The wheel of the year is turning–past the PNW’s June Gloom, into the full glory of summer. Once again, it’s time for our monthly blog hop with the Insecure Writers Support Group.
Thanks to this month’s awesome co-hosts
Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre,Jennifer Lane, MJ Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!
The purpose of the IWSG:
To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
This month’s optional question: What personal characteristics have you written into your characters?
My female protagonists and I share artistic ambitions, unconventional tastes, and the tenacity of a cranky pit bull. When told we can’t do thus-&-such, we chomp onto our goal and shake it, growling, until success is achieved. Or until someone squirts us with a hose.
Margot, the heroine of my WIP, is twenty-two, a senior in college, and trying to figure out her next steps—in a world that’s much more complicated than when I was twenty-two. A budding graphic designer, she’s exploring options despite her family’s lack of support—to put it mildly. Her parents are wildly intolerant religious fundamentalists, and she’s a tattooed, pierced, spiky-haired bisexual hiding her tender heart beneath a prickly exterior. Though the details are different, in Margot I see my fiercely determined younger self.
I see this pattern in my other heroines, too. Lola, a 50-something flame-haired belly dance teacher and aspiring writer, dismisses her daughter’s wishes for a more conventional mom with a wave of her bejeweled hand. Eventually, her daughter comes around and they become business partners. Lola loves her kids, but she’s not going to let herself be corralled by convention. What kind of role model would she be if she settled for suburban drudgery?
Laurel, 31-year-old heroine of Runaway Love Story, also doesn’t get family support for her artistic dreams. Instead, they urge her to settle for “sensible,” a word that makes my skin crawl. Rather than squashing her ambition, their disapproval only sharpens her determination to build the big, sparkly life she yearns for.
Don’t get me wrong: my family is supportive of my writing career—of course, I put in many years in a “sensible” teaching career before launching this chapter. My parents’ urgings to be practical came from a place of love—it’s hard to support yourself solely as an artist, and they wanted me to be safe. But that theme of artistic women refusing to be fenced in is one I return to again and again.
And you? What aspects of your own life pop up in your characters?
P.S. In each book, I insert a minor character with my IRL first name—my own little Stan Lee cameo, just for fun.
It’s so weird, as a mother, I too want my kids to be “safe”, have a way to feed themselves as well as follow their art. But I wonder how much of that is good for them, or how much cripples them? It’s hard to find a balance. You seem to have found that which is great. I can only hope, especially for my son who is a song writer/singer. That is such a hard road to travel… Happy 4th! http://www.lisabuiecollard.com
Great post! Love the “tenacity of a cranky pit bull.” I’m with you on showing detractors just how wrong they are by accomplishing my goals anyway.
Hi,
Even though I get up early in the morning, I am not a morning ,person. I like to rise around 5 and just putt around the house until after eleven a.m. before I start getting into the day. If anyone calls me or my mobile rings before then, I too am like a raging pit bull.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
What an insightful post. My family are not supportive of my writing and book cover making endeavors, but they might have an excuse. Or so I tell myself, to take the sting out of it. All my relatives live in another country and don’t speak English well, so none of them can read what I write, except my kids, and they are not interested. That’s why being a part of the IWSG family is so important to me.
Great characters. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
I get a vivid image of your characters from your descriptions. Well-written post!
Great posts and wonderful character descriptions. Happy IWSG.
“tenacity of a cranky pit bull. When told we can’t do thus-&-such, we chomp onto our goal and shake it, growling, until success is achieved. Or until someone squirts us with a hose.” Love that!
Knowing you from our ‘shared’ history this rings so true. 🙂