They Did It Again
One of the things I'd heard about writing was that sometimes the characters have a mind of their own. I've read several books written by authors about the writing process. And almost without exception, the writers mention this phenomenon. When a character takes control of the plot and writes their own story.
Jude Deveraux - possibly my favorite romance writer - has talked about this. She talks about inventing two main characters - a man and a woman - and then they take the story where they want it to go. I suspect it's not quite that simple.
But I get it. Because it happened again today.
The first time I experienced it was in my first fantasy trilogy, Reunion. There was a strong female character, Keela. She was the younger sister of Aidan, one of my leads. She had invited herself along on the quest. She didn't really have a function originally. There were other mages, and it turned out - a twist I hadn't originally envisioned - that each was a specialist in a different form on elemental magic. Aidan needed to learn them all as the Keeper of the Pink Amulet. His friends explained their magic to him, and he learned more elemental magic from each, along with his instructor, Dorjan. This was a plot point that I hadn't entirely planned either. But to me, this was more of a pleasant twist that came out of my brain as I was writing. It wasn't a character taking over. Not in the way I thought of from Jude and others.
But Keela did. She completely changed her path. One day, while I was writing, she went from being just Aidan's little sister to being a bad-ass mage who destroyed the cabal that was trying to kill Aidan and Sorcha. It turned out the prophecy had intended this all along. But I didn't know this until Keela told me about it. Along with Aidan and Sorcha.
In today's writing, it was Nyomi who took over. The Jewel Keepers - at this point in the trilogy - are in Karba, in Amboria. They need to get to Batca, where the last Jewel Keeper - the Amborian one - is waiting. But Karba is a merchant town. And so, though it's on a river, and that's the fastest way to get to Batca - down the Timi River - there are no pleasure boats, no boats that accept passengers, that travel the river from Karba. And then - out of nowhere - Nyomi mentions that they should ask Princess Miale for help. Princess Miale rules Amboria. They don't know her. No problem, Nyomi insists. They know people who know her - Kircha's parents, the former Keepers - the aforementioned Aidan and Sorcha. And suddenly, not only did Nyomi solve a plot point for getting the Jewel Keepers from Karba to Batca - they talk to Ido, Princess Miale's chief of staff, not the Princess herself - but she created a connection to the palace, which is where they find the next Jewel Keeper, Damir, who is one of the many, many princes of Amboria.
None of this was planned. And Nyomi rarely takes charge. But in this case, she got this idea in her head. And wouldn't take no for an answer.
I love that!
Jude Deveraux - possibly my favorite romance writer - has talked about this. She talks about inventing two main characters - a man and a woman - and then they take the story where they want it to go. I suspect it's not quite that simple.
But I get it. Because it happened again today.
The first time I experienced it was in my first fantasy trilogy, Reunion. There was a strong female character, Keela. She was the younger sister of Aidan, one of my leads. She had invited herself along on the quest. She didn't really have a function originally. There were other mages, and it turned out - a twist I hadn't originally envisioned - that each was a specialist in a different form on elemental magic. Aidan needed to learn them all as the Keeper of the Pink Amulet. His friends explained their magic to him, and he learned more elemental magic from each, along with his instructor, Dorjan. This was a plot point that I hadn't entirely planned either. But to me, this was more of a pleasant twist that came out of my brain as I was writing. It wasn't a character taking over. Not in the way I thought of from Jude and others.
But Keela did. She completely changed her path. One day, while I was writing, she went from being just Aidan's little sister to being a bad-ass mage who destroyed the cabal that was trying to kill Aidan and Sorcha. It turned out the prophecy had intended this all along. But I didn't know this until Keela told me about it. Along with Aidan and Sorcha.
In today's writing, it was Nyomi who took over. The Jewel Keepers - at this point in the trilogy - are in Karba, in Amboria. They need to get to Batca, where the last Jewel Keeper - the Amborian one - is waiting. But Karba is a merchant town. And so, though it's on a river, and that's the fastest way to get to Batca - down the Timi River - there are no pleasure boats, no boats that accept passengers, that travel the river from Karba. And then - out of nowhere - Nyomi mentions that they should ask Princess Miale for help. Princess Miale rules Amboria. They don't know her. No problem, Nyomi insists. They know people who know her - Kircha's parents, the former Keepers - the aforementioned Aidan and Sorcha. And suddenly, not only did Nyomi solve a plot point for getting the Jewel Keepers from Karba to Batca - they talk to Ido, Princess Miale's chief of staff, not the Princess herself - but she created a connection to the palace, which is where they find the next Jewel Keeper, Damir, who is one of the many, many princes of Amboria.
None of this was planned. And Nyomi rarely takes charge. But in this case, she got this idea in her head. And wouldn't take no for an answer.
I love that!
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