Personas Lurking in the Shadows
In the spirit of Halloween, and the social custom of dressing up in costumes to go out trick-or-treating, I tried a new exercise in a writing group this week. It turned out to be fun, funny and also eye opening.
We writers are constantly creating characters. We envision them, dress them up, give them props and things to say and do. That’s the fun part, but day to day, month to month, it isn’t always easy. We writers are also subject to emotional highs and lows, and these moods can create obstacles to our creating.
We can be plagued by doubts, fears, frustrations. We might feel overwhelmed, judged, hopeless. We procrastinate, distract ourselves from the work at hand, and wonder whether there’s any point to working at all. At times we need to confront these forces that seek to drive us off the path into the darkness.Why not have some fun doing it?
In step one of the writing exercise this week, I asked each writer to jot down the various emotional states, situations, or qualities that seem to get in the way of doing their best work. (If you’re up for it, why not grab a pen and notebook and jot a list for yourself now?)
Since I never make writers do something that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself, I made my own list too. What came up for me: overwhelm, doubt, procrastination, hopelessness, busy-ness, too many responsibilities, and (this one surprised me, because it isn’t a regular thing) anger.
In step two of the exercise, I asked everyone to give these feelings or states a persona by naming them. I ended up with: Overwhelmed Ophelia, Doubting Dora, Procrastinating Polly, Hopeless Hannah, Busy Belinda, Responsible Rita, and Angry Allison.
In step three, we described what each of these personas was wearing. It’s surprising how quickly simple images come to mind. (If you haven’t yet reached for your pen, do it now and catch up to this point. It gets more fun.)
In step four, I asked: Do these personas have any props with them? Are they doing anything?
In step five, I asked everyone to review what they had created so far, and from that material—which was quite random and infused with first-thought-best-thought energy—to listen for a line this persona might be saying.
Turns out Overwhelmed Ophelia was wearing a white and pale pink flowing shift dress, swooning on a divan with a fan in her hand, and whimpering, “Woe is me.” Doubting Dora was wringing her apron. She had a worried look on her face, peering eyes, and a bad perm. For a reason I couldn’t fathom, she carried a spatula. And then she spoke: “If in doubt, eat.” Hmmmm. At this point I was definitely scratching my head.
Busy Belinda wore a bustle and carried a clipboard. Procrastinating Polly wore knee high boots and short shorts (huh?). She was draped over a chair, looking at her manicured nails, and feeling extremely bored. She stared at a cell phone and muttered, “What is everyone else doing?”
Hopeless Hannah wore overalls, sneakers, and carried a hanky. She whined, “I can’t do it.” Responsible Rita wore a trim suit with her hair in a bun but I only saw the back side of her because she was moving so fast. I couldn’t see what she was carrying.
Then there was Angry Allison. Tight leather. Spikes on her boots. Slash-eyed make up. She carried a Zippo, flicking it like she was ready to burn the place down. What she said I can’t print here.
There were other doubting and procrastinating characters in the group. All were different. All were surprising. All revealed a little bit about what might be going on under the surface of our emotions, including some powers-for-good that could be harnessed to serve our creativity.
The insights can come as spontaneously and intuitively as the personas themselves appeared. The gleanings can be reflexive, without having to overanalyze, unless you want to. Anytime, our creativity can be used to unleash more of itself, and we can have some fun in the process.
By the end of the writing exercise we had populated our virtual writing rom with so many new faces it felt like a party. Maybe a Halloween party?…
Halloween reminds us that we don’t always know who or what’s on the other side of the door, lurking in the bushes, hiding in literal or figurative shadows. But we can turn our creative attention toward the unknown, dig a little, and learn something new. Something that can reinvigorate our creativity. And it can even be fun.
Write for tricks and treats,
