I am an advocate of planning a story out. I may not be as detailed as some authors who can detail everything that happens on each page… but I do know what are the instances that pull my story together. That being said, as I mentioned in my first post, my story is now is almost unrecognizable when compared to the original story I was writing in high school. Honestly, I have the proof in paper form!

To me, what is exciting about writing is letting your characters show you what is happening. Countless times I have told my husband with great excitement “I finally know why this happens!” or “I just found out that this is going to happen.” It is quite exciting. Some people give me strange looks and say “You’re the writer, how do you not know what is going to happen?” It is simple, I don’t. I hope that I never tie myself down with a guideline so strict that my creativity cannot leak through, it far too important.

In high school, I can easily say I was not one of the popular kids…. but everyone  knew that I was a writer. My characters live and breathe in my mind. I was then and am still now actively plagued by the daily lives of my characters, most of which would never make it into my story, but it is important to know them on a personal level. Sometimes my friends, co-workers, my husband will catch me pouting or looking angry as I stare off into the distance and I have to explain that the characters are having  an argument, or I just discovered that someone is going to die. I enjoy the experience, even if others find it strange.

If I did not allow my characters to sometimes take over my thoughts I can promise you that I would have no clue that not only will there be a 2nd book, there will be a 3rd, and even more recently I discovered there will be a 4th. I always hoped there would be a sequel, but I could not decide how I wanted my story to end. Some versions of the ending I know would have upset my readers. Now that I know the storyline of the 2nd book, I know the proper ending for my first. I came up with the idea for my next book sitting in the car, a new song came on the radio,  “Lights” by Ellie Goulding. There was one line that struck me “the Queen has been overthrown.” That line rocked my world and spun many many ideas running amuck in mind and suddenly I knew that one of my characters was that actual villain. My story already had a villain, but from that song I learned who was the even bigger threat to my main characters.

I wanted to talk about this today because as I summing another chapter, two of my characters were able to have a touching moment that I had not originally planned. Looking back, I can’t believe that I almost missed this opportunity and I think it will give the readers a better sense of closure for the affected character. This little detour took no more than 1/2 page, but I know that it has improved the ending of my book.

So to those of you who read my little blog… I would like to encourage you to actively give in to your characters and let them help you develop your storyline, you may surprised what you come up with.

I hope you’re having a great Monday, even if its is cold and cloudy where you are, it is still only 4 days until Friday.

I’ll have another post for you tomorrow, good day!