25 November 2006

NaNo - Day 25, Whose Life Is It Anyways?

Today I discovered things about one of my bad guys I didn't know before. This isn't the antagonist, that nice but misguided bad guy who does what he does because he thinks he's right. This is the nasty bad guy, the Godhunter, whose sole purpose in life is to find and destroy any god it finds walking the mortal realm. There's a reason the Godhunters do what they do, and up until today, I wasn't sure what that reason was.

Now I am. Can't say that I like it, but it makes sense, in some sad, twisted, demonic sort of way. I also got the scoop on the gods who didn't exactly do good things, and were sent to the cosmic principal's office for it. I have to admit, I didn't want to talk to the evil one, not without my main character standing in back of me wearing his most menacing smile and a brace of swords. Pretty brave of him, considering he's on the Godhunter's hit list. Of course, he doesn't know that yet. I like to keep my characters in the dark. Not only does it make them crazy, but it provides me with insights to their personalities.

I have a character in my other novel that is mentioned frequently, but refuses to come forth and introduce herself. She also refuses to have much to do with her son, and I think the two are connected. If I don't know her, I can't get a handle on her to write about her. It makes for an interesting dilemma. Her son is as frustrated as I am by her recalcitrant nature. It's coming to a head though; she is going to play a key part in the ending. Maybe she just wants to make sure all eyes are on her when she does.

I'm fascinated by the relationships my characters have. Here is my chance to write the perfect relationship, or at least make things turn out right, and what happens? My characters make bad choices. They get stubborn. They refused to believe what's right before their eyes. They sleep with the wrong person, knowing full well they'll pay for it later. They sleep with the right person and don't let me watch.

In other words, they behave like people I know. It's always a bit frightening when your best laid plans get hijacked by people you're supposed to have under control. If you try and regain the upper hand by writing a death scene, the characters duck and dodge and sometimes metamorphose into someone else. On the other hand, I can't say much when they do that. Ultimately, isn't that what I'm all about? Making myself into other people, then writing about it? The bad part is when my characters seem to know more than I do about the story. I think they get together, plot on their own, throw wild parties, and don't invite me.

Ingrates.

2 comments:

Carla said...

"I think they get together, plot on their own, throw wild parties, and don't invite me."

Of course they do :-) That's all part of the fun, isn't it, finding out what your characters are up to behind your back?

Constance Brewer said...

Yeah, but who knew they could be so sneaky? And that they'd invite friends over who'd demand their own stories?