Getting to know fictional characters

Real life unfolds. It surprises you. I guess that's why I always find it difficult to plot, from start to finish, and stick to the plot no matter what. Way too rigid. Way too stiff. In such a setting, the writer, like a guilty defendant hoping for a favourable verdict, becomes a little bit timid, a little bit unadventurous. I'm sure plotting has its place, but creativity strikes hard during the actual writing process; and when it strikes it uncovers little treasures. These are the parts of a story that stand out. When people ask about the origin of these ideas it's almost impossible to say how they came to you.

If you want to surpress creativity, plot.

To me it makes more sense to meet my characters, learn a thing or two about them then let them loose. They're more likely to surprise, delight or terrify.

But where on earth do you meet them?

There's a magical room where I interview fictional characters. It's relatively new. I've only used it twice. Once to interview a bad-lucky dog and another time to talk to Gus, a vet who walked from Colombia to America. It's a large room with bare, white walls and a high white ceiling. There's one door and one large window through which, without knowing it, each interviewee sees whatever their heart desires. Just inside the door, there's a sheet of paper lying on the floor. The floor's white, the paper's a pale yellow. The paper is the first thing any alert person would see as they enter the room. Below the window there's a table with five drinks to choose from: a cup of coffee; a glass of lukewarm Coca Cola; a bottle of beer; a glass with rum and cold water; and a strawberry margarita in an elaborate glass. The only other furniture is a small white folding table set in the middle of the room between two white folding chairs.

The interview process is simple. It begins as soon as the character enters the room. The interviewer is already sitting, facing the door. Note everything. Hair. Expression. Attire. Reaction to the sheet of paper on the floor. Note it mentally. Not on paper. Not yet.

Invite your guest to have a drink. The drink, of course, is optional and the character may or may not comment on the drink selection, the view at the window or the room itself. The guest may also choose not to sit.

Remember, the interview is limited to seven questions. The questions are entirely up to the interviewer. They can be spontaneous. Or planned. They can touch on any subject: age, politics, hobbies, sex, religion. They can be trivia or math sums. Anything. You can ask the character if they've ever committed a heinous crime or been abused in some way. It doesn't matter. The character, male, female or alien, will always answer honestly. The room guarantees that. It's a magical room.

From start to finish the interviewer has only three responsibilities: ask the seven questions; mentally note the answers and other observations; and immediately after the interview transcribe the results.

Once you're done talking to everyone start your story.