I first met Birdie through a grainy black and white photo that I found on Google. I was in a creative course at Belmont and tasked with the opportunity to create something. My natural response, as it usually is, was to write. But it wasn't just about writing -- my professor challenged me to know my character and things about her that might never even appear in my work. He made me realize how every aspect about a person affects their character, even if it's something as simple as riding a bike, or being an only child vs. one of five. You need to know what they wear, how they talk, how they think and what they dream. You don't become that character - you recognize them as their own separate entity; your best friend or your worst enemy.
I first met Birdie through an old black and white photograph on a random Google search. I was taking a creativity course at Belmont and was tasked with a final project to create, well, something. My natural tendency, as it most usually is, was to write. And so I took this photo and used it to create my character. Throughout the process, my professor challenged me to know everything about her - from what she wore, to how she spoke, whether she rode a bike and how many siblings she might have. Even the little things that seemingly had no affect on the story were going to meld her into a recognizable and believable human. I fell in love with this process, knowing that there was always more to learn, more to excavate, more to share. This character wasn't an extension of myself - she was her own separate entity. She was Birdie.
What I originally loved about the old photo was the fact that you couldn't see her face - but you could tell she had a certain joie de vivre about her. Something about her had a secret and a story to be told. So that's what I chose to do. I could make her anything I wanted, so long as she stayed true to the girl I met in that photo.
Birdie's original story was a short one - meant to imbue a certain aura of mystery and self-drawn conclusions. It was written to skip around, to not say everything, and even to be a little cryptic.
She has always stayed with me, past the point of submitting her story for a grade and brief publication in my school's literary journal. I left it as a cliffhanger, a narrative that my readers could determine for themselves. And as much as I wanted to leave it there, I knew that it begged for more.
So rather than sitting down and forcing myself to write a whole novel all at once, I've chosen to tell her story digitally, adding to it twice a month. Some of it is already planned out, some of it is vague, and some of it I have no idea where it will go. But that's the beauty of Birdie - she is a living story. One that may never end. And maybe someday she and I might go on a longer journey. Or maybe not. But for now, I want to share her. And I want to watch her grow. And I want to see where that leads.
The first post I'll share on Monday is the original story - save for the fact that while it was once the "whole story," it is now only the intro. I hope you read it, that you enjoy it, that a small part of you falls in love with Birdie right here from the start. And I hope you tune back in for the next chapter - and the next, and the next. Share your thoughts, your ideas, your theories -- and I'll do my best to keep up with sharing mine.
Now let's do this.