You know what's interesting? Sometimes you have really good advice, or insight, that comes out in your writing. Sometimes, when you least expect it, it helps you out. Sometimes your characters even teach you a thing or two.
I've been schooled (by my own writing no less!) a few times. Sometimes, it's a character that just refuses to be ignored and inspires me to pay more attention to them. Other times it is a character that I think is going to behave a certain way, and yet when I start to write that character, he/she comes out completely different. It's interesting, because writing seems like something I'm creating myself, but my subconscious is also working. I think our subconscious sometimes knows our characters better than we do.
I have a character I'm working on who surprised me. I was sure he was going to be a certain way. It had all played out in my mind. When I went to write him into the story though, I realized what I had been seeing was all the bluster of what he was supposed to be. I wasn't really seeing who he was.
Then I realized how similar that can be to real life. So many times we try to fit ourselves into a version we think we are supposed to be. We're supposed to love sports, or video games, or art, or books. We're supposed to dress and act a certain way to be taken seriously at jobs. The way I saw my character was like seeing the people we keep trying to be, without being able to see and appreciate the people we actually are. How silly.
I'm glad that I got schooled by my own writing. I'm glad a character showed me he was so much more than what people thought he should be. Now I'm just faced with the dilemma of a side character who is possibly more interesting than the main character. Sigh. This is fine.
*goes back to writing*
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