RECOGNIZE: a word with several meanings. Take this one.To admit as one being entitled to be heard.
The female protagonist in my novel, The Testing of Miss Taylor Jones, is a reporter who longs for recognition. For one thing, she is stubborn and is prepared to hang in there no matter how long it takes. Which we possibly might admire, or feel irritated with.:)
But as I delved deeper into her character she made me feel uncomfortable. And I never knew the reason at first. It didn't come to the fore until I had worked on my M/S for the umpteenth time. She was my leading lady and had every good reason to act the way she did. Especially in the 1890's when quite a few brave females, even Christians, were struggling to find their identity in a male dominated sphere. Therefore I couldn't lay the blame on this young woman, so I had to look elsewhere.
Only then did I realize that longing for recognition was deeply ingrained in me. Uh-oh. I was writing myself into the poor girl whether she liked it or not! I am not one to put words into the Lord's mouth, but I am sure the Holy Spirit gracefully challenged my heart at that point. In the sphere of my writing was my motive recognition of myself? Or was I, through my characters, pointing my readers to the Lord? That is what I have always set out to do, but sometimes my old self nature worms its way in. Not into my writing as such, but the REASON for my writing. This is a personal heart attitude I am dealing with.
I wonder if any of you authors write things you are dealing with into your protagonists' lives? Or maybe even into that of your antagonist? Hmm. Perhaps it might give the characters a more honest flesh and blood reality. That is one reason why revealing a character's motives usually explains the homing in on the goal onto which they have locked their heart.
Maybe it's that confronting Bible verse telling us our hearts are deceitful that makes us delve into why we do what we do. So I guess that should also be true for the characters we create. We all want them to be more than make-believe cardboard cutouts.What think ye?
Author Bio: Rita is currently a scriptwriter and co-speaker on a five minute Christian radio program, Vantage Point broadcast throughout Australia. She has contributed to several U.S. non-fiction anthologies for Adams Media and has two historical romances traditionally published. She belongs to several writers’ organizations and her weekly blog, http://inspirationalromance.blogspot.com, shares personal stories and author interviews. It has a good number of international hits. She and her evangelist husband also minister together in special presentations.
