Over My Shoulder

In my last post I talked about how even though I was getting to know my characters they weren't quite sitting on my shoulder as I wrote, providing suggestions. So, instead of waiting for it to happen I've decided to make it happen. How do you ask? By writing a conversation of what it would look like if each of my four main characters were to sit on my shoulder as I wrote. Today I'm going to start with Shana. Brief background: even though I have four main characters Shana is the one who started it all. Even though she can be difficult sometimes (as a person and to write) she is nearest to my heart in many ways because without her there would be no story.

I'm sitting and writing in my notebook. Shana is on my shoulder. Navy light shimmers around her and now she's sitting on my bed next to me.
"Move over," she instructs shoving me a bit. My hand skids and purple ink streaks across the page.
I make some distance between us. "You made me ruin a page."
She shrugs. "It was not a good one."
I gasp in indignation. "You can't tell someone that. It's not polite." Even as I say it I know it will have no effect. Shana trumps truth over politeness. 
Shana continues to read as I ineffectually try to write. "I wouldn't say that." She points to a phrase. 
"Of course you would. I know you better than you know you. I made you up."
"No, you are simply recording my actions."
"Shana I'm not your biographer. Can you go back to my shoulder and just watch? You're only supposed to say things when I get stuck."
She tries to take the pen out of my hand but I avoid giving her control. "I couldn't see from there. You shouldn't have given me magic if you did not want me to use it. And you were stuck. You had not written anything for a full minute."
I switch pen colors and start editing. "That's not stuck, that's brainstorming. Aren't you supposed to be learning about patience?"
She takes the pen I was using to write and starts writing in her own notebook. Where she got it I'll never know. Even magic can't conjure something out of nothing. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching me patience?" She retorts.

There you have it. I can totally picture Shana correcting me, getting impatient too fast, and trying to blame everything on me. I know I showed her in an annoying light but to me she is endearing. Recently, I've been writing scenes where she's been great, and in total control of her situation. I needed this conversation to remind me about her roots and what I'm helping her to overcome.
Stay tuned for more "Over My Shoulder" posts!

The Perks of Being Ordinary

The more I work on Guardians the better I get to know my characters. I'm not quite at the point where I can feel them sitting on my shoulder watching me write, but I'll get there. In the meantime, one thing I can tell you is that they're nothing special. By this I don't mean that they are not special people but rather they are not extraordinary. This summer I've been read two different YA series where the protagonists are unique. Angie Sage wrote the Septimus Heap series where the main character Septimus is the seventh son of a seventh son. As an fantasy addict knows seven is an incredibly magical number and so any seventh son of a seventh son is predestined for greatness. The second trilogy I've read is called Poisons of Caux by Susannah Appelbaum. The protagonist Ivy becomes known as "the Chosen Child," and the subject of a prophecy made years before she was even born. So once again, anyone well-read in fantasy will assume that Ivy has to save the day by the end of book three. In Guardians my characters aren't predestined to save anything and Shana and Kalynn aren't gifted with any magic besides what any Guardian has. I think that's why I love my characters so much. They can't rely on any super powers but rather they need to solve their problems with their brains, their guts, and their ingenuity. And even though the novel is fantasy the characters are so real that they really will be sitting on my shoulders one day.
To read an excerpt about Ben and his ordinariness click here