Fictionalizing
Another one from writersblock:
Do you connect or identify with any particular fictional character? If so, which one and why? If you could be that character in their world for one day, what would you do?
greenquotebook wrote a great response to this one, inspiring me to give it a try.
This is not a way that I tend to think about characters, perhaps because I am too essentialist in viewing gender. I think I tend to identify with lead characters, but their tendency to maleness gets in the way of true sympathy for me.
The exception that I can think of is Lizzy, from Pride and Prejudice--her wit and tendency to enjoy her own, her observation of others and tolerance for their faults. But I am also Lydia, at least in the way my sisters see me, and I think that gets at a key issue in my identifications--they are more often because I recognize the relationship than the character itself. I am Marianne, but only because B. is Elinor. I am Kirk, but only because I hang out with Spock a lot and have several Bones and Scotties. I am Ferris, but that never occurred to me until I married a Cameron. Of course, we are both Pooh, so that helps :)
But considering it further, I think that I do not look for myself in books. I look for other options, other ways of being that feel authentic to me.
How about you? Are there characters with whom you strongly identify? Are there characters that make you think of me? Is that kind of identification something that you look for in your fiction?
Do you connect or identify with any particular fictional character? If so, which one and why? If you could be that character in their world for one day, what would you do?
greenquotebook wrote a great response to this one, inspiring me to give it a try.
This is not a way that I tend to think about characters, perhaps because I am too essentialist in viewing gender. I think I tend to identify with lead characters, but their tendency to maleness gets in the way of true sympathy for me.
The exception that I can think of is Lizzy, from Pride and Prejudice--her wit and tendency to enjoy her own, her observation of others and tolerance for their faults. But I am also Lydia, at least in the way my sisters see me, and I think that gets at a key issue in my identifications--they are more often because I recognize the relationship than the character itself. I am Marianne, but only because B. is Elinor. I am Kirk, but only because I hang out with Spock a lot and have several Bones and Scotties. I am Ferris, but that never occurred to me until I married a Cameron. Of course, we are both Pooh, so that helps :)
But considering it further, I think that I do not look for myself in books. I look for other options, other ways of being that feel authentic to me.
How about you? Are there characters with whom you strongly identify? Are there characters that make you think of me? Is that kind of identification something that you look for in your fiction?