Writer: Marlon James

I have not read Marlon James. I want to do so. Having read about him, I feel not reading him is a failure on my part. Especially, interviews like The Writer's Digest Interview: Marlon James.

Consider this:

It reminds me of something you’ve said on your podcast about how so many writers are narrative-focused, but it’s the characters that you remember.

Yeah, it’s Captain Ahab you remember or even the big whale. Stories are ultimately about characters, and I think if you start there, then you have most of your story already done. A lot of writers probably have struggles with things like plotting. In fact, you’ll come across writers who say things like, “I don’t care about plotting,” or “This is a plotless novel,” which is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. But it’s something a lot of writers struggle with: What do you do with plot? And the thing about that is you’re asking the wrong question. It’s not what do you do with plot, it is what happens to your character? If you start with characters: What does your character want? How does your character get it? What stands in the way of them getting it? How do they work around that? What are the consequences of their actions? What are the consequences of those consequences? The book writes itself.

I give this really bad example in my class. Nine times out of 10 when you have a back pai beenn, the problem isn’t in your back. So, nine times out of 10 when you have a plot problem, an imagery problem, a style problem, a concept problem, what you have is a character problem. And the more you get to the point where your characters feel like actual people, the more you have a story. Because the more real people become, the more you want to know their story. Storytelling for me is in many ways solving the mystery. And when you get to know your characters, and you get to know why they behave the way they behave, then that story almost starts to write itself.

 For me, plot problems are character problems. And my solution has been to conform plot to character. It is good to have one's biases confirmed by a better writer!

Do read the whole interview. He comes across as a sensible fellow. You will see why I regret not yet reading his books.

sch 5/27/22