a new adventure

What limited writing I've done on this blog has been a good process for me. Writing a little bit each day makes me think more about writing. I remember Mrs. Jones, THE art teacher at my high school. She wanted us to draw in our sketch book every day. Doesn't matter what the subject is. Don't have to fill the page; put a week's drawings on one page. Just do it. I think I've found that writing is the same.

I've been carrying characters around in my mind for years. Two of my favorites are Lydell and Katrina. Something I heard this morning on NPR gave me a new one, a small town postmaster. I haven't decided yet if the postmaster is a man or a woman. Seeing or hearing something makes me wonder about the people I see and hear about. What they're like. How they react to things. How they react to other people. A character grows and she or he begins to develop personality traits. I've picked up bits and pieces of these traits from my experiences and given them to my characters. Sometimes I'll "try on" a trait for one of my characters to see if it'll work. Some do, some don't. But in the process, "real" people emerge.

I think I'll start putting some of my characters on paper and see what comes out. Who knows?