Writing from "The Wound"
Feb. 6th, 2016 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mag7wrimoSo I've been listening to podcasts when I walk and drive, to help me think about writing, and yesterday, I was listening to an Odyssey podcast from Jack Ketchum, a spec fic writer, about "writing from the wound" - or from that emotional place we all have that lets us connect with the characters regardless of how well we know them. It's a great podcast for two reasons:
one, as he's a spec fic writer, he discussed the challenge of asking ourselves hard questions such as 'what are you most afraid of' and 'what is the worst thing you've ever thought of doing', and 'what have you done that you are most ashamed of' - and others like that that require being really honest with yourself, which will help get you to the same honesty with your characters (and some really good plot ideas!)
two, he discussed the pain we all have in some situations - break up or loss in a close relationship, fear of losing something important and not being able to do anything about it, death of someone close - those acute emotions that we need to sometimes reconnect with in order to write those feelings and situations for our characters.
It made me think, again, about what brought me into the fandom: my connection with Chris. The writers make each of the boys vulnerable at one level or another, giving all of us something to connect with for each of them. With Chris, it's loss of very close family, with many of the others, it's loss of a parent, with Ezra, it's the vulnerability of embarrassment or failure - some really good 'wounds' here to connect to us with. I think that's a big part of what keeps me writing in this fandom, the wealth of emotions to work with.
How's everyone doing?
one, as he's a spec fic writer, he discussed the challenge of asking ourselves hard questions such as 'what are you most afraid of' and 'what is the worst thing you've ever thought of doing', and 'what have you done that you are most ashamed of' - and others like that that require being really honest with yourself, which will help get you to the same honesty with your characters (and some really good plot ideas!)
two, he discussed the pain we all have in some situations - break up or loss in a close relationship, fear of losing something important and not being able to do anything about it, death of someone close - those acute emotions that we need to sometimes reconnect with in order to write those feelings and situations for our characters.
It made me think, again, about what brought me into the fandom: my connection with Chris. The writers make each of the boys vulnerable at one level or another, giving all of us something to connect with for each of them. With Chris, it's loss of very close family, with many of the others, it's loss of a parent, with Ezra, it's the vulnerability of embarrassment or failure - some really good 'wounds' here to connect to us with. I think that's a big part of what keeps me writing in this fandom, the wealth of emotions to work with.
How's everyone doing?