Meet Liv

Remember the sentence prompts I did a week or so ago? (You can see my answers here.) My friend Turkey took it to a new level, filling in the blanks as a character from her new project would. (I'd link, but the talented turd doesn't maintain a blog anymore. Hint hint. I'm lookin' at you, turk.)

It's a super way to brainstorm, and it helped me figure out whether my main character and plot (and sub-plots too) are developing as I need them to. I think I'm headed the right direction.

Here's what Liv would say...

Outside my window... I see the February winds blowing. They kick up thoughts about my thirtieth birthday, just around the corner.

I am thinking... about my mother again. Why’d she have to send that letter? And why now? I’ve been fine without her, for all these years.

I am thankful for... Aunt Therese and Uncle Rye. If not for them, if they hadn’t taken me in so long ago, where would I be today?

From the kitchen... comes the smell of just-brewed coffee. Hot as it is, though, I know it won’t be enough to warm me through.

I am wearing... the locket I told you about, the one that was my mother’s. I promised myself I wouldn’t, that it would stay tucked away. But now it hides beneath my sweater, so no one will question its existence. I’m still getting used to how it feels against my collarbone; so heavy, like it’s filled with the past.

I am creating... a new me—the real me.

I am going... to the hospital later.

I am reading... a pamphlet I picked up at the doctor’s office. Maybe it will answer some of my questions.

I am hoping... for the best. I just wish I knew what to expect.

I hear... the phone ringing, but I won’t answer it. I'm too busy soul-searching.

Around the house... are the things I’ve had all my adulthood. But I really wish I had something, anything, that used to be my dad’s.

Plans for the weekend... may upset my best friend. Someone else – someone I didn’t invite – is going to join us for dinner.

I think I'm pleased with where all this leads me.

Would an exercise like this help you? What would your MC say?

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And it's not too late to turn a letter into fiction! Get your entry in before midnight CST tomorrow, for a chance to win James Patterson's Sam's Letters to Jennifer.

Good luck!

Working on the WIP

I'm pleased I've been able to put some effort into my Work In Progress of late. Though it's still sporadic, and not nearly as much time as I'd like, I'm making headway.

For awhile there I was discouraged; I wasn't sure I liked the direction the story was heading. It just didn't feel right. You see, I thought the main character's wife was going to abandon him, leading to issues and events that would severely test his Christian faith. But I was struggling with writing her character. I couldn't see her playing out in my head, or figure out how to make her scenario believable.

And then it hit me I was handling the plot wrong. Abandonment isn't the way to go, because it delves into issues I don't want to handle. I just can't wrap my head around them, explore them deeply enough to write about them well.

But what I can do is create a "perfect" marriage and family life between the main character and his wife (and their young daughter) . . . and then alter it drastically by an accidental death. Now we're talking. I can write this with emotion and articulation. I'm excited about the challenge of endearing the reader to the wife... and causing them to feel the same heartbreak my main character will after her death, helping them understand the test of faith when his life is in shambles...

I've decided on the working title Life After Death.

Such a shift in plot meant I had to scrap the work I'd done previously, though it only accumulated to three chapters. I did save the good stuff in another file, should the characterizations come in handy another time... but I started rewriting from the beginning last week, and I'm pleased with my progress. The picture is clearer, the way seems to be paved. Here I go!

How about your WIP? What are you working on right now, this week?