Today’s Question by Aart Hilal

by Paulo Coelho on August 6, 2008

What inspires the characterization of the protagonist especially in case of female protagonists? How much of that inspiration comes from real life?

I only allow myself to write every two years because I feel that I’ve gathered enough emotional energy to come up with a story. I never know, before sitting at my desk, if I’m going to have a female or a male voice.

All is very unpredictable. As in life, there is not always a rational explanation for certain choices. My literature is much more the result of a paradox than that of an implacable logic. The paradox is the tension that exists in my soul. Like in archery, the paradox is the bow that can be both tense and relaxed. I know that it’s important to have values in life, but I’ve always been more drawn to incoherence, because life is not static but rather like the tides, coming and going.

Real events, memories, longings, other stories – all fuse when I embark in a new story.

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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Tania August 6, 2008 at 11:31 pm

Yes very true ..its better to be coming and going riding -chasing the waves like a surfer …waits for the right wave and catches it .Blessings Tania

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Alexandra August 6, 2008 at 8:49 pm

And you are right,for the results are true work of Art.

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Agnieszka August 6, 2008 at 3:44 pm

“As in life, there is not always a rational explanation for certain choices…. I know that it’s important to have values in life, but I’ve always been more drawn to incoherence, because life is not static but rather like the tides, coming and going…”

so true, thank you

love
Agnieszka

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THELMA August 6, 2008 at 2:27 pm

The Soul of the poet is always the battlefield. The silence of ..logic, in order the emotions take form. A woman or man protagonist, I think, is just names. In fact female and male principles co-exist in everyone of us. My best wishes for many two-yearly books! LOVE, THELMA

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