Suzanne Askham

Fiction notes: These two aspects of character

Recently my mother rediscovered my old school journal, from when I was eight years old. Of course I was a bookworm then! It seems I’ve been a bibliophile all through my life.

Reading, for me, has alway gone hand in hand with writing – with the telling of stories; with the creation of fictional characters. This extract from my journal reveals, I believe, the essential stability of character. In certain, fundamental aspects I have not changed one iota from when I was eight. I’m still fascinated by stories, still intrigued by the way an author from past times can reveal truths that seem freshly relevant today.

Of course, I’m not exactly the same as when I was eight. Life has intervened. Countless events have acted on me like ocean waves over a pebble, shaping me differently to how I began.

In writing a novel, those twin aspects of character are both worth searching for, I believe. Which aspects of a person are fundamental… and how then are those aspects shaped by circumstance?

Writing exercise

Create a journal entry for your character, aged eight. At the top of the page, write ‘Hobbies’. Then write whatever comes to mind. What was your character’s main hobby when they were little? What does that reveal about them today?