The 5 W’s of Writing and M. Pilotte – Part 2
This section deals with the Who’s of my writing, namely, who are my characters and where do they originate from? Without much reflection, I would have to say that they spring full blown out of the recesses of my brain. Neuroscientists would argue that the source of creativity is the involvement of the corpus callosum, that nerve tract consisting of commissural fibers, which connects the right and left parts of the brain to facilitate communication between both lobes. More on this cerebral function deals with the reduction of critical thinking and the silencing of long-term memory, thus enhancing creativity. Most likely, my characters would be an amalgam of those whom I’ve encountered in my life experiences and in all the fiction and non-fiction I’ve been exposed to. Incidentally, their names come naturally, as well, from whatever sources I have available to me.
Despite scientific theories, I am a firm believer in serendipity. It’s happened too many times to discredit it. For example, one full-blown character is Father Chris Tosi, my main character in “In the Garden of Aeden”. Since I’m one of those creatures that dreams a lot and relishes the Alpha state just prior to sleep, I took stock of a complete image that came to mind: a young seminarian on a walk and a teen sitting in a gutter ripping up a letter. Just that one ‘vision’—nothing more-- led me to invent Father Chris. From there the entire novel emerged piece by piece. Father Chris continues to appear in “Tales from Wexford Falls”.
I should add that for each character I invent, I also create their life history so that they speak and act true to form. I would imagine that all writers do something to that effect to ensure the authenticity and credibility of their characters. I took that tidbit from a workshop on playwriting.
I cannot end this ‘Who’ section without a shout out to my real ‘Who’s’ that have been so helpful: my husband, a tireless sounding board and researcher; my friends/readers who have critiqued my manuscripts; my grandson/designer of this website; and another grandson who suggested that I include diversity in my books. Thanks, All!
This section deals with the Who’s of my writing, namely, who are my characters and where do they originate from? Without much reflection, I would have to say that they spring full blown out of the recesses of my brain. Neuroscientists would argue that the source of creativity is the involvement of the corpus callosum, that nerve tract consisting of commissural fibers, which connects the right and left parts of the brain to facilitate communication between both lobes. More on this cerebral function deals with the reduction of critical thinking and the silencing of long-term memory, thus enhancing creativity. Most likely, my characters would be an amalgam of those whom I’ve encountered in my life experiences and in all the fiction and non-fiction I’ve been exposed to. Incidentally, their names come naturally, as well, from whatever sources I have available to me.
Despite scientific theories, I am a firm believer in serendipity. It’s happened too many times to discredit it. For example, one full-blown character is Father Chris Tosi, my main character in “In the Garden of Aeden”. Since I’m one of those creatures that dreams a lot and relishes the Alpha state just prior to sleep, I took stock of a complete image that came to mind: a young seminarian on a walk and a teen sitting in a gutter ripping up a letter. Just that one ‘vision’—nothing more-- led me to invent Father Chris. From there the entire novel emerged piece by piece. Father Chris continues to appear in “Tales from Wexford Falls”.
I should add that for each character I invent, I also create their life history so that they speak and act true to form. I would imagine that all writers do something to that effect to ensure the authenticity and credibility of their characters. I took that tidbit from a workshop on playwriting.
I cannot end this ‘Who’ section without a shout out to my real ‘Who’s’ that have been so helpful: my husband, a tireless sounding board and researcher; my friends/readers who have critiqued my manuscripts; my grandson/designer of this website; and another grandson who suggested that I include diversity in my books. Thanks, All!
