Into The Minds Of The Characters

Wow, I just realized that it has been well over a year since I started this venture.  Time has certainly flown by.  It has also been quite a while since I’ve posted here, or written at all for that matter.  It’s been a very busy time at work, and springtime always holds its own share of extra work around the house.  On top of that, we’ve been in the middle of construction hell, having our screen room remodeled, a project that should have taken two weeks but ended up taking two months.  Fortunately, (or unfortunately I should say, because the silver lining is more of a dull grey,) the weather here in northwest Ohio has been absolutely abysmal so we couldn’t have used our screen room even if it had been complete on time.  If it hasn’t been raining, it has been humid, hot and muggy.  I wonder if we’ve even had a dozen actual nice days since winter ended.

I’d hoped to be much farther along with the book by this point in time, I’m smack in the middle of chapter twenty-four.  It is a very exciting time for me though, regardless of my slow progress.  I’m  starting to get a much deeper feel for the characters as they come to life.  I’m beginning to understand them better, and am getting to know them on a far more intimate level.  Perhaps because there is so much action involved, and the pace is so quick early on in the book, there hasn’t been much time for the characters to take stock or reflect.  Right now I find myself at a point in the manuscript where several of the main characters, (Stark, Melissa, Rebecca and Simon specifically,) have time to take pause and consider all they’ve been through and to consider what possibilities the future may hold. 

This was never something that was dealt with in the screenplay, and I have to admit that I find it totally exhilarating as a writer.  Much is being revealed about the characters as this unfolds, and not all of it expected.  I’m encountering many surprises about these characters as I discover who they are, what they want, and where their hearts actually lie.  Dimension is being added to each one in a way that I had not fully anticipated, and I find that extremely exciting.

I don’t want to reveal anything that may spoil the story so it’s impossible to be specific, but I can say that the characters are becoming more alive and human than they were before in screenplay form, and therefore they are becoming far more compelling.  That’s not to say that their human qualities aren’t revealed earlier in the book, but those qualities are predictably in alignment with the storyline and plot as it is being revealed.  These later qualities have much more to do with who they are and how they feel on a deeply personal level because it deals more directly with their inner morality than with their public persona.

To further explain, it’s almost like making a friend.  When you first meet, you may share common interests, common goals or common sensibilities, but it’s not until much later, once you’ve had the opportunity to really get to know them and understand who they are, that you fully appreciate their depth of character, their loyalty and their heart.  That’s when they become true friends, when they become family.  When they become people whom you’re willing to share your home with, people  you share your dreams with.  It’s virtually impossible to do that at the beginning of the relationship, unless you’re either an idiot or completely gullible.

At this point, I am just over 60,000 words, estimating that I’m approximately seventy-five percent complete.  I imagine I’ll be at the 80,000 word mark when I finish  the first draft, but hope to be near 100,000 words when I complete the novel. 

My intention is to flesh out the characters even further, delving deeper into the minds of the main characters, and exploring the motivations of the hybrids to a much greater degree.  As of right now, I don’t feel that I have generated enough sympathy for them or their cause, or have explained their motivations for murder enough to justify their actions.

That is a tough nut to crack, developing sympathy for a group of advanced beings who have committed the ultimate sin.  I do look forward to the challenge, however, because theirs is a particularly unique point of view; rebelling against their creators with reason and ability to do so. 

Making all of these characters come to life is the most enjoyable part of the writing process, and one of my main motivations for converting the screenplay to novel form in the first place.

As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome.