Let them speak!
The other day, I was reading Morgan Hawke's blog (great blogger on writing, especially erotic writing) and she wrote on POV. She made a good point about writing in your character's voice and not your own. http://darkerotica.blogspot.com/2005/05/pesky-pov-problems-cures.html
This is something I think every author struggles with. I know I have.
At RT 2003, I went to the session on Erotica. Robin Schone, the goddess of romantica, talked about language used in writing romance and erotic romance. And she said it must fit your character. One of her own characters, a male prostitute, she said would never use manhood about his penis. He'd use cock. That was the way he spoke and it wouldn't make sense for him to use anything else.
It made so much sense to me, it was the beginning of the lesson, but was something I still had to mull over in my writer's brain. I didn't use certain words. My characters up till that time didn't either. They hadn't pushed to.
And then, I created and wrote a character, who stood up and said, "Uh-uh. I won't use manhood. I use cock." I sputtered and argued. But to no avail. He won. The character, god bless Viktor, made me realize I had to go with my character's language, even if it wasn't what I would say. I had to keep my character's voice honest or they'd never come across as I wanted them to. That included the language, be it cursing, sexual words, or even every day banter.
My writing has strengthened in letting my characters loose. All of my characters have unique voices that I hear when I write them. Staying true to that voice makes anything I write about them truer and stronger. Which is golden to any writer.
So let those characters speak. Don't hold them back with reins of your own voice. Let them be true to themselves.
May the muses be kind
Mechele
This is something I think every author struggles with. I know I have.
At RT 2003, I went to the session on Erotica. Robin Schone, the goddess of romantica, talked about language used in writing romance and erotic romance. And she said it must fit your character. One of her own characters, a male prostitute, she said would never use manhood about his penis. He'd use cock. That was the way he spoke and it wouldn't make sense for him to use anything else.
It made so much sense to me, it was the beginning of the lesson, but was something I still had to mull over in my writer's brain. I didn't use certain words. My characters up till that time didn't either. They hadn't pushed to.
And then, I created and wrote a character, who stood up and said, "Uh-uh. I won't use manhood. I use cock." I sputtered and argued. But to no avail. He won. The character, god bless Viktor, made me realize I had to go with my character's language, even if it wasn't what I would say. I had to keep my character's voice honest or they'd never come across as I wanted them to. That included the language, be it cursing, sexual words, or even every day banter.
My writing has strengthened in letting my characters loose. All of my characters have unique voices that I hear when I write them. Staying true to that voice makes anything I write about them truer and stronger. Which is golden to any writer.
So let those characters speak. Don't hold them back with reins of your own voice. Let them be true to themselves.
May the muses be kind
Mechele
posted by Mechele Armstrong at 11:19 PM
3 Comments:
Amen sister! & *dreamy sigh* for Viktor.
:-)
So, the cock stood up to be counted? LOL! Yeah, I use the word, or urm, well? I don't, and if I ask my husband, he gets all vaklempt and blushes, and yall know the sort of words he uses to describe it in lit, Dragon of Asgaard, John Thomas, Angus Macdangelroot, etc. He is however, a bit insane. Cock is not a bad word, it's a chicken too, Cockaleekie soup .. we have to grow up!! We do! Um, but I can still snicker as I type it *muhahahahahah*
I always send in my manuscripts with the characters talking how I know they talk but sometimes they come back to me in line edits with the "bad" words changed. :/
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