Wednesday, September 10

Guest Post by Shauna Scheets of Lost Lore Books


The Power of Characters.

Writing. My characters.

It started as a hobby. An attempt to explore myself, and see what I could create. But that is
an illusion. I have created nothing. These things, these places, these themes, these people,
they all come through me. I am not an originator. I am just a mouthpiece. I tell a story. And
it is theirs.

I thought this activity, this thing that we call writing, was something over which I had
control. That was one of the aspects that was so appealing. But if you are in control of
something, doesn't that mean you can stop whenever you want? I tried to stop. I thought I could
stop. That  was when it happened: a pounding so hard in my head that I wanted to wretch. It did
not go away until I caved. It did not stop until I relinquished my control, until I admitted
that I was not in control and that they were - the characters. (Though I love them, this word
'characters' plays in my head with an ominous and booming voice.)

Characters don't only have the power to influence us. They have the power to help define us.
Whether they be the characters that we read about, or the characters that drive us to write,
they have incredible power. Whether we agree with the characters or not, they have helped us
define a little more about ourselves. By being confronted with a set of actions and reactions
we have the opportunity to see if we agree or if we don't. And that may not be the same
decision throughout our lives. I guess it brings me back to understanding just how important
stories are and will always be to every part of my life, and everyone else's lives, for that
matter. Whether or not we see that importance doesn't mean that stories and characters aren't
always around us, always impacting us.

It may be a bit heavy. But sometimes that's what a story is. Sometimes it's heavy. But it
doesn't have to be. That's the beauty of stories. That's the beauty of characters.

Happy reading,
Shauna


PS - Shout out of 'thanks' to Kristy Carey for hosting this piece!

Shauna Scheets

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Lost Lore Books
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