Character Days
I love Kate special on Thursdays. She was born around 6:00 p.m. on a Thursday in April. She is one of toughest characters I've ever encountered -- in her honor, Thursday will be character day. For me, pushing the story forward means following the energy generated by the characters themselves. Their voices come easily to me (maybe because they're too similar? I've been looking hard at that), their quirks and imperfections delight me. I love finding the sparks of hope and redemption in each of them. Eleanor, certainly. And Beckett, who you'll meet very shortly. Anna and Miguel, Jen and Sanchez ... Upon which "real" people have I based them? Do you think you recognize any of them? Do you know all the words to the Carly Simon song? After I wrote and published this, I found a great post about this same thing on Murderati. Check it out. Yesterday I was struggling to get through a critical scene -- do you know how disappointing it can be to delete word after word, particularly if you've struggled to get just two or three down on the page in the first place? Writing a story is like playing a hand: you can do it word by word with no particular plan at the outset, but it certainly isn't best. Very early on, my bridge partner taught me the wisdom in taking my straight-guess finesses the same way every time -- that way I'd be right half the time. At least in writing I am permitted liberal use of the undo key. Standard Disclaimer.
