Blog by VONNIE DAVIS -- International, Award-Winning Romance Author: Adventurous...Humorous...Amorous.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Alone With the People in My Mind by Vonnie Davis

In many ways, writing is a lonely profession. In other ways, our minds are so filled with characters screaming to escape to the written page and our psyches so jumbled with storylines that, at times, we wish we were alone. How many of us have thought at times the characters frolicking in our minds were infinitely more interesting than those who populated our reality?

But it's the way writers' minds work.


The magic is somehow out of all this chaos, an interesting, well thought-out story evolves. Scenes written and rewritten flow in an orderly procession from one to another, building suspense, passion or self-discovery. Our characters--screaming and demanding to be heard--saunter onto the screen, strong and multi-faceted and endearing in their own way.

Imagine.

From a muddy helter-skelter mess, a story of love, hope and courage often grows.


What stories are evolving from the crowded, dusty recesses of your mind?

17 comments:

Barbara Edwards said...

What insight into the chaos of creating a story! I also live with a dozen or more characters, I dream about them and worry when they have problems. Oh well, back to the problem they're sharing with me today.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Oh, I dream about mine, too, Barbara. And if I write a scene they don't agree with? Oh my, they will make me suffer through the night. Non-writers just don't understand what goes on in our minds. Thanks for stopping by!

Sandra Dailey said...

I love when my characters act out scenes in my head. I just wish they could put them in order.
"Remember chapter two? Wouldn't it be great if..."

Lisa Hannah Wells said...

Way too many to count and I wish I could shut them up sometimes! Ah, but a little peace and quiet would be nice, however I do have to say that most of the time I prefer their company to those real people around me. They are the ones that scare me. LOL!

Katherine said...

I currently have a secondary character in my WIP that won't shut up. He even shows up when I'm sleeping. I guess his story will be next. :o)

Calisa Rhose said...

I don't even want to go there! Every day it's a different one wanting me to tell their story. Will today be the soldier home from war, the ghost hunter, the cowboy, fireman or mind reader? Or maybe today is the day my wolf shifter will finally show me the beginning of it all...
Sometimes I envy non-writers! LOL

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Sandra, no one said being a writer was easy--or sane. Now I know why many writers drink. LOL

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Oh, Lisa, I agree. I wish I could get mine to shut up, too. What irritates me is when I go to the movies to watch a flick I've been waiting ages to see, only to have the credits roll by and realize I'd spent the whole time in conversation with one of my characters.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

How exciting Katherine. By all means, you must write his/her story. Think how real the character will be to you when you type Chapter One.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Calisa, looks like you may have to tell them to take a number and wait. Thanks for stopping in, darlin'.

AJ Nuest said...

This post sorta sent a shiver up my spine...because, generally speaking, I DO find my characters more interesting than anyone else I know. LOL Does that sound horrible? It does, doesn't it...or maybe it's that I'm trying to get them into focus, writing dialogue and scenery in my head? I dunno. I've got about five different plots in the gray matter right now. Depending on their mood, any one of my character can pop out and demand to be heard.

Anonymous said...

I love it when I dream about the hero and he's so inside my head, I wake up thinking I'm in love.

Anonymous said...

I also love it when I'm so anonymous that B doesn't give me a name.

Kim Hornsby
Romantic Women's Fiction

Angela Adams said...

When I was in college, I had a Creative Writing Professor who called writing a novel "having movies in your mind."

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

I understand, AJ. Often our characters become like our family. Our children. Our best friends. And, yup, sometimes they're more interesting than some of the yay-hoos in my neighborhood.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

YES, Angela, that's how I often write a scene--as if it were a movie playing slow motion in my mind. I love it when it happens like that.

Denise Moncrief said...

If I don't find the characters in my head more interesting than the ones in my real life, I wouldn't write about them! Very accurate description of what goes on in a writer's head, Vonnie. Great post!