A Character Rebels

The main character of my WIP is exceedingly uncooperative. For those of you who haven’t been following along (that’s, like, roughly in the neighborhood of seven and a third billion people), I have been working on the first draft of a novel. It’s a fantasy story. It’s queer. There are no dragons, so stop calling, HBO. I’ve been thinking about it for eighteen months. Fine, obsessing.

I die a thousand tiny deaths when I hear a writer say something along the lines of, Gee whiz! This character is telling ME who she is!

That being said: How about my main character, though? He is still going to the places I create. He is still roughly doing the things I write. But he is actually changing before my eyes. The badass quotient has fallen. He is much more passive than I imagined. He just is that way. Somehow, he needs to be that way to fit into the world I’m building.

I’ve tried to coax him towards a stiffer spine, but he keeps insisting his little hero’s journey will pay off with more bang if he’s less effectual right now. So, get off my back, Dad!

Very well. I will give him his space. I will let him make his mistakes. No fucking dragons, though!

PHOTO: I went on a Fourth of July hike and it was a setting moodboard all day. Dad, can’t you just picture a dragon standing there? No dragons, I said. Go to your room.

PROGRESS REPORT: I am in the bowels of a trickier-than-I-imagined second chapter. I can already feel the editing sweats. Some good stuff, a good skeleton, though. Just need to land one character’s voice. 7445 words.