No, not the one on television, the one in my current WIP. After publishing Destiny Blues earlier this year, I’m knee-deep in the second novel in the series, Legacy Soul. But I wrote two other novels (and several short stories) in the two years since I finished Destiny, and I’ve lived and breathed in the minds of several other characters (not all of them human). So getting back into the minds and hearts of my Destiny cast of characters is essential for a seamless transition into Legacy.
First and foremost, I immersed myself in the story by rereading Destiny again and going over my notes and the first few chapters I started on LEGACY. But it takes more than a quick re-read to get back into character.
Fortunately, I do something I call a ‘character interview’ with each of my key characters before it start, and whenever I get stuck. The early interviews use open-ended questions to get at the characters motivations and attitudes. The later interviews focus on the characters’ emotional states and how they’ve changed/what they’ve learned since the beginning. I found these notes to be unbelievably helpful in reclaiming the voice of the character. In fact, when I did another round of interviews on my returning characters for Legacy, started to feel as if I was catching up with old friends I hadn’t seen for a long while. And the new characters bring a whole new energy to the cast mix.
Once the voices returned, I was ready to write. I can’t wait to see what happens.
