March 8, 2007
Writer Epiphany
The other day as I was working on my latest WIP (aka the dragon story), I had written in a new character. She sort of popped out of nowhere. I hadn’t intended for her to rescue my hero from the clutches of the evil dude, but she did.
And then she told me she was an elf. Who could command the dragons.
Or, rather, she told my hero that.
Actually, there was no telling involved whatsoever. She sort of tucked her silky blonde hair behind her ear and he sees it’s pointy.
(It reminds me of that story when Kirstie Alley was in Star Trek II – shut up I used to be a Trekkie – and she was playing Savak, the Vulcan, and she was on a date after filming and they forgot to take her ears off. She tucks her hair behind her ear and the guy is kinda wigged out. I’m sure this is just an urban legend, but I digress…)
Anyway. He can’t stop staring and finally says, “You’re an elf?” She confirms that she is and he tells her he had never seen one before. Because, in case you were wondering, my hero had a sheltered life and has no idea that dragons and elves even exist. She then tells him that “not many live to tell about us” which makes me wonder if she is somewhat of a dark elf.
Okay, so I used to be a MUDer (meaning I used to play MajorMUD online years ago and one of the races was dark elf. Great agility and intelligence, not to mention beauty but just a tad evil. At least that’s my interpretation…ha!) and this is where I get the idea.
And anyway, it makes me wonder what this means because I really have no clue yet. And that was my moment of epiphany. And I totally LOVE when characters talk to me that way and dictate the story.
So when I relate this to my Best Good Friend – who is not a writer – she says to me, “Writers really are insane.”
Yes. We are. And it’s delightful. :)



It’s delightful, unless they are throwing wrenches in the works.
I hope you are having fun with your dragon story. I would like to kill my dragon right now, and so as to prevent myself from doing so, I’m taking a break from it.
“Writers really are insane.”
Well…yeah…
The voices tell me I’m just fine, thank you.
Sometimes I like those surprises, sometimes I want to beat the crap out of them.
as long as they are talking….
I love it when that happens, pantser or no, you kinda know the jist of your book and when you get surprised it is oh, so fun!