Interview Your Characters
I know we are the creators of the characters. We have the power to make them protagonists, to make them nameless anti-heroes, and often we are too controlling and subject them to our will, so that they operate like puppets we manipulate. As I revise some of my stories, I am learning that encountering my characters like personalities I didn't create helps me see things from their perspective. Take Tendi, for instance. She nearly ruined my story when she suddenly used an American profanity. She is based in Mazvihwa, and although she has been a temporary teacher in the Gudo area, she has not lived in the city, nor has she ever travelled abroad. I doubt that she has seen any television in her life, although, as a former temporary teacher, she could have a good idea what a TV looks like, what it does, etc. She suprised me at a crucial moment of the story. I want to interview her. And let her answer her questions fully. She knows what she knows, and I realize that if I do a good job, wha...