Speaking for myself, as an artist, I spent a great deal of my youth looking for some type of reassurance, validation, something, anything, that would tell me, yes, I am a fill-in-the-blank artist. I think it’s the nature of the beast for some.
Many, many years ago—pre-Internet—I considered using a pen name, or, nom de plume, for my writing, but rejected the idea for one reason, and one reason only—ego. Hell, yeah, I have an ego. Doesn’t everyone? I couldn’t imagine it. I thought, what’s the point of working so long on something to have a “fake” take the credit? Despite knowing that plenty of successful writers have used pen names, most notably Mark Twain, Anne Rice, George Eliot, Richard Bachman, JK Rowling, to name a few, I was still reluctant to do so.
Episode 2 is where I address the million times I’ve been asked by friends and acquaintances who have read my books whether these are my personal stories. You know, did all this stuff in my novels happen to me? I’m laughing right now.
Welcome to Djuna Shellam The Write OWL video blog series, Episode 1—Character Development. Of course you know this is about developing fictional characters and not about developing your own personal character, right? Just wanted to make sure you realized what we’re doing here. [Insert smiley face right about here]
