Curly hair that always frizzes in the humidity. A love for the shadows. Workaholics.
One of the most interesting things about my writing, for me at least, is seeing what parts of me end up in my characters. None of the characters are me, per say, but I don’t think I’ve ever written a character that didn’t have a little bit of me in them.
Given that I’m looking a bit closer lately at Ghosts of the Steel Road, I wanted to take a moment and apply that idea to my main character, Melandra Godfrey.
One of the characteristics of mine that she has on purpose is curly, frizzy hair. I’ve had very fine but curly hair my entire life, and for most of it, the only advice I would be given is to just brush it out and/or straighten it.
For those of you who have curly hair, you probably understand how terrible that advice was.
It wasn’t until I was a teen that I started to really wonder if there was another way. At the same time, Melandra was created, and I gave her my frustrating hair so someone could share it with me.
And no, there would never be any Princess Diaries moment where she straightens her hair and becomes miraculously beautiful. Melandra’s just going to learn to take care of her hair (and in general, herself), just like how I learned to take care of my hair.
One characteristic of mine that was more accidentally instilled in Melandra, though, was a love to not be noticed. In fact, one of the more important internal conflicts in Melandra’s story is that she just doesn’t want people to notice her, which is usually difficult when you’re the protagonist of a fantasy novel.
I’m a lover of the shadows, too. If I could get my way, I’d mainly just get things done and people would compliment those things, but never look at the person behind them. But that’s difficult, as humans naturally want to connect with the person behind the work, not just the work itself. Plus, I keep taking on leadership roles, and part of the job description is to be noticed.
Finally, we both work a lot. This trait was a bit of an accident, but the truth is pretty much all of my main characters are workaholics. I have one speed at all times and it is “as fast as humanly possible,” and I’ve never been great at resting. What kind of life would one be living if they weren’t just doing stuff all the time?
(Don’t answer that, I know that rest is important)
Melandra’s workaholic tendencies do have a bit more reasoning behind them than just perfectionism or the need to work, but those tendencies still do exist. Just like I’ve had to learn to take breaks, or else my body will force me to take them, Melandra has had to struggle with resting. Maybe she’ll do better eventually, or maybe someone will have to do the work themselves.
Overall, while Melandra differs from me in many ways (she’s ready to actually fight someone, for example), it is interesting to take the moment to analyze a bit more of how she is a bit of a reflection of me. I love the way she has turned out: curly hair and workaholic tendencies and all.
I’m genuinely so ready for the rest of the world to get to see how wonderful Melandra Godfrey is.
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