i feel like a disappointment

Post Reply New Topic

hi. my special interest is the characters i created for a book i want to write and it makes me feel like a disppointment. whenever i try to talk to anyone about it, they just nod and smile, or in the case of my mom, mostly ignore me. i hate when she says "okie dokie" like i'm some idiot that can't talk about anything else. i wish i could just shut up and be a regular person. i don't want these characters anymore. i just want them to go away.

Welcome to WP.

Don't lose your characters. Develop them. Give them life and give them expression. Pour your heart into them.

Yes, don't just 'want to write a book.' Actually write it down about your characters and make notes if you don't want to start a book just yet. If you get them down on paper they will come alive.

I understand this. No one wants to hear about the book you're going to write. It's a bit like telling people about a dream you just had, you can't tell them in way that fully conveys the importance of it to you and it just sounds like random unassociated events.

I think this is actually helpful though, if you do actually want to write the book. I learned this from Stephen King - "Write with the door closed." This is a literal and metaphorical door. He means basically keep it to yourself until it's written, at least to a first draft.

A story comes out of me because it's bursting to get out and I have to get it on paper or I'll go mad. If I talk about it, then it's already come out in a different way and it doesn't feel so urgent any more, so I don't have that strong need to write it.

So yeah, these characters have come to you for a reason. They want to come out and if you write them you'll pin them down like butterflies and they'll be out of your head. They might just be replaced by others but that's being a writer, and at least they'll be new characters.