"Writing well is the best revenge," was one of Dorothy Parker's pithiest quotes. Parker, was a member of
the famous Algonquin Round Table where a group of contemporary wits and writers met, lunched, drank
and tried to outdo each other with quips and repartee.
Remember? Way back in middle school? You know. The best friend who dumped you? You can use her now. Not as a friend. That’s long gone. But the way she tossed her long blonde hair and employed a laugh that tinkled and a honeyed voice whenever that special football player was near. And the teacher who lowered your grade when you told him you weren’t going to college—you were going to be a star. Your villain could use the grating sound of his voice, and his matted hair and you could add the stubble that once belonged to the visiting uncle whose unshaved cheek chafed your face. Think about the aunt you confided in, who laughed and said, “You’ll get over it, sweetie.” She’s returned and makes her entrance in Chapter Two of your latest. She won’t know, she never reads a book—besides she’s now a blue-eyed blonde and three inches taller.
What about your first love? Whatever happened to him? He pops up now and then—sometimes a hero, sometimes a villain, sometimes a clown, sometimes the love of your heroines life. Then there’s the man you worked for and placed on an undeserved pedestal only to find that he’d stolen your idea and never gave you credit—what a strong and detestable character he is going to make. You will have to humanize him a bit.
Looking back and using something that may have left an emotional scar can change that memory into something fit to print. A dramatic revelation not realized until you think about your characters and plot and discovered something in your past not fully forgotten. A buried memory that gives you—the writer—a poke. Then the denizens of your past move into their new setting, inhabit another time and place, and change the scene, improve the dialogue and bring their part in your new plot to a fitting conclusion. Perhaps we owe them a few words of thanks.
We redo and edit our manuscripts—do you ever recreate and use memories you once thought best forgotten?
Bests,
Elise
9 comments:
Love it, Elise. There may be some word therapy going on in my manuscripts, but I'll never tell which parts are based on true events. ;)
I have named icky people after people who were nasty to me. I shall continue to do so. Since they don't read I don't think there will be a problem.
Self-therapy, Anne Marie but it works. I do that too, Rita and the names are so-o fitting.
I have definitely killed off a few people I don't like, in my books. God bless their bloody remains :)
And, yes, those memories come back and find their place in a new story. It's wonderful when something clicks.
I might use characteristics or traits I've accounted along the way or cast them as a villain. That seems only fair, not that I'm telling.
What a terrific idea. I think I might unwittingly do this. I'm with Anne Marie - sounds like some great therapy!
Very good, Elise. It is so true. My childhood best friend just popped up in my latest book, and since the book is a YA, it made me smile to once again romp around with her.
Lord...whatever happened to Tessie and Peggy and Sandra?
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