Be An Individual

Your Fashion Style is Girly

You dress to look beautiful and show off what you've got Dresses, skirts, heels... whatever it takes to turn heads You love feeling like a girl in any setting Even your workout clothes are cute and feminine!

What Kind of Fashionable Woman Are You?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

What does this have to do with me and my writing? Not much, lol. Okay, I can figure out some way that it relates... somehow...

Anyway, the reason it came up was because of an experience I had with a good friend of mine. She is someone who is much more comfortable in jeans and t-shirts, but occasionally, she needs to dress up. So... we went shopping, and she dragged me along, cuz she doesn't do shopping very well. We ended up having to take two trips. But, that's beside the point.

A comment she made about my style and taste in clothing made me stop and think. I wear what I like, end of story... at least as far as I'm concerned. It could be something that others find trendy, or it could be something funky that caught my eye. I started thinking on how each character I write is as different from another as night is from day. I'm rather eclectic in my characters as well, or at least I seem to think so. :::shrugs:::

Spending time with my good friend reminded me that every story has the good friend, the secondary character. Yet in my mind they always end up with their own story and the main characters... become the secondary characters. Does that make sense? Each of my characters is an individual, just as each of my friends are individuals. I hope each time I pen a story that I've described a new character and that I'm not just regurgitating the same heroine over and over and over again. :::gag:::

I know that a bit of myself makes it into each heroine... but I just started to realize recently that my friends and family show up a bit in each of my secondary characters, who eventually become main characters in their own love story. My friend who is much more comfortable in blue jeans and sweats and has a total of three pairs of shoes is just as interesting as my friend who is up to date on all the latest fashions and has more shoes than even I think one can wear. (I know Megan and Mysti are laughing here) The main point is that each one is an individual, just as each character I write is an individual. I'm sure if each of my characters took that test up above... each one would have a different result. In the end, I just hope I can do them justice and let them be individual.

How about the rest of you? Do you ever struggle with making your characters each distinct and individual? Have you ever noticed that you DON'T succeed?