What I can say is that all my characters are searching for their souls, because they are my mirrors. I'm someone who is constantly trying to understand my place in the world, and literature is the best way that I found in order to see myself.
Paulo Coelho
I find it amazing that some of the minor characters in my novel Rubato became so interesting. Franz Liszt is really a minor character but he has influenced my writing a great deal. As I listened to his music I found myself trying to describe the action in his pieces with words.
"She picked up the manuscript, looking at the handwritten music from so long ago. The first strong notes cascaded up the octaves and culminated with ten repeated C sharps, all in a row. The sound of the music in her head was rich with color and texture. It gave her the greatest of joy to play the F Sharp minor section with it’s melancholy announcement before the beauty of the change of key. The change from minor to major left her soul lifted and energized."
To write about his music made me a better listener.
Another minor character who surprised me was Alexander Patchett. Stevie Dangerfield, my main detective, ends up interacting with him more than I planned. I so enjoyed bringing his eccentricities to life.
Alexander Patchett met them at the door bulging with curiosity. He was dressed as if he intended to go into battle. His camouflage pants and dark green shirt suited his colorful personality. He motioned them inside with enthusiasm. His questions came at Reggie like gunshots, loud and insistent. Was Horak the murderer? How did he do it? Did he have accomplices?
“May we observe from your windows?” Stevie said quietly.
"Yes, anything I can help you do is fine with me," he said.
He started as a negative, ungenerous character but by the end of the book I found him endearing and wistful.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that no matter how much you think you know your characters when you begin writing, they change and grow as they interact with the others in the book and with the main plot.
But, this is my first book and I'm lacking in experience. Perhaps I'll be more intentional with my characters from the beginning with my next book.
I suspect that my experience will be the same.
Wink! Wink!
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My novel Rubato
A riveting murder mystery about a morally compromised woman’s resolve to protect her musical discovery.
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