Digging My Way to China Looking For Quirks

Quirks, everybody's got them, and I have often said I have about 100 people's worth of quirks. Just regarding my unusual food quirks: I like apples and apple sauce but not apple juice, I prefer green grapes but purple raisins, I like all skittles but the purple ones or all Starburst but the red ones, I like lettuce on a sandwhich but don't eat salads...my parents went through hell trying to prepare meals for me as a kid. Without knowing everyone in the world of course I often declare myself the world's pickiest eater. This is just me, a bundle of quirks wrapped up in one little package.

My theory is that it is these quirks that make a person interesting. It doesn't have to be about food though. I have a friend who has "issues" with mascots: adults dressed up like the Easter Bunny, a Chipmonk, ect. Disney would be a nightmare for her. I know someone else who refuses to go barefoot, even indoors, and can't wear slippers, needs to be in sneakers at all times unless sleeping or in the shower. And yet another person who finds comfort in clutter: organization and order scare the crap out of this person. There are probably fascinating stories behind these quirks, but above all else I think in a way it helps define a sense of who these people are. Are we all just a list of quirks? Absolutely not, however these quirks might make profound marks in our everyday lives whether we realize it or not.

About a month ago I was catching up with my buddy Ethan telling him about "The Journey". I explained that a problem I personally have with various fictional movies, tv shows, or books is the lack of "Why". It's great to get to know a character as they are, but for me I want to know the background and how they got to be that way. Are we born with quirks or do they develop because of circumstance?

In middle school and high school I hated to read. I pretty much avoided it at all costs. On a day when I was bored out of my mind my dad would tell me "Laura, read a book." You know why I didn't? Because I hated being told what to do. School reading was something that was forced on me and they might have been good books, but they weren't of my own choosing. In elementary school you got to choose what you read so I loved it, I devoured books like they were cubes of cheese (I am madly in love with cheese btw). The same thing happened with my reading in college; although most reading was assigned to me it was by professors and courses I chose, so it felt like I wasn't being backed into a corner. Now I'm an avid reader again spending my entire lunch break at work and weekends in my pajamas on the couch escaping into another world.

I write how I read. My characters are three dimensional: Caleb is shy and sheltered, Reed is selfish and abrasive, Dani is emotionally absent and tough as rocks, Perry is clingy and docile, Tyler is entitled and overly-involved, Lauren is affectionate and secretive. Good to know, but why the hell are they that way? I have been told my book is more character driven than plot driven, but that is what would draw me in. Who are these characters, what motivates them, how did they become what they are, where are they coming from when they do what they do? Maybe for me I have never been satisfied with the superficial, I need to dig deep below the surface. And then I'll dig a little more.