The Humble Student

I've often thought of myself as an eternal student. Those closest to me know that isn't so. I tend to run on and on about any subject until I discover I'm out on a limb. I'm always trying to fill the teacher shoes while wearing the student persona.

My teenage son just recently reminded me, "You don't know everything." He is right. I don't. At times, I believe I know enough. At other times, I don't know enough but am confident I can discover what I need to know. And then, there are other times, I am completely without an answer. It is the answerless times that confound me and give free reign to emotion. I think I'm comfortable with calling these times... being lost. They have the feeling of being adrift at sea with no land in sight and no passing ships to call out to for help.


When I reach these moments, I'm ready to become teachable again.

Shaping a Character

When I was writing my novel, "The Touch Me Nots" I discovered I needed to create a lot of characters. I had to visualize them in every day situations. I determined what gave them meaning in life and had to install their passions and quirks so that the story flowed with their energy. I found the process to be very similar to this Dragon I carved about a year ago. I started with a piece of cherry wood a friend had given me and began to visualize the creature before making the first cut. As the work progressed things changed slightly here and there and it turned out differently than I had first imagined. I'm pleased with the end result.

My characters in my book were created very much with the same process. I just needed to discover what facets to emphasize in the story line to turn them into a hero, a villain, scary, friendly, powerful, controlled, male or female.

The interesting part of the whole process was trying to discover what influence I would have over a reader's feelings for the characters as they suspended disbelief and entered into the drama of the fictional characters. I used a focus group that would read parts of the manuscript and give me feedback. These folks were more than happy to read the story and at times, applied pressure for the next section of the book to be written.

I think it may be time for the next novel to take shape and emerge.