Monday, October 7, 2013

My Invisible Friends


So while working on the sequel to THE BINDING STONE I may or may not have had the following conversation with one of the characters:

Me: This is hard. Sometimes I wish I had a little Djinn Magic so I could make it perfect with ease.

Taj: I could fix it for you. Of course then I'd be the hero.

Me: You are the hero in this one. 

Taj: Of course I am. So what's so hard then? Having trouble describing me? How about, Tall, muscular, godlike...

Me: Yeah, um, too many adjectives. Look, I hate to tell you this, but I'm going to have to put you through the proverbial ringer. 

Taj: I doubt your readers will like that. They want to see more interesting things. Things like, me saving the helpless, me outsmarting everyone else, me naked. 

Me: *blanches* Excuse me? This isn't all about you being perfect. 

Taj: Isn't everything? Here. I'll write the book. *shoves me out of chair* *cracks knuckles* 

Me: If you have your way it's going to be a very short and very boring book. 

Taj: Ouch.

Me: Taj I really have to get to work. Isn't there something else you can do?

Taj: Come on. You know you want me to grant you a wish. 

Me: How about a bottomless cup of coffee that never gets cold? 

Taj: That depends. How do you describe me in the book? 

Me: I can see that I need to banish more than my inner editor if I'm going to get this done. 

Do your characters ever bother you? Do they insist on certain things? Do you have trouble torturing them? Don't. Because that's what makes a good book!

11 comments:

  1. Seriously, love the bantering ... between your peeps and in your head. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the conversation! It is hard to have bad things happen to characters, but yes, it's necessary. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I realy enjoyed your conversation. And in answer to your question, yes. They usually start in about 3AM, and won't let up until they've finished with me. I surrender to all demands by 5, get up and start writing what they want. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fun conversation. Agree with Barbara, that bad things happening to our beloved characters is necessary for a good story.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hubby tells me all the time that these people are not real and therefore I should not be having conversations with them. They don't like it when he says that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awesome! Real conversations with imaginary people is almost a requirement for good writing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Only crazy people talk to their characters...I will not deny or admit to the practice myself.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Heh heh. I wouldn't mind a bottomless cup of tea that never gets cold. That would be so awesome. Sigh. And would definitely help me get through the next freelance project.

    ReplyDelete
  9. *hee* Taj sounds like a riot! My own characters often bother me like this, too. I never have any trouble torturing them, though. Probably because of all the bothering they do. :P

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ha! He's a pushy guy, isn't he? If he ever snaps his fingers and makes a manuscript perfect, send him my way. Please!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Taj never was a back seat kind of guy.

    ReplyDelete