tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post6853962268530549219..comments2023-10-30T15:13:22.680+00:00Comments on Strictly Writing: Shout, shout, let it all outDThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803989273524731892noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-31067743643279887102010-11-25T22:49:05.135+00:002010-11-25T22:49:05.135+00:00I couldn't agree more with the writer's ri...I couldn't agree more with the writer's right to step into the shoes of any character they like. I couldn't understand the fuss made over The Help by Kathryn Stockett (a great read if you haven't already indulged). In The Help, the white South American writer tells the first-person story of three woman, one a white Southerner, the other two, black southern maids. She captures their voices wonderfully well but was heavily criticised for presuming to be able to do so. A poor literary feast we'll all get to enjoy in a world where only astronauts can write about space, or murderers about murder, or children about children. An excellent post, thanks.Kathnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-11050375329670689942010-11-24T23:12:26.997+00:002010-11-24T23:12:26.997+00:00In some ways it doesn't really matter what we ...In some ways it doesn't really matter what we think we are putting in or leaving out of our characters. The readers will ascribe their own observations or misperceptions about what it means to be a person of color or different nationality or sexuality or whatever. Once you say that your character sounded a bit like Sean Connery when he spoke, the readers will take it from there and personify the character however they imagine a Scotsman to be, often despite what you tell them the character is like.<br /><br />This is one reason that I don't see much value in describing the clothing my characters are wearing. Unless it tells something definitive about them (snappy dresser, tacky, poor), their clothes are not important, and the readers will dress them as they imagine them to be.Paulhttp://www.paullamb.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2725342624231517088.post-26293380148278737532010-11-24T17:48:49.274+00:002010-11-24T17:48:49.274+00:00Hi Helen
Really enjoyed this exposition of charact...Hi Helen<br />Really enjoyed this exposition of character and voice - and I'm with you all the way! I remember years ago being wowed by a book in the voice of a woman -just because I felt it was so authentic - and being amazed that the author was a man. Since then I have happily put myself into the minds, as I see it, of teenagers, old people and, yes, of men. Love your comments on the need to balance research with 'making it up'. We need to find that point of contact with the reader in any way we can. That's fiction for you!<br />AliBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com