone says to you. And I admire that in characters and in writers.
Writer’s take chances every day while they are writing. For me it’s the ability to get a rush from doing something in fiction I can’t do in everyday life. It’s the ability to wield a gun and chase down the bad guys. The ability to be in a high speed car chase and come out without a scratch. And it’s the ability to have the courage to have my main character do the things that would take extreme amounts of courage to even consider doing, but in her personality it’s just something she does and thinks about later. But it takes courage to put thoughts and words on paper (or a Word document) and it takes even more courage to let that baby fly and hand it off for someone else’s eyes. It takes courage to write scenes that are considered taboo and stand your ground when asked to change it for the sake of reader sensibilities. And it takes courage to stand by your written word no matter what the outcome. And that’s what I love about writers. The passion for what they are doing. Writing is a constant learning process where no matter how close you get to perfection, you’re still not there. It takes courage to face up to that day after day, time after time; and grin and bear it through the rough times and keep believing that the sunshine is just around the corner.
There have been times when I’m writing a particular scene and thought to myself, I would’ve never been able to do this myself. I could’ve never told him that I loved him. I could’ve never told him not to go and I’ll worry about the consequences in dawn’s early light. Never could’ve watched him walk out that door and not even look back. Or held the tears back as I walked back inside and pretended like my world wasn’t falling apart.
So my question to you is, have you written a scene where you felt that real life emotion come back to haunt you? Righted a past wrong by fictionalizing it? And if you haven’t, have you ever thought about it?
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35 comments:
You're going to make us think after that party yesterday? All that rum and chocolate?! Argh!
Just kidding. Great topic. Hmmm....since my stuff is full of angst I have a feeling I'm working out some serious personal therapy in all this. For me the courage is to let my characters be brats. I want so much for the reader to like them that I tend to make them too likable and then they're boring.
I did have a relationship once where I was totally in love but still walked away because I knew it wasn't good for me. That was hard and I'm thinking that will eventually make it into my work. It would be a shame to waste it, right? *g*
Wow, this was brilliant, Sin! Great blog! Way to follow scene-stealer Anna. :)
And yes, I'm constantly righting wrongs through fiction. *LOL* Terri might go, "STOP writing your life" but frankly, I wouldn't do even half the crap I wrote. Sure the other half I did do...but it's not the dramatic parts of the books. Just the funnier stuff. *LOL*
Telling someone I loved them? I'd rather be set on fire.
Tell someone I'm wrong? YOU MUST BE KIDDING.
Taking a leap of faith when it really matters? Think again.
My characters are far more courageous than I could ever be. I write them in hopes that one day I'll have as much courage as in their little pinky nails.
Ah, if only we could visit the Wizard of Oz, huh?
*g*
I think you guys are right. My characters go through the stuff I dream up with much more aplomb than I could ever manage. My characters are ballsier, spunkier, and fiestier than me. But, the events I toss them into are a little more extreme than I've ever had to face. I like to think that if I were put in extreme situations I would act courageously.
It is a nice dream, right?
Great blog, Sin
Great blog, Sin! I think Hellion commented on the fact that writing was cheap therapy (sorry if I mis-quoted). I feel that way a lot of times. It is very cathartic to write your own story and have it turn out the way you want.
It's kind of interesing because I've written it both ways. The way I experienced it and the way I wanted it to be. For example: I had a very un-emotional father. Strict stiff upper lip sort of guy. You'd think he was British instead of Irish. LOL Sometimes I write my heroines with awesome Daddys who always show emotion. Sometimes they have the same type of father that I did and work through the issues that presented.
I would imagine the more time I spend writing the more I will get away from that instinct to write H/H that are so personal. I don't know, I kind of look at my first effort as containing too much of me. After I get all that out of my system, I can branch out and create something way different. Does that make sense?
Hellion has plenty of courage in real life. We just have to dig deep and get it out. Real deep.
Marnee - I have full faith that you would be the voice of reason and the epitome of calm in any situation. If the ship goes down I'm jumping on your back. *g*
Irish - I'm starting to think I must not like myself very much. I'm the only one who doesn't make my characters like me and that has to mean something. Something bad. LOL!
Ter - maybe that just means you're well-adjusted and have made peace with your past and we're all still really screwed up! LOL
That would be nice but somehow I'm thinking that's not the case. LOL!
Maybe I do denial better than y'all. That's a closer possibility.
Irish, I'm with you. My dad is very stoic; not very excitable; not a huggy person. *LOL* Just the thought of hugs from the man sends me into a fit of giggles...but the older he gets, the more huggy he gets. Grandchildren have mellowed him out.
I came along around the time of grandchildren, so I got both the stoic Mr. Unemotional AND the huggy occasionally really sweet one.
I don't know if I could write a father who was open and cool and rather emotional. I don't know if I could write men who were more emotional. There was a guy on Deal or No Deal (Yes, that's how bad my TV is when I'm snowed in) last night, crying on the show--and part of me went..."OH, poor guy hasn't seen his parents in 2 years." The fatherly part of me went: "WUSSY."
And don't get me started about the guy who wanted to open a bike shop. Lord was he cracked.
Terri, let it go. So you don't "make" your characters like you. (Sotto: so you think.) That's great! Good job. Lots of writing articles and writers will praise you for your objectivity.
Irish and I are going to go through our cheap therapy together. Actually, you know, I think my therapist DID tell me once to "re-write" the endings to a few of my really bad Fran-histories. (Like I could limit it to a few? Ha!)--but I thought that was completely cracked. However, it's proven if you rewrite the endings to those things, you tend to feel better about yourself and you do more things, better things with your life, rather than if you dwelled and obsessed about something that hardly matters now. Giving it a better ending seems to let you move past it and move on to better things.
my characters often know the perfect comeback line when an annoying person is still standing in front of them, rather than a week later (or never) as is the case for me! i love that about them
I'm at my best when I'm pulling "the rug" out from under my characters. I love writing emotional scenes in which the H/H finally seem to be getting it together, and then in the next scene something happens to bring them back to square one all over again.
I write what I like to read, so to me being knee deep in angst is where I'm most happy. It's not therapy for me by any means, it's just what I feel I write best. I've spoken of my emotional retardation before....I like to display that in my H/H's so I'm not alone:)
I write a lot of scenes that I could never personally withstand.I also write a lot of lines that I could never deliver:) That's what I love about writing.
I've been in relationships that I should have walked away long before I did, but didn't have the backbone to do so, thank goodness I'm a different person now.
Awesome blog Sin! You followed Anna beautifully.
Wow! What a response wenches! I figured we'd be quiet today after all the grog drinkin' we did into the late hours with Anna!
I have to admit that I'm really not an overly emotional person. I grew up in a family where emotion will get you laughed at. To hug my father.. You've gotta be kidding me. I think he'd stiff arm me even if I thought about it. But in my fiction, Sadie is close to her father, and very uneasy with her mother. Emotion is easy to write if you never show it. It gets all bottled up and just comes naturally on the paper.
Amen Hellion. Tell someone I'm wrong... Not a chance. Come back with a killer comment.. hardly ever. (Maybe a month later when I'm still stewing over it. LOL) Taking a leap of faith... only once in a lifetime (and even then I think I had a mild heartattack). Talk to people on the street, the grocery line, random people in the bookstore... have you lost your mind? But my characters can do all that and it's what I love about writing.
Ter - I deal under pressure the same as I deal in an argument. I'm calm until I'm not calm. And when I hit not calm, it's a big disaster. :)
And I think dysfunction is a human condition.
:)
*marking down that Terri admits Hellion's right about Celi and Terri having more in common than an "i" on the end*
Sin talks like a chicken, but she'll still kick your ass. And your dad didn't seem quite that stoic. Just quiet...though your mother is a bit of a chatterbox, so maybe it was just as nature intended? *LOL*
Where did I admit that? I don't know what you're talking about.
*whistles and wonders off*
YOU CHEATER! Did you delete that post? I know damned good and well I didn't IMAGINE you saying it!
"And I think dysfunction is a human condition."
ITA, Marnee! But then again so is denial! LOL
Are you sure you didn't hit your head on the ice this morning? That almost-split must have put you off balance or something...
You know, Marnee, I think my family puts the "fun" in dysfunction. My father is practically deaf, my sister is a spinster with a giant cat, my one brother is gay, my other little brother wears chick jeans and we could talk about my mother all day.
It's a wonder I'm sane at all. LOL!
Reporting for dutie, Captains! Although, man, have I got a headache the size of South America! What was in that last rum toddy, Terri? Groan!
Great post, Sin. And thanks for using Verity/Soraya as an example of courage. Someone once asked me about my core story and courage was a really big part of it. I think all my heroes and heroines have to face the unthinkable and they survive. My heroes and heroines are always much braver than I am! Yes, I would have made a TERRIBLE pirate in real life, sadly!
I don't think my characters are like me but I definitely find things that happen to me in real life get me thinking about situations that turn into the books. Been kidnapped by a Scottish duke lately?
And thanks again for a great day yesterday. I had a ball! A cannon ball!
You were AWESOME yesterday, Anna. I'm so glad you partied on the rum boat with us. And I'm just sorry I couldn't play as much. *sighs* Though obviously you had it under control.
I do have to comment from yesterday about POTC3.
I can't believe you haven't seen the other two POTC movies yet! Are you in for a treat! Yes, Jack is all it and a box of ho-hos, but Will does finally (finally--after two whining movies) steal the show with a heroic sweep that would make you change loyalties if you're willing to date jailbait. Which I am. Wish I could be there to watch it with you--it has the best Black Moment ever... Brilliant, just brilliant...and *dances jig* I get to watch tonight.
I knew Anna would miss us in no time. LOL! *waves and passes a glass* That's a virgin Toddy. I'm not that mean.
Did you say you've been kidnapped by a Scottish Duke? Man, I want your life. hehe
Was the courage thing always your core theme of did it sort of change and form over the years of writing?
Hellion, my POTC lack will be solved soon! I promise!
Oh, thank goodness, no alcohol. My head is pounding! ;-)
Interesting question about courage, Terri. I think it might have been. You don't get to choose your core story. It chooses you. What's yours?
Hmm...mine. I guess it's sort of courage too but personal courage. The faith to take a risk and let someone in. My characters have been hurt in the past and very reluctant to get hurt again.
Of the three stories I've started or developed for later, that's the case. My first WIP is even titled Letting Go. LOL!
Anna sounds so Jedi, doesn't she?
Anna, don't frighten Terri. She's in denial she's even a writer half the time. Do you know how long it took me to get her to admit to it?
Core story. I'd say redemption is centralized in a lot of my stories...but I bet that's not my true core story. My stories are all over the place in genre, let alone character...but I bet...it's FREEDOM. I think my core story is FREEDOM--freedom to be yourself, freedom to love who you want, to be loved for who you are; free to accept yourself as you are and know that that's fine.
I say this because my favorite line ever is Jack Sparrow saying "That's what the Black Pearl is...is Freedom..."
And I'd probably still be denying it now if these damn voices in my head weren't so loud. And more of the things show up all the time. Dang it.
That explains your Braveheart fixation. That and Mel in that kilt.
Anna is right, of course. I never sat down and said what do I want to write about. It just showed up in my head then on the paper. I've been editing today and for the first time I'm enjoying reading what I've written. I've made myself smile and even chuckle. And I don't hate it. That has to be some kind of breakthrough, right?
Or have I totally lost it? LOL! I hear fake people...
Nah, you haven't lost it yet. (That work guy comes to mind...but over this--no, you haven't lost it.) Occasionally I read my stuff and think, "this isn't bad."
That is until certain CPs say, "I quit reading after the 3rd page because your heroine is so damned annoying. Have her grow an emotion already..." THEN, I'm not so enamored with it.
I was busy! And I didn't say that!!! I said show don't tell. LOL!
I'm lucky I have time to pee these days let alone read an entire chapter. (Unless it's Untouched and that one I'm having trouble putting down) I'm never going to live that down. The guilt! I must live with the guilt.
Terri, sorry I'm scaring you. I know I sound painfully mystical with this stuff. But hey, we're inventing reality out of air. How much more magical can you get? Just don't chase me with your light saber! Only Richard Armitage is allowed to do that!
Hellion, I thought my theme was redemption too but then I thought a bit harder (most romance is about redemption on some level) and realised that the courage makes the people worthy of redemption if that makes sense. I love the idea of Freedom! I wanted to paint myself blue and fight the English! Terri, I see you and I had the same thought.
Just setting off in the dinghy to visit the good ship Annie West for a couple of days. I've put a very stout padlock on the grog cupboard. I bet you guys break it in five minutes flat, though! Avast, me hearties! ;-)
I do fancy me a Mel in a kilt...and Braveheart IS my favorite drama/drama. *swoons* I love Mel; even if he's nutty. (So long as he's not Tom-nutty, we're good.)
To FREEDOM!
Terri, You live with guilt? Ha! You'll wallow in it; you don't just live with it.
Anna, have fun at Annie's house! And you're right. We'll have that locked picked in five...oh, you've already picked it Sin? Why am I not surprised.
Anna !! I'm so glad you came back and visited and commented on my blog! It's a dream come true! (I swear it's not the rum talkin'!)
Though I must say a padlock isn't going to do much good to lock up all the grog. You're gonna have to drink it all first if you don't want us to have it!
*sheepish look* I swear I didn't pick it. It just came undone on it's own.
:)
Ha! And you thought I'd gone. Crew, make these drunken halibut walk the plank! How dare you drink all the grog and leave none for me? Sheesh! Now I really AM going...
Anna, welcome back aboard! Great job yesterday!
Ter, your family sounds like a blast! A cannon blast! :)
M - I absolutely can relate about the well timed comeback line. My characters always seem to have the right thing to say. Though, now that I think about it, it might be fun if they struggled like I do. hmmm....
Irish - denial!? What's that?! I have never ever EVER been in denial!! LOL!!!
Y'all have lost your bloody minds. LOL!
We must be the drunkest blog in cyberspace. You lushes should be ashamed!
Have a safe trip, Anna. Not that you have ice to worry about seeing as you're enjoying SUMMER! Then again, so am I. hehehe Another day pushing 80. Somehow I just know we're going to pay for this in January.
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