Monday 11 April 2011

Clamouring to be heard

Some days characters are stubborn and unco-operative. When that happens the author has to step in and take over, become the master puppeteer, making these uncommunicative characters walk, talk, feel, live. It's painful at times. Yet, there are days when even long silent characters start yelling 'me, me, me!' AND at the most inconvenient times.

Why have they all suddenly decided it's time to make their presence known? Jealousy, I reckon. One lot of characters have been getting a bit of attention in my head lately as a result of my eldest daughter reading my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel and asking questions.

As I've mulled over Hal and Harry's unlikely friendship, where each would die for the other, Garth, an enigmatic yet reticent hero who literally stepped out of the past has nudged me to remind he's here. He's still not talking to me though - the rotten tease. Then there's Fergus a taciturn man whose past is about to catch up with the present still where I left him - on a farm in the picturesque countryside of Glen Tara. All of them are vying for attention with the heroes of two current WIPs - Alexander, another Scotsman who's never forgotten his first love, and Leon, a sexy Spaniard with turquoise eyes.

What is a girl to do with all these men shouting at her? <ahem> And should I be worried that it is only my male characters that want to be heard? A thought for another day, I think.