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Post by newburydave on Nov 9, 2011 11:13:42 GMT -5
After starting to read Jeff's book on Character and Plot based writing I think "the characters talking to you" (yeah I hear those voices too) is a variant on Character based writing that Intuitive writers (aka Seat of the Pants) get into.
We have a character in mind and though we haven't done the full, formal Meyers Briggs personality profile on them, we intuitively know people well enough to know how this type of person will likely react. I feel that this is a blend of intuition (our experience) and inspiration (The Lord's leading).
I always take it as part of the Holy Spirit's inspiration (our Muse as Christians) of our writing. It's very similar to what I experienced as a Gospel Preacher when the Lord gave me messages to preach to my congregations.
If you can do it this way successfully then it saves you a lot of laborious planning time because this type of writing makes your characters come alive like no other.
I think writing is a mix of Inspiration and Craft. This kind of inspiration, mixed with workmanshiplike Craft, is what makes for great writing. IMHO
Write on beloved Sibs SGD dave
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Post by Kessie on Nov 10, 2011 12:48:53 GMT -5
I feel that this is a blend of intuition (our experience) and inspiration (The Lord's leading). I've been reading a book on writing by Madeline L'Engle, and it'a made me curious. When Christians have inspiration, is it from God? How can non-Christians be inspired, though? Because they get inspired, too, and talk about these very same things (characters talking to them and whatnot). Sorry to hijack this thread, it just made me wonder.
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Post by newburydave on Nov 11, 2011 10:48:24 GMT -5
IMHO it's hardly a hijack, Kessie.
The question you raise is a very, very important one. I'll give you my opinion for what it's worth.
As a Gospel preacher I find that the inspiration I get for my writing is about the same as the inspiration I used to rely on when I was preaching.
Inspiration is nothing more or less than the Holy Spirit talking to you/ leading you by whatever medium He normally speaks truth into your life. Jesus' promise is that The Spirit, when He was come, would lead you into all truth, etc.
As Christian writers I believe we all are convinced that God has called us to write and sent us into the mission field of Speculative Fiction as a way to help build up the Kingdom. That being the case He promised to be with us and give us everything we need for life and Godliness (ie. to fulfill our calling).
So, in a word, "do I believe our inspiration for our stories comes from God?" Absolutely!!!
Every good and perfect gift comes down from Him;
Our writing is a good thing (it strives to have a Good [Godly] result);
Ergo the essential component, our inspiration, comes down from God.
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Now we get to the less easy part of the question. Is our writing always purely inspired by God?
I'm a New England yankee so I'll answer this with a question.
Is every other part of our lives always a perfect reflection of Jesus' character and God's image?
I would venture to say that any honest Child of God would have to answer no. We have need of much Grace from God and everyone else, and frequently have to go back and appologize (edit) to keep outselves in the place of holding onto a Clear Conscience.
That being said, once we come to genuine saving faith in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives does the general course of our life reflect His character and presence. Absolutely yes.
Seeking grace and forgiveness is part of that Godly lifestyle, Jesus makes His disciples (us) a lot different that the Self seeking non-believers around us and much better than we were before we came to Him.
I think you can see an analogy to our writing process: Rough Draft, Editing, Critique by trusted Peers, Professional Editing, etc.
What comes out of the process should be edifying to believers, attract unrepentant Sinners to Jesus and be a tool God can use to build up His kingdom in us and our fellows of this generation.
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Re: what about Non-Christian writers, where do they get their inspiration?
That's a hard question. Some of them seem to do good. That may be an example of what Theologians call Prevenient Grace or Common Grace by which they mean "Grace before the fact of conversion" or "Grace that is given to all men and women to try to lead them to God."
It could be that the Holy Spirit is inspiring them with truth as much as they are open to hear His voice. Not all unbelievers have closed their ears to Him. He has to speak to us before we're saved or we'd never come to Jesus at all.
There are other writers who reek of the fumes of Hell and Despair in their writing. There are others who sugar coat evil to make it appear good. I think it's obvious in both of these cases who their Muse, their inspiring spirit, is.
The classical pagans were interesting in how candid they were. Plato wrote of the fact that he had a "Daemon" who inspired him in the things that he wrote.
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The bottom line is that I believe all inspiration is spiritual. We know there are many fallen spirits in the world as well as the Holy Spirit of God. They are all seeking men and women to be their vessels and spokespeople. We're in the midst of the battle between Heaven and Hell for the mastery of the souls of men. Things can get murky in the midst of battle.
I think that as Christian Authors we need to strive to stay as close to the heart of Jesus as we can personally, seek Him constantly for our inspiration and that He will keep our spirit right; and get the best critiquing and help we can from our Christian peers.
He promised to use us if we will obey Him and let Him make us his instruments. He will do what He promised.
If anyone can draw the lines more clearly please do. This is all merely my opinion based on my experiences.
Write on beloved siblings
Sola Gloria Dei
dave
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Post by newburydave on Nov 11, 2011 11:01:42 GMT -5
To answer the second question, (sorry), Yes the unbelievers probably hear the voices of their characters talking to them.
The difference may be who the spirit is behind those voices. That's why we need to be careful to always "test the Spirits" while we write. Where is a given thread of inspiration going. We dare not follow blindly.
In my experience the devil talks to us tries to deceive us in the practical things of life. Sometimes he even speaks through our own natural (as opposed to spiritual) desires. I don't see why it should be any different in our writing, as writers that's part of our practical life too.
SGD dave
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Torrias
New Member
slightly imperfect
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Post by Torrias on Nov 11, 2011 14:47:24 GMT -5
That was very, very good stuff to read and ponder, newburydave. Think I'm going to be mulling it over in the background for some time to come. Thank you for taking the time to prepare and post that, and thanks to God for your expositional ability from both writing and preaching :-)
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Post by yoda47 on Nov 11, 2011 21:43:17 GMT -5
yeah, good stuff there Dave, thanks
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Post by fluke on Nov 14, 2011 22:40:04 GMT -5
I agree on inspiration for non Christians being an example of prevenient grace. Was actually what I thought of when I read the question.
And I have had characters act out. Father Phaeus was just the village priest. He was supposed to come on, say a few lines, and exit stage right. But no, for a humble little priest he had a way of wiggling back into the story. He became a major foil in the bad guys plans. When he speaks, usually it's important and good to hear. I wouldn't be surprised if he winds up with his own story being told. What I know of it is interesting. After all, how many Dwarven Orthodox priests serve in a human village?
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rjj7
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Today I'm a drake
Posts: 202
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Post by rjj7 on Nov 15, 2011 1:38:53 GMT -5
Just had a situation where a character kind of took off and went totally opposite how I'd intended him. There was a confidential meeting of representatives of several powerful organizations. One of them, the High General of an elite branch of the military, made a semi-jesting comment about how it would be better to make sure things were done before the next war started. His subordinate, a friendly, honest seeming Colonel, jumped in somewhat too hastily to smooth the comment over. Rereading it, I was mildly surprised at how the Colonel's reaction came across, and started playing through the rest of the plot in my mind. To my immense horror, it is revealed in a later scene that the General has long felt that war is building and that the Colonel has been working to try and dissuade him from speaking of it. However, it became too risky, so in a subsequent scene, the Colonel poisons his superior! Treachery most foul! When the war does come, this same Colonel nearly thwarts one of the heroes in his attempt to warn the armies leadership of impending doom, locking him up as a 'spy', and closing off access to him, not even alerting his superiors of his presence. The hero is only saved by a bit of luck (or perhaps providence?) where a second character happens to be in the right place at the right time to recognize him and get past the Colonel's evil webs. I'd planned for a lot of this last bit to happen, but it wasn't clear why. Now I know why! Cause of sneaking dirt bags in power! Not meaning to derail the interesting discussion going on, just had a bit of excitement that I felt like writing about (going for instant satisfaction here; if I wait to actually get to that part in the book, I'll be here a while )
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Post by Kessie on Nov 15, 2011 11:42:55 GMT -5
RJJ7: Oh man, that sounds great! Don't you love it when suddenly a character develops motives and does things that you hadn't expected? And it all works out beautifully for the plot? :-)
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Torrias
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Post by Torrias on Nov 16, 2011 1:20:22 GMT -5
Heh, reminds me of something I hadn't even thought of for this thread. I initially wrote a whole novel-length story-thread in which it just seemed like something elusive was missing as I sat on it longer and mulled it over. There were places where I wasn't sure why something happened just how it did, but I knew it had to happen that way, and those places seemed...thin. At least a couple years after writing all of that, one of my few strongest and most-favorite characters in all my writing thus far was born in my mind, and as I wrote him in, lo and behold, he fit perfectly into all those gaps and then some. Even the spot where a nameless, faceless, one-shot character brought a message to a main character off-screen between chapters (it was just referred to later). I never even tried to make him fit all of that. It wasn't on my mind when I came up with him, and his personality is so strong that he is most definitely not a filler-character; he more or less steals the show from my main character, and the story turned out to actually revolve around this secondary character and his unenviable situation, as if it had done that from when I first started writing it. Along with another character who was also a one-shot deal but who then told me his life story and inner struggles and he turned out to be really cool (definitely deserves his own story), that whole experience of a character taking over was probably one of my highest delights in my writing to date. Absolute divine inspiration :-D
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Post by Kessie on Nov 16, 2011 9:07:34 GMT -5
Sounds like what Drizzt did to Salvatore--he was a random minor character who just stole the whole show because he was such a great character.
I hope you write with this character, because those kind make the best stories. :-)
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