Thursday, May 17, 2012

One step forward, three steps back.

No one can ever say the life of a struggling author is boring. I suppose, to the outside observer, it might appear that way. I mean, at first glance,  sitting alone in a room with a computer with nothing but the strains of Adele or Damien Rice playing in the background, may not appear to be the most exciting evening ever. Hell, written down like that, it sounds almost relaxing.

Yet as any writer will tell you, appearances can be decieving.


That scene above? That's how I spend my writing nights. Gentle sounds of music, the quiet clicking of the keyboard but I am usually wired on highly caffienated beverages, I'm possibly in the midst of a really good sugar buzz, I'm figuring out details on a rather tricky scene, and I've actually tuned out the soothing music and I'm engaging in a huge debate with several very vocal and very opinionated people at that very moment. And the best part of it all... those people are inventions of  my own imagination.

Yup, I'm apparently insane.

As absurd as it sounds, I love every second of it! I may sound certifiable when I talk about the arguments with my characters but I have them all the time. They may not be verbal discussions but there are struggles. I can plot a scene and think 'This character is going to react this way and then do this' but as I write I realise that it isn't right. The character guides how it should go. It's then that I realize that I have two options - I can write the scene the way I had it plotted or I can go with this new direction. And I can guarantee you, if I write it according to plan... I will be going back to rewrite it in the new direction before the story is finished.

So no, my characters don't start yelling "Hey dummy, you are writing it wrong!" but they do guide the writing. And it's those moments that I love. Why? Because at that moment I realize that my character have become more than just the sketch of a character I thought of. They have their own way of handling things, they have their own voice and they've developed in my mind the way I'd hoped they would.

To me, characters make or break a story. I love a good plot as much as the next person, but if the characters in that story feel flat or lack a voice, I will lose interest quickly. I can read a book with a less than stellar plot, but give me boring characters that I don't care about and I'll drop the book before I get to the midway point.