“When I'm following what a character does in a book I don't have to think about my own life. Where I am. Why I'm here. My moms and my brother and my old man. I can just think about the character's life and try and figure out what's gonna happen. Plus when you're in a group home you pretty much can't go anywhere, right? But when you read books you almost feel like you're out there in the world. Like you're going on this adventure right with the main character. At least, that's the way I do it. It's actually not that bad. Even if it is mad nerdy.” IfsThinkingMenWorldWayFeelsTryingDoeI CanBookCharacterHomeHappensMy OwnGroupsFiguresAdventureBrotherLike YouMomMadFollowingMy MomMy BrotherPlusOld ManMy Own LifeMain CharactersNerdy Author:Matt de la Pena
“A lot of people think that they are really cool because they don't outline. In my writing group, they would say, "I will never outline. I let the characters take me." C'mon, man - I outline the story, but it's only like one page. It's a list of possible reversals in the story, like things where everything will just change because of this certain reveal or this certain action. Then I start really digging into the character because, to me, I don't care what the story is.” PeopleThinkingMenWritingCharacterStoriesCareActionCertainGroupsPagesDon't CareListsI Don't CareTake MeReally CoolDiggingOutlinesReversal Author:Matt de la Pena
“All that matters to me as a reader are characters. I want characters to be real, authentic, and rounded. I will be digging into characters for at least a month. Who they are. What they are like. Outside of the story.” WantRealMatterCharacterStoriesMonthsReaderBeing RealDigging Author:Matt de la Pena
“But when you read books you almost feel like you're out there in the world. Like you're going on this adventure right with the main character. At least, that's the way I do it. It's actually not that bad. Even if it is mad nerdy.” IfsWorldWayFeelsBookCharacterAdventureLike YouMadMain CharactersNerdy Author:Matt de la Pena
