My second character idea I have been thinking about longer than the one I have already posted, but I seem to be struggling a bit in feeling like I could give him enough substance. Like my first character (Julie) this story would be played out through his memory, as opposed to 'real time' experiences.
The character would be John... a husband and father of 3 adult children. Good man, good provider, good father with realistic 'human' flaws- especially in the parenting department. As I said, the story would be told from is memory, with John reliving his life's highs and lows. He will be doing this in a state of unconsciousness, as he lye in a hospital bed on the edge of death. He will have the proverbial 'door open' to him and will be deciding to step through it - or not.
Opinions are most welcomed....what difficulties am I not possibly seeing in telling either story in first person - past tense? Anything else jump out at anybody?
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One thing that I'm curious about is how you're going to manage going from flashback scenes versus real-time scenes, or will it be one giant flashback with a brief introduction and conclusion? Sounds pretty neat, and if you have a lot of 'memory' ideas for the flashback scenes, definitely go for it. Like I believe it said it one of the writing exercises, if it's hard to come up with some ideas for 'past events' for the main character to go back to, maybe look back at some of your own past events/vivid memories or that of your family. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOne thing that made me wonder has to do with if he steps through the door or not. If is deemed to be a good provider, husband, and father, wouldn't he automatically choose to return to his life?
ReplyDeleteIs it something like he feels like something he has left to do (which makes him want to go back) versus thinking that he has accomplished everything he wanted to and it is time for him to leave?
If you can successfully weave in and out of the flashbacks and real time, that would be an interesting read. I think you have the ability to do that flawlessly.
Both of these ideas offer rich starting points, Anita. What you'll want to do before settling into one or the other is think about the specific story you'd like to tell about each character - keeping in mind you've got relatively few pages to get readers into their worlds, to let them experience these lives. So for Julie's story, you'd need to show us these struggles in a specific incident -- if I were, for example, to want to write about the ups and downs of teaching, I would probably write about an experience with a specific class -- one that could illustrate both the highs and lows of the profession. Drawing on your sister's experiences would help you avoid another potential pitfall -- making your story unique (there are a few shows, for example, with psychic characters right now -- each needs to distinguish itself from the others to survive).
ReplyDeleteJohn's story would be potentially tricky for the same reason -- a lot to tell in a short story. You'd need to think carefully about the bare minimum -- what story do you want to tell, and what scenes would tell it? For example, he might be wrestling with his issues as a parent stemming from his own childhood, or his relationships with women, or anger or insecurity or, or -- some specific thread that will let you zero in on a few very carefully selected flashbacks to share. I will say that flashback fiction can be tricky -- readers still need to have a strong sense of the story moving forward through a series of conflicts to a conclusion. It can be done -- and done well -- but it just requires a bit of TLC.