J.K.Rowling has been in the news over the last couple of days, when she admitted that she thinks she may have made a mistake with a couple of her characters from the Harry Potter series; she now feels that maybe two of them shouldn’t have got married… that she thinks she they should have had other partners. Some of her readers also share her feelings, they feel that there was a mismatch… but isn’t that what sometimes happens in real life? But of course, however real the characters seem to writer and reader, they are only imaginary people after all.
It is difficult for a writer to stand back from the characters they have created (or have sprung into their minds) but it is really important that the author tries to be as objective as possible, and not love the fictitious people too much; there is nothing worse than reading a book and feeling that the author has been indulgent with what or they have written about. I’m not comparing myself to great writers, but I have had readers mention to me that they would like a sequel, because they have so engaged with my ‘people’ that they would like to continue with them in another story. My characters are very real to me, and after I finish writing, their story continues in my head, but I don’t want to write a further episode in ‘their’ lives. In ‘Farholm’, in particular, readers have asked that I continue the story of two of the characters, and I have been tempted, because they do have a story… however it might not be what those who have suggested it want! in ‘Loving Judah’ there is a very clear indication of a relationship of two of the main characters developing in a certain way; one friend said she was sure this relationship would not last, that the characters would see other partners… another friend said exactly the opposite, that the individuals, despite certain difficulties, would have a life together…
Once a book is published, whether as a ‘proper’ book, or as an e-book, like mine, the story and the characters is liberated from the writer, because the reader now has an input and will construct their own dimension to the events and people. Some authors have bowed to their readers and continued writing about characters, when they actually feel the time had come to finish; Conan Doyle even killed Sherlock Holmes but then had to bring him back! I don’t want to bein a position where I have to kill any one… unless the plot dictates!
An excellent article by Jane Shilling, discusses this:
Farholm:
Loving Judah
Lois Elsden 
True! I wish Rowling had not said it… but no matter what, Ron and Hermione will forever be a couple to me.
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I try not to say what I think happens to my ‘people’ after the story ends… even here I don’t comment or tell their secrets!
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