HI I’ve gathered my notes together from the previous three books, but I've had some trouble getting back into Audrey’s life after such a long gap (I finished writing book 3 'Audrey's Big Secret' in October 2008).
Audrey wasn’t ‘talking’ to me.
So I headed outside into the garden and sat on a bench, a notebook on my lap. It was relaxing, a light breeze, birds playing in the birdbath. A change of scenery can help your writing if you’re stuck. Even a change from one room to another or from inside to outside. Visit a cafe or sit on a beach.
Interviewing your main characters opens surprising doors.
I asked Audrey a list of questions and wrote down what I thought were truthful answers. And, in a way, they were. But they were my answers about Audrey. It was me – the author – talking. Not a curious, imaginative, joyous little girl from 1930. So I went back to the beginning and started to answer as Audrey. Not me. Suddenly I heard her voice in my head, talking to me, all I had to do was listen.
Here are some of the questions I asked her (but not the answers, but those will go in the story):
- What about you is heroic?
- What do you like about other people?
- How do you dress (most times)?
- What is your best feature?
- What was your first memory (this answer changed a lot when I switched from being me to being Audrey)?
- Describe yourself in one word?
- What is your favourite game?
- Favourite toy?
- Most prized thing you own?
- Who is your best friend?
- What is your fondest memory?
- Worst memory?
- Do you have any hobbies?
- What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?
- What is your favourite weather?
- What is your best time of day and why?
- What is your favourite food – and worst food?
- What is your favourite animal, and why (and for readers who think they have guessed the answer to this one, you might be surprised. Audrey does not always say what you or I expect)?
- What habit of other people annoys you?
- What trait do you most admire?
- What embarrasses you?
- What do you feel strongly about?
- Are you a leader or a follower (she gave a long, complicated yet amazing answer to this one)?
- What don’t you like about yourself?
- When is it okay for you to cry?
- What frightens you?
- How ticklish are you?
- Do you have any bad habits?
- What do you do when you are bored?
- What would you wish for if you found a genie?
- What does the word ‘responsible’ mean? (This one was tricky).
Next time you have a story to write, you might like to try interviewing your characters and see what surprises you find. You discover things about them that you didn't know. You start to have a sense of how they talk and you might even hear their voice in your head. Your character has become a real person. As they must be for a story to be believed.
Till next time,
Christine Harris
Drawings from 'Audrey of the Outback' series are all done by the talented Ann James.















