Instead of rewriting the entire post, I’m going to break it up into two parts. The first part will be what I wrote earlier in the week, the second half came a few days later.

Plotting On

The past couple of weeks have been busy in some odd ways. Summer is busy because of vacations, family get togethers, holidays, and so on, but that hasn’t been the only thing that’s kept me from my weekly updates. When July started, I decided that I was going to take a week and plot out the book I wanted to work on. The plotting itself wasn’t bad, I actually finished ninety-nine percent of it before the week was out. Now character plotting–that’s been the hold up.

While I was at Fyrecon, I was introduced to character interviews. I’d already heard of them, but a presenter showed us templates to use. I thought it would be about fifty questions or so. I was so wrong. The interview question alone are fifteen pages long, broken up into nine sections.

Don’t get me wrong, these character interviews have been fun, and I’ve learned things about my characters. For instance, I learned that one of my characters (I wont say which one) loves to take long, hot baths to relax. So I don’t dislike the interviews, they just take a long time. After I finished with my main character and a secondary character, I decided that I’m going to have to prioritize who is interviewed this in depth if I ever want to get around to actually writing about them.  Picking hasn’t been easy. I could interview many of the tertiary characters with this detailed interview and still be able to fill in most of it. But for the sake of time, I’m going to have to trim it down, by a lot.

That all being said, I’m determined to start writing. Starting Monday, I am going to be in the rough draft phase where I get everything onto the page. It’s exciting and nerve wracking going back into a project after a year. Luckily, the excitement beats the nerves.

Here is a link to Robin Glassey’s writer resources. Scroll down the page to the workshops, and you’ll find the character interview along with some other great notes and resources.

Killing My Darlings

It’s no secret that writers get attached to their characters. If we didn’t, it would make it much more difficult to make the readers care. I know I don’t get as involved as some authors, but I do make deep connections that help guide me to do what’s best for the character. Sometimes, doing what’s best for the character isn’t what’s best for the reader.

As I’ve been conducting my character interviews, I was surprised by the things I was learning about each of them. I was surprised by how easy it was to talk to and visualize some of them, while others gave me a harder time. One character that I struggled with was a woman who I have worked on since this story’s conception (back in October of 2015). She was my main character’s best friend, a sort of foil to balance her personality. I liked this character, she was a breath of fresh air, someone who I would want to be friends with. She had fun quirks and secretes that I was looking forward to revealing as the story went on. After working with her for almost four years, I was close to this character.

During her in-depth character interview on Tuesday and Wednesday, I noticed that I was having trouble nailing her voice. This alone didn’t worry me too much because I was having that same struggle with other characters. But as I went on, something was making it hard to get through all the questions, and when I finished, I didn’t feel satisfied with it. I’d read the answers back, and I wasn’t sure if my character had answered those questions, or if I had.

Putting that on the back burner, I moved on to interview the other secondary character. I was still having trouble finding his voice when I had to call it a day part way through his interview. The next morning, I was back to work, but something felt different, his voice was coming through.

I began imagining my primary and secondary characters talking and participating in the story, but something still felt off. I was half way through his interview when the thought came to me, “What is her character doing that his can’t do? Nothing. Her character needs to be taken out of the story, and any vital leftovers added to his character.” It wasn’t in so many words, but that’s the gist of it. I froze at my computer, stunned by the thought. And stunned by how right it felt. If you’ve ever had a thought pop into your head that you knew without a doubt was right or true, that’s how I felt in that moment. That didn’t mean that I didn’t try and fight it. For almost fifteen minutes I tried to talk my way around what I needed to do; killing one of my darlings. Eventually, I accepted that I felt somewhat relieved that I had figured out what was making me uneasy. Somewhere, I think my writer’s mind knew that something was wrong with my character cast, but my rational self couldn’t imagine not writing a character that I had spent almost four years with.

Since I accepted the decision to remove one of my secondary characters, the focus of the story has been narrowed. My other characters are now more active and useful to the story because they are having to pick up the slack. I can already see how taking out a character whose only purpose was to be a friend to my primary character has made the story better. It wasn’t easy, but it was the right call. I’m just glad that some part of my writer’s brain was able to make it through all the noise.

Although I killed a darling, I don’t plan on her being dead forever. I saved all the information I had about her character and placed it in a file; a file that I plan on going back to when I’ve found the story that needs her. I know that one day I’ll find the perfect story to let her shine.