I was working on the new book today. Pushing my main character up against walls, depriving her of her desires, and it got me thinking about what she wanted. Which, of course, needs to happen with every character in every book. That understanding of what they desire and what is keeping them from achieving it is a necessary analysis every writer has to explore. At least, I think they should.
I had figured out before I even started writing this book that Alyson (my main character) most wanted safety. Safety for her son, herself, her marriage. So it’s interesting to me to read through all the many scenes in this book where that safety is being jeopardized–especially when I didn’t explicitly or consciously craft it with that intent. And yet, there it is. Again and again–references to safety in this scene, that statement, those actions, and I didn’t purposefully mean for that to be the case. Themes sometimes infiltrate books without needing much intention from the author.
This is one thing I love about writing the most. The seemingly happy accidents and layers that you can stumble across in your own work. They always surprise me and remind me that, no matter how much you study the craft and plan your books, there is still a mysterious element that finds it’s way from you to the page, which for me, always feels like the very essence of creation itself.
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