This morning as I was going about my regular routine–making coffee, getting breakfast– I realized that I had this first person narrative running in my head. This one way dialogue went on for awhile until I realized what was happening. I wasn’t talking to myself (thank goodness!) but rather someone else was doing the talking–not necessarily to me. I just happened to be the one listening.
I was kind of surprised once I realized what was taking place because all things indicted that I was either having an “episode” or else a character from a story had suddenly jumped to the surface and was demanding some airtime.
Now, that might be a frightening concept to some of you, but I think most writers will agree that they’ve experienced this many times.
Here’s what I discovered in those brief moments about this character that I have yet to be properly introduced to.
She is my age, or close to it, a bit on the crusty side; someone who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, someone who has lived long enough to appreciate certain truths that others might not want to admit to–all that I gleaned from those first few moments of listening to her speak.
She spoke with honesty, from the heart, holding nothing back and in just a few moments I knew quite a bit about her. It wasn’t a soft hearted narrative as is sometimes the case with my characters; like I said, she was crusty–she was crusty and I liked what I’d heard so far. First impressions being what they are.
Then I realized, this is a new character, a new book, and it had come looking for me.
For me! Me, the writer who has a cruelling five weeks of edits still lurking in the shadows.
So what to do?
I can’t very well abandon my edits. I’m on a timeline and there is plenty ahead in my path. I take deadlines very seriously. I’m sort of a come-hell-or-high-water person. I don’t like to disappoint others or myself. If there is anyway humanly possible for a deadline to be met or exceeded (I prefer exceeding) I will do it.
So, I put the character away for another time with the hopes that she’ll come back with that same spunk and crustiness as before. I’m sure I’ll invite her back into my mind again in the very near future, and should she relay any gems, regardless of the impending edits, I’ll be taking notes.
In the meantime, I have a YA novel that is nearing completion and some short stories I was revisiting before this latest round of edits came in. All that has been put on the back burner until the end of February at least.
If some of this sounds a little offbeat to you, that’s perfectly fine. I’m a writer and as many writers will tell you, we are not always in control of the story we are writing. Inspiration is a strange unusual commodity for most writers. It sometimes seeks us out. It can be uninvited and not always welcomed. Most times it is persistent, but it is in this persistence that books come into being.
These are just a few of my thoughts on this wintry Tuesday–now back to my edits!
I was planning to write a quiet post about how quickly summer is passing by but heck, I’m just going to throw all that out and make this super exciting announcement.
A big thrill this week was meeting up with Donna Morrisey at a book signing. Donna’s new book is “The Deception of Livvy Higgs.” If you remember, I mentioned in an earlier post that she was on my list of authors to meet. Little did I know at the time our meeting would happen so soon. Yes, life certainly does throw in a surprise or two. This month has been busy with lots of authors doing book signings and I’m heading out again for one tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll either post about it on Facebook or my blog.
Laura Best 