Words are Flowing

I'm starting to think that the reason I haven't been writing as much lately is because I haven't had the energy to spare. Since starting back on the multivitamin, I've started thinking about Devil Falls (my fictional Idaho city) again, and making some progress. Of course, having an hour long commute on MW also gives me time to think, and tie loose ends together. :^D One major problem was that, past the first section (which Fibonacci has read), Jareth doesn't play much of a role. I finally figured out why, and found a way to fix it once the right plot elements are in place. Until that happens, his role will be minor, but so will Alex's.

I hesitate to put too much detail about this on the web, but I will say that my starting point was (1) I wanted to have my own version of vampires; (2) I wanted to explore a love-hate relationship (that's the part Fibonacci has read); (3) It needed to start with a character waking up in a coffin. It ran through several incarnations in my head before I started writing, so that I had several sets of characters in my head. Alex and Jareth wound up fitting the love-hate relationship best. The other characters wouldn't go away, though. So now I'm working on integrating them into the story. Some showed up in the first section, others won't show up until later.

It's funny, though, that my plots are nearly entirely character based. I come up with an idea. I come up with characters to explore that idea. Sometimes I know where I want it to go; sometimes not. Sometimes the characters have other ideas entirely. One of my favorite things to do with a new character is "introduce" him/her to existing characters in my mind and see what happens. Sometimes it's boring. Sometimes it's stupid. And once in a while it's beautiful in a way that forever alters the structure of the storyline. The only way NOT to alter the storyline is to throw out the new character.

At the moment, I'm having Glindar (a strange little assassin) meet Alex (while NOT trying to kill her this time). Not in my head; on, er, virtual paper. This isn't one of the plot-altering moments. It's more necessary for a later event related to Glindar. But Glindar's fun to write.

Who is Glindar? Glindar was a hunter back in the middle ages (I haven't determined when, precisely). A witch gave him an enchanted knife that she said would make him immortal. It did, but not without complications. His brain and body have both been warped by the experience. Though he once stood six feet tall, he is now a little over four feet. He's not evil, precisely, but he's certainly not good. He's going to move towards one or the other soon...I haven't made up my mind which.