Writer's Block: I Can Relate

[cleolinda]

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Just a short bit, because I liked the question: I always related a lot to Jo March as a kid, since I was a writer too. So many people identify with Elizabeth Bennet--probably because she's just that well-written a character--but more specifically, I always identified with Elinor Dashwood (my sister is very much a Marianne); I tend to choke a lot of things down. And Jane Eyre and Sara Louise in Jacob Have I Loved appealed to me a lot for that sense of outsider-ness, of not fitting in.

(As a side note, I try to find something I can identify with, or at least understand, in every single character I write. It's a useful way to prevent cardboard villains, for example. You know, what beliefs do they hold, or habits do they have, or what do they really want, and can I identify with wanting that, even if I don't want it for myself?)

Comments

[maudelynn.livejournal.com]

See, there! My best buddies are always Elinor to my Marianne :)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hee, yeah. I don't know that two Elinors would get anywhere together, and two Mariannes would drive each other insane.

[maudelynn.livejournal.com]

PS yes, my Villains are always me if I took a different path, or had different reactions, to situations in my life... and if I was a man who looked like THIS

(http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y206/Maudelynn/?action=view&current=BecomingJaneJamesMcAvoy.jpg)

(http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y206/Maudelynn/?action=view&current=james_mcavoy_insanely.jpg)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, I try to think that way to avoid the cliché of the villain wanting to RUUUUULE THE WORRRRLD! Like... who really wants that? Why?

[falco-conlon.livejournal.com]

Good God, Jacob, Have I Loved was such a staple in my childhood.

[hopeleslove.livejournal.com]

Same here. Oh Wheezy, I'll always love you.

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

I identified with Elinor Dashwood too. It's totally an introverted oldest daughter thing. ;)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I think it's also a "Set a good example" or "Take care of your younger sibling" thing. As the oldest, you're kind of a deputy adult, so you don't get to act out.

[barrelgoddess.livejournal.com]

Elinor! Yes! Me too, I loved her. And I do the same thing with characters I write. It's very important, IMO. ^^

[oya-yansa.livejournal.com]

I have always identified with Elinor. Fiesty but reserved. I related to Jo until Marmee starts telling her that biting pieces off the furniture is preferable to showing anger, and Jo is like, "Oh, I will try to do that, because then I will be a Good Person," and even six-year-old me was like, "That? Is messed up." Like Elinor, I hide my emotions (and consider Marianne-like emotionality to be slightly embarrassing), but not to the point of chewing the bureau.

[golden-d.livejournal.com]

See, it was always Meg, for me. She just wanted to fit in and be liked and be normal and fall in love and live happily ever after, whereas Jo was always trying to be different and such. Mostly Meg won my heart when she completely freaks out because "THE JELLY WON'T JELL!" and she can't figure out how to make the recipe work and the house is a mess because she's been busy all day in the kitchen and then her husband brings a guest over for dinner unannounced, and it just caps off an awful day and poor overwhelmed Meg can't hold it together in the slightest. Which is totally something I would do.

icon love!

[sevenmarie.livejournal.com]

i love your icon!! when i was little i even tried to comb my hair with a fork...that shit hurts!

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

I triply identified with Jo March! While P&P is a better book than S&S, I think I actually enjoyed Elinor's POV more than Elizabeth Bennet's. And Sarah Louise basically got me through seventh grade (it was terrible in English class when everyone kept going "oh, she's just bringing it all on herself" and I was the only one saying "NO SHE DIDN'T." I mean sure, she probably brought some of it on herself, but when one is the mousy brunette next to some bright vivacious blonde, one can't help but feel a little outside everyone else.)

As for your side note, that would be one of the things that, I think, is a sign of a good, thoughtful writer. So yay! :-)

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

When it comes to Alcott, I actually identified most with Polly in "An Old-Fashioned Girl," because I always liked different things from (than?) what all the other kids my age liked, and sometimes felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb.

[valancymay.livejournal.com]

Valancy Jane Sterling, The Blue Castle.

[elysian-dreams.livejournal.com]

I LOVED Jacob Have I Loved as a kid, I read it over and over. I totally identified with Sara Louise. I thought no one else had ever read or liked that book!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's a school reading staple, although I read it on my own.

[tenaya-owlcat.livejournal.com]

I admit that I do identify a lot with Lizzy, but all the quizzes I've ever taken equate me with Elinor. O.o If we wander into movies, I definitely feel like Belle. :)

There's probably others, but they're not coming to mind at the moment...

[iczer6.livejournal.com]

I like Pullman's female characters a great deal. Though I'm not as clever as they are.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love Lyra and Serafina and Sally Lockhart. I just don't know that I'm actually awesome enough to identify with her. I mean, beyond the way in which you identify or empathize with most well-written characters.

[karintheswede]

If we're talking Austen, then I'd have to say Anne Eliot mixed with Elinor Dashwood, which I think mainly has to do with being the quiet, observant person in an outgoing family. I don't particularly like Elizabeth Bennet while still liking the book. Fanny's simply too good, and Catherine is too young. Emma's just a bully, and I don't like bullies.

As for the March sisters, I don't identify with any of them, but I would like to have all of them as friends.

The one I can remember identifying with as a child is Matilda, from Roald Dahl's Matilda.

[uminomamori.livejournal.com]

I *wish* i was as well spoken as Elizabeth Bennet.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wish I could say that I identify with Elizabeth Bennet, but she is far, far cooler, not to mention much better when it comes to witty repartee, than I will ever be.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

Is it weird/sad that the fictional character I most identify with is Liz Lemon?

[girlthethird.livejournal.com]

Oh Lord, me too. I'm like three parts Bridget Jones, seven parts Liz Lemon.

[sevenmarie.livejournal.com]

you know what's odd? i have always secretly sort of identified with Neville Longbottom (up until the last book when he KICKS ASS...which is prolly why i get SO EXCITED about that turn of events. always "buddies" with the "cool" kids, never really their friend. now that i think about it, its kind of sad.

well maybe Neville combined with Ron just because i am funny and when i DO make friends, i make them for life.

[sevenmarie.livejournal.com]

oh and also its odd isnt it that i identify so much with the boys yet cant come up with a single girl?

[aria624.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever really found the "oh that character is SO ME" until later in life. And I'm the opposite of you, there aren't many female characters that I identify with, even though I am a girl.

If I had to pick any character to identify with it would be, hands down, Sam Gamgee. His sort of naive innocent nature and utter loyalty, to a fault.
(not to mention that I adore Sean Astin)

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Odd -- I could see other people's answers, until I answered it myself. Now I can only see my answer. Silly glitchy Internet.

[iamsmr.livejournal.com]

Hi! Long-time lurker, first-time poster. This may come out sounding terrible, but I identify with Harriet the Spy, because she admits to thinking occasional mean thoughts even about people she loves. You can make an involuntary mean or petty observation (in your head) and still love someone. I only realized this when rereading it later, but to me it was about not guilting yourself over how you feel, not trying to repress or deny it, but accepting it for what it is and moving on. I remember reading in a book about writing ("If You Want to Write", by Brenda Ueland, in case anyone cares - highly recommended) that the author would encourage her students to write about childhood memories, because adults would never admit that they could "think such a mean thought about dear Auntie Mae" or whatever. Harriet writes some pretty harsh stuff, but I never felt that it was out of malice (that is, until the other kids stole her notebook and started being mean to her. Sixth grade, it is tough). She wasn't consciously looking for "brutal truth", just being honest with herself. Really important lesson for me.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah--I tried keeping a Harriet notebook after I read that, but I was so, so bad at it. I couldn't think of anything interesting to "observe" at all--which is odd, because from an adult's point of view, I think the observations of a fifth grader could have been pretty interesting.

[chulacabra.livejournal.com]

I'm on a Jane Eyre jag right now and I find myself identifying with her much more than I did the first time I read the novel. I don't like Rochester so the book didn't work for me on that wish fulfillment level, but her strength throughout is amazing. Just how she speaks her mind and lives her values no matter what, and doesn't capitulate to pressure from either the men in her life or the larger society. I love it when she says, "I care for myself." I'm not as kickass as Jane, but I have had times in my life when I've had to stand up very strongly for what I believe, so that phrase really resonates for me.

Re: the icon, I don't like Rochester but I do very much like Toby Stephens. Rawr.

[tenshinofushigi.livejournal.com]

Oh God, I *adored* Jacob Have I Loved when I first read it as a kid. I especially loved Sarah Louise, so it was a little jarring when my mom finished reading the day I did and said, "Wheeze is such a brat."

[mysticowl.livejournal.com]

Speaking of literary characters (I'd answer the poll, but my secret shame is that I'm pretty sure I'm Marianne while I desperately want to be Elinor), I just finished the first Tarzan book today and skimmed through the next one. So, so much better than any of the adaptations I've seen. Who knew that it had so much of a Harlequin novel in it? I'm in love with Jane's honesty: "You're so hot when you stab rabid gorillas multiple times in the heat of bloodlust, let me make out with you passionately." "Ew, you're all civilized now, bo-oring, now gorilla stabbing, that's hot."

[galwaygirl08.livejournal.com]

I agree with a lot of posters about feeling more connected to male characters. I think that's because - a lot of the time - those are the characters that break out, have adventures, etc, rather than just look for love. They always seem like they get to have more fun!
That said, I've always felt very connected to Cassandra Mortmain from I Capture the Castle. Dreamy, sort of introverted, often feeling like I should observe a situation rather than take part, but when the chips are down able to rise to the occasion and take charge. Someone mentioned Belle earlier and I agree wholeheartedly, especially in Robin McKinley's Beauty.

Can I just say, I love this community of literary people? You all make me happy.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm a Hermione Granger-type. (Which is funny in regard to the comments upthread about female posters identifying with fictional guys.) But really, I laughed very hard in book 3 when her bogart turned out to be McGonagall telling her she'd failed every subject. Definitely would have been mine too.

[megalosaurus.livejournal.com]

I always related to Hermione Granger the most when I was little. She was a funny looking bookworm-but she was also really smart and good at magic! and she had great friends!

of the little women I think I actually liked Meg (because she had my name and all people with my name are automatically my favorite?) the best, or else Amy (probably because I read the book first when I was closer to her age than anyone else's. Even though looking back she was the most annoying.