First of all, I have to confess that Camp NaNoWriMo was a spectacular failure this time around. I somehow thought I could revise my manuscript, take online courses, see friends and family, and job-hunt in earnest while traveling for almost five weeks.
I make myself laugh. None of that happened in April. I barely slept. As usual, I made myself ill.
But you know what did happen? I found the time to read a few books on my to-read list.
Click, by Ori and Rom Brafman, was among one of my stacks, and much like their book Sway, the narrative was both interesting and highly readable. Great storytelling job. Click deals with that special sort of "magic" we encounter -- whether it's an unexpected love connection, a number of complicated factors coming together just so perfectly all at random, or even just the feeling of being "in the zone" while working on a project.
The idea is fascinating, of course. You probably aren't aware of this, but there's something you use every day that's the product of one of the "clicks" discussed in the book. Can you guess what it is?
That mystery aside, Click got me thinking about those special people we have in our lives -- the ones we take a shine to right away, the ones we know will be our best friends as soon as we meet. These are the friends we can fill hours with, chatting away, the ones we trust with our spare keys and secrets, the ones with whom we can pick up where we left off after years of separation, no discomfort or reacclimatization needed. (Don't worry; I'm going somewhere with this.)
We are our best selves, our most unguarded, authentic selves when we are with these people. And, in our writing? When our characters are with someone with whom they click...that's when our readers (and we, as writers) get a dose of who they are, really. Their unfiltered personalities, their motivations, their anxieties, their dreams -- all these vibrancies can come through, if you get these characters together with the right person.
Many people act differently or speak differently, according to the situation they're in or the people they are with. (These social chameleons are generally known as high self-monitors, in case you're interested. They're always managing the impressions they leave behind.) This behavior is perfectly natural. It can make for a confusing character, however, when you're developing your protagonist. How can your readers get a good sense of who the character is, without needing you to tell them directly?
Get your character into a good click situation. Then, just let go. Whoever your protag is, just let that personality flow out onto the paper.
Ren D.