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At the risk of sounding crazy, I think the MC of my secondary project is making me irritable and depressed. I’m not exactly sure why, but after I work on his novel, I feel this residual angst. Although I often get very attached to my characters, this hasn’t happened before. I’m wondering if the POV might have something to do with it, since I usually write in third person limited and this one is in first person.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? What do you think causes it? What did you do about it?
It’s a crazy I share. I try to complete a novel in no more than 4 months. It’s not that I’m I speed demon, it’s that that’s as long as I want to inhabit my characters because they do have an affect on me.
She remakes mechanical devices, and he dreams of becoming a steamship captain in The Steamship Chronicles. Book 1 is free in eBook.
https://margaretmcgaffeyfisk.com/the-steamship-chronicles/I might try that, but I don’t know that I can finish a novel that fast. For now, I think I’m just going to put that story on the back burner for a while and work on other things.
Oh, and as for causes, my specious reasoning suggests the cause is having really cute cats.
LOL! The cats whisper in our ears all night about our characters so we never get a break
.And yes, it’s fast, but I do all the outlining and figuring ahead of time so once I sink into the characters, it’s all pure words…says the person who just took 3? years to finish a novella????
She remakes mechanical devices, and he dreams of becoming a steamship captain in The Steamship Chronicles. Book 1 is free in eBook.
https://margaretmcgaffeyfisk.com/the-steamship-chronicles/I kind of had the same thing. I usually write in third, but wrote a novella in first about a really blunt character who swears, and has no time for other people’s feelings since you know, the world is ending, and even before that politeness was never a priority. I had to write an online post asking a bit of research for the story and came across as more blunt and informal than I usually do, but that was about the extent of it.
I just wrote fast and got out of his head when I could. I rather liked seeing things from another viewpoint for a while, even if he was very dark and self destructive. Makes me wonder who else’s head I will end up hopping into.
As for causes, I thought it was because to feel his voice (and it did feel like he was writing through me), I must have had to dig about and string together some dark parts of my mind I don’t go willingly into. The character was in no way me, but to channel him so easily I know I’ve looked hard into the shadows of my head and pulled up elements of me where I’ve felt things similar to what he feels.
That’s what we have to do sometimes as writers, dig up the demons, use them to put things on the page, then finish as soon as possible and lock them away again. Of course yours may be for a completely different reason, but that is my experience.
It seems to me that writing in first person forces you to get mentally closer to the character. Now, that isn’t to say a character you’re writing in third can’t have an effect on you – been there, done that – but characters written in first person are much more likely to affect you. Think about how closely you’re identifying with them, and it makes a certain amount of sense.
Oddly, both when I’m writing and reading first person, I “hear” it as second person…telling the reader how to think rather than thinking that way myself. But I’m weird
.She remakes mechanical devices, and he dreams of becoming a steamship captain in The Steamship Chronicles. Book 1 is free in eBook.
https://margaretmcgaffeyfisk.com/the-steamship-chronicles/Oh yes, this totally happens to me. If I get really “into” a character, it will affect my mood or the way I act. Some people from LongTimeBack (TM) at FM might remember when I was first working on Stronger with an incredibly foul mouthed main character…
Which, I suppose is somewhat better than dealing with depressive episodes because of characters. That was not so much fun at all.
Sometimes, it happens when reading a very immersive book, too.
I’m thinking a lot of it for me might be the POV issue. I’m fine with having characters in my head, but third person seems more like a movie with multi-sensory information. First feels like I’m crushed into someone else’s head.
I also think SAustin is onto something about the demons. I always draw on past experiences when I write, but I reopened a bunch of old scars for this piece. And I’m being a really bad god this time around. I heaped loads of baggage on this guy’s head, gave him several problems he can’t solve, and then plunked him down in a cruel environment with none of the tools I usually give my vulnerable and/or adolescent characters–a loyal friend, a kind mentor, some kind of spirituality. I armed him with nothing but a grim attitude and a sharp tongue and said, “Now go have some fun adventures!” And he’s just being crushed. Riding along with him is like being in a car accident; it’s sickening. (I realize that sounds like I have no control, but it feels like that.)
My epiphany came when, after having written on that story all day, I had a fight with my husband. At one point, he asked me what was wrong with me and wondered why I was being so sarcastic and acting like I didn’t care about anything. I took a step back and realized he had just described my MC. In retrospect, maybe my poor character was getting payback.
My problem isn’t so much with over-identifying with a given character, but with turning the story off when I’m done for the day. Since I write late at night sleep is all but impossible after a session if I don’t read a few pages of a published novel or story. So, there I am, reading at 3:30 in the morning just so I can go to sleep, and even then sometimes my WIP intrudes and I can’t get to sleep. Drives my wife crazy!
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