Dave's Anatomy: My History as a Writer #2: Creating an Ongoing Character

 

Janis Joplin

After the initial publication of a fiction story, I began to write more. I had learned to write about what I knew, and what I knew was music. I began to think of characters and character profiles and thought, simply by accident, that a female blues player would be an intriguing figure. Not many women do blues. Of course, there are notables: Bonnie Raitt, Janis Joplin, and, going back a few years, the incomparable Memphis Minnie. Still, blues is largely a male domain. And in the pop music scene of modern times, few people, male or female, play blues, so it seemed like a good role if I wanted to make a character unique.

Next I had to choose a name. I came up with a name I thought was unique:  Sossity. Those who are Jethro Tull fans know he had a song called "Sossity, You're a Woman." Ian Anderson, lead singer for the group, said he got the name from a yacht a friend of his owned and says the name is quite common in Scotland. I've since researched the name and found it is rare. Most people who name their girls this usually do so because they know the Tull song. I have never confirmed that it is popular in Scotland, though I do remember seeing a British movie once and, in the credits, about three women named Sossity were listed. But it was a good name, like April Dancer or Pussy Galore (both Ian Fleming creations). I stuck with it.

I would go on to publish over thirty stories about Sossity Elizabeth Chandler. The next four stories I got in print or online were about her.

For any character, you've got to create a character biography. Hers came slowly, and I won't try to rehearse it all at once, but a couple of things come into play. Sossity comes from a fairly wealthy

middle-class home. Her dad is a patent lawyer. Her mother stays at home but is trained as a nurse. Her mother is British, her father American. She has four brothers and she is the oldest and the only girl in the family. Like most first-born children, she is an achiever. She does well in school and is a capable athlete. She is beautiful. Her parents want her to become a doctor (her father's brother is a doctor) and she enrolls at Purdue University in their pre-med program. She also wins a track scholarship so that paying the bills is not an issue (though this would not have been an issue any way because her family has money).

There is one glitch, however. At age ten, Sossity's father takes her a to John Denver concert. She is enraptured by the singing and says she wants to learn to play the guitar. He buys her one, she learns to play it and begins to sing and play at school and, later, around town in coffee bars and at events. When she goes to Purdue, she begins to play even more. Halfway through her sophomore year, she drops out of school to pursue a career as a singer.

Needless to say, her parents are not happy. A violent rift develops between her and her father. And things are not easy for Sossity. She has to struggle to get enough money. She has determined she will not work part-time or get public assistance. She will make it as a musician on what she earns as a musician. The first several years, it is a struggle.

Sossity Chandler is wild at heart. The first story I published about her, "Son of a Preacher Man," catalogs her lack of inhibition. Another story, "Norwegian Wood," talks about the rift with her father. After that came "The Snow Demon" and "Retreat at Abby Path." I had struck on something with the character of Sossity Chandler. Her character biography became more complex.

And, with the story, "The Snow Demon," I began to write horror stories with her as the main character. This trend would continue.

If you want to read the stories, here are links. "Son of a Preacher Man," unfortunately, was printed in a journal that is now defunct and does not maintain an archive. So was "Retreat at Abby Path." "The Snow Demon" appeared in a print publication. But below are links to one of the stories I mentioned above and a couple of more I feel were good. I won't talk about all the Sossity stories. There are too many of them to do that, but I will have a couple more blogs on her. So more to come. 

Here are some Sossity stories for your reading pleasure.

Norwegian Wood is the first story I published featuring my on-going character. Scroll past the poem (I hope you like the poem too) to read it.

The Loss of Good is said by many of my friends to be the best "Sossity story" I've written. Judge for yourself.

Bambukos is also a favorite of many of my friends. 

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