Thank you, John Scalzi for posting my rant on Whateverettes. And for not getting mad at me. I wasn't mad at anybody, either.

In other news: isn't it amazing when a character comes alive? I almost wrote "completely alive" because that's how real this guy is getting. Except I do know he's not really alive. He's a fictional character. I know.

I started filling in the background for Seamus Firnan, the male protag in Donamorgh. I knew he'd had some troubling experiences as a child. But when I started writing about them, I couldn't believe how it all just came out. It was even more amazing to see how the various experiences fit together, how something that happened at one point got resolved as a result of something else happening a year later. I knew it was resolved, but not how or when, until I wrote it. 

That happens to me a lot. I suppose it could mean I'm a clumsy writer, that I have no control over my story and I'm not planning it properly. But I honestly don't see how I could plan every bit of it. It's dynamic: it changes as it grows and I don't have total control. Sure, I can hit the delete key if I want, so in that sense, I'm in control. But it's more like parenthood than anything else: I provide the ingredients for creation and the medium for growth, but I don't have complete control over the baby that comes out. The looks, the personality, the experiences: those are random. As with a child, all I can do is provide a safe, loving environment, some sage advice, and a little discipline.  

And then send the darn thing out into the world to earn its keep. 

See? Just like parenthood.