Characters

There are some things that just don’t shape. Pine nettles and corn chips are two of them. A third is book characters. Other writers might say I’m wrong and maybe this is because I’m an amateur, I don’t know. All I do know is that they don’t shape into what you want them to once they are ‘dry’.

I always start out with an idea, a saying they will say all the time, a secret that they will carry. Something of that sort. This is when they are ‘wet’. This first scene is where you can mold them as best you can. After this first scene they take on their own route and they find their own characteristics. I just type and it comes naturally. It’s like chopping a piece of wood. You can chop it but only if you go with the grain. If you don’t go with the grain, it’s possible but the result is messy. I’ve come to the conclusion that what God wants written is what I’ll write and He’ll use it. This means that characters don’t always turn out exactly as I planned. Then again, some do. It all just depends.

This is just another place in my life that I’ve realized that I must say, “God, what ever you want! Use me; show me what to do. Help me.” I can’t form the characters, but I can give them nudges in the right direction. God will just have to show me what to write. Without Him, I’m nothing. If He is not with me in this, then why am I doing it? If it’s not for Him, then I have no reason to write.

I write for You, Lord. Show me what to do!

Mandy