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12/30/2005: "Creating the Bible"
I put together the big bible for my Blaze suspense series yesterday. Such fun. I printed out pictures of the characters and made them each their own little section. Then I went into book 1 and printed out all the pertinent info I'd established regarding the characters and the shared story elements, and put those into the book. Now, with each book, I'll continue to build and add, whether it's location descriptions, character history and motivation, and pictures of items that will be shared. Very satisfying in that the universe is coming to life, and exciting, too. I'm working on back-stories today. Who are all these people, how did they get to the moment before the book starts, and how their history impacts the current situation.
I love this part of writing. I imagine it's like sculpting, building the base, shaping the form layer by layer. I know I've talking about the core decision here on the blog before, and this is where I pull it into the process. Each of these characters will have as part of their history, something that resonates with my personality and history. Whether it's an attitude, a formative event, a fear, a struggle, I will be part of these people. I will understand their reactions to events, even if they act out in ways I never would. But I will "get" them. And, the hope there is that their reactions and actions will feel so real and true that the reader will be immersed in the story. Nothing will jar them away, or make them shake their heads.
So, off to work, and to a day of creation. Pretty neat way to wrap up a damn fine year.
