Happy 20th Post!
Now to business:For the last few weeks we've been reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin (not related to the musical genius Frédéric Chopin... I checked). Chopin is now considered to be a significant writer of feminist literature, even though she herself didn't consider herself a feminist. As I see it, after reading this book, she isn't so much as a women's rights promoter but rather a believer in personal rights.
Her main character, Edna was in an unhappy marriage as well as in a suffocating society. The pressure of expectations from her husband, children, "friends", in-laws, family, culture, etc. became too much for her and she cracked. I don't want to spoil it in case you'd like to someday read it (I don't know why?) but throughout the story she demands freedom from her life, first in minor ways like neglecting her children (to be cared for by the nurse), spending her time how she chooses, and making difference friends but soon her new-found freedom is taken to (what I think is) a literally insane extreme. In fact the more I think about it the more I truly think 'the awakening' she experienced was actually her psychosis starting to kick in. Not that that is a faulty characteristic for a character...
... On the contrary actually. Even though I didn't enjoy the plot of this story, and even though I perpetually wanted to wring Edna's neck, the depth of the characters continue to astound me. A pat on the back for Chopin. Even after reading, while discussing it in class I was making new discoveries about the characters.
For example one character's significance, who seems like a minor character in view of her presence within the plot, unfolded the more I rethought the multiple levels Chopin included in her novel. First off she instigated Edna's awakening, next we see that Edna at times doesn't like her at all, but we also see that she is everything Edna wishes she could be (a single, childless artist) so maybe some envy is involved, but then they are also kind of friends and she understands Edna more than Edna understands herself.
Even now I'm starting to understand who Edna is: a mad woman! Maybe it wasn't Chopin's intent (how awesome is it that some skilled authors of history could perfectly capture the psychological disorders of mankind before names for those disorders even existed?!) but as I see it society became too much for Edna and the complete switch in her personality is due to the psychological aspects that went askew within her brain. Not to say that her ridiculous actions were acceptable or even justified but I'm able to be a tad more sympathetic now that I realize that Edna was a depressed, discontent, possibly bi-polar, crazy person!
I wish I could make such complex characters. I know that part of it has to do with experience, but part of it has to do with skill. The ability to first observe an unwritten world and then coherently recreate it with words is a feat not all writers are equal to. But for the meantime I can try. I've been reminded this past semesters that characters and even narrators can lie (or not), even to themselves. I think that's a big step in creating complex characters.
{possible spoilers... I don't know where I'm going here...}
Edna isn't aware of what's going on in her head. She just knows that sometimes she feels passionately for her children and sometimes she doesn't. She also knows that her husband is very nice to her and has the best intentions. But with that she acknowledges that she enjoys time spent with other men in her life more than time spent with her husband. We are never told WHY these feelings exist with in her but we are given the tools to connect the dots. We find out she never wanted to get married or have children but rather that she felt she was expected to. She doesn't say she doesn't love her husband but we can determine that. And early on we're unsure about her feelings for said 'other' man in her life because she is equally unsure. We as readers journey with her in discovering what it is she wants for her life. And that's cool because it makes her more real to us. Edna lied to herself for a long time about what she wanted for her life, about her feelings for her husband, her feelings towards her children, her feelings for this other man. Its not acceptable (as I see it) that she acted as she did but it is cool to see WHY she acted as she did.
Off of the top of my head I can think of two main ways in which I could help my characters communicate their depth to my readers:
Before I Write: This isn't my idea but I've learned this semester about taking your character(s) out for a drink (a movie... a shake... fries... a picnic... the opportunities, in sane moderation, are limitless). This can occur both literally, yes, actually doing it, and figuratively by taking the time to get a mental (and probably written) grasp of WHO your character is, HOW they would act in certain situations, WHAT they'd talk about when their guard is down, WHY they'd do the things you have planned for them to do in their plot, etc.
While I Write: I need to be MUCH MORE intentional about my characters dialogue and actions. They can't all be offshoots of me (unfortunately... JUST KIDDING... yikes...)! Before giving them speeches, before making them move across the room, before having them contemplate I need to know why. Even if I don't give those details to the reader knowing them is important to making REAL characters. Readers can tell, at least subconsciously, if a character is flat. And I don't want that!
After I Write: Surprise! Bonus third way to reveal character depth because it felt like it needed an AFTER since I already had a before. Anyway... Um... during the revision process doing a recheck for character motives, like talked about previously, and maybe even taking your character out again to see how they may have changed. I think it would be good, for me anyway, to make sure any change is due to character development (something they've learned from the plot, because people really do learn life lessons and really do change because of experiences they've had and really do discover truths about themselves) and not because they've become a new character (yeah, not cool... I've done that...).
Well folks, that is what I've got to say about that. Enjoy the final days of NaNoWriMo (whatever that is...). Now off to brainstorming my next short story for class...
-Jessica
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