Everyone thinks if you are an author it's a full time job. We'd love it to be a full time job, but for the vast majority of us it's not. That doesn't mean that we quit thinking about what we are writing when we aren't busy writing.
Unfortunately I had to go to work today. Fortunately there's lots of work which means a better paycheck. Paychecks are important! So there I am at work and my mind is drifting over what my my characters are doing. (I work in a huge cube farm and I'm trying not to giggle.) It's quite simple. I left my characters in bed with a can of whipped cream! They will be stuck there until tomorrow night when I can rescue them from their predicament.
I know that I write in snatches of time that I can steal from busy days. I don't have the luxury to write full time, but the need to write is always with me. Writers write, that's what we do. It keeps us sane! As fast as we can write one novel there's another brewing in our brains.
Some authors plot everything out. I envy them. I know where my stories are going, but that doesn't mean I know every path the characters will take. I allow my characters to drive the story. I try to stay ahead of them so that I can steer them. They need to now what route to take to get where they are supposed to go, but I give them the freedom to sight see along the way. It's amazing what they will do with that freedom!
I do need to wrestle that can of whipped cream from my characters' hands. I had enough trouble convincing her that she didn't need to drag out the chocolate syrup too! It'll take them another thirty years before they will ever settle down, they're having too much fun. But isn't that part of finding true love? Unbridled enthusiasm and the willingness to excite and please the one you love?
I don't write erotic, just contemporary romance. And yes, it's always about finding true love.
E.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
LOL
ReplyDeleteIt is so true. Lots of people think if you're published you are rolling in money. if only.
Stephen king agrees with you. treat your story like you are uncovering a fossil. see where the characters take you. If you don't know what happens, the reader won't either.
great post!
This resembles my life as well. I sure wish writing was my full time job but unfortunately its not. got to make money to survive. My characters tend to write themselves as well. I try to guide them but sometimes they don't listen to me. :)
ReplyDeleteI would dearly love for my writing to be my full time job. I do not see it happening in the near future. I must agree that the characters do write themselves. I strive to guide them, but it is not easy to get their attention at times. My fanfiction drives me crazy, but my first novel makes me want to spank them.
ReplyDelete