How Writing Made Me a More Empathic Person
My seventh English language novel released on 22 May. Hedging His Bets is the story of a high-flying investor, Jake, and his sexy British flat mate, Jess, who share a “friends with benefits” relationship…until they don’t.
Hedging His Bets may rightly be described as a light read. One reviewer called it a “summer must read”. I tend to agree that the book is perfect for a sunny day, whilst lying on a lounger with a cocktail in hand, reading about friendships and falling in love.
BUT, as authors, we must be careful to ensure a light read doesn’t mean characters that don’t have a full backstory. If you know my writing, you will know that I like to fully explore each character’s history – why they behave and think the way they do.
It was whilst thinking about Jess’s backstory for Hedging His Bets, that I learned something about myself as a writer:
BEING A WRITER HAS MADE ME A MORE EMPATHETIC PERSON
I mentioned this to a friend over coffee, who asked, “but weren’t you an empathetic person before you started writing?”
I told her, “I’d like to think so but writing has made me step into the shoes of so many protagonists, some of whom I am more familiar with than others, but all of whom have taught me something.”
Why now? Why this book? Why is it Jess’s character that made me have this mini epiphany?
Well, there are a few reasons. First and foremost:
I RECOGNISE MORE EMOTIONAL TRAITS FROM MY OWN LIFE IN JESS THAN I HAVE IN ANY OF MY OTHER CHARACTERS
Jess is outwardly free-spirited (more than me) and has travelled the world (that I have done). I wanted to bring Jess’s experiences to life in Hedging His Bets and, in doing so, saw afresh the things she has seen and done, and what she felt in those moments, as if I were reliving the experience.
Whilst wandering through padi fields in Laos, Jess describes how, “I watched workers going about digging up rice, fascinated, since I had never really thought about where rice came from.”
Though I personally have experienced the places, sights, sounds, smells and people that Jess comes across, only now, having written Jess and how she reflects on those things, do I understand my own feelings.
We learn in Hedging His Bets why Jess has travelled the world – not necessarily by choice. Her outward adventurer is balanced by her inner desire to find roots, a home, in someone or some place.
Jess was forced to travel alongside her aunt and uncle after losing both her parents as a child. Though I have never travelled the world with hippie guardians, I did lose both my parents as a child, too. In the book, Jess contemplates her experiences of caring for and losing her parents:
“I still remember holding my own breath as I watched [my dad], feeling like I was sliding under water. It hits me when I least expect it, like when I’m watching a game of ruby and the players pile into a tackle. I can feel the fight for air of the player on the bottom of the pile. In those moments, I am nine years old. And I am helpless.”
And how she feels about her parents as a thirty-year-old woman:
“Some things are more powerful than heaven and earth. Some things are timeless and will forever live on, in some form. That’s the love my parents shared and I am thankful every day that I got to see and be part of a love like theirs.”
She talks about how her path was forged for her and she had no choice but to walk it:
“I wandered until I reached the river. There, I listened to the water as it rolled idly by, as if it didn’t have a care in the world. As if it had nowhere to go but that didn’t matter because there was only one direction to travel. One path. And it would have to flow the course. It was the destiny the Earth had given it. It just had to get on with it. I felt the inevitable flow of the river in my own inability to control or change my path.”
In writing those moments, I felt Jess’s pain and the way she tries to see the positive in her experiences. I identified with Jess and, on reflection, found writing her story truly cathartic. Perhaps I finally understand what people mean when they tell you, “Write from the heart”. To me, it means write with empathy.
ABSORB THE SMALLER DETAILS OF LIFE. TAKE HOLD OF YOUR FEELINGS. UNDERSTAND IT ALL AND PUT EVERYTHING INTO YOUR WORK TO MAKE CHARACTERS YOUR READERS CAN BELIEVE IN AND UNDERSTAND, WHETHER THEY ULTIMATELY LIKE THEM OR NOT.
From international bestselling author, Laura Carter:
HEDGING HIS BETS
A high-flying investor
New Yorker Jake Harrington loves a lot of things about living in London. His lucrative hedge fund job. The way British women melt at the sound of an American accent. His just-sex arrangement with his gorgeous roommate, Jess. And, oh yes, being thousands of miles away from the girl who betrayed him.
His sexy British flatmate
Jess’s deal with Jake suits her fine. No commitments, no risk of being hurt again, just friendship and mind-blowing pleasure. And friends do each other favors, like agreeing to go on a trip to New York where Jake will have to face his past.
And a vacation that will change everything…
What friends shouldn’t do? Suddenly find themselves feeling something much more complicated than simple lust. When “no strings” is no longer enough, will Jake be willing to take the ultimate gamble?
—
Laura Carter is the bestselling author of the Vengeful Love series. She writes from her beach home where she lives with her husband and (gorgeous) dog. She loves all things romance, including paper hearts, flowers, chocolates and champagne (not necessarily in that order). If she isn’t writing or hanging around on social media, you can probably find her watching a romcom with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.
Website: www.lauracarterauthor.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/lauracarterauthor
Twitter – www.twitter.com/lcarterauthor
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Category: On Writing
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