THE WRITE WHISPER: When characters shout

Writers know the feeling.

When some characters shout out to you more than others.

Those characters that strut onto our pages and refuse to be ignored. They grab hold of a story and give it a decent shake.

They make the pages fly, both as a writer and a reader.

If a secondary character, they can even take over the story and overshadow your protagonists.

Over the last few weeks, I've had an interesting experience so that I'd share with you.

I've been writing 2 books at once, something I never do.

I much prefer to concentrate on one book at a time, bury myself in the 'feel' of that book and the characters.

But I have a story that won't be denied, something really outside the box for me, something I have that constant 'excited churning in the belly' feeling for...

This story is giving me a buzz so I've been 'playing' with this story over the weekends while concentrating on my deadline Mod Heat during the weeks.

The words have been flowing in both but after sending off my 'outside the box' story mid-week and diving back into my Mod Heat, something happened.

The gloss of my MH characters wore off.

Annoying, because I was already struggling with this book from the start, in so much as the hero, Rhys Cartwright, featured so heavily in my next Presents release, OVERTIME IN THE BOSS'S BED, that my editor asked me to tone him down completely and remove him from several scenes. He was overshadowing the hero and far too sexy!

So of course he demanded his own story but when this guy got it...he's nothing like how I remember!

Sadly, this hasn't changed all book.

I know I'm in for loads of editing/polishing with this one.

Why is it some characters shout louder to us than others?

Is it the plot? The conflict? The characters themselves?

I think it all comes back to that old adage, 'write the book of your heart'.

If something is calling to you, write it.

No matter how many books you've written in a particular genre, no matter how many books you've published or unpublished, those characters 'shouting' at you are doing so for a reason.

Let them run free.

Flex your creative muscle.

You'll be fresher for it.

And who knows, that book may just be 'the one'.