My Characters Wake Me Up in the Middle of the Night

I went to bed early and everything. Finished watching NCIS, turned the TV off, and walked into my room and fell fast asleep (well, okay, I took a shower and brushed my teeth, even changed into my jammies). Then I woke up at 2 am. WIDE AWAKE.

Now, where I live there are earthquakes a lot, so I looked on the internet - no earthquake. The dog was sleeping in the living room, so it wasn't her. I went back to bed and realized what had awakened me was one of my characters for my NaNo novel talking to me while I was sleeping.

I can see her. Her name is Cassidy Edmond. She was going through this whole song and dance about how I needed to remember this and add that. The rules for NaNoWriMo are to write a novel in 30 days. Actually, the history of the project can be found here:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/history

As far as I can tell, thinking about the story, maybe even a little outlining is within the rules. Not that they have very strict rules about anything. Anyway. I've definitely been thinking about it and I have the story idea and most of the plot lines worked out in my head. The characters are coming to life, evidently to the point where they feel free to bug me. So far there is the main protagonist, Cassidy, and a boyfriend I have yet to name. It is a bit of a crime-mystery so the police will factor in at some point.

I tend to think of names first, giving them just the right tone for what I want the character to express. Then how they dress, mannerisms, life traumas, et cetera. I'm not sure how much I'm going to pre-characterize or if I'll just let them develop as I go. That will depend on how much time I have prior to November and how organized I can get.

I want to be the kind of writer who creates characters that are living, believable beings. I think the fact that they, in their infancy, wake me up at night is a very good sign. Makes me sleepy the next day though.

Peace,

Jo Taylor

Different Voice

I've noticed (we've noticed) that most of our posts sound the same. Same voice, perhaps a little bit of different thought content, but basically Mom's voice most of the time.

Three different people are supposed to be represented here, Margaret, Honey, and Margaret's Mom. The fact that Margaret and Honey are made up characters, and Margaret's Mom is their author shouldn't change the fact that it should be obvious who is writing. It shouldn't have to be signed Honey or Margaret for you, the reader, to know which one it is.

I'm striving for original voice: the kind where you don't need dialog tags to know who is talking. I wonder how long that will take to develop? Margaret's Mom's voice? Very simple - Me.

Margaret and Honey? Me also, but Margaret is going to head more toward the Ego of me and Honey will be more the Super Ego of me. Yes, there is an Id, in the form of Robert, the naughty neighbor boy (of course the boy has to be the naughty one!).

You would think characters that start out with such clear ideas would immediately sound different. I can hear their voices - very different - in my head when I'm writing. BUT . . . I read them later on the page and they sound too similar.

At least I've identified something to work on.

I've also chosen this particular novel to tackle as a "Novel in a Month" project. That means August 1, 2009 to August 31, 2009, I will be writing this story to finish the first draft manuscript. No more dinking around. I know the story, or at least I know most of it. I just need to get it onto paper.

Wish me luck. Keep me on track.

Peace,

Margaret's Mom