I love you. And yes, I know you’re not real.

Listening to: Death Cab for Cutie - Plans

Mood: Enthused

Part of what I love about writing is falling in love with my characters and their journeys. Each one I’ve created has a special place in my heart and a little piece of my soul in them. Their quirks, neuroses, everything they say and do (in my head, anyway), are all necessary elements for them to come alive on the pages.

If I didn’t love my characters, I’m not sure I could write about them. I am the kind of writer who needs to fall madly in love with the “people” in my head. I want to know everything about them. I want to laugh and cry with them. And when I’m done with their story, I want to be able to let go and move on. Because I love them that much.

Now I’m not always ready to let go when I’m done with just one story. Emmy has been in my head for quite a while. I’ve written several novels, a novella, and a few short stories with her as the MC because I’m still too in love with her to let her go. Others have come, stories written, and characters now long gone. Emmy currently shares my headspace with my favorite shapeshifting dragon, Faida, of whom I have a million plans for. (Basically, she’ll be sticking around for a while.) But even if I only write one story about a character, or a bunch, I am crazy about them for the length of time we’re “together.”

Yes, it sounds a little nuts to those who aren’t writers (or readers!), but part of fictional writing is loving people who aren’t real.