The HEA Cafe

I’ve recently been reoutlining a story that was basically already written.  The first draft at least.  It needed work, editing and some revision, but it was pretty much complete.  Only when I dove into the editing I realized something wasn’t working.  The story was there, but it just felt clunky.  I blamed it on the heroine and her history.  She just felt off to me.

While I was trying to force some answers out of her, I was left with one really huge question.  A question which had nothing to do with the heroine, but everything to do with the hero.  I thought I had him all figured out.  Turns out I didn’t.  As I pushed a little harder and dug a little deeper, I realized he was the culprit to my heartache with the story, and the real reason everything concerning this story was out of sorts.

He was doing things with so much conviction I knew there was more to him than he told me.  So I pushed him to open up.  At first he refused, but I eventually got him to spill his guts.  Wow.  It was an eye opener for me, and I’ve been digging in and enjoying every minute of his revelations.  Even the research and fact I’m going to have rewrite this story hasn’t bothered me in the least.

For me, the joy of writing comes from the characters-their history, emotion and depth.  When they open up and tell me their story instead of me telling it to them is more inspiring than anything else ever could be.  I love to hear their voices and share their experiences.

I am a plotter and I probably always will be.  However, this is only true to a point.  I like to outline the story and the basics of the plot.  The real magic occurs when the character’s take the outline and show me how to wield it into their story.  Even if it means going back and reoutlining the entire story and starting over.  In the end, it’s worth it and where the real joy is at.

~Tess Harrison