A Change, and a lot of re-writing

You may have noticed that the name of my character has changed from Moira, to Dolores.

After receiving some very good feedback from Carolyn, which included the criticism that Moira's voice wasn't consistent as that of a teenager, I started to examine the character to really look at who she was. I realized that one of the problems was that I just didn't know that many Irish-American Catholic women that well. I knew a lot of Irish-American men, but not women - and definitely not the age of my main character.

It occurred to me to wonder why I had given her that ethnicity in the first place, considering I knew so much more about Hispanic Catholics, from Spain, South America and Hispanic- Americans. I don't really have an answer to why I did it, but it needed to change.

I know a lot more about religious mysticism with an Hispanic slant. I know how people of this background express themselves. I know how reticent they are, as more recent immigrants, to rely on state institutions. If I wanted to keep my main character enclosed, somewhat isolated, shy and very religious, I had to build the right world for her.

She's never going to talk like a normal 18-year old because she isn't one. But I can build an environment that will make her oddness a lot more believable.

So I've started on quite an extensive re-writing of the world the story is set in, and I've named her Dolores (after Maria de los Dolores - Our Lady of Sorrows). I thought it was apt.

"She pushed the yearbook across the kitchen table to wear the priest sat, causing his teacup to rattle in its saucer. The kitchen was cramped and full of shabby knickknacks. Memorial plates, plastic flowers and a parade of little miniature saints and devotional candles sat on almost every available surface. The walls were decorated with images of the Virgin Mary in her habitual blue cloak. One was clutching a baby Jesus to her chest; the other held her hands wide, exposing a lurid pink heart. Over the melamine kitchen table, a plastic shaded lamp gave everything a sickening green glow."

266 words (4,636 and counting)