Surprises

Sometimes, as I write, a character will do something I didn't expect. Or I'll learn something about a character that I didn't know before. I believe it's the subconscious at work, handing ideas up from the dark workroom in the basement to the sunlight of the conscious mind.

Sometimes the ideas are terrible. Many writers talk of the ideas they get while falling asleep, dreaming, or waking up. I get them, too, but they're mostly awful. I can't tell you how many times I've read a scrap of paper ...