For me, writing is a strange thing. I spend my days writing (or doing something else when I should be writing) and have little enthusiasm for it. Unfortunately, this shows in my work. It becomes the proverbial vicious circle, in which I don't want to write because my writing is uninspired and my writing is uninspired because I don't want to write.
But recently, I had an idea: What if I created a character who was versatile enough to be in a variety of situations. What if I made this character someone I know well enough to know how he or she would act in any given situation? What if I threw in some surprises, things that might work against me writing for this character, just to make things interesting?
It was a little like creating a character for a role-playing game (like Dungeons & Dragons) and then throwing in some surprises just to keep the player (me) on his toes. I was both player and gamemaster, creating a character who would (I hoped) be interesting in a variety of settings.
I am very pleased with the results of that exercise. My newest creation (it's hard to type that without feeling a little like Frankenstein) is Akiko, a teenage Asian-American who was blinded in a fire. She has a mysterious past of which she is unaware. Having spent some time in the hospital, Akiko now lives with her foster parents, the Olsens, while the authorities try to locate her parents or a relative. It might sound like an American Girl story, but I promise it will be full of action and adventure. The whole experience of creating Akiko has made me excited about writing again!
I'd love to tell you more about Akiko, but I won't. Not here, anyway. You see, I promised a very elite group of people I would share things with them first. In an effort to make good on that promise, I will be sharing a short-short story about Akiko with all those who subscribe to my newsletter, Babbling Brook. But you don't have to miss out! Simply subscribe to Babbling Brook by clicking HERE. Hurry, the newsletter goes out on July 4th!
Author of Acting: From First Audition to Final Bow
