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My Characters Are Not Me
“Listen to what I said here,” I said to my husband and then read a sentence from my work-in-progress. After I had finished reading, I said, “Well, I didn’t say it, my character did.”
Don said, “Wait. You wrote it. So doesn’t that mean that’s what you said?”
“No, not really. My characters are not me.”
This answer might seem a little strange. But it’s true.
Now of course every character was created from my experiences, my thought process, my head. But they didn’t have the same childhood or experiences I had. My characters react and say things differently than I would. Otherwise, all my characters would all be the same—they would be me—and that would be very boring …
It’s kind of like an actor who plays a role. The difference is: I make it up as I go. I become every character, instead of every character being me.
And oh my goodness – I can’t believe the mouths on some of these people!
Love and Laughter,
Dorlana
Can’t wait to watch: The Great Gatsby
I can’t recall the last time I was so super excited about a movie. There are so many reasons why I want to see The Great Gatsby that I’m going to list them … in no particular order.
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s is one of my top two favorite novels - Here are a few of my favorite lines from the book, which I will be looking for in the movie:
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”
“Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.”
“Is this absolutely where you live, my dearest one?”
“But there was Jordon beside me, who, unlike Daisy, was too wise ever to carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age.”
“I shook hands with him; it seemed silly not to, for I felt suddenly as though I were talking to a child.”
- I have a writer crush on Frances - If you’ve read my bio, you know I also have a writer crush on F. Scott Fitzgerald. I don’t obsess too much these days, but there was a time when I was reading biographies about him and his wife Zelda, watching movies about his life, and I also happened to find an old copy his last, and unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon of it at my library. I love it because it had his notes about the unfinished chapters and the letter to his editor at the back of the book – so awesome.
- It is a Baz Luhrmann film - He directed the 1996’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this movie. It is one of my all time favorites. It is unique and bright and brilliant.
- It stars Leonardo DiCaprio – who also starred in Romeo and Juliet and the reason I’ve been a fan of his ever since. I think he’s such an emotional actor, and I don’t think they could have found a better Gatsby.
- It is set in the 1920s – I love anything to do with the 1920s. One of the reasons I loved the novel was because of Fitzgerald’s account of the era. I love the fact that it was a contemporary novel when he wrote it; therefore it wasn’t from research but from experience.
- The costumes – From what I’ve watched on the trailer, they are going to be spectacular, which brings me to the last, but not least, reason I can’t wait to watch it …
- The trailer – If the trailer is any indication of how this entire movie will be, I know my eyes will be glued to the screen the entire time. So excited. And speaking of the trailer, here it is:
Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.
