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About characters... who aren't you...

About characters... who aren't you...
7.juli.2021

The WDC newsfeed asked about growing old. Some responded by mentioning they are old. And THANKFUL SONALI RIP BIKERIDER mentioned how she is becoming her mother. Yep. Seen that. As the layers of youth peel away they reveal the old-soul underneath.

However I think that Bride A. Livewire makes a valid point.

"You mean how you gone perceive yourself, or...HOW FOLKS PROJECT THEIR THINKING/RESULTS ONTO OTHERS AND ASSUME EVERYBODY GONE HAVE THE SAME OUTCOME?

...Just saying..."

I read that response after finishing mine:

Because I'm old... the emphasis should be on ME rather than OLD because my other old friends are very different. I suggest that writers get to know their characters by getting to know people. Just because I'm old doesn't mean I'm stereotypically old and the same for any characters. Some are vibrant at 95, others falling apart at 60. We have many middle-aged writers here that have written about how they are falling apart.

Same with sex, living conditions, finances... you name it. I have a friend in her 70s whose mother is in her 90s. I have a friend who will die a virgin; she's in her 80s. On the other hand the Carters have been married 75 years. Some are constantly surrounded by family and friends. Some are happy recluses; some are lonely and feel abandoned.

Suggestion. Get to know people. Get to know someone like your character. Talk to people. Interview them if possible.

It's the same reason why White American heterosexual cis-gender Christian men have difficulty writing about a Hindu Lesbian couple in South Africa. It can be done... by getting to know them, interviewing them, seeing life through their point of view. And being sensitive and open to their feedback when you get it wrong... or right.

It's why "write what you know" rings so true. But... it's possible to get to know others who are nothing like yourself. Some actors do this all the time to the point that we think they are the character they portray."

I would add that it's why we need to listen to a broader range of writers speaking from their own experience. There are demographics that aren't well represented at WdC. They aren't nourished because they speak of things that the very narrow group here can't relate to and therefore won't read.

It's one reason why eyes-glaze-over when I try to explain my travel experiences to folks here. It's beyond their knowledge or interests. It even questions their comfort zone of a mono-culture of folks just like them.

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