Friday, December 19, 2014

Living Your Characters

Today I thought I'd talk about something I'm sure ever writer does: living your characters.  At least, I really hope all (or at least most) writer's do this and I'm not - well - a little bit crazy.

I bought these boots a few months ago:


I wanted them for three years.  They are beautiful white Mukluks by Manitobah and they are so warm and cozy.  But part of the reason I wanted them was because of a certain character.  Her name's Elloxa and she wears white fur and she lives in an epic fantasy world that I created.

It took me three years to be able to afford her boots, but I found gorgeous white mittens a number of years ago, which make me feel like this character every time I put them on.  Wearing white winter fashions isn't the only thing I do to live my characters.  In Elloxa's case, I think about her journey, and perhaps even pretend I'm on whenever I'm forced to go out in the freezing cold.  When I curl up in bed at night, sometimes I pretend I'm her, going to sleep in a cave, ice cat by my side.

In the case of Nessa, the main Character in my book, Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, I've been known to hang out in the mall like I was 16 again, talk to the ocean in my head, and try to heat water with the power of my will (it has not worked yet).

I think it all just shows how much these characters are me, are a part of me, and live within me - at least until I get them on the page.

Which characters do you love to live, whether they're yours, or someone else's?


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