Pesky narrative voice

I’m beginning to write short-form stories again but I have a problem with one of my narrative voices. He’s an abusive husband. POV-wise, I’m not sure I can accurately portray him. But he won’t go away. He’s hijacked my creative process! Sigh. I’m going to have to get him out of my system before moving on. He’s hung around for years. 

Anyone else have problems with their POV characters? Do they hijack your stories too? 

And another thing. What do people think of fan-fic? I’ve read some good stuff recently that in no way reads like fan-fic and I’m wondering, do these writers use the plots and characters of well-known films (Star Wars, true blood etc) as impetus for their creative flow or as a genuine tribute to that film? What gives? Personally I can’t see the point of fan-fic but I’m sure there’s one somewhere. 

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I love my research participants! In a good way, not an icky way.

I am having a great day today. For the last two weeks I have been transcribing the interviews of my participants and I must confess to absolutely loving the funny, interesting, curious people they are. I am loving listening to them speak, reliving the interview, as it were, while typing as fast as I can, and enjoying the interplay of interviewer, interviewee, the laughter. I laugh with the recording as I enjoy the interview for the second time. I am loving the intelligence of my participants, their diverse views on life, and their forthright opinions about their work. It’s such a pleasure, such fun. I have to be careful that I don’t enjoy the interviews so much that I lose researcher objectivity (doesn’t exist, anyway), or at least, ensuring I stand one step back from the process, trying not to get involved with their experiences to the extent that they mirror my own. If I do allow this to happen, my study may be less rich for it. These people are kindred spirits, in a way, and I am so grateful to them for sharing their stories with me, and for being part of this research study. They are so generous!

Mind you, I’m feeling a little bit blurty and excitable today as I can feel my study taking shape, in small incremental steps. This is a big turning point for me, where I can see what I want to achieve by the end, even if I’m not quite sure what is yet to come out of my data.