On Character Interviews and Family Relationships

My family members have asked that I not post their pictures on the internet so here’s a picture of the Celestial Turtle Pond in Wilmington, NC. We went there as a family on a day trip once and I was bemused by this bit of randomness.

Hello there! As you may know from a previous post, I’m editing my first manuscript. It’s slow going as I’ve decided to interview all of my characters about things that happen within each chapter. This is a really great way of filling in the oh-so many plot holes that will inevitably occur in your writing. As I reread my manuscript after letting it marinate for about a year, I often found myself wondering “why the heck would he/she do that??”. I honestly don’t remember what was going on in my head at the time. I’m sure I had reasons for some of the things I wrote, but I really wish that I could remember them.

If you don’t know why your characters are acting a certain way, it’s best to ask them. And yes, I realise how ridiculous that sounds, but it’s a really cool way to get to know them. You’d be surprised about the ideas you can come up with if you pretend that they are real people. We’ll see how it all works out in the rewrite.

But man oh man! It is time consuming! I’m working on my cast in Chapter One now that I’ve filled in the plot holes of my Prologue.

Yes, people. I had plot holes in my Prologue.

Anyway, it’s going pretty well. Slowly, but I’m happy with my results.

My writing has been slowed down somewhat by some personal things that are going on in my life (that I don’t really want to go into). My confidence was knocked and I wasn’t feeling very good about myself.

What does a girl do when she’s in this situation? Obviously, she emails her mom.

I must say that I am so fortunate to have amazingly supportive family members. My parents are fantastic. I’ve always been fiercely independent and I’m sure that sometimes makes them think that I don’t need them, but it definitely isn’t the case. We live over 6000 miles away from each other and I’m not always the best with constant communication, but their moral support is crucial to my happiness. I also got really lucky with my in-laws. My father-in-law and his partner are also very supportive of me and my husband. How many people can boast having great parents AND in-laws?

Anyway, my mom’s reply to my email was rounded out with this:

I love you lots & think you’re great!!!  What more do you need?!?!?  🙂

And then I got a further email that said this:

I meant to tell you…I’ve been reading your blog & you are a wonderful writer!!   I guess I’ve not read a lot of your writing before but am enjoying!!  I love you!!

She pretty much made my day. I even teared up a little bit. I’m not lying. My mom reads my blog. She and I have very different tastes in books, yet she reads my blog. And thinks that I’m a wonderful writer. I can’t even begin to tell you how much that means to me.

I realise this post is all over the place, but I really felt like writing what was on my mind tonight.

I hope you have  a great evening. If you can, go call your mom.