14/09/2004
Knowing your characters...
Oh, the agony of the first chapter... make that first chapters (I'm not even going to go into the agony of the first line- because that's a whole book in itself!)
Maybe I'm alone here, but I really struggle to get started, because an idea just isn't enough. An idea is a circumstance, a happenstance, a chance meeting that brings two characters together.
They have a problem to fix- and yes, we all know that the high jump keeps getting higher each time they clear it... But what is their style? Is is a Fosby Flop, or something completely different?
I can never get into writing a book until I really know my characters, and I can't know my characters until I really get into writing the book.
Today, for the very first time with my latest I feel I know what drives these people. I feel ridden with angst and desperate to sort things out for them. I know how they feel. I really care about both of them. Although they seem to be behaving badly towards each other, I KNOW WHY
It's such a relief, I can't tell you- and yes, I plot, and yes, I write back story, and yes, I think long and hard about each of my main protagonists before I start to write their story... But none of that helps until they start to speak to me.
Thank you, H and h for trusting me with your story, I shall do my best to write it down.
Love to all, and happy reading!
Susan
Maybe I'm alone here, but I really struggle to get started, because an idea just isn't enough. An idea is a circumstance, a happenstance, a chance meeting that brings two characters together.
They have a problem to fix- and yes, we all know that the high jump keeps getting higher each time they clear it... But what is their style? Is is a Fosby Flop, or something completely different?
I can never get into writing a book until I really know my characters, and I can't know my characters until I really get into writing the book.
Today, for the very first time with my latest I feel I know what drives these people. I feel ridden with angst and desperate to sort things out for them. I know how they feel. I really care about both of them. Although they seem to be behaving badly towards each other, I KNOW WHY
It's such a relief, I can't tell you- and yes, I plot, and yes, I write back story, and yes, I think long and hard about each of my main protagonists before I start to write their story... But none of that helps until they start to speak to me.
Thank you, H and h for trusting me with your story, I shall do my best to write it down.
Love to all, and happy reading!
Susan
