Alter-ego Auto-biographies
Ok, the new Bridget Jones’ Diary has been out for a little while
now and has been widely publicised, so I decided to talk a little about semi-autobiographical
novels. Novels based loosely on our own lives with just enough difference to
try and make it interesting. Unfortunately the interesting bits are not usually
interesting enough. I don’t mean Bridget Jones’ Diary specifically, since I
haven’t read any of them, I cannot judge. But I did watch an interview with Helen Fielding the other day where she confessed to it being based on her own life. Her
life it seems is interesting enough and she hasn't tried sugar coating or editing out any of the character's flaws, but that just happens to be the exception
and not the rule. I don’t mean we cannot take subjects from our life and write
them into fiction, we write about what we know, after all. But there is a
difference between basing a story in the town where you grew up, and having a
character that is exactly like the author with some bits added to make them
exactly what the author wants to be.
This kind of narrative can be dull for the reader. A bland caricature
of our idealised selves is not what most readers want, however this is fiction,
and we can have whatever character we choose to write. Don’t forget that, it is
YOUR story and if you want to write a story with a character based on yourself,
then do. Just don’t expect your readers to enjoy it as much, they are not you. In the fiction I like to read, I like main characters to be
heavily flawed. Alcoholics, drug addicts, rogues, thieves and even murderers (depending
on the motive) make for fascinating reading. It is so tempting to write about a
life we wish we had. I have done exactly that, though it is a story I won’t show
anyone. I did it for me, just to allow my alter ego to behave exactly as I
would want them to, just to get the urge out of the way and continue writing
novels that my readers would enjoy.
Someone recently informed me that November is ‘Novel Writing
Month’ and I was wondering how many people out there are waiting until 1st
November before starting to write their own tales? And if so, what inspired them
to begin? As always, let me know what you think in the comments below. Have you
written stories with yourself as the inspiration behind the main character? If
so, how’d it turn out? Are you going to write in November? I look forward to
reading your replies.
Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x
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