As a writer, there’s nothing better than having someone to bounce scene and/or plot ideas off of. In order to do this, someone has to be familiar with a) how you write, b) what you write, and c) your current or projected storyline.
That person is my husband, Charlie. Yesterday we were talking on instant messenger while he was at work and I was at home working on a scene. He’d read the first few chapters of my current book already, which is 4th in a series. Since he reads and edits everything I write, he knows my characters as well as I do.
I was faced with a dilemma of where to go with a particular scene, based on some tricky character motivation. So I talked to Charlie about it, and after about 30 minutes of back and forth discussion we had the scene plotted out perfectly. He has amazing insights and I don’t think I tap into those often enough.
I’ve really missed having someone available to talk scene structure and plot. Sometimes I don’t give Charlie my current chapters so he can stay up with me, and then I don’t have anyone to talk to about the storyline. I don’t really use critique partners that much anymore, and even then they tend to get the book after it’s finished, which doesn’t help me while writing it.
Sometimes being a writer is so incredibly lonely. I’m glad Charlie is there to enter my fantasy world and help me wrangle my plot and characters.
Jaci