I have noticed since I have been trying to make a go of this whole writing thing that everything around me has become fodder for my stories. When I watch television, I find my mind wandering to who came up with the original premise and how the writers work together to come up with what will happen for each character and in each episode.
I have noticed this to some extent for years. I have shaken my fist at the heavens to curse the writers who killed my favorite character (although I realize that tends to have more to do with the actor than the writers) or had someone do something I considered to be a bad idea or out of character.
When spending time with friends, family, or even random people, I look at each of their mannerisms and consider what kind of character they would be in a book. I see each one of my friends as the leading man or leading lady of another story. Maybe the math teacher is the ship captain or that one cousin is the meddlesome
Last night I was at a basketball game, and I met a woman behind me. As we spoke, I couldn’t help but think she would make a great friend, acquaintance, or maybe even a lead in a romance. Just a few tweaks, and I could make her the heroine of my next novel.
I’m sure I could make her a heroine as she is, but I don’t know her well enough to write a fully-dimensional character yet. Also, I like to put a little bit of myself in all my leading ladies. Yes, I know I haven’t published anything yet (first book is coming any day now, actually-more on that later), don’t remind me, but they’re either in my head or drafted, and trust me, there are plenty of them.
I find it immensely satisfying to take elements of my real life and the world around me and use them in my stories. I have spent the majority of my life feeling powerless as things unfolded around me. In my writing, I can make sure the good guy wins and the bad guy gets what’s coming to him (if it serves the plot). I can make the fearful brave, the unnoticed noticeable, the dead live, and can right a few wrongs which I can’t right in real life.
At the same time, though, I can’t bring myself to make things too perfect. I leave some flaws, anger, sadness, injustice, annoyances, and such so the stories and characters I write feel real. They are real to me, after all.
Dawn Ludlow 