Jane Eyre - Obscure, plain, and little... with the heart of a lioness.

I revisit these lines from Jane Eyre often:  "I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal — as we are!”

While envisioning my characters as living, breathing people, I am called to remember the words of Jane Eyre.  My beautiful characters, tormented and fearless as they are, struggle to find their human voice at times.  Well, they're immortal, not human, but you know what I mean.  Larger-than-life characters are what the writing experts say will sell books, and correct they are, but there must be a human spirit in there to temper the grandeur.  There are times when I imagine I am taking too much liberty with a character's actions or words, and I am called to go spirit-to-spirit, as Miss Eyre did with her Mr. Rochester.

What a fantastic idea! I know what I want for Christmas 2012.