I had a really shocking surprise this week. I have a beat up copy of the Secrets of Starpoint Mountain in my desk at work. Some nights I'll just grab it and open it at random and read a few scenes. I did it on Wednesday night and read the first scene where Gallif talks about her history. She talks about how she was hurt when her parents and sister were killed in a fire and she never really got to say goodbye to them. Then she talks about how her brother was killed in a riot and she never got to say goodbye to him, either.
SISTER? WHAT THE HELL? WHEN THE HELL WAS THERE A SISTER INVOLVED?
I completely forgot about her. I don't even remember why I had the reference in her. I'd written three novels and short stories and dozens of flashback scenes since and there was no hint of a sister. I made a note and changed it on the master version so it was fixed and no one who has ever read the books has mentioned it so it wasn't a big disaster.
The sad thing is that wasn't the first on. Much later in the book, when Gallif and her party is leaving Primor to head to the ice fields I added another giant character to go with them. I wrote the next two chapters and when I went back just out of curiosity I realized the character never shows up again. Seriously! The character appears and makes this really big entrance and then just vanishes. I was lucky in that I just had to rewrite one scene at the end of the chapter.
The only other instance of introducing characters that don't make it top the final print happened in the second book but it was a completely different reason. In the book they are headed to the Dragon Burial Grounds and, in the prologue, I introduced two characters who were already there. The plan was to have her meet them inside and they would guide them through some of the danger spots to help them find the library. What happened was that, by the time I go there, I had already introduced one character and knew they were going to meet another inside. These characters were both very fun and exciting and the two characters that I had planted weren't really necessary anymore. I also realized it would be much more interesting if the party had no guidance from someone who'd been in there and had to learn from scratch. In the long run it really turned out better.
It's wild and one of the magical things about writing. Lots of times characters will take on a life of their own and do things I don't expect them too. I love it when that happens and that's the time I really feel confident about the writing. So far in the second draft of the third book there haven't been any surprises like that but I keep hoping for one.
SISTER? WHAT THE HELL? WHEN THE HELL WAS THERE A SISTER INVOLVED?
I completely forgot about her. I don't even remember why I had the reference in her. I'd written three novels and short stories and dozens of flashback scenes since and there was no hint of a sister. I made a note and changed it on the master version so it was fixed and no one who has ever read the books has mentioned it so it wasn't a big disaster.
The sad thing is that wasn't the first on. Much later in the book, when Gallif and her party is leaving Primor to head to the ice fields I added another giant character to go with them. I wrote the next two chapters and when I went back just out of curiosity I realized the character never shows up again. Seriously! The character appears and makes this really big entrance and then just vanishes. I was lucky in that I just had to rewrite one scene at the end of the chapter.
The only other instance of introducing characters that don't make it top the final print happened in the second book but it was a completely different reason. In the book they are headed to the Dragon Burial Grounds and, in the prologue, I introduced two characters who were already there. The plan was to have her meet them inside and they would guide them through some of the danger spots to help them find the library. What happened was that, by the time I go there, I had already introduced one character and knew they were going to meet another inside. These characters were both very fun and exciting and the two characters that I had planted weren't really necessary anymore. I also realized it would be much more interesting if the party had no guidance from someone who'd been in there and had to learn from scratch. In the long run it really turned out better.
It's wild and one of the magical things about writing. Lots of times characters will take on a life of their own and do things I don't expect them too. I love it when that happens and that's the time I really feel confident about the writing. So far in the second draft of the third book there haven't been any surprises like that but I keep hoping for one.
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