Some days characters are stubborn and unco-operative. When that happens the author has to step in and take over, become the master puppeteer, making these uncommunicative characters walk, talk, feel, live. It's painful at times. Yet, there are days when even long silent characters start yelling 'me, me, me!' AND at the most inconvenient times.
Why have they all suddenly decided it's time to make their presence known? Jealousy, I reckon. One lot of characters have been getting a bit of attention in my head lately as a result of my eldest daughter reading my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel and asking questions.
As I've mulled over Hal and Harry's unlikely friendship, where each would die for the other, Garth, an enigmatic yet reticent hero who literally stepped out of the past has nudged me to remind he's here. He's still not talking to me though - the rotten tease. Then there's Fergus a taciturn man whose past is about to catch up with the present still where I left him - on a farm in the picturesque countryside of Glen Tara. All of them are vying for attention with the heroes of two current WIPs - Alexander, another Scotsman who's never forgotten his first love, and Leon, a sexy Spaniard with turquoise eyes.
What is a girl to do with all these men shouting at her? <ahem> And should I be worried that it is only my male characters that want to be heard? A thought for another day, I think.
Strangly I have the exact same problem, I should be focusing on my current wip but the characters from my NV entry are screaming for a re-write......they just lake manners I think :D
ReplyDeleteIt never rains, but it pours. I often find characters trying to tempt me away from my current project. If I really have to, I will write notes on them. Other than that I try to stay faithful to my work in progress.
ReplyDeleteAll those men, what's a girl to do? Well, I see Leon as the possessive type, don't give him the attention he needs he may turn those turquoise eyes elsewhere, but allowing 15 mins to make character/plot notes for other projects should keep both him and the other men in your life happy. Wait till the heroines start yelling as well, then life will get complicated!
ReplyDeleteCan totally relate to this. If I start writing about Tanner in my contemporary, then Breton in my historical complains and if that wasn't enough, Robbie, Julian and Tony from my Nano time slip begin milling around jelously in the background. What is a girl to do?
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