When writing wins
Dec. 24th, 2007 09:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chickwriterYou know how you can fall in love with a character? (I mean in the meta way, not the I-want-to-have-your-babies way).
Today, while working on Blood Bargain, I had an epiphany. I'd been struggling with part of the book, trying to trim down the exposition and just make stuff happen, dammit - as my internal editor was beating the proverbial stick against my head. When all of a sudden, I'm in the middle of merging two scenes together, and the magic was happening and I realized why: one character.
Not my protagonist, Keira Kelly, whom I adore in so many ways, but dude, face it, she's got issues. Not Adam Walker, hot vampire lover. Hot, but wow, his issues beat the crap out of Keira's, hands down. And face it, without their issues and angst, there would be no story, because half the fun is giving them hell so then there can be a great payoff.
Not Bea, who is a fabulous friend, but due to circumstances in this book is much more peripheral.
Who does that leave - yeah, Tucker - Keira's brother, friend and confidante. I've come to realize that Tucker is the Duck McDonald of Rio Seco (if Duck had an infectious grin and sarcastic sense of humor). Tucker's angsty issues are long since resolved. He's settled in himself and knows who he is and what he wants. Thus, a perfect sidekick/shoulder-to-lean-on for Keira. Plus, he's also quite easy on the eyes, and for whatever reason, makes the writing go easier.
It's really odd sometimes when creating a world, creating characters that some of them just seem to take on a life of their own - that is, become more prominent than intended. In the original drafts of Matters of the Blood, Tucker was kind of an afterthought. I wanted Keira to have a family member around that she honestly liked, not just tolerated. Somehow, his tiny role turned out to be a lot more substantial. So much so, that I knew he had to stay in Rio Seco and not go back to the clan.
Once again, Tucker is bailing me (and Keira) out of some tangly stuff. Good thing he's around, eh?
On a side and rather amusing note: After I finished up my day's writing yesterday (Sunday), I started up Witness, which I haven't seen in years. I had a total fangrrl squee moment when it started - not over Harrison Ford, but dudes, Jan Rubes is in it as Eli, the old Amish farmer. I squeed aloud and yelled, "Mort!" at the screen. Six degrees of Benton Fraser, anyone?
In any case, I enjoyed watching the movie again.
I've treated myself to some new audiobooks for post-writing enjoyment today. I just bought Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (read by the author) and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (also read by the author).
I've noticed that I seem to enjoy audiobooks more if it's something I've already read and enjoyed. I'm looking forward to listening to both of these.
Hope you are ALL having a fabulous holiday. I'm definitely enjoying the time off from work and am happy with my writing progress, so yay, holiday!!
Today, while working on Blood Bargain, I had an epiphany. I'd been struggling with part of the book, trying to trim down the exposition and just make stuff happen, dammit - as my internal editor was beating the proverbial stick against my head. When all of a sudden, I'm in the middle of merging two scenes together, and the magic was happening and I realized why: one character.
Not my protagonist, Keira Kelly, whom I adore in so many ways, but dude, face it, she's got issues. Not Adam Walker, hot vampire lover. Hot, but wow, his issues beat the crap out of Keira's, hands down. And face it, without their issues and angst, there would be no story, because half the fun is giving them hell so then there can be a great payoff.
Not Bea, who is a fabulous friend, but due to circumstances in this book is much more peripheral.
Who does that leave - yeah, Tucker - Keira's brother, friend and confidante. I've come to realize that Tucker is the Duck McDonald of Rio Seco (if Duck had an infectious grin and sarcastic sense of humor). Tucker's angsty issues are long since resolved. He's settled in himself and knows who he is and what he wants. Thus, a perfect sidekick/shoulder-to-lean-on for Keira. Plus, he's also quite easy on the eyes, and for whatever reason, makes the writing go easier.
It's really odd sometimes when creating a world, creating characters that some of them just seem to take on a life of their own - that is, become more prominent than intended. In the original drafts of Matters of the Blood, Tucker was kind of an afterthought. I wanted Keira to have a family member around that she honestly liked, not just tolerated. Somehow, his tiny role turned out to be a lot more substantial. So much so, that I knew he had to stay in Rio Seco and not go back to the clan.
Once again, Tucker is bailing me (and Keira) out of some tangly stuff. Good thing he's around, eh?
On a side and rather amusing note: After I finished up my day's writing yesterday (Sunday), I started up Witness, which I haven't seen in years. I had a total fangrrl squee moment when it started - not over Harrison Ford, but dudes, Jan Rubes is in it as Eli, the old Amish farmer. I squeed aloud and yelled, "Mort!" at the screen. Six degrees of Benton Fraser, anyone?
In any case, I enjoyed watching the movie again.
I've treated myself to some new audiobooks for post-writing enjoyment today. I just bought Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (read by the author) and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (also read by the author).
I've noticed that I seem to enjoy audiobooks more if it's something I've already read and enjoyed. I'm looking forward to listening to both of these.
Hope you are ALL having a fabulous holiday. I'm definitely enjoying the time off from work and am happy with my writing progress, so yay, holiday!!
