A Secret Life
“There was something appealing of thinking of a character with a secret life that her author knew nothing about. Slipping off while the author’s back was turned, to find love in her own way. Showing up just in time to deliver the next bit of dialogue with an innocent face.” (Page 171) Did anyone else find this enchanting? It really made me think of the novel Wicked by Gregory Maguire.
posted by MamaChristy at
8:12 PM
7 Comments:
MC -- will you elaborate on this for me? I LOVE Gregory Maguire and Wicked is a fave of mine. I'm not sure what you're asking me, though. (More of that laziness ...)
Has anyone here ever written any fiction? Do you find the characters do sneak off and do things you didn't think they would? I've been to quite a few author readings/discussions where everyone in the audience thinks a character did something that the author had no idea the character had done. And then once it's pointed out, he/she says, 'YOu know, I bet you're all right. I think the character DID mean that all along." Authors are often very ignorant of what their own creations have done...
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JenniNapa, at 1:38 PM
Really, I'm not asking for anything other than your opinion or viewpoint on this because I loved this idea so much and I felt we had to talk about it.
The passage made me think of Wicked because that whole novel is what I think those three sentence in the JABC were talking about. I don't think that L. Frank Baum had in mind that Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) was really just misunderstood and political minded toward to helping the people of Oz. I don't think he would have made Elphaba and Glinda buddies either. Wicked seemed to be to be what those characters were doing while Baum was paying attention to Dorothy and her journey. They were finding their own way, if you will.
Jenni, it's interesting that this seems to be common amoung fiction writers. I'm sure Fowler has found it to be true in her own writing groups and I really appreciate your insight.
Personally, this might be why I haven't been that good a fiction writer - why I can't seem to get anywhere with it. I feel like I need to know the character's entire life to write a genuine-sounding story about them and that seems to be so daunting. Perhaps I need to just let it go and let characters have lives that I don't know about...
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MamaChristy, at 6:55 PM
When I read that sentence, I thought of screenwriters who do adaptations of novels and playwrights who breathe life into an old classic. In some ways, isn't that what they're doing? Discovering a bit of the characters' secret lives and winding that into their new version ...
If you haven't seen the movie Adaption, I highly recommend it. It's kind of quirky (what would you expect from a director who cut his teeth making Beastie Boys music videos for MTV), but I think it does a good job of representing the beauty of an adaptation. Same story. Different points of view. Very apropos to the JABC.
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Twanna A. Hines | FUNKYBROWNCHICK.com, at 5:34 AM
I liked that part quite a bit. It does happen when you write fiction, even when you think it isn't going to.
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mamashine, at 1:14 PM
Pink - I liked Wicked but I have a girlfriend who didn't care for it. My copy is packed right now, but you are welcome to borrow my copy if you'd like once we all get settled in.
I didn't know that about the characters in Steven Kings novels. He's a prolific writer with a huge fan base - I certainly would roll my eyes. The Shining is one of my favorite movies, but I haven't been able to bring myself to read the book just yet. I think the book will give me scary dreams...
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MamaChristy, at 5:53 PM
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E, at 3:13 PM
I think that we all have a secret life that no one else knows about - for some of us it may be contained in our dreams and hopes and wants of "what could be"...some of it may be that very private part of our soul that only God knows about and sees and nourishes as well... so yea I think it was pretty cool that this was asked about one of the characters - I think they all had one - Look at the secret life that each of the members had, Greg and his family history, the skydiving and adventures of - I just went blank on her name and now I can't find the book..... --
Do any of you have a secret life that no one knows about -- if so... would you be willing to share 1 sentance about it? Or if you think that one of the members of the JABC has a secret life - mention 1 sentence about that..
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E, at 3:22 PM
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