I have a small placard that reads, “Writer at Work: Bystanders will be written into the story.” It’s a fitting tribute to the fact that inspiration and character development can, and often does, come from anywhere.
In my novel, one of the characters has an aversion to sex. It’s a tidbit of backstory that isn’t revealed until the very end of the book and I liked having him juxtaposed with the main character, who happens to be the village whore. I even went to the trouble of borrowing sex therapy books from my counselor in order to craft a better backstory for him.
Ultimately, I returned the books defeated and stuck with what I know: livestock. In my AVS 222 class, Reproduction, Breeding, and Physiology of Lactation, I learned that if a stallion’s first experience is bad, if he falls, is kicked, etc., he will be ruined and never mount again. Apparently, there’s no human equivalent for this, or at least there wasn’t in the books I borrowed from my shrink.
I’m pretty sure the only thing I accomplished with that foray into psychology was convincing my therapist that I have some strange sex hang-up. I’m under the impression that he still doesn’t believe it was research for a book. He also insisted, “There are better ways to get your jollies than reading case studies.” Regardless, we shouldn’t discount psychology when it comes to character development. This is a lesson best learned compliments of the brothers Grimm. Continue reading