There was a book I read a while* ago. It started with the opening line:
No shit, there I was…
Which immediately told me I was in the THICK of this story from line one. I don’t think there is a better opener than that. Many war stories, “don’t tell mom” stories, and escapades of GREAT WORTH start that way.
And I LOVE an Escapade of Great Worth. That’s a title almost plot bunny-worthy, IMO. What a story that would be… Anyway…
So there I was, reading this book called “Dragon” by Stephen Brust, and it influenced the WAY I write in such a fashion, I have a hard time writing any other way.
The reason for this is that the up close, tell it like it happened style puts me right there, in the fireside bench seat, relaying to you, the reader, this freaking cool story. And even better? It’s not me, the wall-flower, telling it, it’s the CHARACTERS. I can talk in their voice, speak from their head, and weave their story exactly how you’d hear the tale as it unfolds without all the boring bits, and you just KNOW this character survives because they’re telling it to you. Which… if I ever was to KILL that darling, you’d riot, or cry, or cry then riot. So… you’re welcome.
Which all leads to a really funny quirk that I and other writers have. We hear the character’s voice(s) in our head. We’re not crazy, just tuned into the tale so well we can hear it as it goes from concept to page. Some of us “act” the character out, or even fewer of us authors do what I affectionately call, “Method Writing.” It’s pretty fun to use my writing imagination like that.
That doesn’t mean I can type as fast as the characters talk, or that the characters don’t decide to go off script and take me in a direction that can’t possibly return to the original destination. When that happens, I do what every great writer (according to Hemingway) does, rewrite.
“The only kind of writing is rewriting”
More specifically, rip at least one to three chapters out, and write them again until the characters behave—or get the real point across.
Most of the time this happens in that sagging middle section where I just don’t have everything figured out. Sometimes, like in my most current project** named Helloween, I simply don’t understand the full depths of a character and need to keep rewriting their stuff until I finally “get” it.
Quite a few characters WON’T talk to me without lying. Let’s name a few:
Nickel, that bastard, Indy… consummate liar so that was expected, KID. Now, you’d think Kid, of ALL the characters in the books would be the most honest. Nope. Sierra was ten times more honest than he was. I blame Ashley for that. She lied all over the place.
Oh, wait, you don’t know these characters?
You gotta read my Destroyers series. They’re all there.
You know who DIDN’T lie to me? Jackson. He spilled his guts all over the page. Shocked the hell out of me. Blue-Eyed Jacks was one of the easier books I’ve written.
Then came Bear and Rose.
It’s one thing when only one of the MC’s clam up on you, but both? Ugh. Luckily, I gave myself a LOT of time to get this one written. Because every chapter is getting torn out… twice. And this is with a road map of exactly where they need to end up. In fact, the ending is completely written from the “castle surprise” right through HEA.
So, what is causing this road block? I think I’m going to blame the villain.
Because of all the characters I’ve ever met in my travels through this series and beyond, Carl is the worst. He’s such a contradiction. Preacher’s son, drug dealer. Pious, self-righteous, greedy, and downright EVIL. His villainy is subtle, yet brutal. I’m having a hard time pinning down his thought process without living in his thoughts. And trust me, when I do that to get insight, he scares me. Really scares me. Because honestly? I’ve never met someone as psychopathic as he is. Maybe I’ll go read the Hannibal Lecter books for inspiration? IDK. He’s not brilliant like Dr. Lecter. There are more similarities between Carl and the villain, Judge Claude Frollo, in Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame, in fewer words, purposely evil and uses his religious virtues as an excuse.
That’s on purpose because my leading lady is a witch, and not the nice kind of one. Pitting these two against each other is going to be interesting. I’d better get writing some more on it. It’s going to be SO COOL when done.
I’ll leave with another writing/writer quote:
“The novel should be understood as a structure built to accommodate the greatest possible amount of cool stuff.” — Stephen Brust
Roses are Dead releases October 22, 2025 as part of the 31 days of Trick or Treat multi-author promotion.
*I just checked the copyright date and it was 1998, that’s how long ago it was. Which means it pre-dates my writing bug bite. (That happened in December of 2001.)
** Roses Are Dead – many of the books get a “code name” while I’m working on them. Otherwise I jinx myself and they never finish.
