Novelism

I’m not a published author. Yet.  I work at it every day, often late into the night.  There’s some good stuff, there’s some horrid, trash-can fodder.  But I’ve always had a compulsion to write. Yes,  a compulsion—something inside so persistent that it overtakes my mind and manipulates my hand, forcing my fingers to scribble thoughts from a  pen or pound them onto the keyboard.  It doesn’t really matter how the thoughts get out as long as they gain exit. 

It’s like cleaning out a bulging closet, the overwhelming contents of which, once sorted,  roughly draft a new reality and bring new people to life. (That’s some closet, eh?)

If I don’t clear out my musings, they clog the byways in my head and I encounter cerebral roadblocks, suffer severe brain-aches and become oddly cramped in my own body.  

Indeed, ‘compulsion’ .

The words come first, often before the storyline.  Strands of conversation drift through my mind, opening or ending lines whisper, and moments in the lives of my imagination’s residents echo off the walls of my head.  It’s maddening, but in a good, creative commotion kind of way.

As the plot struggles to unfold in the limited space my brain offers, I scribble and scrawl in a notebook, then go in search of visuals. 

I always know what my  characters look like before they’re born.  And believe me, they are born—they cause pain and struggles as intense as labor, albeit mental  labor. And instead of getting rid of baby fat after their birth, I have to trim and shape my squishy mind to fit each character’s will.  Just like infants, they are very dependent--verging on clingy--and come with uncharted dispositions.

Once born, my characters and I become good friends--their pictures end up in frames on my desk like the newest members of my family. And honestly, some days I spend more time with them than anyone as they scurry around my mind, impatient for me to stop being so protective and loose them into the unexplored, word-processed world. 

But, like any good parent, I must ensure my characters know where they’re going before I send them on their way.  To give them every opportunity  (and clear much-needed space in my head),  I create storyboards.  Then I give their lives a soundtrack and…the pounding of the keyboard begins.  Blowing kisses over their shoulder, they run out the back door and down the steps into their first scenes.

So…I thought I’d share who and what has recently been born, both here on my keyboard and on the pages of my notebooks.

Meet the cast and characters and roam the setting of The Rule, my most recently outlined (but not drafted) Mature Young Adult novel.  Think of this as pre-term labor—my characters are alive and well, just not quite ready to emerge….

:)

(Photos courtesy of Flickr and Pinterest)

Domenik

Willa

Jonas

Martique

Britta

I want you to meet all my characters and visit all my worlds, so perhaps I’ll introduce you to my oldest “children” next time.  They’ve almost met their end—and, when speaking of novel writing,  that’s a very good thing.  :)