Day Two with Nicole...

Here's the second installment of my "chat" with debut author Nicole Baart...

The character, Julia, is so far removed from your own experience, how did you get into the head of a troubled teen girl?
I don’t know! Apparently one of the strengths of my writing is the ability to make emotion and experience very real. Recently, someone asked my dad if I had experienced deep loss in my life. The answer is, no, not really. But this woman had just lost her mother, and the way that Julia, my main character, dealt with the loss of her father was so real and honest that this woman could relate completely to everything I was writing. The woman said, “But she’s describing all the things that I’m feeling!” My only response to this is: it’s God. It’s not me, it’s God doing His thing through this very broken vessel.
That said, one of the things that I have always been able to do is internalize other people’s struggles. I would make a terrible counselor! I just know I would cry with my patients and take their pain home with me instead of leaving it behind when the workday is done. So watching a movie, reading a book, and listening to a friend talk are all very emotional experiences for me. Sometimes, I feel that if I would let myself go, just really abandon myself to what I am feeling, I could grieve with someone who is grieving exactly as if the loss were my own.
Because of this emotional over-involvement, sometimes I have to back out of certain situations. I’m learning to shut down that part of me that wants to adopt everyone else’s problems. It’s not always healthy! But I do think it gives me a unique ability to write about experiences and feelings that may not necessarily be my own.In writing Julia, I drew a lot from dozens of stories and heartaches that I’ve witnessed throughout my life. I also worked hard to put myself in her shoes, imagining what I would feel and how I would react if life dealt me the same cards that it dealt Julia. I absolutely fell in love with her character and truly enjoyed watching her story unfold.