One of my favourite paintings is David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio. The picture to the left does not do the painting justice. In person, it is incredible. But paintings like this can teach us a lot as writers as they are a moment in time after a lifetime of backstory. And a moment in time is exactly where we find our protagonist.
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When truth is too strange for fiction
Mark Twain’s words “the truth is stranger than fiction” have become a cliché because they are accurate. As fiction writers, we get to experience this in real time: the first reader or editor comments, “that just wasn’t believable”; yet you had stolen it from a real life experience. This played out for me when I read a recent interview.
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Making the unlikeable acceptable
I remember a tutor, a long time ago, used the example of Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets to prove his point that a protagonist does not have to be likeable. It’s a good example because if I ran into Melvin Udall in my daily life, I would change course immediately. Despite his excellent points, to date all of my protagonists are likeable, or at the very least, sympathetic.
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Editing for depth
The entire world is in the midst of a period of uncertainty that most of us have never experienced. The feelings that this time evokes – the fear, anxiety and loss – are new to many of us. If you are a writer, using these new feelings to add depth to your characters may provide a healthy and welcome outlet.
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