In a Question of the Day about how all characters begin life as stereotypes, Sean writes about the genesis of your favorite new pulp P.I.
"As for starting points, every character begins life as a stereotype. All of them. It's only what the writer does with them beyond that moment of literary conception that makes them true characters rather than mere caricatures.
"Let's look at Rick Ruby, created by Bobby Nash and me for the new book The Ruby Files from Airship 27. Rick started out as a paper-thin pastiche of the hard-boiled noir private eye. Even his name hearkens to the stereotype. Rick Ruby, a send-up of the classic Richard Diamond. But after that, when Bobby and I got together over dinner one night and really started to put the screws to Rick's personality and life, he outgrew that one-note stereotype and became the literary equivalent of "real." Is regularly seeing three women who want him for different reasons. Was orphaned. Left the police force to become a drunk after a personal tragedy. Most of his best friends are black, and not white like himself (and this in the 1930s). And so on. Rick stopped being a stereotype and became a character. "
"Let's look at Rick Ruby, created by Bobby Nash and me for the new book The Ruby Files from Airship 27. Rick started out as a paper-thin pastiche of the hard-boiled noir private eye. Even his name hearkens to the stereotype. Rick Ruby, a send-up of the classic Richard Diamond. But after that, when Bobby and I got together over dinner one night and really started to put the screws to Rick's personality and life, he outgrew that one-note stereotype and became the literary equivalent of "real." Is regularly seeing three women who want him for different reasons. Was orphaned. Left the police force to become a drunk after a personal tragedy. Most of his best friends are black, and not white like himself (and this in the 1930s). And so on. Rick stopped being a stereotype and became a character. "
Read the full article here: http://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2012/04/writer-will-take-your-questions-now-134.html
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