Guest Post: I am My Characters (Pt. 1 of 2), by Davis Aujourd’hui

Greetings and salutations on this lovely (HA!) Monday morning. Today I’m bringing you the first of a two-part guest post by author Davis Aujourd’hui about character writing. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, so this is a very timely post for me. I’ve been working pretty obsessively on one main Work in Progress for a while now (click here if you want any info), which has been wonderful – but for the fact that the character I’ve been writing (Charlie) won’t do what I want him to do and wrap his part of the story up. So I’ve been shifting around in that piece, trying different characters on for size, to see if changing voices will help Charlie decide to get with the program. It has not been working. So this past weekend I tried something altogether different – shifting Works in Progress.

The piece I picked up is more autobiographical in flavor than anything else I have going on. I am, quite literally, the character. I figured this was a good place to shift focus because, after all, how hard can it be to write about yourself? There’s no shortage of material, after all, and I have a decent handle on my own voice (teehee). Surprisingly, it’s just as difficult to write something that is semi-autobiographical because it is still fiction. True, the voice is easier to maintain – but I don’t generally have too much trouble holding my character’s voices even when they’re not at all like my own. And there is a fair amount of material flowing through my brain (and veins). But what I’m finding is that balancing truth and fiction is more of a high-wire act than I anticipated. There is a LOT of funny (and extremely bizarre) true stuff, but I have to be exceedingly careful how I present it so that it isn’t too true and, therefore, likely to get me into hot water with the people who were involved. I also have to keep an eye out for missing links – the elements that made certain events and/or people particularly entertaining because of some bit of backstory that I am not putting in the book. It is, after all, not an actual autobiography; it is a fictionalization, and that means both that not everything goes in AND that I have artistic license to make things funnier and/or more random when I feel it helps the story. (Ah, if only we could do that in real life, eh?)

Needless to say, shifting focus like this hasn’t proven to be a quick fix to my Charlie problem. I suspect there is no quick fix, grr, which is rather irritating but not unexpected. It has, however, proven to be a challenging bit of distraction from the mess Charlie keeps sticking me with, and that’s worth something!

Enough from me. Without further ado, I bring you Davis’ thoughts on being – and writing – characters. Enjoy!

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I am My Characters
by Davis Aujourd’hui

I am my characters from The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude and Babes in Bucksnort. The truth of the matter is so are you. For any of my characters to whom you relate or to whom you take a dislike, you are looking at a part of yourself. One of the most fascinating, and perhaps most exasperating, spiritual truths is that what we perceive in others is an aspect of ourselves. The odd thing is that sometimes those characteristics are something of which we have remained unaware. That’s the continuing challenge for each of us with which to come to terms if we are going to grow, improve, and accept ourselves as we go along our merry or not so merry way.

This has become one of the ongoing challenges of my own life. After a lifetime of taking on labels, playing different roles, trying to please others, and trying to be like others, I have come to embrace a more authentic life. I’ve learned that I must be true to myself if I am going to recognize my full potential within this particularly unique life which has been given to me. In so doing, I’ve come to discover who I truly am and this has taken a lot of hard work.

What I’ve come to understand is that I can operate from two perspectives. The first perspective is from that of my ego which thinks that it knows everything, but is invariably wrong. The second is from that of my spirit which is only about love. That’s where I will discover what is true.

We all serve as mirrors to each other. When we see something we like within another, we are affirming that quality within that person. It is also a quality we too possess. Unfortunately the opposite is also true. When we see something within another that we don’t like, we are also looking at something that is or has been an issue within ourselves whether or not we have realized it. That means it’s back to the drawing board; there’s more work to do on ourselves! After all, it’s an inside job.

What I’m learning to do is to focus on that which is positive within myself and others. It has helped me appreciate the goodness within people and life in general. It has also served to enhance my happiness and state of well-being. That’s been a huge lesson for me after living through many years of unhappiness and depression. I am largely free of that today. For that, I’m so very grateful.

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Join us on Thursday, June 7, for the conclusion to Davis’s post!

Davis Aujourd’hui is the author of the Sister Mary Olga Fortitude series of hilarious satires. The first book is entitled The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude.  It was followed byBabes in Bucksnort.  Davis possesses a rich life experience that has enabled him to draw from it in order to create a colorful canvas upon which to paint very human lives. He is a retired social worker, having worked for Adult Protective Services in New York State for nearly twenty years. He developed the characters within his series of books in order to entertain a colleague by using the gift of humor.  As will be the case with Sister Mary Olga in his third book, he is a recovering alcoholic. He also happens to be gay as are several of the endearing and humorous characters within his novels. He can speak from his own experience. He has possessed all of the foibles of his cast of characters who are naughty, nasty, and nice.  Davis lives in Upstate New York where he is currently sharing his life with his partner of seven years. He is socially-minded and spirituality is the most important ingredient in order for him to maintain a happy and successful life. For more information, visit his blog.