R. Leib's Blog: Dream State - Posts Tagged "character"

There are occasions when characters take control of their part in the story. Mitchell Ebberhaus in "The Negative's Tale" did this. Characters with a life of their own are much more believable and real, so I let him be who he wanted to be. Originally, he was going to be a minor character appearing a few times in a supporting role. He would not stand for that. Mitchell insisted on subsuming the part of another character, a major player. Once Ebberhaus asserted himself, that other character simply ceased to exist. He was completely absorbed by another persona that would not be relegated to the background.

It happened again. As I was writing the first draft for the "Tourist of Infinity", a character that was going to be a walk-on decided that he had to be a major player. This happened when I was writing "The Negative's Tale", too. That character became intrinsic to the essence of that novel and has carried over into the sequel. Now another individual has taken independent life. In "The Negative's Tale", Mitchell Ebberhaus essentially wrote himself. All I needed to do was make certain that he had living companions, places to be, and scenes to play. Now Jim Tiesle is doing the same thing. This is part of what makes writing fun.