Listen up

“Characters exist beyond what is written, with larger lives than fit on film. They’ll talk to you. You merely have to listen.”

- Pamela Douglas

I love this quote. It’s very much how I work and until I read this, I was worried I had a slight case of schizophrenia. I love it when characters talk to me. Especially when they do and say things that I knowingly did not plan on them doing. That’s when the magic happens…at least for me. Sometimes characters talking to me can also ruin a perfectly good plan or outline……damn inspiration…why aren’t you more predictable? (I’ve had characters admit their longtime love for each other when I planned on writing a full out argument. Talk about confounding a plan.)

As I move into my pages I’m getting to know my characters. I know their basics, the flaws, looks, actors I imagine playing them, overall arcs; but this weekend I learned what my main character’s front lawn looks like and what kind of music she listens to and why. I had no plan on her house being blue…but there I was writing and all of a sudden, she has a blue house.

All of that matters. All of that is part of taking me and my readers into the world I’m creating. And there’s a difference between explaining and showing a world, and just letting your world breathe off the page. I believe you have to know what your world feels like in order to let it breathe…otherwise you’re just giving us the laundry list of what’s in your world, but not what makes it tick. See the difference? What’s the heartbeat in your world, not just the wall hangings?

I noticed this a lot when I was helping to judge The Silver Screenwriting contest. Which, for you feature writers, I couldn’t recommend more. (This year’s winner gets to have drinks with Shane Black!!??? Are you kidding me? How dope a prize is that?)  But….point is….I knew we found our winner when I read the script and felt like I was watching the movie…not reading words on the page. It’s a fine line in writing, and I’m not entirely sure how that is accomplished…except, either it is, or it isn’t.

And I do believe that when a writer is in the moment, hearing the voices and seeing the world, that’s when pages start to breathe.

So take a deep breath, fellow writers. The story’s there, you just gotta hear it.