Characters seem to flow into my mind. Perhaps I’m a frustrated actor, but I love to inhabit their lives for a time when I writing their story. It is fun to be a teenager (although truly I wouldn’t want to relive my teen years) or a retiree and enjoy the view of the world from my character’s point of view. I like figuring out what they look like, what their habits are, what their talents are what their difficulties are. Their talents are usually far beyond me, but their difficulties are often my own. They are usually so talented and competent that they succeed, something not always possible in real life. Once characters are well developed and I thoroughly understand them, they tend to take off and create the story they want. I might write reams about their habits, their ambitions, their love life or lack of it, their relationship with their families, what they like for breakfast and what clothes they wear before I start the story. That means I know them very well when we tear off on into the plot. Really, an author always has an active social life, even if it ionly in her head.

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