“What are you making?” my husband asks. We are sitting in the family room together, he with the newspaper, me with a needle and thread.
“An alien,” I answer.
“I don’t want to know,” he says quietly, eyes on the sports section.
I chuckle, knowing his curiosity will return once he reaches the stock market report.
The curious minds of my critique group prompted me to make my alien. I am the only science fiction writer, they sometimes struggle to find hooks on which to anchor my flights of fantasy. My current piece features an alien heroine. They understand the premise, accept her motivations, even cheer her victories. But what does she look like? Insectoid, I say, a meter long, with attributes that are a cross between a lobster and a hummingbird. That helps, they say; could you draw her for us?
My eighth grade art class crushed any hope that I could draw. Still, the request makes me realize that I don’t fully see my heroine, either. Does she have an opposable thumb claw? Are her tympanic membranes glittery or dull? Are her wings leathery, feathery, or diaphanous?
I can’t draw, but I can make a doll. With stuffed toy fur, costume taffeta, and rainy-day craft projects, my heroine finally gets to display her limbs, claws, and carapace. Thin wire in the seams lets me bend a knee joint, flare a wing. Beads make wonderful faceted eyes. I’ll make clothes and accessories once I write those scenes describing her skirt or bag. My character has a new layer of reality now that I can touch her.
And my husband has a new tale about his crazy, creative wife that he can tell his friends at work.
Great story, Lani. And I can’t wait to see the result. I have my own idea of N. Keli, after reading your installments at the writer’s group, but my N. Keli was too ethereal and transparent to build from solid materials. I hope you bring it to the novel novel writers group in October.
Lani, Please bring Nobuki Keli to our next CWC meeting. Can’t wait to make her acquaintence. Do you have a story title for her yet?
I’ve found it extremely helpful to make sketches, drawings, etc to explore and discover more complelely the physical elements of narrated “reality.” I’ve not yet rendered a character in that way, but I keep fictional maps and floorplans handy, along with flowcharts of my scenes. It’s easy to lose track of so many things, half-way through a novel. Sometimes, even at the outset.
Thanks for sharing.