In a comment on “Man of Iron, Child of Magic,” someone said (paraphrasing): How hard can it be to create a character?
My initial response was: Spoken like someone who’s never written a word of fiction in thon’s life. (This, by the way, is why I rarely interact with commenters/reviewers. I appreciate every one – yes, even the critical and sometimes rude ones – but I have an overdeveloped sarcasm gene, so it’s best I don’t tempt it too much.)
On reflection, though, I realized that it’s more like: Spoken like someone for whom character is thon’s gift.
You see, every writer has one gift, one “gimme,” one thing that comes more easily than all the other parts of writing. For some people, it’s character; for others, it’s plot; for still others, it’s the ability to create a world/setting so real that you feel you could open your door and step right into it.
(Some few – a blessed, fortunate few – get more than one gift. These usually become known as “classics.”)
Bearing in mind that we’re always the worst judges of ourselves and our own work, I think my gift is situation. I can see points of contact/connection between fandoms, between characters, between worlds, that most other people don’t. (As in, “I didn’t know I needed this crossover until I read it,” among other comments I’ve received.
If I have a secondary gift (again based on comments I’ve received), it’s keeping characters in character, especially with respect to dialogue.
That said, keeping a character in character is not the same thing as creating a character. Especially an iconic character – many of whom, oddly enough, are named Harry (Harry Bosch, Harry Callahan, Harry Dresden, Harry Potter…).
For me, creating a character does not come as easily as other parts of writing (though my big weakness is setting/world – or at least, it feels like that when I’m trying to write it), so in fanfiction I will pull characters from other fandoms so that I can focus on the parts of the story that are easier for me. Borrowing an established character frees up part of my writing brain and as a result speeds up the process just a little.
The sarcasm gene coming out again: If I’m going to put that much effort into creating a character, into making a character feel real, it’s not going to be for fanfiction. It’ll be for original fiction, so that I might actually get paid (however little) for all that work.
In the meantime, I stand in awe of those for whom character comes easily, those who’ve created iconic characters, and can only offer humble thanks for their doing so and hope they find some flattery in others (like me) occasionally borrowing those characters for other adventures.
