Where Do All The Characters Come From?

I often wonder how many personalities lurk about in my mind. The good, the bad and the ugly. They’re all there, often times surprising me when words are put to paper. Characters feed off each other, building the story as they go along. Of course you start off with a plot but from there, your characters take over.

For me it’s like playing chess with myself, each move striving for victory. I’ll have a goal as to what I want in a scene but when the characters react, I have to put myself in their shoes and deal with it accordingly. It’s strange but fun as the characters try to outwit the other until the scene is played out.

I never know what’s going to be said, my mind always working a few steps ahead as I type. Each night I close off with what I think is good. Only the next morning do I really see what has been written. My mind’s clear, my hopes high as I take that first sip of coffee and reread what I wrote. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised and others…. Well, let’s just say I shake my head and rouse those characters to redo the scene.