[…] When we write a story, we deal with characters. We may think of them as existing in our imaginations. But as we dig into and develop them, details begin to emerge and ‘attach’ themselves to each character, aspects of their personality, events in their past, different parts of their psychological makeup. In this process, I think it’s fair to say these characters begin …read more […]

When I write, I almost never feel that I have had anything to with bringing the character to life—it's more like I discovered them, fully formed with a personality and a history I am only beginning to discover. It's more like psychically channeling someone than building them. The few times I have deliberated created a character for a story, they came across flat and artificial. Nothing about them or their motivations rang true. I sometimes believe that fiction writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

"socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." Interesting way to see it. Funny. I'm still waiting to experience that encounter with my characters. I have I believe. You know, get lost in them just to find what you've needed.

A thing to be aware of when you take this approach is that you'll end up writing the stories whose characters are most able to convince you to write their stories. If you have a sympathetic nature, you'll write mainly sad stories.