I woke up thinking about characters in my novel. One of them is on the verge of a name change. She\’s been yelling it at me for some time now, so I\’ve committed to the change. This lead me to think about a couple of other characters in my novel. They feel flat when they should feel dynamic and integral to the story. I was trying to work through why they felt so flat while showering. There\’s just something about the mist in the air or the echo in the room; the bathroom is great place to literally talk out loud. Somewhere between the conditioner rinse and the face wash, I heard very clearly – WE HAVE NO BACKSTORY!
Aha! I have two couples in my novel. One couple is fleshed out with a backstory and a story to themselves within this novel. The other couple, the one not so happy with me right now, has zero backstory and float along in the book doing important things, making important steps, but there\’s no feeling in it. I\’m sorry to say … I don\’t like them. I much prefer my \”known\” couple. The \”unknown\” couple are important to the novel, and the story cannot be told without either of them. They deserve more. They deserve to feel connected to one another and to feel all of the pain and horror and triumph. They deserve a story.
Part of the reason the \”known\” couple has more depth and strength comes from the 2nd novel I am writing which tells how they met and came to be the symbiotic couple they are now. The \”unknown\” couple is in this 2nd book as well, but so far, same issue – no story, yet. My plan today is to focus on these two characters and listen to them. They know who they are. They know their story. I just haven\’t been listening.
Oh. The retype? I\’m on page 82 of 160. #amslow
Wendy Crafton Writes 