It’s Alive!

There is something incredible that happens when two writers discuss their work. I can talk about writing to my friends and family and they will listen, but to be honest, they really don’t get it.

But when I talk to another writer, they get it.

They really get it.

I can see it in their eyes. I can hear it in their tone. I can feel the connection through their mannerisms that they get it.

I have been meeting with a new writer lately – encouraging, helping, listening. She thanks me every time we meet. But as I walk away, I feel I get just as much out of it.

Because I have someone new that I can discuss writing with who gets it.

We were talking the other day and she said, “I was thinking of my characters the other day and I discovered something about her. I didn’t know she was going to be like this.” She started smiling and laughing.

I nodded my head and smiled because she got it. As crazy as it sounds, authors don’t know everything about their characters. They uncover them just like readers do. The only difference is the author uncovers them first.

We authors feel the same thing readers do when they read a book for the first time. I laugh with my characters, I grieve with them, I shake my head at their ignorance, and I pump my fist in excitement when they succeed.

I never know everything about my characters. There are characters I have had for years in my head and on pages and when I think about them, talk about them, reflect on them, I learn something new. It’s like calling a friend. You don’t know how their day was until you ask them.

That is how I feel when I write. I don’t know how Solomon is going to react, how Elizabeth is going to snap, how Veronica is going to grow, how Wint is going to thrive, how Jeremiah is going to learn until I start writing a chapter and watch them come alive.

It’s like a front row seat. And I get to experience it.

It’s like I’m Dr. Frankenstein watching his monster rise before his eyes.

That is how I feel when I write.

Just now I finished a chapter and I was shocked to discover a secret from years ago. A secret that I never had conceived in the 3 years I have known this character. It was as if this character was keeping this secret away from me. And within a few sentences, my perception totally changed of this character. I have a new layer of history with this character that will take me on a roller coaster ride.

It will be a ride with ups and downs and curves I don’t even see coming yet. Yet I know my stomach will flip with I feel that first unseen dip. I now know something is has to happen with that new secret.

I just don’t know what it is yet.

That is the beautiful mystery in writing. You never know what the end result is going to be until you get to the end.

So, to all of my writer friends out there. You are not crazy. I get you. And I know you get me.

To all of my non writer friends…I promise, I’m not crazy even though you probably think I am. Just ask another writer.

But then you will probably think they are crazy too because they most likely will sound something like me.

Peace

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