It's a Party!

I have a little problem. All of my characters have declared a full scale mutiny and are currently in the midst of a huge keg party smack in the middle of my head. And they haven't invited me!

Does this happen to anyone else? You have more than one WIP going at a time or characters from your next project have started to take shape, and then they meet each other. They begin to mingle, sharing their histories and current stories until you start to get a bit confused. Sometimes it's a good thing, like being at a party full of really cool people, all of whom you'd like to be friends with. Other times - like what's happening to me now - they either start to fight with each other or they just hunker down for long term walk-out.

Which leaves me completely unmotivated and torn. Each person is jumping up and down Arnold Horshack style screaming "Oh, oh! Oh, oh! Pick me, pick me!" They all want their story to be told right now. No, not when I'm finished with the current book, but right this very minute.

And if I don't do what they say - drop whatever I should be working on to spill their best scene ever immediately - they just refuse to talk to me altogether. They mill about, blending and mingling with each other so none of them gets the spotlight of my focus. The age old sour grapes approach of "If it's not me, then it won't be anybody!"

This is why I have a hard drive full of great scenes. They are the defining moments for these people - the place in their stories where who the characters are really takes form and shape. It's the only way I know to exorcise them from my brain and get them to turn down the stereo so I can bloody think.

This blog entry from Steph Tyler made me smile big time, because I know exactly what she means. Problem with creating over-the-top, dynamic bigger than life people (especially those dang alpha-heroes) is that they can be pretty darn persistent. Ignoring them is sometimes not an option.

So what do you do? Well, I'm thinking of opening a bottle of wine and joining the party.