When Character Speak to You

When you name your characters right-they speak to you.

Depending on who you are you are going to think I am crazy. But aren't all writers no matter the number of copies sold or not? I was asked the other day how I get into the flow of writing. And I responded-the characters tell me. I recieved a chuckle from the other person. But I persisted. As I do here. My characters tell me. They speak to me. Not in a an inspirational-it speaks to me!-kind of way. No. They speak to me in their own voices and their own personalities. They come fully formed. I have almost no work to do to create them. They are already there, vying for my attention.

One of the hardest parts of the first novel (What We Leave Behind) I wrote was staying with Barbara and only Barbara. There were so many other characters who wanted a say-especially Bobby. I told him, wait, just wait, I'll come back for you. Let me tell you, he wasn't too happy about that. Maybe that's why he walks off at the end of the book. Maybe he was turning his back on me!

I decided not to make that mistake again in my following books. My second and third books (To Save a Life and Message in the Stars) have mulitple perspectives and voices. In To Save a Life I had originally only planned for Mykhailo and Deborah. But, Ahava was soon pleading with me to tell her story too. And, then, Malakh said-hey what about me? So, I let them take over their stories and allowed them to guide me through what they wanted me to say. And I ended up falling in love with Ahava. Just like everyone else in the story. I would let her occupy my mind for days on end. She had so much to say. And I would love to write another story about her. Because she still hasn't left my mind. Perhaps that is why I have had a rough go of it as I start Message in the Stars. I can't quite leave Ahava behind.

Or, perhaps, there is a voice in Message in the Stars that isn't being heard yet. Or, perhaps, it is because I changed their names so many times. It is hard for a character to understand who they are if you keep changing their name on them. But, I have settled, finally, I hope, on their names. And I hope that as they settle into these names-Jozef, Nethalia and Jan, that they will be more forthcoming with me.

Both To Save a Life and Message in the Stars are my fictional responses to trying to figure out a family mystery-a branch of our family we know almost nothing about. And, in each, I have imagined different possibilities for their lives. Perhaps Deborah, Mykhailo and Ahava spoke to me more enthusiastically because I got it more right? I am going to go try to have a conversation with my current characters and ask them what I am doing wrong and if they won't tell me their story...or maybe they are the more accurate story since they don't want to tell me anything-just like my real family!