A Writer's Week

Sunday night. I'm planning the week ahead. Hoping and praying the idyllic vision I conjure when I close my eyes and plan, materializes.

I want to write this week. I want to write every week, but looking ahead, writing actually seems possible. Actually, it isn't possible at all. Because there's more to it than the writing part. Planning is bigger, and more time consuming. 

Not that long ago I did a major edit of FALL. I feel as though I know it, having spent so much time with it, but it is likely that part of planning will include a read-through of it along with the other four books.

While on the treadmill this morning, reading someone else's work and loving her characters, I thought about my characters, and how much I love them too. I have favorites. Billy Patterson. I love writing him. Liv and Ben Rice. I love writing them too. They feel like family. They're probably the characters I know the best. I can see them. 

I need to see some of the others better. So I've decided to sit down and write what I see when I write each of them (and yes, it's probably something I should've done a long time ago). It wasn't difficult when I was keeping ten characters in my head. Now that it's grown to more than I can count without really thinking about it, or making a list, it's harder.

The other thing I'm going to do this week, is a family tree. I mean, they all seem to marry a Rice, or be the offspring or cousin of one, so it should be pretty easy. It'll help me keep the timeline better. 

When I wrote the first book in this series, it wasn't a story I thought anyone would ever read. I didn't do character development on the front end . . . I just wrote the story. Who knew there'd be a book six? So . . . I have a hard time remembering how old all the kids should be. 

It's probably my favorite thing about this series. The families. A man and a woman don't simply fall in the love and live happily ever after. They have kids. And family gatherings where everyone shows up, which means I get to write about what's been happening in all their lives . . . not just the two, or in a couple cases, three (love triangles that is), main characters. I found myself going back and trying to figure out how old each of the kids are. And since they keep having kids . . . it's turning into too much math. 

I started reading DANCE this morning because the characters I was reading reminded me specifically of Billy Patterson. Arrogant. Impatient. Sarcastic. Intolerant. Stubborn. Independent. But in my mind, has the biggest heart of the bunch. Re-reading DANCE made me realize I also think he's funny. 

If you're reading this and are not a writer, you probably think I'm crazy. If you are a writer, you're identifying. The memes talk about how you shouldn't piss off a writer because they'll make you a character and kill you in their next book. They also talk about how writers' block means your imaginary friends aren't speaking to you. Both true. I miss my imaginary friends, and really want to spend some time with them this week.