When I finished my book, An Aspiration to Lie Flat, I realized I’d accidentally written a British novel. The problem was, I live in America.
While much of the English-speaking world shares literary traditions, there are definite regional differences.
For obvious reasons, Britain heavily influenced English language literature in the U.S. This was true from the arrival of the colonists up to the American Revolution when the U.S. began to form a national identity.
The divorce between the nations was final. Art was not placed under joint custody. Americans went on to develop our own literary traditions, ignoring Britain as they ignored us.
As a result, Americans sat out over a century’s worth of evolution in British comedy. We skipped Jerome K. Jerome and only tuned back in to encounter farce in Wodehouse’s middle to late years.
This is the core difference between the two national traditions:
As the first in what I hope will be a series of Terrence books nears release, I thought I would introduce the main character, or at least reveal the manner in which I think about him.
Terrence is a character who struggles mightily against being forced to have any sort of arc in his stories, let alone having some sort of ‘growth’ imposed on him by a know-it-all author. He only wants a quiet life where no one is trying to control him.
Terrence’s burning desire for solitude is an isolationist instinct we all likely feel, to varying degrees, at different times. But in Terrence, it’s all-consuming.
Terrence can act in ethically dubious ways, but he is certainly not a malevolent character. Without giving away spoilers, he knows he isn’t really getting people into lasting trouble beyond inconvenience when he (infrequently) acts dishonorably. Ultimately, I think he demonstrates that he cares about people (if rarely in their presence, which would be too awkward). He would simply rather they go happily prosper somewhere else.
He doesn’t have the effortless cheer or sociality of a Bertie Wooster, but then his life is much more difficult. Wodehouse’s collection of meddling aunts didn’t have a legal system they could manipulate to further their ends.
——
I launch the series in the full knowledge that readers are likely to believe I’m Terrence. And, to a certain degree, I will confess that I am.
But sometimes I’m Darren. Sometimes I’m Reggie. Sometimes I’m Emily.
(Darren, Reggie, and Emily are all characters in Terrence’s universe. We’re only talking fiction here, people. I’m not ‘one tough day away’ from posting about having multiple personalities on social media. I want to make that clear, before rumors inevitably begin.)
I try to step into my characters’ heads when I imagine scenes, especially when I’m writing dialogue. And I find it easier to identify with a character whose traits I share. For example, I don’t particularly identify with Jim. So Jim is laconic, which fits the character and makes my life easier. (And surely that’s our shared goal: a happier Stanton.)
So the ease with which I write a character like Terrence, who eschews interpersonal connection, is perhaps revelatory, even mildly alarming. But it may simply derive from spending time writing anything longer than a short story in Terrence’s world. Having him on the brain for long periods of time…it warps you.
Stanton Fenwick 