Have You Filleted Any Characters Lately?

Nina Bawden

The British have such a unique way of expressing themselves. I guess that’s why I fell in love with Rosamunde Pilcher and have read nearly every one of her books. Here’s a classic quote from another British author, Nina Bawden.

If you’ve never heard of Bawden, look her up. Fascinating author. She authored 40+ novels, half of which were for children. Her most well-known title is, Carrie's War. She was actively writing up to the day she passed away at age 87. (My hero!)

This quote is in regards to fiction character development. I recently logged in two Steemit posts that cover this subject. You can check them out HERE, and HERE.

I don’t know about you, but it never occurred to me that I had filleted my characters and laid them out on a slab. But I consider the comparison quite delightful. As I create my characters in the future, I’m sure that description will come to my mind.

Here’s the full quote from Nina Bawden. Enjoy!!

Even if [readers] keep an ear to the ground and an eye to the keyhole, what they learn about their friends and their family is limited to what they see and hear, while what they can know about an author’s characters can be anything the writer chooses to tell them. You cannot really know the innermost thoughts and emotions of someone who exists only in life; there is always some secret chamber they prefer to keep hidden. But characters in books can be filleted, laid out on the slab, explored, exposed. Understood. -- Nina Bawden

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