I’ve started blog sites for four of the five main characters in my novel; I’ll get the last one up one of these days. It has been an interesting process, and I think helpful as a writer, too. I have tried to make each blog site different, reflecting the personality of the character. It has also been interesting writing blogs for each of them. Blogs, or in the case journal entries, can be very personal things. I’m trying to let that personality show in each entry.
Annay is the main character of the story. http://hathrae.com/annay/ She is young, confident, intellectual, with a keen eye. Her site is about what she’s been thinking about. So far there is one post there, about the first time she met fairies.
Hector is a young man. http://www.hathrae.com/hector/ He is a man of faith, searching for his direction in life, leading with his heart, and sharing his passion for life.
Julie is another young woman. http://hathrae.com/julie/wordpress/ She is independent, free thinking, adventurous, and in touch with her emotions. She is a ranger and scout, spending a lot of her times in the woods, tracking, hunting and acting as a guide for others.
Master Samuel Gees is an old man, a powerful wizard, and a teacher. http://hathrae.com/samuel/ He is reflective and misses his younger days. He writes about the past, his triumphs and failures.
As I write each blog entry I try to get into the character’s head. I start writing knowing the topic I’m going to write about, but usually not the content. I let the words flow and see where they take me. My most recent post was for Samuel. I knew it was going to be the memory of an adventure with his dwarven friend Red Beard. I knew they were going to an island just off the coast. I knew that there would be some problem with water. That’s what I knew, and I started writing.
What I ended up with was not what I expected. I figured there would be some monsters, some fighting, some powerful magic (he is a power wizard after all), and Red Beard falling into the water. What I ended up with was a trap, a beautiful woman, a stubborn dwarf, and a love story.
I think that the process of blogging for my characters and been a two edged sword. I think I can write better in their voices for having done it. I think my novel will be better for it. I have started to build much deeper backstories for each of them. But, it has taken time. Time that I could have been spending writing the novel.
In the end I think I’m glad that I’m doing the extra work. If writing was my money making job, then it might be the wrong choice. Since it is just a passion, a way to share my life, and my own personal therapy, then it is probably the right thing to do.
I would love to have my novel done, but in the end, for me, it is all about letting these characters speak through me. Whether they speak through a novel or a blog site really doesn’t matter. It is the sharing and exploring that is helpful to me.