Good Morning everyone! (I clearly need to read before I post – I’m sorry)
Every single time I struggle with a blog post. Like every time before, I become almost stupid. I stare at the screen, blankly.
This time, I did something different. No not my fall back plan of Davy Crockett and Sam Houston’s love affair. I’ve decided I am just going to talk about what I’m doing. Have I lost you yet? *taps screen* Come back, I’m just getting started. You cant leave yet!
What’s been consuming my life for the last week, really the last month, is Mitch Knox. Something happened to him since Double Full came out. He’s gotten bad!
I’m new to this writing thing. I have five full length works completed. I’m close to a virgin in the author world. When I would hear authors talk about characters talking to them, I’m not gonna lie, I thought they were mental. Mitch changed all that. In writing Mitch for Full Disclosure, I found he’s not what was before. He’s complicated and stead-fast, yet smart and vulnerable. He’s such a mix of directions. Everyday we take a new turn. Its been one of the most complicated stories I’ve ever been a part of and not because the story itself is hard. It’s not. I know its direction. I know who ran Colt off the road. I’ve known since it happened, but Mitch working his way around that is tedious.
So here is my question, have you ever had this problem – even as a reader, after you have finished a story and are thinking about the characters – Do they take on a life of their own? Mitch sure has, it’s been a ride.
I’ve certainly read books where characters have stayed with me long after I finish the book. There are times when a character either resonates with me or impacts me so much that it’s hard to start a new book!
Not at all in the way you’re talking about. However, when an author stops writing a series without finishing it, the characters left hanging drive me nuts. That’s happened 3 times and I have no idea why; the authors mentioned in various places that they were working on a sequel but they never appeared. I know that’s not the same thing you’re talking about but the end result is the same. Please don’t ever write a cliffhanger.
YES! I keep thinking about characters all the time! Did they get married? When is the author gonna write his story? etc.
Yes. I’m writing a story for Goodread’s Love Landscapes event and a minor character has decided he wants his own story when that was not the direction I was going to go in.