A Book Nerd's Inner Voices

Alive

So I'm watching Nashville tonight on ABC, and a few episodes ago there was an accident that made it to where Rayna James (Connie Britton) couldn't sing. At least, she didn't think she could. Then, on tonight's episode she is speaking at a benefit and invited to sing. She tries to get out of it, can't, and proceeds to test the theory of her voice before a live audience.





Talk about pressure.





Rayna starts to sing, has a little trouble, and the audience picks up on the lyrics to help her out. It was obvious that she wasn't sure she could sing and yet she pushes through, belts out the notes, and has her fans applauding on their feet.





I was unbelievably struck by the courage that took.





I know she's a fictional character. That she's not real. But that's not completely true, is it? As writers, we create fiction all the time. We make up a character, make up a world. We put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and bring our visions and ideas to life.





But does that make them any less real? Does the fact that they were not born of flesh and blood, made from biological cells, mean that they don't possess life?


I don't believe that's true.





Every time I pick up a book and fall into the pages, I enter another world, meet people that were dreamed up by a writer's imagination. If it's a good book, I feel connected to these characters, almost like they're a part of me. And when the book ends, I feel like I've lost a friend. (That's how I know I really like a book.)





So doesn't that mean those characters, that world, are alive? I believe it does. I believe the author has created something so vivid, so appealing, that it draws you in and binds with you. And each time it does, a little bit of the reader's life essence is drawn into that character. Sounds pretty alive to me.





Something to think about.