I write by the seat of my pants. That means I write with
only a vague notion of where I’m going and how I’m getting there. I’d prefer to
write another way—I’d like to be a plotter, someone who plots out their entire
novel and all subplots before they put pen to paper. That’s the way that I live
the rest of my life. Everything is planned, organized, and collated.
Now I am addicted to the creative rush, which happens when
the plot finds me. When something or someone I hadn’t thought of takes over the
story. That’s euphoric. But there is a dark side. Times when you have no idea
what happens next.
Those times I round up my characters to have a cast meeting.
I greet them cheerfully. They turn sullen faces to me. The problem with being
an author is you dump your characters into really bad situations, and, well,
they hold it against you. So when you ask them for a favor, they aren’t exactly
cooperative. More like bitter. And blackly sardonic.
So now I’m in that dark place. My text has stopped flowing,
and my characters are on strike. Right now, I’m trying bribery. I’ve tried
dangling a kissing scene with Miranda under Mark’s nose, but he ignored that. I’ve
offered him a taser and that got his attention, but so far he’s only eyeing it
with his arms crossed over his chest.
We’ll see what happens. The taser is shiny and packs a nasty
punch. But if that doesn’t work, I’m open to suggestions. What do you think
might get my characters back on track?
