"After a while, the characters I'm writing begin to feel real to me. That's when I know I'm heading in the right direction"
About this Quote
Characters that take on the weight of reality mark the shift from constructing to discovering. For Alice Hoffman, whose fiction blends the intimate and the uncanny, that moment of lifelike presence becomes a compass. It means the story has found its pulse, and the writer can follow rather than force.
Feeling a character as real is not about factual accuracy but psychological truth. A real character resists convenience, argues back, and surprises. Voice emerges with its own rhythms; desires tangle with fears; contradictions make sense. The writer stops moving the character like a piece on a board and starts listening. That listening creates a current the narrative can ride, and it is often the only reliable sign in an uncertain process.
Hoffman has built worlds where magic presses against the ordinary, from Practical Magic to The Dovekeepers. In such work, believability is a delicate balance. The enchantment works only if the people at its center feel solid, particular, and human. Grief, tenderness, jealousy, kindness, the habits of a morning, the way someone holds a secret: these textures tether wonder to experience. When the people are alive on the page, the extraordinary does not float away; it becomes a lens on ordinary life.
The phrase heading in the right direction recognizes craft as navigation without clear maps. Outlines, themes, and plots matter, but a writer often measures progress by vitality. Do the characters generate their own choices? Do they unsettle the plan? If yes, the story has momentum. This is also a promise to the reader. If the writer believes in the people she is writing, the reader can believe too. Empathy bridges that gap.
Ultimately the measure is aliveness, not word count. When characters feel real, the work acquires necessity. The writer surrenders some control, and the story begins to tell itself. That is the right direction.
Feeling a character as real is not about factual accuracy but psychological truth. A real character resists convenience, argues back, and surprises. Voice emerges with its own rhythms; desires tangle with fears; contradictions make sense. The writer stops moving the character like a piece on a board and starts listening. That listening creates a current the narrative can ride, and it is often the only reliable sign in an uncertain process.
Hoffman has built worlds where magic presses against the ordinary, from Practical Magic to The Dovekeepers. In such work, believability is a delicate balance. The enchantment works only if the people at its center feel solid, particular, and human. Grief, tenderness, jealousy, kindness, the habits of a morning, the way someone holds a secret: these textures tether wonder to experience. When the people are alive on the page, the extraordinary does not float away; it becomes a lens on ordinary life.
The phrase heading in the right direction recognizes craft as navigation without clear maps. Outlines, themes, and plots matter, but a writer often measures progress by vitality. Do the characters generate their own choices? Do they unsettle the plan? If yes, the story has momentum. This is also a promise to the reader. If the writer believes in the people she is writing, the reader can believe too. Empathy bridges that gap.
Ultimately the measure is aliveness, not word count. When characters feel real, the work acquires necessity. The writer surrenders some control, and the story begins to tell itself. That is the right direction.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|
More Quotes by Alice
Add to List
