This was a week of quite a few unexpected connections in the #WritingCommunity. The most surprising of them all was to find someone who truly loved Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness quartet as much as me – to the point that she drew inspiration from the books for her own project.
What was truly serendipitous about this discovery was the timing – as I’m currently working to update my version 3.0 that was once first crafted as a response to how I didn’t like one of the character endings in Song of the Lioness. Of course, what was written originally to fill my young literary mind with my own version of happily ever after, has grown, adapted, and become its own creation after over 20 years of changes.
In the midst of working with my old friends – even if names have changed to now be Rose, Liam, Elaine, and Robin (oddly enough, Elaine and Robin have never had name changes, just character alterations) – a new character came onto the scene in a completely different universe. And she came onto the scene with a bang, sweeping in with as much imperiousness as any royal, and setting herself up on a throne of thorns, brambles, and broken dreams.
I have, in the past, had my characters simply stop talking to me. Ideas have had to be put on a back shelf. Series put on years long hiatus. All because my literary friends of my own making had decided they didn’t like something about their own worlds and had decided to walk away. This was particularly painfully felt in version 2.0 of my version of my own lioness chronicles. Roxanne and Will simply stopped talking altogether. Try as I might, I have never been able to get them back, so when Rose stepped into the picture, I was only too grateful.
Rose, as a slightly kinder and gentler version of Roxanne, but with a fair helping of the tragic Alya from Dune for good measure, is one that I can walk away from and come back to, and she hasn’t left. While most of my current work with Rose and her friends has centered around editing a rough draft that I knew was VERY rough, today was a great example of being able to just sit down and write with those characters – each offering their own take on the scenes, and helping push through for the chapter of the day.
We would-be writers might be thought of as odd ducks – after all, we talk about our characters as if they are a living, breathing part of us. But then, they are, because they are us. And while some might walk away for good, there are those old friends, who even if they have changed along the way, are still there, still dependable, still willing to work with me to write their story. Sometimes, I have to believe that those type are the very best of all. There can never be writer’s block if our friends are willing to talk to us.
I promised several weeks ago to start reviewing some of the books I had picked up to learn the ins and outs of self-publishing – I’ll try and add my first review this weekend.
Until next time –
L.E.
In case anyone is interested in joining in Rose’s current story: https://www.booksie.com/644693-foretold
Ramblings of a Would-Be Writer 