Characters wanted

I have a character in my head who is kicking me to let her come alive... on paper, of course. She has a story to tell and while I see small bits and pieces of it, I don't know what it all entails.

Writing is such an exhilarating process for me. Somewhere deep inside, there is a story waiting to be written. It is so interesting how a character just sort of appears and forms on it's own. Then, while writing, the character seems to do what it wants. They tell you, not vice versa, what road they are going down.

When I wrote my first book, there were many points where I just didn't know where Anna was going to go or what she was going to do. There were also times when she just did not want to do what I wanted her to do. She had something else in mind and as hard as I tried to get her where I thought she should go, she just wouldn't do it.

Jason and I recently finished Harry Potter. When we had finished, we were discussing how J.K. Rowling might be feeling now that she was finished with the series. While I obviously don't know the real answer to this, the thought I had is that it's a bittersweet feeling... To be done in some ways is a relief because you can feel like you have your life back. When you are writing a story, you become part of the story and the characters become part of your life. When you are finally done, it's a little sad to say goodbye, but at the same time, kind of nice to get back to your normal life.

Anyway, it is exciting to see how this character is shaping up. I have taken some good pointers from Writing on the Wall (see sidebar for link) about character motivation and development and it has helped me explore and get to know my character more.

I can't wait to get her story out so she can live... and so she can stop bugging me too.

:)