Friday, January 18, 2008

When Characters Nag

on the next Montel.

The One And Only Iron John recently posted about a character who is demanding John's attention. He wondered if it happens to everyone, how to deal with it, is he going crazy, etc. As to the last question, the answer is, "You're a writer. Of course, you're crazy."

I have to admit that I have a character trying to get my attention right now. Like John, I want to do something else first, but she doesn't care. I guess I can't blame her. I've been creating this person for five years--that's twenty-five in character years. She's all grown up and wants to go explore the world. Guess I may have to help her do that.

The character in question is Kitty from MMG. And it's not just her. Bits of narrative and description intrude when I'm in the middle of something else. Other characters pop in from time to time to let me know how they've changed in the past few months. But that's not the catalyst that's sitting me down this weekend to begin the rewrite.

No, what convinced me that it really is time to rewrite is a dream I had last night. Now I've dreamed stories and characters before, but never agents. Then Dan showed up to tell me he's waiting.

Hmmm. Thinking I shouldn't ignore that one.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Just Thinking

I haven't really been racking up the word count over the past month and a half. But does that mean I haven't been writing? I don't think it does.

Had a lovely lunch with Fleur and Moe yesterday. We talked about lots of stuff but mostly about writing. That's just what Pirates seem to do when they get together. Moe said something about how non-writers don't get that writing isn't just the physical act--that there's a lot of writing that goes on when we're nowhere near a notebook or computer. I saw an interview with Tim Robbins once, and he talked about how his kids would tease him when they'd go into his office and see him staring out the window. "You said you were working." "I am."

That's the kind of writing I've been doing. Making notes, both mental and actual, about characters and situations and plots and settings. I've been doing this for Vesta and for MMG. Things are falling into place. You can almost hear the clicking some days. And it feels like playing in this mode. Anything can happen. It's not written down yet, you see, so it's still maleable. The clay hasn't been fired. I even had a flash for TNN yesterday morning: Southern Gothic, but with humor. Groovy.

The hard part is to realize that we are still being creative. That we are "writing." Because we don't have something to show to others. I've been beating myself up over being blocked. But I'm not. All kinds of good things are happening. Can't wait to see where all this leads when I do start committing it to "paper."