I am Legion

Now, where was I?

Ah, yes. I was saying that a book is organic, that it lives. And it does. Books often write themselves - not literally, of course, the writer is still the one who has to put pen to paper, or finger to key.

It varies from writer to writer, but it's still true. I like to plan my stories out before I get down to writing them. From past experiences, I've found that if I don't, I end up getting stuck or lost, the story falters and I put it to one side, forgotten as I move onto something more interesting. For a time, I actually wondered if I could ever finish a story. And that was where Liberator's Ruin came in. It was a test for me, to see if I actually had the patience to stick with a story from beginning to end. Three years later, I passed the test.

But it was the plan that helped. The backbone on which the rest of my story hung.

Despite using a plan, I still see writing as organic. I never adhere to the plan rigidly, it just informs the path of the story, gives me direction. But how the story builds, well, that happens when I put my hands on my keyboard and start writing.

What impetus causes that to happen, prey tell? Why, the characters, dear boy, the characters. They're almost living, breathing beings (albeit ones who live in my head), running around doing things. Sometimes they do things I didn't expect, and when that happens, it's breathtaking. And a little annoying. I'll have this whole routine planned, and what do they do? They bloody ignore it!

Yes, I know that makes me sound crazy - I once told someone that writing is a bit like having lots of different people in your head who seem very much alive, at which point she gave me a funny look and took several steps back, as if I'd suddenly grown a second head.

Hey, what can you do? At least I'll never get lonely.