They're Talking to Me Again--the Voices

[Peg Herring]

"You're overworking me!" Character M claims, and I have to admit, she's right.

At the beginning of a project I often have in mind too much "stuff" for a character to bear. Once I'm a way into the story, that character is liable to rear up and berate me. For my own good, of course.

Typically what happens is that I come to a place where it feels wrong. It just isn't going as it should, where it should. If it's possible, I take a walk at that point, because that's where my characters feel comfortable giving advice. Yesterday Character M made her claim, and I saw right away that she was correct. She needs to be simpler, because while we're all complex beings, in a story there's only so much time to devote to explaining a secondary like her.

The day before that, it was the murder victim who spoke. I'd made his backstory too complex. "I'm just going to die in Chapter One," he told me. "Skip the biography and let me do what I do."

I really appreciate their help. I just wish sometimes that they'd tell me all this before I start writing. It would save a lot of keystrokes.