Sep 30 2009
my lovely Maggie
Many of my writer friends talk about characters who get away from them, running amuck all over the pages doing whatever crazy things come into their heads while their authors scramble to keep up and undo their characters’ messes. I have never been able to relate. My characters mostly do what they’re supposed to. Yes, they influence the direction of the story, but they generally do so before I start writing, not halfway through the book.
Then there’s Maggie. If you’ve read Worlds Unseen, you know that Maggie is soft-spoken, courageous but not bold, gentle and sweet — not at all the sort of girl who goes around wreaking havoc. And yet, when I originally wrote that one scene (in the house, with the wraith and the song), she knocked me for such a loop that I had to stop writing for two days so I could figure out what had just happened.
Well, now I’m writing The Advent, and Maggie features a bit more heavily again than she did in Burning Light. And I like her in this book; I think she’s lovely, and every time she’s in a scene it makes that scene feel more like home to me. (It’s fascinating writing about these characters after so many years — I finished Light in 2002, so it’s been a while.) But the other night I was writing away, trying to finish up my day’s five pages and still get to bed at a decent hour, when she did it again.
Changed everything, if only for a moment.
This time she hasn’t thrown the plot off-kilter, and because she sang in Worlds I understand her better now. But I’m — maybe grateful is the word — to be writing a character with so much life in her.
So here’s to you, my lovely Maggie. You’re making this a marvelous ride.
I love Maggie too! My characters do what I tell them to (if they didn’t, they’d get into trouble :-) ), but sometimes while I’m drafting, the characters say things I originally didn’t intend. The other night I was drafting, and one character asked his younger brother what memories he had about his old life. I didn’t intend for that to happen, but it added a good bit to that part of my story.
And I’m glad we’ll be seeing more of Maggie. I did notice she wasn’t in Burning Light as much as Worlds Unseen. I can’t wait for The Advent!