I'm fairly notorious for having too many irons in the fire. In literary terms tha means having too many WIP or Works in Progress. Some writers have short stories stockpiled or begun, but I have a tendency to start developing stories that will develop at least to a novella length before I finish the one I'm working on. I'm afraid my plotbunnies start hopping and just keep mulitplying.

I blame this on the way I write. I don't actually write stories, I take dictation. To a non-writer it may sound insane...okay, it may sound insane to most people, but inside my head are characters, people who have stories that need to be told. That's how it always starts. With a character.

He or she...and usually it's he, starts to form in my mind. I can see him, hear his voice. In a slow process that's sort of like a cross between painting a portrait and giving birth, he comes alive inside my head. And he talks to me. The character tells me his story. Not all at once mind you, but in pieces. Sometimes a character will be dying to chatter my ear off and then disappear. One of my current WIP's is like that.

He came to life almost four years ago and started to tell his story. I wasn't ready to hear it then because I wasn't writing. I didn't believe in it anymore at that time. So soon he got very quiet and just sat there. Well, now Caelin has waited and waited and it seems his turn is here. It won't be easy. His best friend has started talking to me and Dane has already managed to drop several bombshells into the works. Just when I think I got a handle on it, Dane drops by and goes..."Oh, by the way did you know that..." and sends me in a tailspin.

But they aren't the only ones. In a Summer Camp for writers I'm participating in the task was set recently to invite your character to lunch. In my usual over achieving, in over my head way, I ended up with more than just one fellow making an appearance. You can find the story at the link below.

Lunch With The Boys