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gmw: I like your idea of writing about the characters just to get to know them, that's partly why I wrote the letter. Some scenes, not intended for the draft might help me know them better.
Unlike the characters in The Haunted, who came to me fully formed, Claire has been problematic as a personality. I've filled out personality questionaires etc in order to get to know her. I think this is because I've never know people of her type, or close to it, to draw upon. Even the incorrigible homeless guys in The Haunted were combinations of people I've known, but changed greatly.
Are you saying that the main protagonists SHOULD be simple in order for the reader to identify with them, or just that many writers use that technique?
I don't think any of my characters could be accused of seeming similar, they even have different speech patterns, except, maybe, for Claire's family, who haven't appeared yet, but will in a later climactic scene. Perhaps, when I write that scene, their voices will emerge.
But you can see why my books remain unfinished. Claire was expressing some of the criticism I level at myself. I always get to a point where my main thought is "this is total rubbish and not worth the bother of finishing".
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