Monday, May 21, 2012

Perfect Heroine

My heroine used to be so solid, a rock the hero could rely on--that everyone could rely on. She was always encouraging, a stickler for rules but fun. She was tenderhearted but strong. She was the manifestation of an ideal.

And then, I started telling the story from her POV. Suddenly, she seemed so insecure. She had bitterness she’d never dealt with from being rejected so often as a child--by her family, by her peers. She was strong because she had to be--no one else would be strong for her--but all she really wanted was for someone else to come take care of everything, for someone else to make  things better. She wanted that strong person to hold her and fight away her bad dreams. She wanted that person but didn’t know how to trust anyone to be that person because everyone she had ever relied on had let her down.

Wow. I guess I need to go back to Book One and rewrite all her scenes with that in mind. She isn’t as perfect as she seemed.

I think I like her better now.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

A Little Weekend Fun

Time for a little amusement. Some writers throw out their first draft and completely start over with their second draft. I do not recommend throwing away your writing. Ever. For practical reasons, I often realize a scene I had cut out after the first draft actually does belong or that I've gotten away from a character's personality. If I'd thrown out my first draft, I wouldn't have that information anymore.

For a purely entertaining reason, I love going back and rereading what I wrote. Especially some of the things I wrote in highschool. I make myself laugh so hard.

Yesterday, I decided to look at my highschool draft of Book One to see how I introduced my MC's mentor. Well, his mentor was apparently quite gruff in that early draft. At one point, he sits the MC down and tells him how he has two options. He waxes eloquent on how either option will be extraordinarily difficult and ends with this sentence:
"Eventually you will become so disgusted with yourself and everyone around you that you will sink into a fathomless pit of self pity and loathing, wondering each day why you cannot simply die and be done with it."

Wow! I think I'd get a new mentor. . . . ;-)