I'm within about 15,000 words--three or four short chapters--of being finished with the first draft of
The Second Cellar, my transitional novel about the adventures of Leah Bright Maxwell (pictured above) in two centuries. Her crises build in intensity. She already stepped squarely in harm's way--and was harmed as a result. I can see the climax in my mind. Hear the frenzied voices, the stomping of heavy boots on the frozen forest floor, the whimpering of a baby and its mama's coos. I smell the woodsmoke hanging like a blanket in the crisp early winter air. It's there.
But for right, I'm waiting. She's recuperating. So I need to talk with her again. We had a long talk before her adventures began. That got us started. But now, before we embark on this last leg, I need to be still and listen to her talk, so I'll know what she's feeling and thinking.
Dear fellow writer, do you do that? Do you carry on periodic dialogues with your characters? Do they influence the direction of your story--their story? To what degree do you allow them to dictate the course?
Please respond by leaving a comment. Thank you.
