116
35
The use of a voice journal
will keep characters from
becoming little versions
of the writer.
The voice journal is my favorite way of getting to know a
character. The voice journal is simply a character speak-
ing in stream-of-consciousness mode. You prompt the
character by asking the occasional question, and then
just let your fi ngers record the words on the page.
It’s essential that you do not edit as you write. It’s
best to write in fi ve- or ten-minute chunks, without stop-
ping. Over and over again.
Here is what a voice journal might look like with a
character I’m making up right now:
My name is Pierpont Feenie, and people stare
at me because I’m six foot nine. So what? That’s
the body I got, and that’s the body I use. I go down
to Venice Beach, and I play basketball. That’s my
thing. When I play basketball, I feel alive. I can
jump, I can fl y, I am the best there is on the black-
top. They got guys down there, college guys who
think they can bang with me, but I’ve got the sky
Z4273i_100-126.indd 116Z4273i_100-126.indd 116 9/24/09 11:21:02 AM9/24/09 11:21:02 AM
117
hook, I’ve got the beef, and I love to lay them out.
Laying them out keeps me from killing people. See,
I used to be an assassin. The tallest assassin in
the world.
When I started the voice journal, I did not know that
Pierpont was an assassin. But he told me he was. So I
wrote it down.
However, if this does not fi t the needs of my story, it’s
very easy to change that and go on with something else.
Next, you can concentrate on background:
I was born in New Jersey and grew up in the
rough part of Newark. My dad died in a subway
tunnel. Somebody pushed him off the platform.
They never found out who. I was eight years old,
and my mom didn’t do too well after that. I had
to take care of my little sisters. Twins. Two years
younger than me. I had to grow up fast. The night
our building caught on fi re, well, that made me
grow up even faster …
Keep going with this. You will fi nd yourself excited
about your characters. You’ll think about them even
when you’re not writing.
They will become real to you.
It’s freaky. It’s fun. And it makes for better characters
in better stories.
Z4273i_100-126.indd 117Z4273i_100-126.indd 117 9/24/09 11:21:02 AM9/24/09 11:21:02 AM
118
Dwight Swain said that “zest” for your fi ction is sus-
tained primarily by creating unique characters. “Take it
upon yourself to fi nd something fresh and new in each
and every [character],” Swain writes in Creating Characters:
How to Build Story People. “Believe me, the process will excite
you. And out of that excitement will come production.”
The voice journal is the fastest way to that excitement.
Z4273i_100-126.indd 118Z4273i_100-126.indd 118 9/24/09 11:21:02 AM9/24/09 11:21:02 AM
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.