Robert hart

Writing Real Fiction

In Twice Born, Tom Archer meets a Faerie in the Hoodown Woods behind his Devon cottage. I needed to invent a Faerie character, to bring a touch of magic into his family life. But it had to be nothing like Tinkerbell nor any other Faerie. I needed a Real Faerie, a Faerie for grown ups. I had to design it from scratch.

Interview with a Faerie

I didn’t know where to start, until I had the idea of asking Thomas to interview the Faerie. 

Not knowing where this might go, I told my wife I had a meeting with a Faerie, sat at my laptop, feeling a bit foolish. I wrote Tom’s questions and imagined the Faerie’s answers. I was able to build a substantial character sketch covering all aspects of Faerie life. Here’s how it started:

Tom’s Questions

Thomas: Hello. Thank you for meeting with me.

Faerie: We are delighted.

Thomas: I am Thomas

Faerie: No, you are Human.

Thomas: Yes, I am a Human, but my name is Thomas.

Faerie: You believe you are Thomas.  You believe you are individual.

Thomas: What is your name?

Faerie: I have no name. I am not individual.

Thomas: What shall I call you?

Faerie: Call me Faerie, or make up a name you wish.

Thomas: I will call you Sapphire because you have blue eyes.

Faerie: You imagine I have blue eyes. I will call you Thomas.

Thomas: What are you?

Sapphire: We are Faerie.

Thomas: You said “We”

Sapphire: We have no “I” like you.

Thomas: What do you mean?

Sapphire: “We are all one. You think you hear me speak, but the voice you hear is the voice of all Fae.”

Thomas: Where do you come from?

Sapphire: We are from Spirit, like you.

Thomas: So are you of the Earth, like me?

Sapphire: No we exist in the Shimmer.

Thomas: What is that?

Sapphire: The Shimmer is a liminal domain, in-between the material Earth and pure Spirit. We move in and out of time and physical space, in and out of dimensions. You are also derived from the Spirit, but you are bound to the material domain of Earth.

Thomas: Why are you here?

Sapphire: You called us. 

Thomas: I don’t remember doing that. What are you here for?

Sapphire: To help you. 

Thomas: How long will you stay?

Sapphire: As long as you need us. 

Thomas: How can you help me?

Sapphire: We can answer your questions.

Thomas: My life is full of questions.

Sapphire: Your curiosity is your key to enlightment. Ask your questions.

Thomas: I don’t know where to start.

Sapphire: It matters not. Every starting point leads to the same revelations.

Thomas: OK. Are you magical?

Sapphire: What we do might appear as magic. It is just normal for us.

Thomas: I need a little magic in my life, right now.

Sapphire: We are here to add a touch of magic to human life. Our work is to bring a little less weeping, a little more joy.

Thomas: Less weeping – how?

Sapphire: We can help change the way you see things. Turn loss into gain. Turn sorrow into compassion. Turn disasters into lessons.

Thomas: I am in loss. I’m gradually losing my sight.

Sapphire: We can help.

Thomas: I’d love to read books, but now reading gives me eye strain and a headache.

Sapphire: We can give you The Seeing.

Thomas: What is The Seeing?

Sapphire: Pick up the biggest book you have.

Thomas: How about this: War and Peace by Tolstoy. I can hardly lift it.

Sapphire: Read the first page

Thomas: “Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca… are now just family estates of the Buonapartes. But I warn you, if… you don’t tell me that this means war, if you still try to… defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist—I really believe he is an… Antichrist—I will have nothing to do with you and you are no longer my friend, and no longer my… ‘faithful slave,’ as you call yourself!” Sorry I’m so slow.

Sapphire: That is your old way of reading. Now hold it in your hands. Do not read, just look at it.

Thomas: Oh my! The story just came into my head—all of it. I can hear the conversations. I see the landscape, I even smell and feel everything. It’s like a film. No, it’s like I’m actually there.

Sapphire: You are there. That’s the Seeing. That is our gift to you, Thomas.

The Real Faeries Emerge

Tom continued to work for me, probing into Faerie history, philosophy, science and technology. With his help, I discovered they are very sophisticated and powerful beings, with a mission as guides to humans and guardians of nature. We were no longer talking Tinkerbell. These were Real Faeries.

I made Thomas probe deeper and deeper, learning how the Fae manipulate matter through harmonic resonance, transform spider silk into gossamer glass, and convert soil into pure gold. But I also needed to uncover the practical nature of Faerie life—to ask questions. that might be considered impolite for an elderly gentleman to ask.

Thomas’s 10 year grandchild, Willow, came to my aid. She could ask naive, impertinent, intimate or even rude questions. So let’s see a sample of what Willow uncovered in her interview with Sapphire:

Willow’s Questions

Willow: Are you a boy or a girl?

Sapphire: We are neither.

Willow: Do you have a Mummy and Daddy. Where are your Faerie babies? 

Sapphire: We have no parents. We have no babies.

Willow: How do you make new Faeries?

Sapphire: We have The Doubling. We vibrate in a special way to create a new…

Willow: Oooo! My head tickles.

Sapphire: I was just searching in there for a way to explain the relationship between Faeries that you might understand. We create a new… Sister.

Willow: So.. you have no… bits?

Thomas (interrupting): Like Barbie and Ken!

Willow: How do you go to the toilet?

Sapphire: We do not need toilets. We evaporate spare water from our wings and we extract all the energy from anything we eat, so there is no waste.

Willow: Do you go to school? 

Sapphire: We do not need schooling. Each Faerie instantly knows what is learned by any other Faerie, anywhere in the world, and we remember everything… forever.

Interview your Characters

I’ve used this technique to delve into my human characters as well as the Faeries. It’s a fun and productive way of designing unique and ground-breaking characters.  Do have a go. 

Get writing!