Role Playing
December 19, 2000
7:31 a.m.
Deciding to write a novel is like standing on the edge of a cliff and getting up the nerve to jump off. But once the decision is made, and once the adrenaline fades, things settle down into a certain calm. I see the work before me. Just work, pure and simple. Every writer is different, that is a fact. But speaking only for me, I develop momentum on longer stories in two phases. First, I have too understand the basic dynamics of the story--what it means, loosely what kind of things are going to happen. You know. This is important to me because it sets my own expectations. It begins to draw boundaries ... I guess it's my way of beginning to clear out all the things that don't fit in my story. The second stage is coming to know my characters. This is one of the best parts of writing. This is where you get to throw on personalities, and become people who you wouldn't normally be. It's where you get to play with dialog and witty quips and basically do things you wouldn't be caught dead doing in real life. If you're lucky, this process goes on throughout the entire book. If not ... well ... maybe you shouldn't be writing this book right now. I find myself in the earliest stages of this process this morning. It's a strange thing. I close my eyes sometimes and just sit back, pretending. I smell what they smell. See what they see. After a bit sometimes they talk, and I get a flavor of their voices. And words fall over the page. And some of them are good, and others are maybe not so good, but are just as necessary to my process. It's all very Christopher Reeves'ish (like in "Somewhere in Time"). Time never flies more quickly than when I'm caught up in the flow of character setting. And now I suddenly find it's time for work. Dang.   Have a great day.  One step at a time... Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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...you must believe in your characters. Be convinced of their solidity. Feel a quickening of interest as you decide what they'll do next. Care about their fates. Nancy Kress Dynamic Characters |
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